Paramount Still Supporting HD-DVD… For Now
In the wake of Warner’s massive decision to go Blu-ray, the HD-DVD camp is struggling to keep their heads above water so they can at least live to fight another day. New Line have now confirmed that they will follow their parent company to Blu-ray exclusivity as well, and now reports have started to surface stating that Paramount may be itching to make the jump to Blu-ray as well. Considering that Paramount and Universal are the only two major studios still aligned with HD-DVD, the departure of Paramount would likely be the final nail in the coffin. There has been mention of a special clause in Paramount’s HD-DVD contract that would allow them to back out if Warner Brothers decided to commit to Blu-ray instead.
Despite the speculation, Paramount put on a brave face at the CES show in Las Vegas this week, insisting that they will continue to support HD-DVD. However, they also declined to make any other high-definition announcements at the show. Clearly, they are rethinking their position, and unless HD-DVD can pull a rabbit out of their hat, the writing is pretty much on the wall.
I, for one, never thought Blu-ray stood a chance in this format war, considering that HD-DVD hit stores first, and Blu-ray seemed entirely reliant on the overpriced Playstation 3 to increase its install base. However, it seems I have underestimated Sony and their loyal fanboys. Was the PS3 really the difference, or was it the selection of titles and support from major retailers like Wal-mart? I would be curious to find out how many consumers of Blu-ray are actually watching their movies on the PS3.
Comments (3)
I think the PS3 was the deciding factor in giving Blu-Ray the lead. Warner Bros. went with them because they are leading. I’m sure the PS3 hasn’t sold very well compared to the competing systems, or compared to how well the PS2 did, but compared to HD players in general, the sales must be huge. And when you’ve got a PS3, obviously you’ll buy Blu-Ray movies instead of regular DVDs.
Posted by Henrik on January 9th, 2008After a few failed media formats, I think this was one format war that Sony was determined not to lose, as stated on the digital bits:
‘But people tend to forget one thing about Sony. Back when it was time to negotiate the details of the DVD format between all the industry players, there were also two competing candidate formats. But Philips and Sony caved and abandoned their MultiMedia Compact Disc, and agreed to go along with Toshiba’s SuperDensity Disc. The result was DVD – a single unified format from which we’ve all benefitted. What was the result of that? Toshiba made millions off the patents for the DVD disc structure, which Sony lost out on.’
http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/soapbox/soap060107.html
So if Blu-Ray is now (probaly)looking like the winner the real format war will now be Blu-Ray Vs DVD.
Posted by Nemesis on January 9th, 2008Blu-Ray is the only reason I bought my PS3. I went Blu the in November, the week after giving up on the new Toshiba HD players ever getting in stock. I had almost placed an order then realised that 1) non of the high-def players could play my other region SD DVDs (of which I have hundreds) 2) there was no stock. So I walked to the shop and got a 60Gb PS3 before they sold out.
Posted by Mick (UK) on January 10th, 2008It is still the cheapest way to watch BR here in the UK and the cheapest HD players are still about 400 dollars.
And I have not bought any UK released BR discs, as they retail for about 35 dollars even online.
Leave a Reply