Will Microsoft ditch HD DVD? .

Thursday 10th January 2008 - 17:00


'It's down to the consumer' say's Xbox Executive plus Dream Pinball 3D Wii screens



It has been anything but a good week for the HD DVD community. At the start of the week, during the most important trade show of its kind in the technology sector (CES) Warner Brothers, one of the largest studios in the film business and a chief backer of the HD DVD technology decided to withdraw its support for the format.

As a result the HD DVD forum to be held at the event was immediately cancelled - and by all accounts it looks like the competing technology, Blu-Ray is very much winning the format war.

HD DVD, which is backed by Microsoft and Toshiba from a hardware perspective, now has support from only Universal and Paramount among the big film studios that can provide content.

But now rumours are circulating the games industry that Microsoft is prepared to walk away from HD DVD in favour of the consumer's choice Blu-Ray. Xbox group marketing manager Albert Penello told Reuters : "It should be consumer choice, and if that's the way they vote, that's something we'll have to consider."

When questioned about Warner's decision to switch allegiance to Sony-backed Blu-Ray, he added: "I fundamentally don't think this has a significant impact on Xbox 360 versus PS3. With the PS2, DVD was a big part in the beginning, but over time, people were not buying it as a DVD player after first year or two. You can't say it's not a bummer, not a setback, but I've seen this battle declared over so many times. I want consumers to have a voice in this and I think there are a lot of consumers who bought HD-DVD who are going to have a say in how this shakes out."

We can't help but think that this may go the way of the VHS vs Betamax war where inevitably early adopters of one technology (in this case Betamax) were left high and dry and out of pocket after the market went with VHS. Considering Blu-Ray sales in the US out perform HD DVD by a ratio of 2:1 we think Sony might have backed a winner for once when it got behind Blu-Ray. For fans of history Sony was also behind the ill-fated Betamax VCR so perhaps it is time they get to win a round in the on-going format war.

From 80's format wars to pinball games - the nostalgic trip down memory lane continues! Today we have for your consideration, a hat trick of new screens from Dream Pinball 3D, forthcoming on Wii. The game boasts six table themes, several different ball options, multi-ball power-ups and the most 'intense visuals and ball physics a pinball game has ever seen!' Judge for yourself in March.