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Toshiba Discontinues HD DVD, Blu-ray Wins the Race
The high-def format race is finally over. Toshiba announced today it will no longer develop, make, or market HD DVD players and recorders.
"We concluded that a swift decision would be best," Toshiba President Atsutoshi Nishida told reporters in Tokyo after making the announcement.
To some this may be a surprise, and to HD DVD owners possibly even a huge letdown, but to others it's simply understandable as to why Toshiba has discontinued the HD DVD player. Blu-ray was winning the format wars and it seemed that Blu-ray finally got to a tipping point where it was inevitable they were going to win in the long run.
Perhaps it was the inclusion within the PlayStation 3, perhaps it was superior format, perhaps it was millions in back-door bribes. Whatever the end reason, Blu-ray has won and HD DVD is now officially dead.
This holiday season Sony's Blu-ray had a much more appealing marketing and management plan, dealing a massive blow to HD DVD's sales and ultimately leading to their demise.
Fortunately for XBox 360 owners the HD DVD is not an allowed format for video games on the console, but anyone who bought the extra accessory to enjoy the high-definition quality DVD's on their system are going to have to consider other outlets. Not to worry though; at CES 2008 Microsoft stated that if the consumers demanded Blu-ray over HD-DVD, they would certainly begin supporting it.
Sorry to see you go HD DVD. You had a nice run.
I honestly could have cared less who ended up winning. I am just glad I can commit to a format now. Looks like my PS3 is coming a bit closer than expected.
Posted by robotplague at February 19, 2008 1:21 PMAnd the consumers rejoice.
Posted by sonny at February 19, 2008 1:54 PMWould have been interesting if I hadn't already heard about it on 20 other outlets prior to this. How about some content instead of regurgitated news and a terribly unfunny MS Paint picture?
Posted by Malt at February 19, 2008 9:51 PMI'm very happy to see the war coming to an end so we consumers can settle down to what we do best: consume! Amazon, here I come. I got the PS3 a couple of weeks ago, primarily for the Blu-Ray, but I'm loving it as a gaming system as well.
Posted by Karen at February 19, 2008 10:40 PMPlease keep your comments relevant to this entry: inappropriate or purely promotional comments may be removed. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br> tags.