Next-Generation Content War Continues to Ravage HD DVDWritten By: Michael "Shogun" Hatamoto The fallout of an apparent Blu-ray victory over HD DVD continued all week, even after the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) ended on Thursday evening. Is the "war" for next-gen supremacy over? Can everyone look to go buy a Blu-ray player now?
Even though HD DVD supporters are back-pedalling faster than a politician caught with his mistress, we still aren't sure if the end of HD DVD is near - it's more likely to just drag on for another year or two, with HD DVD as a possible after thought compared to Blu-ray.
First, Warner pulled the plug on HD DVD - and now
Universal decided it too will stop supporting HD DVD in the future.
Do you really want to gauge how well Blu-ray is doing now? The adult film companies last year threw their support behind HD DVD only, stating it was the format that they believed would offer the best opportunity for sales.
The makers of the extremely popular porn movie Pirate XXX, Digital Playground, also announced it will leave HD DVD and offer content to Blu-ray exclusively - in a similar fashion as other porn studios, Digital Playground offered content for both formats. Hustler also announced it will support up to 25 different adult content titles for Blu-ray this year.
If porn companies continue to leave HD DVD and flock to Blu-ray only, the end could be near for HD DVD.
The very fact that Microsoft admitted last week it was thinking about offering a Blu-ray add-on for the Xbox 360 -- when an HD DVD add-on is the only option available -- shows where the trend is going. Please remember that Microsoft remains one of the strongest backers of the HD DVD format, but understands it makes economical sense to go with the format consumers want most.
What to expect from the future? Although movie studios will likely continue to side with Blu-ray over HD DVD, expect the battle to continue for a long distance.
Since U.S. consumers are able to purchase Blu-ray and HD DVD players for $200 now, and that number should continue to drop as the technology gets better.
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