Xbox One Won’t Play 3D Blu-ray At Launch, But PS4 Will

Here’s a question viewers might want to ask themselves before deciding which next-generation home entertainment console to buy when they’re released later this month – do you care about watching 3D content on Blu-rays? If you do, then that might affect your buying decision, as only one will support the format initially. While Sony has said that the PlayStation 4 (PS4) will play 3D Blu-ray, Microsoft has revealed that the upcoming Xbox One won’t support the format when the console is first released.

Microsoft confirmed the Xbox One’s lack of 3D Blu-ray playback to the folks over at CNet, though a spokesperson for the company didn’t rule out adding the feature through an update later on. In all probability, whether or not the feature comes available will likely depend on how big the demand is for it.

Nevertheless it’s a curious choice by Microsoft not to include support for the format at launch. The Xbox One does offer standard Blu-ray playback, and so it’s unusual that the company hasn’t gone the whole hog and thrown in extra-dimensional support as well.

As far as the Sony PS4 is concerned, Engadget has confirmed that the console will feature 3D Blu-ray support, just as its predecessor the PS3 does. To do so, users will be required to activate their console and download the initial 1.50 firmware update, then they’ll be ready to go. As well as Blu-rays, the PlayStation 4 will also support 3D gameplay, the features of which were discussed in its new FAQ page that was posted last week, although there will be little to no 3D games available to buy at launch.

One thing that the PS4 does lack so far is 4K output for gaming, although Sony did say in its FAQ that it’s considering adding support for 4K video and images in a future update. In any case, while this news is might affect one or two buyers, the vast majority of hardcore gamers have probably already decided which next-gen game console they’re going to buy anyway, and the lack or inclusion of 3D Blu-ray support won’t affect that.

Source: CNET and Engadget