PS3´s Blu-ray Destined To Fail? - Hollywood give it a kick!
According to reports, Hollywood movie studios are turning their back on the Blu-ray format in favour of HD-DVD. Universal Studios Home Entertainment now favours the HD-DVD format, which puts Universal, Warner, Paramount, HBO, New Line Cinemas and the Weinstein Company all in the same group.
The president of Universal Studios Home Entertainment has come out in favor of Microsoft´s backed HD-DVD format rather than Sony´s Blu-ray. That puts Universal, Warner, Paramount, HBO, New Line Cinemas and the Weinstein Company all in the HD-DVD camp.
Sure, it does have some support coming in the form of Disney and Fox, but the line up against is looking more and more impressive.
So, why should this be of concern to video gamers? Because Sony has made it a concern. Rather than go sans next-gen movies like Wii, or opt for an external drive like Microsoft, Sony´s made Blu-ray a huge part of its console´s hype. In fact, that big-ticket price on the PS3 console comes mostly because of the Blu-ray capability included.
But now it seems Blu-ray could be Sony´s own downfall (OK, that along with some serious ego issues and bad planning).
The next-gen movie concept not being embraced by the studios is a serious blow. Sony´s been counting on it to push the PS3 as a total entertainment device. Sony execs have used the Blu-ray inclusion as a way to justify the pricing of the console. They´re now blaming it for the delay in launch and the scaling back of launch numbers.