It seemed as though Blu-ray was beating HD-DVD with the news that it was out selling the format by some two to one, a phenomenal amount, but that success seems to have taken a knock as Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Animation have announced that they are dropping Blu-ray production and starting HD-DVD.

The CEO of Paramount said in the release:

“I believe HD DVD is not only the affordable high-quality choice for consumers, but also the smart choice for Paramount...I believe HD DVD is not only the affordable high quality choice for consumers, but also the smart choice for Paramount.”

Over at DreamWorks their CEO is pretty upfront about what the issue is, the cost of hardware:

“Today Toshiba is making HD-DVD players available at $299, which is a first time that it's really been at an affordable price...It's a game-changer, what they're doing, and it's why we decided to throw in with them”

The story comes from Yahoo News and on HighDefDigest here, here and here and is a big surprise. Basically they are saying that they are moving because of the end cost of hardware to the user, a cost which is high on both sides.

Whether this is the right move or not, the studios have yet again shown a couldn't care less attitude towards their customers.

These two studios have effectively been releasing their products solely on Blu-ray and telling their customers to buy Blu-ray products, products that they are now saying are far too expensive for people to buy (despite the 2 to 1 selling rate) and have switched format. Now what are their customers to do? Sell their Blu-ray equipment and discs and go out and buy it all again on HD-DVD?

It's about time the studios and the consortiums get together and sorted themselves out and stopped costing the consumer all these costs. It's no wonder that there's a high percentage of next generation game consoles owners who don't know that their system has HD capabilities.