RSS
Blockbuster to HD-DVD: Sux 2 B U!
Posted June 18, 2007 by KevinIf you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
If you’re one of the people who bought a Blu-ray player, pat yourself on the back. In what is probably the final and defeating blow for HD-DVD, Blockbuster announced today that they will no longer support HD-DVD rentals, opting for Blu-ray instead.
Blockbuster has been renting both Blu-ray and HD DVD titles in 250 stores since late last year and found that consumers were choosing Blu-ray titles more than 70 percent of the time.
“The consumers are sending us a message. I can’t ignore what I’m seeing,” Matthew Smith, senior vice president of merchandising at Blockbuster, told The Associated Press.
The decision was helped in large part by the lopsided availability of titles in Blu-ray, Smith said. All major studios except one are releasing films in Blu-ray, with several, including The Walt Disney Co., releasing exclusively in Blu-ray. Only Universal Studios, which is owned by General Electric Co., exclusively supports HD DVD.
Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc., and Paramount Pictures, which is owned by Viacom Inc., release films in both formats.
“When you walk into a store and see all this product available in Blu-ray and there is less available on HD DVD, I think the consumer gets that,” Smith said.
The rollout of Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 3 game console, which comes standard with a Blu-ray drive, also helped give the format momentum, Smith said.
Hmmm. Maybe Sony wasn’t as dumb as we all thought for pushing Blu-ray so hard with the PS3, and releasing a game console that costs over $600. As Blue-ray becomes more widely adopted, it should make buying a PS3 all the more tempting for everyone who held out, or who hasn’t yet made the leap to a high-def movie player.
Add a comment:
You must be logged in to post a comment.