The long struggle over format supremacy between Blu-ray and HD-DVD is finally over. Toshiba has officially turned the page on HD-DVD and as of today, has discontinued its development. One of the clear winners because of this turn of events is the PlayStation 3, a heavy supporter of Blu-ray’s cause since the very beginning of its existence. The gaming console/Blu-ray player is expected to see a 10% increase in sales due to this development according to Wedbush Morgan analyst, Michael Pachter.
This would not come as a shock at all since after all, the PS3 is much more than a Blu-ray player; it is also a very powerful gaming and multimedia system. With the format war officially over and Blu-ray being declared the winner, consumers no longer have to worry about their technology becoming obsolete. In turn, the PS3 has quickly become the clear-cut choice for consumers looking for a cost-effective Blu-ray player as they look forward to the future of HD.

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According to a recent article published on GamesIndustry.Biz, the PS3 has reached global sales of 10.5 million units compared to the estimated 1 million installed HD DVD player base. This figure suggests to us that even without including the sales figures of standalone Blu-ray players, this wide margin alone could have been the critical blow that finally pushed HD-DVD into submission. As if that was not enough, 96 percent of the technology sold in Japan during the last quarter of 2007, was Blu-ray.

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