Now, now, don't get all up in arms yet. The title is made to spin you guys into our web and listen to what we've got to say. First off, the "format war" has been debatably won by Blu-ray in the US and Japan (of course, "won" is sort of a poor term, but it's the preferred purchase by consumers with an HD set and next-gen format players), so everyone would think that Blu-ray would come to be accepted by consumers and movie studios alike in Europe, seeing as how they've been able to witness the superior format pull ahead in the tiny market available to it.Not so. In Europe, it appears that over 35 movie studios, many of which are independent or small, have decided to join the HD DVD ranks and primarily distribute via that format. Blu-ray has about ten studios (which weren't named in the Next-Gen article). But, why?
Studio Canal's Chief Marketing Officer Rodolphe Buet said this: "I have met much more commitment from partners involved with HD DVD than Blu-Ray. I met Sony in mid-2006 but the support was far below what was offered by the HD DVD partners." Yeah, we're going to assume that "commitment" and "support" really mean "kick-backs". HD DVD may have abandoned the US and Japan, but they'll spend what they need to so they can get Europe.
Yeah, it's a blatantly fanboy viewpoint, but it's one that fanboys will probably take. It's just going to prolong the "war" and keep consumers indecisive and standoffish from adopting either format. DVD wins because these two just won't kiss and get married... so to speak.
