Xbox 360 HD DVD player due for holidays

Tue May 9, 8:56 PM ET

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. will release an HD DVD player for its
Xbox 360 video game machine in time for the 2006 holiday season and will have 10 million of its next-generation consoles to market before its rivals debut their new systems, company executives said on Tuesday.

Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT) got a head start when it released the Xbox 360 in November. Rivals Sony Corp. (6758.T) and Nintendo Co. Ltd (7974.OS) plan to debut their new gaming machines, the PlayStation 3 and the Wii, later this year.

But the PlayStation 3 due later this year will have a Blu-ray DVD player, which is a competing next-generation DVD standard to HD DVD supported by Toshiba Corp.(6502.T)

There will be a total of 160 titles for Xbox 360 available in time for the holidays, Peter Moore, head of Microsoft's game business, said at a press conference ahead of the Electronic Entertainment Expo this week in Los Angeles.