In the never-ending next generation format war, HD-DVD has won a major victory in the form of Paramount and Dreamworks announcing they will use the format exclusively.

In what is sure to set off a new flurry of message board traffic on DVD sites, Blu-Ray lost a major chunk of film studio support today with the announcement.  The deal covers Paramount, DreamWorks, Paramount Vantage, Nickelodeon Movies and MTV Films, but for some reason it does not include Steven Spielberg directed films under the DreamWorks SKG banner.

According to the story on CNNMoney.com, the decision was motivated by factors such as the cost of production, the lower entry level pricing for consumers vs. Blu-Ray, and the fact this is expected to be the biggest holiday shopping season yet for DVDs.

The first exclusive title under this deal will be Will Ferrell’s skating comedy, Blades of Glory, and at a later date, you can expect the blockbuster, Transformers showing up only on the HD-DVD format.

It is still too early declare a winner in the overall war though.  Blu-Ray still has Disney, and Fox Home Entertainment is expected to announce later today they are renewing their support for the Blu-Ray format.

All of this should prove food for thought for those of you still sitting on the fence about which format to choose.

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Entry was posted on Monday, August 20th, 2007 at 12:21 pm under Uncategorized.  Print This Post

Read more entries by Sean P. Aune.
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