Microsoft On 4K Blu Ray Playback: There Is Still Room For Physical Media

One of the big selling points that Microsoft have over the PS4 Pro is that the Xbox One Scorpio promises to be a far more powerful and therefore superior device. And that’s great, but the Scorpio is also a year away. In the here and now, it falls to the existing Xbox One S to take on the Pro.

But even there, in spite of inferior specs, the One S has a feature that the PS4 Pro does not- it can play 4K Blu Ray movies, a feature that Microsoft have been touting for all that it’s worth of late. And in an interview with Eurogamer, Microsoft’s Albert Penello explained exactly why- Microsoft genuinely think that the market as a whole has not yet moved away from physical media.

“When you look around the world, not everybody’s at the same state when it comes to digital,” he explained. “You could argue they’re probably not at the same state when it comes to 4K either. But I still think there’s room for physical. For the high-end enthusiast, 4K Blu-rays look amazing. And there are still going to be places in the world that won’t get that streaming because of their internet connections, but might have access to physical.

“So yeah, I’m glad we made the decision. I’m a fan of 4K, thinking globally. And we have good differentiation between the PS4 Slim and us,” he added.

The Xbox One Scorpio launches Holiday 2017. The Xbox One S is available now, as is the PS4 Slim. The PS4 Pro launches November 10.