The last time we saw the rumor of Microsoft licensing Xbox 360 technologies to other companies was a few years ago, but EGM's got a fresh update to it. Their rumor column says that Microsoft might be licensing third-party manufacturers to build Xbox 360 hardware that can play off-the-shelf Xbox 360 discs. That's right.

What would be the point to this? Kotaku points out that previous game systems like a Panasonic Q, which was the GameCube + DVD player, served to help bring in software money, but lower development costs for Nintendo because they don't have to spend effort making new hardware. In Microsoft's case, imagine what would happen if a company built an Xbox 360 with a Blu-ray drive. Eh? [EGM via Kotaku]

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