Blockbuster snub HD-DVD in favour of Blu-Ray
It's still very early days in the battle of the Blu-Ray and HD-DVD formats, but news released today from Blockbuster, the world's largest dvd and videogames rental store, will be a major boost for Sony who are hoping that the popularity of the format will help to increase sales of the PS3. Following the format's backing by major film studios, Blockbuster have sided with the Blu-Ray format and will be stocking Blu-Ray discs in 1,450 stores across the US, starting next month, but will only be selling HD-DVD discs in 250 of its stores.
"The consumers are sending us a message. I can't ignore what I'm seeing," senior vice president of merchandising at Blockbuster Matthew Smith told The Associated Press.
"While it is still too early to say which high-definition format will become the industry standard, we will continue to closely monitor customer rental patterns both at our stores and online, so we can adjust our inventory mix accordingly and ensure that Blockbuster is offering customers the most convenient access to the movies they want, in the format they want," said Smith.
The decision comes after figures revealed that 70% of Blockbuster's high-definition rentals so far have been Blu-Ray.
Source :: Games Industry