Blu-Ray 

It might have taken 20 years but Sony is can now claim victory in the latest format war. We’ve been reporting on an on-going basis as more and more retailers have made Sony’s Blu-Ray format their choice and now the bitter loss of the betamax battle can finally be put behind them. Not only have retailers made their choice but the studios have as well. Sony, Disney, and Fox were the original strongholds of the format with Warner Bros. straddling the fence until recently and Paramount and Universal being bribed to stay with HD DVD. Now all that changes. Universal said they will be shifting their focus to Sony and Paramount has stopped now that ‘Things We Lost in the Fire’ and ‘Into the Wild’ were released in early March.

The only group not jumping ship as quickly as possible is Dreamworks Animation. The ‘K’ in Dreamworks SKG, and CEO of Dreamworks Animation, Jeffrey Katzenberg, had thisto say about the situation, “We have a partnership with Toshiba and have an obligation to see this through. As you know, we have been well-compensated for our support [see bribed above]. It really is in their court at this point to really declare what the next step will be. We’re poised either way to jump into the marketplace when the conditions are right to do so.” The plan for Dreamworks Animation at the moment is to continue until the manufacturing plants are shut down and they are free to move on to the Blu-Ray format.

After battling for the last few years a congratulations is in order to Sony. They created a superior product that outlasted the competition and this time they remain on top. This doesn’t mean they are taking the future in stride. With streaming online hi-def right around the corner Sony might have won the battle but the longer war is still yet to be determined.


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