The year ahead: Steve's top 10 predictions

[Izmunuti]

If anything I'd see HD DVD winning purely for the fact that you can mix DVD and HD DVD layers on the same disc.

[Dorza]

What percentage of PS3 owners who aren't "clued up" actually know what Blu-ray is & how many of them are 1) even aware of it existing on the PS3 and 2) even care about it?

Riding Blu-ray in on the PS3 chariot is a good marketing technique by Sony. However I believe there is more to winning a format war than using (and relying on) a console to get the message out. If either camp wants to win in the long run then, they need to reach out to the average people who aren't clued about about technology or who won't come into contact with their formats through gaming. That won't happen until, prices for media come down and prices for hardware come down. On that front (where the hardware is concerned) HD-DVD has an advantage... Hardware for it can be had for a considerable about less than blu-ray hardware.

[eul0gy]

it would not surprise me to see both Blue ray and HD DVD failing if someone was to release a broadband box that you pay say £20 a month for and just stream HD moves over the net !. Plus ps3 and xbox 360 doing movie subscriptions. I read somewhere there was talk about shipping films on 32gb pen sticks when they get cheep enough ?

but saying that we would have to get the broadband sorted out in this country before we coudl do that

[Andaho]

The Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD:

I have to agree with the prediction simply because HD-DVD is going to be cheaper; cheaper to manufactuer and cheaper in terms of sony's patent loyaltys... I don't think they will be any cheaper for the consumer to buy, but in the manufacturing process they will make more profit from HD-DVD. PS3 owners are going to lose out because most HD disc players sold now have support for both. Look at sony's past media formats - the mini-disc and the memory-stick to mention a couple - sony products will always have great support for their media, but most consumers want to buy media that they will be able to play on other hardware.

I predict that sony won't let Blu-Ray die; it will just turn into another of the sony media formats.