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At great personal risk to life and limb we've braved a sortie on the format war front to bring the latest advancements in the ever-raging battle to find a winning distribution medium. Up until now, if there was a general consensus that winner was emerging then it was probably Blu-ray but, alas, things are never so clear cut.

Throwing the proverbial cat in among the pigeons, Paramount and DreamWorks Animation are now lending their exclusive backing to HD DVD, bunking down with such others as HBO and Universal Studios. Paramount had previously sided with Blu-ray, but turned sides after deciding the lower cost discs and players of HD DVD were a better deal.

This means that such titles as the fabulous King Kong and the jaw-dropping 300 will now be joined by the truly awesome Transformers, which really does live up to the HD DVD moniker "The look and sound of perfect" to the letter (Says the 19 year-old tech journalist; It's a Michael Bay movie!?! - Gordon).

Of course Blu-ray isn't letting its opponent have things all its own way, with arguably bigger studio support with Fox, MGM and Disney all Blu-ray exclusive. In addition to that, Fox and MGM have announced another 29 titles for almost imminent release, of which A Bridge Too Far, Battle of Britain and Edward Scissorhands are notable inclusions.

Finally there are studios like Warner Bros. who are distributing on both formats (with sporadic exclusives on each). The whole situation seems to be turning into a bit of a joke and one can't help but feel that its we consumers upon which it is being played. I'll say it one more time for the record: Can we please not just have a winner and be done?

Update: Michael Bay has posted on his personal site expressing his apparent outrage at the decision on the part of Paramount. No Transformers 2 for him. Ouch! (Every dark cloud... - Gordon)

Link:
Paramount and DreamWorks Animation press release (PDF alert!).
Fox/MGM announcement.

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