Blu-ray of Light or Death?

(Super Exclusive) -- The DVD format war is heating up as Sony’s blu-ray technology and Toshiba’s HD DVD technology take to the battlefield. Sony is implementing a blu-ray drive to the PS3 console and has already slotted blu-ray drives in some of their notebooks. Samsung has also released a blu-ray DVD player. On the other side of the battlefield, Toshiba has also launched it own notebook that comes with a HD DVD drive. Furthermore, Microsoft is coming up with a separate Xbox 360 HD DVD drive soon. Microsoft is known to be quite supportive of the HD DVD technology and if it implements the technology in its upcoming operating system, Windows Vista, then Sony would have more competition. So, the question is: With such an established and huge company like Microsoft supporting the HD DVD technology, is Sony in trouble with the blu-ray? In the storage department, Sony has the upper hand. One blu-ray disc can hold 25GB of data, compared to only 15GB of data for a HD DVD disc. However, it is only logical that it is expected of you to pay more for a blu-ray disc because of its extra storage space. Big movie companies like Paramount and Warner Bros. initially said that they would only release movies on one format, but later changed their minds and decided to support both format. Supporting only a format would be illogical as it only means that customers would be lost. Moreover, it is believed that electronics companies, which would be producing the new DVD drives in the future, would allow their DVD drives to play both formats and even the current type of DVDs. Now, after being given this information, it seems that all is balanced. You can adopt either one, but still enjoy your movies. But that being said, it’s only that ‘movie’ part that is being balanced. In what way would this format competition affect gaming? In a small way, I think. Microsoft is still releasing its Xbox 360 games in the standard DVD format (the separate HD DVD drive is just for playing movies, not games), and so will Nintendo. The Wii would gobble standard DVD discs. That leaves only Sony adopting the next-gen DVD format. So, is Sony stepping on the wrong stone by introducing blu-ray drives into its PS3 consoles and releasing its future games on blu-ray drives, all the while burning enormous holes in the wallets of consumers? Hold it! There is a stark difference between blu-ray technology and HD DVD technology. And what could that be? Blu-ray supports the optimal HD format of 1080p, while (unfortunately) HD DVD only supports the HD format of 720p. That is a stark difference in numbers, but no so stark in accordance to the difference in the display of visuals. The difference in graphics is only marginal and most of us have no super-sonic eyes to spot the small difference. Now, is blu-ray worth your money? If you are a person who soughs highly after stunning graphics and want the best of the very best for yourself, blu-ray is it. Or, are you the simple and thrifty person? Then you would go for HD DVD. Is blu-ray a ray of light or a ray of death to Sony? The situation is too immature to tell now. And there is no guarantee HD DVD would certainly win.