Earlier today Toshiba announced the death of HD DVD and in that article I speculated as to what Universal and Paramount would do as they were the two remaining major backers of the HD DVD format. Well, the Universal answer is already in as Home Media Magazine carries a quote from Craig Kornblau, president of Universal Studios Home Entertainment, saying, “While Universal values the close partnership we have shared with Toshiba, it is time to turn our focus to releasing new and catalog titles on Blu-ray.”
Universal was the one studio that stood strong with HD DVD the entire way, never backing Blu-ray until now, but it seems to be just as quickly turning the tables and ready to give consumers the winning format.
“The path for widespread adoption of the next-generation platform has finally become clear,” Kornblau said. “Universal will continue its aggressive efforts to broaden awareness for high-def’s unparalleled offerings in interactivity and connectivity, at an increasingly affordable price. The emergence of a single, high-definition format is cause for consumers, as well as the entire entertainment industry, to celebrate.”
Now we wait for Paramount to make their announcement and we can put the entire format war to bed.
