The adult film industry, which last year announced its support for the high-definition HD-DVD format, has changed its bets by adopting the rival Blu-ray format as well. Countless sources in the tech media now say a domino effect is happening, as companies look for new love in the Blu corner.
The major adult movie studio Digital Playground has announced that they will be releasing 8 brand new adult movies on Blu-ray in February.
This comes after Warner Brothers, which had been issuing movies in both formats, decided to go exclusively with Sony’s Blu-ray format. Variety also reports that retailers may also put pressure on Universal and Paramount to back Blu-ray. Last summer, Blockbuster decided to go with Blu-ray only.
Some retailers at CES disagree, however, saying Warner Bros.’ decision is not a death blow to HD DVD and they say the war will go on. “I don’t think we’re in a position to go out and declare a winner,” said Steve Eastman.
Reports from last year’s Adult Entertainment Expo indicated the industry had thrown its weight behind HD-DVD, with publishers including Digital Playground, Pink Visual and Bangbros adopting the format.
The increasing appearance of adult film titles on Blu-ray comes at the end of a week of bad news for Toshiba, HD-DVD’s main backer.
The adult film company stated “A lot of people were emailing that bought a PlayStation (PS3) and they were basically saying, “When are you guys going to release Blu-ray?” They really have no preference in format yet because it’s so new. When it comes down to image quality, there is no difference between the two.”
Microsoft also indicated it would consider introducing a Blu-ray accessory for its Xbox 360 console in the event that consumers decided on Blu-ray over HD-DVD.
Microsoft has been on the main backers of the HD-DVD format and currently offers a HD-DVD accessory for the Xbox 360.
Since the start of the “format wars” between HD-DVD and Blu-ray, journalists and experts have claimed that the adult film industry’s choice between the two could be a pivotal factor.
Many porn companies reported having trouble finding a place that would make adult movies on Blu-ray early on, but Warner Bros.’ decision to go Blu has opened the gates so that more people perceive the format as the winner in the high-def battle.
With pornography increasingly accessed online, rather than through physical sales, the industry’s impact on the battle between HD-DVD and Blu-ray is likely to be less significant.