Houston Community News >> PS3 Will Put Focus on Blu-Ray
11/10/2006 - The coming launch
of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.'s PlayStation 3 game console will put more
focus on the Blu-ray disc format, but don't expect a resolution to "the format
wars" over high-definition video discs, said Peter Chernin, the president and
chief operating officer of News Corp.
"I've been talking to all of the electronics manufacturers on both sides of the
format wars," Chernin said. "I don't think there's likely to be a quick
resolution, I think the resolution, if it comes, is likely to be driven by the
marketplace."
His comments came Thursday during a conference call with reporters and analysts.
News Corp., which owns 20th Century Fox, has so far only released movies on Blu-ray,
which counts Sony Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. among its backers. The
company has not announced plans to release films on HD-DVD, the competing
format, which is backed by Toshiba Corp. and many others. While HD-DVD was the
first format to hit the market with players and content, these are still early
days, Chernin said.
"Right now you have a tiny, tiny number of players out there at very high
prices," he said. "Most of the HD-DVD players are at the US$1,000 range and
you're going to see a huge number of Blu-ray players entering the marketplace
through PlayStation 3."
The release of PlayStation 3, set to happen in Japan on Nov. 11 and the U.S.,
Hong Kong and Taiwan on Nov. 17, will put "some focus" on Blu-ray, Chernin said.
"The marketplace will start getting interesting as PlayStation 3 starts hitting
the marketplace," he said, adding that a negotiated settlement between backers
of the competing format is not likely to happen. "Unification, if it comes, is
going to be driven by the marketplace," Chernin said.
(Contributed by CANOE)