Last Updated on Monday, 11 February 2008 11:25 Monday, 11 February 2008 09:07

Best Buy has decided to step in and attempt to use their marketing clout to put an end to the format wars. In a press release today, the consumer electronics retailer is going to start pushing the Blu-ray format. Apparently, their customers do not have enough knowledge to make an informed decision on their own. They claim that customers are requesting Best Buy to make a decision for them.

 "Consumers have told us that they want us to help lead the way. We've listened to our customers, and we are responding. Best Buy will recommend Blu-ray as the preferred format," said Brian Dunn, Best Buy's president and chief operating officer. "Our decision to shine a spotlight on Blu-ray Disc players and other Blu-ray products is a strong signal to our customers that we believe Blu-ray is the right format choice for them."

They are hoping to increase consumer confidence, which might encourage people to buy a player. Many consumers have been holding off on their format choice until a decision is made. This should help with Best Buy's sales numbers. However, is it right to make this choice?  Are they making the decision simply to get sales flowing of HD hardware? Best Buy is hardly the best source for electronics, but the decision may get the rest of the market to buy in.

Best Buy will still carry HD DVD hardware for those wishing to get it, but for how long is unknown. When customers ask which format they should pick, Best Buy's policy will be to recommend Blu-ray as the format of choice. This policy goes into effect in-store and online sometime in March.

Luckily, we support Blu-ray over HD DVD simply for the longevity of the platform. 50+ gigs of data will be viable for far longer than HD DVD storage limits. However, we are interested in storing data, rather than buying movies. 

Feel free to tell us what your format choice is, and why. Do you think that Best Buy and Netflix are making the right decision? 

**update**

In other news, Netflix is also going Blu-ray exclusive for their HD movies, which should have a positive influence on the hardware player market. Netflix's decision was expedited by the Warner Home Video's Exclusivity agreement, which will go into effect at the end of this year. That would eventually leave Universal as the only major publisher utilizing the HD DVD format.

Ted Sarandos, chief content officer for Netflix:

"The prolonged period of competition between two formats has prevented clear communication to the consumer regarding the richness of the high-def experience versus standard definition." "We're now at the point where the industry can pursue the migration to a single format, bring clarity to the consumer and accelerate the adoption of high-def. Going forward, we expect that all of the studios will publish in the Blu-ray format and that the price points of high-def DVD players will come down significantly. These factors could well lead to another decade of disc-based movie watching as the consumer's preferred means."

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