“It should be consumer choice; and if that’s the way they vote, that’s something we’ll have to consider,” this is what Albert Penello group marketing manager of Xbox hardware said when asked whether Microsoft would support a Blu-ray DVD accessory in the event that HD-DVD failed. –source
This single quote has made the blogsphere set fire yesterday. It seems that Blu-ray may be winning everyone over lately, this doesn’t mean that HD-DVD is dead but things are looking pretty glum for them.
Today we also got news from PaidContent that Universal is going to be ending their HD-DVD exclusivity soon. The reason that Universal has not yet made an official statement about this is that contracts keep them from doing so, Universal is still committed to a series of promotions for HD-DVD in the coming months.
Paramount also may be leaving the HD-DVD camp, from all of the rumors going around it seems that Paramount has a clause in their HD-DVD contract allowing them to switch camps if Warner Bros. goes with Blu-ray (which they already have).
New Line Cinema (a sister company of Warner Bros.) has confirmed that they will follow Warner’s move to go exclusive with Blu-ray. Ron Sanders, Warner Home Video president, said that although Warner Bros. decided to go exclusive with Blu-ray other Time Warner entertainment companies would be making their own decisions. New Line Cinemas decision to stop making HD-DVD titles is effective immediately. –source
With the news of Microsoft’s willingness to come out with a Blu-ray drive for the Xbox 360 alongside these news stories about studios leaving HD-DVD, it looks like HD-DVD isn’t looking too good right now. I can’t really see HD-DVD coming back and winning this war but I’m not going to come out and say that it is dead either. Although the fact that HD-DVD decided to cancel their press conference at CES says to me, and many others, that the HD-DVD camp is also starting to think that they may lose this war.