PS3 to put focus on Blu-ray, but not end the war
Posted on 09/11/06 21:19 by Seán Byrne                             
PS3 to put focus on Blu-ray, but not end the war

Despite slow sales of the Blu-ray format with players still costing a lot more than HD DVD players, the upcoming PlayStation3 due to launch very shortly will put some good focus on the Blu-ray format, particularly as it will result in a lot of Blu-ray players being put on the market, since every PS3 doubles up as a Blu-ray player.  However, according to Peter Chernin, president and chief operating officer of News Corp. this will definitely be no resolution to the format wars either. 

While the HD DVD sales may be much stronger, a few studios including 20th century Fox have only released titles on the Blu-ray format, with no plans yet to release any titles on HD DVD at this time.  The PS3 is currently set to launch on November 11th in Japan, followed by US, Hong Kong and Taiwan on November 17th.

In my opinion, even if the Playstation 3 turns out to be a tremendous success, this does not necessarily mean that its users are going to suddenly start forking out on Blu-ray movies, particularly if most are simply after it for playing games.  For example, it could well be possible that there could end up being many times more PS3 markets on the market than HD DVD players, but this does not mean that this will be true when it comes to Blu-ray vs. HD DVD sales respectively. 

Source:  PC World Canada

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By heroineworshipper, Thursday 09 November 2006 22:30
Somehow doubt PS3 is a fully functional BD player. That spec isn't the kind of thing you can put together in a dorm room between exams. There are rumors that Sony contracted 140 engineers to write PS3's BD-J runtime but suspect the number actually devoted to BD-J was far less if at all. Why would Sony write their own BD stack for PS3 yet contract Pioneer to write their dedicated BD player completely from scratch if both players were to be fully functional. The answer is one isn't fully functional.
By applegodel8, Friday 10 November 2006 03:17
P3 will cause Blu-Ray to win IF P3 Sells and does well, for the fact that most people use what is simply there and more compatible. Play station usually wins, has for the past 2 models. so i have a feeling P3 will, now i am unbiased since i don't buy games consoles, so if p3 wins blu-ray will too. now i have seen both consoles, and X360 is nice, but i have a strong feeling that p3 will be better. but i dont care, these wars are stupid. cool
By Shadowman69, Friday 10 November 2006 11:18
Sony is just desperately trying to force the market to accept one of its propretary format in its life... Since all the previous propretary format failed now it's seeking revenge at any costs using the most powerful weapon in its hand... And I really hope it will fail. Sony does not deserve
By johnzap, Friday 10 November 2006 13:50
johnzap"In my opinion, even if the Playstation 3 turns out to be a tremendous success, this does not necessarily mean that its users are going to suddenly start forking out on Blu-ray movies, particularly if most are simply after it for playing games." Okay and what about people purchasing the PS3 simply to play Blu-ray movies? Since they can get it for $500 (rumoured to be $440 in Japan) the HD-DVD price advantage will not be an advantage anymore? Oh and while the HD-DVD players only do that, i.e. play HD-DVD movies, the PS3, if purchased to be used as a Blu-Ray player, even has the added advantage of being capable of doing more things, like, errr, play games. Wink Sincerely, all the signs all there that the PS3 will do well and might give Blu-Ray the edge over HD-DVD. We'll see, probably in less than a year from now, all will be a lot clearer.
By Wesociety, Friday 10 November 2006 15:18
WesocietyI have a new theory on what will happen with Blu-Ray due to the inclusion in the PS3. I think that the included Blu-Ray drive will cause some "curiousity buys" of Blu-Ray Disc movies, but it won't make the format immensely popular. PS3 gamers might buy a Blu-Ray disc movie just to satisfy their initial curiousity, and then after that continue to buy good ol' DVD movies. With such a low penetration of HD TV's out on the market, I don't see Blu-ray Disc OR HD DVD taking off... devil
By Dolphinius_Rex, Friday 10 November 2006 16:34
Dolphinius_RexRe: Shadowman69 Sony has had LOT'S of formats take off... Probably the biggest one was CD-R, but their DVD+R hasn't been doing too badly either. MiniDiscs were also a huge success in several markets. I wouldn't expect most people to know this, but Sony also holds almost ALL the patents on the media used to record broadcast quality TV shows and movies. Another thing I'd like to point out is that BluRay is as much a Sony creation as the CD-R and DVD+R are. In fact, Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, and Sony were some of the big names behind CD-R in the first place (along with Taiyo Yuden, who doesn't really support BluRay OR HDDVD). Instead of TY, the BluRay camp has TDK though... who generally I don't like much, but I can't deny their innovations as of late. Panasonic and even Imation have also been doing some incredible things. I really have a pet peeve for people who hate BluRay because "it's Sony". I happen to like BluRay because it's Philips and Panasonic supergrin
By neo1918, Friday 10 November 2006 16:44
The PS3 may get rid of HD-DVD's price advantage, but not until the availability issues are resolved. For the first several months, the only easy way to get a PS3 will be by paying a lot on eBay.
By heystoopid, Friday 10 November 2006 20:20
Sadly , given approximately a mere 2 million units available for the 1st retail launch, limited to mainland Japan and the continental US, with over 2/3's of available stock has been allocated for the Xmas US market alone with Europe , Asia and the rest of the world locked out for the time being, to be realistic , one would have to join the queue and pay an extremely high price on Ebay for the first 2nd hand units offered for sale! Oh well, you pays your money and takes your choice, that's for sure!
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