Paramount, Universal Pressured by Retail to Go Blu

[Porfie]

Interesting article

Another report has surfaced, despite denials by Paramount, that it and Universal will soon announce Blu-ray support. Retailers are apparently putting on the pressure.
Posted by James Brightman on Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Earlier this week a story in the Financial Times surfaced that indicated HD DVD supporters Paramount and Universal would be defecting to Blu-ray following the Warner Bros. decision. Shortly after the story made waves, Paramount quickly denied it, noting that the studio's "current plan is to continue to support the HD DVD format."

Now Bill Hunt, editor for the Digital Bits has sparked the rumor mill once again. "We remain convinced that both Paramount and Universal are moving towards announcing Blu-ray Disc support soon, and we have real reason for that belief, not the least of which is that our sources in this situation are second to none," claims Hunt. "Announcements could happen tomorrow, they could happen next week, they could happen next month. We'd be surprised if it took longer than a month or two. We're hearing that Universal may not announce until February at the earliest, as we're given to understand that their contract period with the HD DVD camp expires at the end of January."

He continues, "Rest assured, sources continue to tell us that Paramount and Universal are going Blu, but sorting out all the legal details and organizing the logistics takes time. The Warner move was apparently well planned, but Paramount and Universal have only just started that process. They may or may not continue releasing HD DVDs for a time - we'll have to wait and see. But retailers are now seriously pressuring these studios to go Blu, and we'd be surprised if many mainstream stores still have HD DVD hardware and software on their shelves come next Christmas."

For more on how this likely Blu-ray victory will affect the PS3, check out our recent analyst round-up.


http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/ne...u/19031/?biz=1