AUG. 19, 2007 • Paramount Home Video Home Video joined Universal Studios Home Video in backing the HD-DVD format exclusively. The Blu-ray format promoted by Sony Electronics has won exclusives with Fox Home Video, Lions Gate Entertainment, MGM Home Video, and Walt Disney Home Video. Warner Home Video releases high-definition movies on both formats. So far, the sales of Blu-ray titles out-pace those on HD-DVD in the U.S. and Europe by two-to-one thanks in part to sales of the PS3, which comes with Blu-ray playback. Regardless, Paramount marketing executive Rob Moore told Daily Variety that entry-level HD-DVD players starting at $250 with a $100 advantage over stand-alone Blu-ray players, was behind the decision. “When we looked at the data so far, buy rates for people who have bought stand-alone players is much higher than when someone buys a player embedded in a game system,” Moore said.
Impact: The game systems complicate the high-definition war because they drive such a high volume of unit sales. Because many users may not use their game system to play high-definition movies it can be hard to assess the potential installed base for a format. In reporting sales it is important to separate out how many are dedicated players versus how many re embedded in game systems.
