The Blu-ray Disc Association got in touch with us this afternoon to stick the knife into its rival HD DVD.
The BDA told us that HD DVD's sales estimates were over inflated and that Blu-ray is currently winning the war with a 2-to-1 ratio. It went as far as to quote Transformers director Michael Bay who has also been recently slating HD DVD.
"According to the releasing studio, 190,000 copies [of the Transformers HD DVD] were sold over the first week, leading Paramount to boast Transformers as, 'the fastest and best-selling week one release on either High Definition format as well as the best selling HD DVD ever,'" says the BDA.
"Whilst Paramount says Transformers sold 190,000 units during its first week in stores, Home Media Magazine market research and studio estimates puts the actual number of units that sold through to consumers closer to 115,000."
Blu-ray bludgeons HD DVD...
The BDA went on to say that despite Michael Bay's great success with Transformers on HD DVD, "the action director is showing little faith in the future of the High Definition optical format".
It pointed out that speaking to USA Today regarding the release of Transformers in high definition, Bay commented on Paramount and Dreamwork's decision to go HD DVD exclusive saying: "It's short-sighted and it has delayed consumers' moving to HD (home video). As a director, my critical eye is that Blu-ray is where my money is. Consumers are smart, and they are going to wait it out."
With a recent media offensive pushing the BD format, the Blu-ray camp is clearly stepping up the HD battle and things are starting to get nasty.
... but HD DVD won't stay down
It's no secret that both sides like to parade their numbers in front of journalists. But this is the first time that either side has really come out all guns blazing in an attempt to shoot the other down.
Blu-ray undeniably beats HD DVD in terms of installed base, Hollywood Studio support and technical storage. But HD DVD has the advantage of ludicrously cheap hardware, a finalised specification and more advanced interactive/web-enabled features.
With Christmas approaching, the HD playing field could be in for some interesting twists over the next few months, so stay tuned for more news as it comes in.
