Does Xbox 360 Play Blu-ray? See How!

Xbox 360 is a game console developed by Microsoft, as the competitor to Sony's PS3 and Nintendo's Wii. Xbox 360 not only allows you to play games, but watch online movies, game demos and trailers, TV shows and so on. Thanks to Kinect, you can even play game without wires and controllers. That's so called Somatic Game. All these turn Xbox 360 into a multimedia center in your living room. As time goes by, the Blu-ray disc becomes more and more popular, many people may have one question: does Xbox 360 play Blu-ray? The answer is Yes, but you need a Blu-ray ripper software like Aiseesoft Blu-ray Ripper, or an external USB Blu-ray player hardware.

Does Xbox 360 Play Blu-ray?

Microsoft had planned to support external HD DVD Player. However, the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player was discontinued later in 2008. That's because HD DVD format had lost the high definition war with Blu-ray Disc. So will Xbox 360 comes with a Blu-ray player in the future? Let's learn about some message from a Microsoft Executive.

"We have no plans to adopt Blu-ray drive for the Xbox 360. In fact, the future of home entertainment started last autumn when Xbox 360 became the first and only console to offer instant-on 1080p streaming HD movies", said Stephen McGill, the director of Xbox and Entertainment at Microsoft.

Based on the words, Xbox 360 would not equip a Xbox 360 Blu-ray player. Microsoft would like online HD movies more than HD media. Here comes the question: is there solution to play Blu-ray movies on Xbox 360?

Two Methods to Play Blu-ray Movies on Xbox 360

Method 1. Blu-ray Disc is now the only existing HD format on the market. Most HD movies now are distributed and sold in Blu-ray Disc. Therefore, it's a good idea to buy an external Blu-ray Player for your Xbox 360 and your PC. It's a one-time fee for all Blu-ray Discs you'll buy in years to come. Here is an external USB Blu-ray Player on Amazon (about $70).

Method 2. By ripping Blu-ray movies to high quality video files with software like Aiseesoft Blu-ray Ripper, you can then easily stream the ripped video to play with Xbox, or burn to DVD to play with Xbox 360's DVD drive.

Once Blu-ray movies are ripped to computer, use a DVD burning software like Aiseesoft DVD Creator to burn to a general DVD disc. When completed, insert DVD discs to Xbox 360, and the movie still start to play quickly.

Alternatively, you can stream the ripped Blu-ray videos to Xbox 360 using Windows Media  Player, Windows Media Center, Zune software and Windows Home Server for totally free. See a guide here.

Here comes the end. It's the answer to your question: Can Xbox play Blu-ray? - Yes, you can watch Blu-ray movies on Xbox 360 using either an external Blu-ray Player or ripping Blu-ray to DVD for play with Xbox's DVD drive.

How to Play DVD on the new iMac

Today, Apple released its new redesigned iMac. Although a new product iPad mini is also announced, iMac, in my humble opinion, is the key role at the company's media event in San Jose, California. The new iMac will come in 21.5" and 27" versions, with faster internals, an improved screen, and a ridiculously thin profile. It's the world's thinnest, fastest, and strongest all-in-one desktop.



So far so good, right? But Apple decided to give up DVD Drive for the new thinner profile. Here comes the problem: How to play DVD on the new iMac without a DVD drive? All your investment on DVD movies are gone?

Don't worry. I'll tell you 2 ways to play DVD on the new iMac, enjoying your DVD movies on the high definition display.

Method 1: Using An External DVD Player

iMac comes with enough USB ports. Therefore, it's not a difficult thing to play DVD on iMac with an external USB DVD player. The price of an external DVD player ranges from $20-$50 on Amazon.com. Place an order at night and you'll get it in the next day. It's easy to use the external DVD player - Just plug it into a USB port at the back of iMac, insert your DVD and you can start enjoying DVD movies on the new iMac. Note some USB DVD players might requires driver for Mac. Make sure it supports iMac before purchase.

Method 2: Rip DVD on iMac with a DVD Drive

If you have an iMac having a DVD Drive or a MacBook, you can use a DVD Ripper software to convert DVD movies to MOV video file so you can play it on the new iMac with the built-in QuickTime player. As for the DVD Ripper software, Aimersoft DVD Ripper for Mac is an ideal choice for its price, ease and speed. Here is a 25% discount coupon code ( $39  $29.25 save about $10).


Yes, DVD is not longer a good choice. These days, Netflix and Amazon Instant Video is the popular way to watch movies online. However, for those who have an array of DVD movie collections, playing DVD movies on iMac is also a great video experience. This article shares 2 methods to watch DVD movies on Apple's new updated iMac. Any other ways? Please let me know in the comment.