There is a war going on right now for the domination of your living room. On one side, we have Sony’s Blu-ray disc format, and in the other Toshiba’s (along with several other companies) HD-DVD disc. I’ve written about this high-definition format war before in Amherst Bytes, but seeing as how they have “officially” launched over the summer, I think it’s time to revisit the topic. More specifically, I’d like to discuss Sony’s self-righteous handling of this format war, and how it will most likely lead to the destruction of the media giant as we know it.
Sony is being incredibly selfish by pushing its own high-definition standard instead of coming to some sort of agreement with the other major electronics companies. Dueling formats in the marketplace is never good for anyone: It slows the adoption rates of new technology among average consumers by confusion, and it feeds hesitant acceptance among media companies because they’re not sure which side will win. So why would they go forth with the Blu-Ray format knowing these drawbacks?
Personally, I think the answer to that may lie in Sony’s blind confidence that their format will trump HD-DVD—hubris which comes from their assumed surefire success of the Playstation 3. And of course, let’s not forget that owning the de facto HD disc standard would make them obscene amounts of money.
Yet it’s almost as if Sony is replaying history with Blu-Ray, as the whole situation smells eerily similar to their failed Betamax format. In Betamax, they had a cassette that offered superior picture quality to VHS tapes, but was at the same time a consumer nightmare. The players were expensive, and the first generation tapes were limited to only an hour of recording time. The latter limitation kept most of the major studios away from the format, and Sony’s self-induced confusion scared away most consumers. In the end, VHS won because it was more consumer and production friendly, while Betamax was relegated to AV geek closets and endless Simpsons references.
It doesn’t seem like Sony has learned their lesson from the Betamax fiasco however, because Blu-Ray seems to hate consumers just as much as its older brother. Current Blu-Ray players go for around $1000 (compared to $500 for HD-DVD players), and their first generation of Blu-Ray discs have been shown to be of lesser quality than their comparable HD-DVD releases. Right now Blu-Ray is winning only on the technical front, as it currently holds 25GB per disc where HD-DVD holds 15GB, but of course this doesn’t mean a thing to consumers.
So now we come to the Playstation 3, which is Sony’s one and only chance to cement Blu-Ray as the “true” HD disc. At a retail price of $600 (let’s just forget the wimpier $500 version), the PS3 comes across as a bargain for a Blu-Ray player. From a console standpoint though, the $600 price tag is ludicrous. The last console to cost that much was the Panasonic 3D0, and we all know how well that turned out (read: utter failure). My gut tells me that the competing identities of the PS3, both as Blu-Ray player and game console, may end up diluting the role of the machine so much so that it won’t be nearly as successful as Sony hopes.
It’s not difficult to see why this might be so. While the adoption of HDTV’s in America is on the rise, it’s not nearly enough to support a mass exodus to the PS3 on launch day by consumers frothing at the mouth for Blu-Ray films. Those wanting a next generation game console could easily opt for the Xbox 360, which currently has the PS3 matched graphically, along with a more robust online network, for $400. Also, let’s not forget that the 360 will be getting an HD-DVD add-on drive later this year.
The success of the Playstation 3 will not only determine the fate of Blu-Ray discs, but also of Sony as a corporate entity. Right now they’re putting the entire company on the line for the PS3, as it remains their key to home entertainment center. Failing this, we’ll most likely see the death of Sony as a corporate giant, and a hasty restructuring into smaller subsidiary companies. That they could gamble their future so readily on the success of a game console is astounding. Even though I think Sony will most likely lose this format war, they are at least putting up a fight that’s entertaining to watch.
Contact Devindra with questions, thoughts, and Sony fanboy hate mail at
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Amherst Bytes #28: Sony Self Destructs
There is a war going on right now for the domination of your living room. On one side, we have Sony’s Blu-ray disc format, and in the other Toshiba’s (along with several other companies) HD-DVD disc. I’ve written about this high-definition format war before in Amherst Bytes, but seeing as how they have “officially” launched over the summer, I think it’s time to revisit the topic. More specifically, I’d like to discuss Sony’s self-righteous handling of this format war, and how it will most likely lead to the destruction of the media giant as we know it.
Sony is being incredibly selfish by pushing its own high-definition standard instead of coming to some sort of agreement with the other major electronics companies. Dueling formats in the marketplace is never good for anyone: It slows the adoption rates of new technology among average consumers by confusion, and it feeds hesitant acceptance among media companies because they’re not sure which side will win. So why would they go forth with the Blu-Ray format knowing these drawbacks?
Personally, I think the answer to that may lie in Sony’s blind confidence that their format will trump HD-DVD—hubris which comes from their assumed surefire success of the Playstation 3. And of course, let’s not forget that owning the de facto HD disc standard would make them obscene amounts of money.
Yet it’s almost as if Sony is replaying history with Blu-Ray, as the whole situation smells eerily similar to their failed Betamax format. In Betamax, they had a cassette that offered superior picture quality to VHS tapes, but was at the same time a consumer nightmare. The players were expensive, and the first generation tapes were limited to only an hour of recording time. The latter limitation kept most of the major studios away from the format, and Sony’s self-induced confusion scared away most consumers. In the end, VHS won because it was more consumer and production friendly, while Betamax was relegated to AV geek closets and endless Simpsons references.
It doesn’t seem like Sony has learned their lesson from the Betamax fiasco however, because Blu-Ray seems to hate consumers just as much as its older brother. Current Blu-Ray players go for around $1000 (compared to $500 for HD-DVD players), and their first generation of Blu-Ray discs have been shown to be of lesser quality than their comparable HD-DVD releases. Right now Blu-Ray is winning only on the technical front, as it currently holds 25GB per disc where HD-DVD holds 15GB, but of course this doesn’t mean a thing to consumers.
So now we come to the Playstation 3, which is Sony’s one and only chance to cement Blu-Ray as the “true” HD disc. At a retail price of $600 (let’s just forget the wimpier $500 version), the PS3 comes across as a bargain for a Blu-Ray player. From a console standpoint though, the $600 price tag is ludicrous. The last console to cost that much was the Panasonic 3D0, and we all know how well that turned out (read: utter failure). My gut tells me that the competing identities of the PS3, both as Blu-Ray player and game console, may end up diluting the role of the machine so much so that it won’t be nearly as successful as Sony hopes.
It’s not difficult to see why this might be so. While the adoption of HDTV’s in America is on the rise, it’s not nearly enough to support a mass exodus to the PS3 on launch day by consumers frothing at the mouth for Blu-Ray films. Those wanting a next generation game console could easily opt for the Xbox 360, which currently has the PS3 matched graphically, along with a more robust online network, for $400. Also, let’s not forget that the 360 will be getting an HD-DVD add-on drive later this year.
The success of the Playstation 3 will not only determine the fate of Blu-Ray discs, but also of Sony as a corporate entity. Right now they’re putting the entire company on the line for the PS3, as it remains their key to home entertainment center. Failing this, we’ll most likely see the death of Sony as a corporate giant, and a hasty restructuring into smaller subsidiary companies. That they could gamble their future so readily on the success of a game console is astounding. Even though I think Sony will most likely lose this format war, they are at least putting up a fight that’s entertaining to watch.
Contact Devindra with questions, thoughts, and Sony fanboy hate mail at