Stick a fork in it, because it’s over. It’s official. Today, Toshiba has announced that HD-DVD is no more and will be relegated to the bin of history. For the first time, consumers have won in receiving a quality product instead of the cheaper product. Blu-Ray is here to stay and coming within the next year we will now have Lord of the Rings in Blu-Ray! I could go on and on, but you can go look at my previous blog posts (click the Blu-Ray or HD-DVD tags at the bottom of this post to get a listing).
The studios are thrilled, though many might consider that a downside. The hardware manufacturers are thrilled. Everyone is happy. Expect a massive roll-out of titles in about six months, and by Christmas you should see prices on releases drop. This will also spur on the availability of actual BDVD+RW drives for your computer at an affordable level as well as drives that are speedier.
Who’s left holding the bag? Toshiba and Microsoft. I feel sorry for Toshiba. Here’s an article that appeared today of some interest. It’s one of many that have come out, indicating how thrilled they are at the announcement.
“While we are disappointed for the company and more importantly, for the consumer, the real mass market opportunity for high definition content remains untapped and Toshiba is both able and determined to use our talent, technology, and intellectual property to make digital convergence a reality,” Atsutoshi Nishida, president and chief executive of Toshiba, said in a statement.
Universal, one of the two remaining HD-DVD camps has announced a switch to Blu-Ray effective immediately. New titles will come out on HD-DVD, and they will release their back catalog as well. Only Paramount remains and an announcement is expected at any moment.