Sony’s continued assault on the Blu-ray market using the PS3 has done wonders for it in the ongoing format wars. In fact, with Blu-ray vs HD-DVD beginning to seem rather quiet, I think there was an inkling suspicion that Blu-ray had already all but stolen the format crown.

However, a newly announced and rather surprising move by Paramount sees the Hollywood giant go over to HD DVD completely, meaning that Blu-ray is left lacking one of its major supporters. Paramount includes Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Nickelodeon Movies and MTV Films in its portfolio. Recent films have included Shrek the Third and Transformers.

''Part of our vision is to aggressively extend our movies beyond the theater, and deliver the quality and features that appeal to our audience,'' said Brad Grey, chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc.

The news also took the Blu-ray disc association by surprise and they have since offered an official response: "The decision seems oddly timed given Blu-ray's tremendous momentum both with consumers and with retail. Blu-ray title sales continue to outpace HD-DVD sales by nearly a 2 to 1 margin, and major retailers have expressed a strong preference for Blu-ray,” said Andy Parsons, Chairman of the BDA, adding “we can only imagine what could have enticed them to walk away from a format that is clearly selling significantly more software than the ailing HD-DVD format."

Andy, I can imagine – it’s money. A LOT of money. Money enough to drown a family of Blue Whales in and still have enough left over to build an 80 foot tall money-mâché effigy to yourself. Whatever the case, this is really only going to serve to make the Blu-ray versus HD DVD buying decision that bit more complicated, or it will do as soon as the format manages to really catch on.

Source
The New York Times

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