I’m not a videophile but I do have a HDTV and since I work for SCEA, it’s not surprising that I have a Playstation 3. Since Sony is one of the members of the Blu-ray Disc Association it was no shock that they wanted to use Blu-ray for the disc format of the Playstation 3 which was released in late 2006. The other format, HD-DVD had its supporters, including Microsoft which released an add-on drive for their Xbox 360 gaming console which is normally DVD based.

The competition between the two formats also affected the movie studios who had to decide which format to get behind. Paramount supports HD-DVD exclusively and Disney is exclusively Blu-ray. Most other studios, took a wait-and-see attitude while the consumers were forced to take a gamble on one or the other or abstain until a victor was decided. Each format had its advantages and certainly had their own share of supporters and detractors. They kept their eyes on each other with player cost and movie prices remaining in-line with one another. It wasn’t looking good and many were predicting a protracted battle.

That battle may well and be over as yesterday, Warner Brothers which was remaining neutral and supporting both formats decided that starting June 1, will be releasing their new and back-catalog titles in the Blu-ray format exclusively. It’s not set in stone, but I can’t think of how Blu-ray won’t end up being the only hi-def format by the end of 2008.

I’m happy since not only does my employer have a vested interest, I have largely committed to the format with my decision to purchase all three Pirates of the Carribean movies and the Harry Potter box set in Blu-ray. Granted, they wouldn’t stop playing if Blu-ray ended up losing, but I didn’t want to have to think about getting a new disc player and have become quite accustomed to seeing movies all purdy-like.