Will Hybrids Scuttle PS3?

Published 2 years ago, at the end of June under gaming

Playstation 3One 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”


 

7 Quick-Witted Remarks

  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 marke