The PS3 Re-Effect

Months ago, the internet was invaded with catchphrase of the "PS3 Effect." Guess what? It's sure to return for a brief moment.

With E3 2007 come and gone (disappointingly I might add), the PS3 has been officially marked down by $100. Whether or not this $100 price drop will remain solitary, as confusion ensues with Sony still trying to make an official statement about a $599 or $499 PS3 80gig pack later in the year, it's only going to last a matter of time. There's no doubt that we will see a surge of Blu ray titles feverishly topping HD DVD titles on lists (Eproducts). Already, we see a number of oddly placed titles such as Resident Evil: Apocalypse and Memento entering the Top 100 DVDs on Amazon. But while Blu ray attempts to sustain this momentum, it'll ultimately come crashing back to around it's original place.

This is the PS3 Re-effect. The audience that Sony has attacked with it's price drop were those frantic gamers, waiting for any scent of a cheaper PS3, and those looking for the cheapest Blu ray player out there. But this number is only so finite. Blu ray will surely gain some upper momentum in leaving HD DVD further behind in the dust, but it's only a matter of time before things return to normal where Sony's flagship disc only leads by a certain percentage (at this time, it's around 66:33 on average weekly, which sadly is quite substantial).

Not only this, but in the following months with HD DVD, there happens to be more titles released than Blu ray until the end of the year (as announced so far). And standalone players are selling faster for HD DVD than Blu ray. HD DVD isn't left in the dust because of this newly priced PS3, and certainly won't be the nail in its coffin. It may cause some damage as the PS3 gains a number of eager gamers. But even though Microsoft seems to neglect it's support for HD DVD, it still has plenty of life in it, at least for another year's worth of library and new titles.

On a side note, I'm in Korea, so I'm unable to buy any HD DVDs at the moment on "New Release Tuesdays." But I'll add that HD DVD titles here are expensive as hell. I perused a local store's very limited collection of HD titles, and they ranged from $40-50. Korea has not yet expanded into Blu ray territory as of yet (since the PS3 had a measly launch maybe about a month ago), and HD DVDs aren't necessarily flying off shelves either. So the HD disc revolution has yet to begin here. It's odd too because there are HDTVs everywhere. I'm sitting in the railroad station, and there's a nice new LG 60" HDTV with HD programming. I'm eating some soup in a restaurant, and there's an HDTV playing some Korean drama.

Maybe it's because we are all too busy playing Starcraft...