More than 20 Australian companies backing Blu-ray format
by Nick Doerr 
{ Feb 15th 2007 at 2:45PM }
The Australian PlayStation 3 launch shouldn't be ignored! Why? Blu-ray, we guess. See, over twenty companies in Australia have thrown their support behind the next-gen format advertised in blue, including the retail giant JB Hi-Fi. In addition, at least in JB Hi-Fi's case, this support is exclusive. Meaning you won't find any HD-DVD movies in the store.Says marketing director of JB Hi-Fi Scott Browning: "Blu-ray is the only format that has the ability to tell the whole story, with the most comprehensive offering on the market. With seven of Hollywood's leading studios accounting for the vast majority of 2006's home video sales, among the 170 plus companies globally that support Blu-ray Disc, it makes sense that content will be king when it comes to Blu-ray...Indeed this is the reason that we have decided to only stock Blu-ray products at JB Hi-Fi."
If you guys down under really have the urge to buy a movie from Universal, though, you can always pick up the DVD versions. The PS3 plays those just fine, too! Any way you look at this, it's good news for Sony and good news for Blu-ray.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
duncan @ Feb 16th 2007 9:12AM
If you really want a Universal movie, there are already a few you can get on Blu-ray from other distributors like The Producers, Brokeback Mountain and Cinderella Man. Others like U-571, Bruce Almighty, Spy Game, Apollo 13, Casino and Back Draft will be available non-region coded through markets like Germany, Brazil, Finland and others.
Keep looking. No matter which way you turn everything points to Blu-ray being the winning format.
Congrats Australia on making a wise choice.
Killer @ Feb 15th 2007 7:15PM
And Bad News for Consumers. Thanks for shoving it down the consumer's throats retailers. Let us choose. We are people you know let us decide what goes and what stays.
Hope Universal only sells the Hd dvd/ dvd combo disc instead of normal dvds. Then we can have a real war. A war where we can't decide. Thank you corporate world. I just love to be told what to buy. I love how no one on either side of this war realizes this.
There is just nothing like having them tell you what to buy like you're a 4 year old.
It's a money hungry world we live in. It's pretty sad.
matjet @ Feb 15th 2007 7:38PM
If jb hi-fi isn't stocking hd-dvd then blu-ray has already won in Australia.
@killer.
Remind you of the fashion world perchance? you are forced to wear what you can buy and stores only stock the latest fashions.
If you look around, by your logic we are permanently been treated as 4-year-olds all over the place. How many things are there where their is no choice?
Azorean @ Feb 15th 2007 7:56PM
It's Australia who cares but the Aussies! When has Australia EVER been the deciding factor at ANYTHING?
Brent @ Feb 15th 2007 8:09PM
Retailers, in this case JB Hi-Fi, are not "shoving" anything down "consumers' throats". They are just deciding (earlier than most other retailers) to sell the format they believe consumers will likely prefer. Arguments like the "shoving" one are absurd... if JB Hi-Fi is "shoving" Blu-Ray down "our" throats, then Best Buy is making it "hard" for "us" to choose and therefore "shoving" BOTH formats down "our" throats. Give me a break - if HD-DVD becomes the more popular format, JB Hi-Fi, et al, will junk their Blu-Ray sections and exclusively sell HD-DVDs practically overnight.
TheSh0wstopper @ Feb 16th 2007 10:17AM
"It's Australia who cares but the Aussies! When has Australia EVER been the deciding factor at ANYTHING?"
One name for you JOSEPH "JOE" HACHEM.
TheSh0wstopper @ Feb 16th 2007 1:49PM
"Wow, look at all those movies still sitting there!!"
Yea look at ALL THOSE DVD'S SITTING THERE!!! too bad they are not blu-ray disks are they might actually have been sold. Obviously that jackass does not own any blu-ray movies or he would be able to recognize from the box that they are standard dvd's and not blu-rays. As all blu ray movie owners know our boxes are strikingly didtinctive. Save the pic to your pc and zoom in and you will see. Next time your underprivileged ass wants to rag on people who can actually afford technology that you cant (so you try to diss it to make yourself feel better, in psychology we call this a "Defense Mechanism") get your facts straight.
Freak @ Feb 26th 2007 7:16PM
" Next time your underprivileged ass wants to rag on people who can actually afford technology that you cant (so you try to diss it to make yourself feel better, in psychology we call this a "Defense Mechanism") get your facts straight.
Posted at 1:49PM on Feb 16th 2007 by TheSh0wstopper"
and the award for the biggest asshole of the day goes to... Get over yourself clown and I'd work on that spelling so it doesn't TOTALLY expose your room temperature IQ.