The Financial Times this week reported that Sony Corp. and Microsoft Corp. are in talks to offer a Blu-ray disc drive for the Xbox 360 video game console.

Stan Glasgow, Sony Electronics U.S. president, told the publication that the two companies are discussing a possible adoption of Blu-ray technology for the Xbox 360 successor.

The option could vary between a Blu-ray drive built-in to an Xbox 360 console or an external peripheral.

Microsoft Corp. in Feb. said that will end the production of the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player following an announcement from Toshiba Corp. that it will exit the HD DVD business.

The peripheral, which allowed Xbox 360 owners to view HD DVD format titles via an external drive, was discounted to $49.99 from $129.99.

The Xbox 360 HD DVD Player was introduced in Nov. 2006 as an option to view high-definition format titles.

Microsoft last month said it does not expect Toshiba’s HD DVD exit to impact Xbox 360 hardware sales.

A Blu-ray disc drive would allow the Xbox 360 to compete with the PS3, which includes a Blu-ray disc drive in each unit sold.

It would also allow Sony to claim Blu-ray disc royalties from Microsoft and further high-definition disc sales.

The PS3 has held strong sales following Blu-ray disc’s victory over HD DVD.

The 40GB PS3 has ranked in the top 10 at Amazon.com’s Video Games division for several weeks. In addition, the $499 80GB PS3 SKU sold out at the retailer due to high demand.

Retailers are offering retail incentives to drive Blu-ray sales to customers.

Amazon is offering up to 50 percent off select Blu-ray disc titles.

This week, Best Buy stores are offering two free Blu-ray discs with the purchase of the Panasonic 1080p Blu-ray disc player.