Who is REALLY winning the console wars?

Channel:

Plankicorn

Subscribers:

1,020

Published on December 24, 2008 2:02:00 AM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQbaWd_2xOg

Duration: 0:14

1,036 views

7

This is my last video before Christmas!

Content found at: http://www.christian-gaming.com/xbox/is-blu-ray-failing-because-ps3-is-failing#more-1477


Hey remember the format wars? Thats right, long ago and far away there were once two different types of High Definition movies. There was HD-DVD and Blu-ray, both looked the same visually but Blu-ray had a larger storage capacity and better backing from the movie industry. Panelist debated long and hard over who would be the winner of the format war. The nail in the coffin however was when Warner Bros decided to go Blu-ray exclusive. Blu-ray disc was finally given the crown of the king of HD and skeptics speculated that the PS3 would skyrocket in the area of in-home-install-base due to the Playstation 3 being the cheapest Blu-ray player on the market.

Its easy to associate the PS3 with Blu-ray. Sony took the title as the HD winner and used it till its juices were squeezed right out. With Blu-ray being the HD winner why wouldnt you think that Sony would do well with their Blu-ray player that happens to play video games? The problem itself doesnt even lie with Blu-ray although some may argue that society wasnt ready for an upgrade in movie watching yet (Cmon the Wii doesnt even play DVDs). It could be possible that part of the blame for Blu-rays lack of appeal has to do with the small installed base of the Playstation 3.


While the majority of the world doesnt even own an HD capable television there is no HD requirement on the next generation consoles. You can play the PS3 or the Xbox 360 without HDMI or Component Cables therefore not even utilizing the true potential of the next generation console. For those who have never seen a game or movie in HD its easy to understand the lack of interest in an upgrade. For the most part DVD still looks good to those who have a VCR and with the exception of games like Dead Rising or Banjoe Kazooie you can still get a graphical upgrade to your games with the new generation without HD.

Now, back to installed base, the PS3 in November had a total installed base of 5.7 million with Xbox toppling those numbers at 11.6 million clearly leading the race. Add that the Playstation 3s exclusive titles have been few and far-between and suffering in the marketing realm, the appeal to try out the Blu-ray player built into the console is just not there. I would think that if I owned a PS3 for its games and just so happened to be curious about what a Blu-ray movie looked like I would be much more likely to purchase a movie since I already have a player installed. It appears that its actually the opposite though. It seems that people who know about Blu-ray realize the deal they are getting upon purchasing a PS3 and then maybe they decide to purchase a few games to pass the time. Its just an opinion but maybe if the 360 had Blu-ray built in, the market could have been well saturated with the need for HD movies.

Sony may have picked the right HD version, but Blu-ray didnt pick the right console.

All in all Blu-ray is suffering because of expense of watching requirements. Not only do you need to have a Blu-ray player but you also need a television capable of displaying High Definition images at least 720p or better. Add to that, having the finances to afford paying almost $30 for 1 movie when you can get its standard definition brother for under $20, is hard to come by. There may be interest and appeal but marketing and necessity are not major players yet with consumers.

Have a very merry Christmas!