Rob Goodlatte

One of the major selling points of Sony’s upcoming Playstation 3 is the inclusion of a Blu-Ray player for watching HD movies. When the system finally launches, Sony wants the PS3 to be the least expensive Blu-Ray player on the market to drive sales. But Blu-ray has been slow to come to market compared to rival HD-DVD, and now Toshiba, Samsung, NEC, and even Sony are planning on releasing hybrid players to play both HD-DVD and Blu-ray discs in preparation for a split market. How will this affect the presumably Blu-ray-only PS3? It seems that either the PS3 will have to play both formats - potentially increasing an already high price, or the PS3 will be crippled with one-format playback.

More at:
Digital Battle: Blu-ray & HD-DVD Hybrid
Tom’s Hardware: Samsung to consider “dual Blu-ray / HD DVD player”

 

1. Elessar June 27th at 10:17 pm

   Eventually, one format will come out on top. Movie studio’s are losing money with 2 formats. So on paper, Sony and Blu-ray have the advantage with having 5 of the 6 major movie studio’s onboard. However, Toshiba and HD-DVD made it to market first, thus a current advantage.

   But given the fact that the PlayStation 3 will be selling millions (easily) by the end of this year, and the likelihood that the PS3 will sell possibly 10+ million in 2007, Sony has guaranteed movie studio’s millions of potential users. So in the end, i really think that one format will come out on top. My opinion is that Sony and the PS3 will sell well, and will compete with MS’s Xbox 360. HD-DVD has to face the challange of selling as a standalone player. They can’t rely on the 360 for the shere fact that many gamers will not buy the ‘add-on’ or ‘accessory’ since it will NOT play games.

   A hybrid player for the PS3 is ‘possible’ in the future, but i doubt Sony will do that. They are fully committed to Blu-ray, which is good. So either way, Blu-ray will be the format for the PS3…

2. Jake Tracey June 28th at 12:20 pm

   Until the launch of the PSP and the failure of UMD, I would’ve assumed that Sony would have easily won this battle, however given their recent track record of failed formats, Blu-ray may be dead in the water, even with the support of a platform like the PS3.

   It’s also interesting to consider that the PS2 was released at a pricepoint where a larger majority of consumers could afford it, whereas the PS3 will only be a viable product for the high end of the market unless the price drops dramatically after the launch.

3. Elessar June 28th at 2:50 pm

   Actually, the PS3 launched for $300. Thats the same as the Xbox 360 (HDD-less version). As for Blu-ray, this time around Sony has A LOT more backing for the format. And they also have the PlayStation 3, a nearly household name. Yeah, $500 - $600 is high for a console. But if Blu-ray even remotely takes off at the PS3’s launch, people (smart ones at least) will see the PS3 as a $600 Blu-ray player, that just so happens to play next-generation video games as well :P

4. Ben July 5th at 2:15 pm

   I can’t see a console selling well at $500-600 dollars. As for being an inexpensive Blu-ray player, here are my thoughts. If most consumers are faced with the option of getting a current generation DVD player for

5. Elessar July 6th at 6:56 pm

   If (IF) Sony markets both Blu-ray and the PlayStation 3 properly, people will see the ‘deal’ they are getting. Personally, im buying the PS3 because i am a gamer. I can only afford 1 next-gen console and the PS3 is what i want. I have a part-time job while in college and i ’should’ be able to afford the PS3 this fall. So i would have to imagine that rich little kids will be able to have their parents get them a PS3, or people still living at home, they too should be able to get the PS3. And then there’s the adults who have a job and family, but enough income, they will also be getting a PS3. So i do see it selling well.

6. Alex Schearer July 10th at 5:41 pm

   What will scuttle the PS3 isn’t the format but the steady hemorrhaging of exclusive titles to other platforms/non-exclusivity. People who believe that Sony sold so many PS2 this generation riding on brand name are checked out. Sony won out this round because it had the largest and most diverse game library. If you wanted RPGs you had the Square-Enix churning out exclusives, if you wanted dance/beat games you had Dance Dance Revolution (I realize not always exclusive), guitar hero, etc. If you wanted stealth/action agmes you had Kanomi and MG, Jack and Daxter, etc. The only thing you couldn’t get was Halo.

   This time around things have changed. Due in large part to the increased costs of producing titles, more studios are opting to port their games. Almost all the news I read about the PS3 is about one formally exclusive after another being created for the 360 as well. This trend is going to be the real weakness for Sony, because it will be much harder to distinguish their product from the competitions as a result. Sony will no doubt have a great variety of games this upcoming generation, but if the competitors can match that, then Sony might lose out to the Xbox Live equipped 360 and motion sensing Wii.

7. Rohan August 22nd at 12:28 am

   Nice site, keep up the good work its a great design;)

 

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