Looks like the format war isn't over yet. Universal Studios made a public statement in response to rumors that it backed out of its exclusivity deal with the HD DVD camp, saying that it will continue supporting the format. Read the full story in the full article.

Universal's Ken Graffeo has revealed that Universal has no plans to support the Blu-ray format and will be sticking to HD-DVD, stating that they want to be able to "market all the great things HD DVD can offer consumers."

Graffeo also threw in his own two cents about the price cuts for the Sony PlayStation 3 home video console. Said Graffeo, the console "simply hasn’t been the gamer changer Sony had hoped it would be."

The format wars is certainly not over yet, but with Blockbuster's decision to support Blu-ray movies only, Universal Studios may very well feel the pressure for them to start publishing movies in Blu-ray discs as well, or so Variety reports.

Universal Studios is the only major entertainment outfit that does not support Blu-ray. Variety supposes that should Universal agree to at least put out titles on both HD-DVD and Blu-ray formats, the format wars may suddenly be turned upside down, or be brought to a swift conclusion. Consumers who opted to wait for the format wars to end before buying may want to jump ship to Blu-ray once they find out that the blue laser plays movies from all studios. Richard Dotty, Envisioneering Group tech guru agreed:

So much consumer interest would open up this summer and fall that every studio would be smiling and wondering why they've been jousting all this time. Universal may continue to place its bets (on HD DVD). But if you want revenue, you put out what consumers want. And right now consumers want Blu-ray.

But despite the mounting pressure, Universal is still adamant in supporting HD-DVD. Ken Graffeo, executive vice president for Universal Studios Home Entertainment, said that Toshiba's HD-DVD players are now enjoying 70% market share. However, it should be noted that one of the causes of Blu-ray's traction is that it was built into the PlayStation 3 consoles.

Graffeo also added that the high definition disc market is still too young for Universal to publish titles in Blu-ray, saying that it's still hard to gauge how much impact selling Blu-ray discs will have on their sales.

Does this mean the format wars are over? Well, for Blockbuster, it seems just that. Associated Press just released a statement that Blockbuster will exclusively carry high-def discs in Blu-ray format in 1,450 of their stores. This decision came from an analysis done in 250 branches where they carried both Blu-ray and HD-DVDs. It was found that more than 70% of the consumers rented out Blu-ray discs over HD-DVD. Blockbuster senior VP of merchandising had this to say:

The consumers are sending us a message. [...] I can't ignore what I'm seeing. When you walk into a store and see all this product available in Blu-ray and there is less available on HD DVD, I think the consumer gets that [more studios are releasing films in Blu-ray].

True enough, most major studios are supporting the Blu-ray. Another factor, of course, would be the release of the PlayStation 3, which gave the Blu-ray format a big push in sales. It's now believed that Blockbuster's decision could be the first step in shifting the balance and will allow other retailers to follow suit.

The North American HD-DVD Promotional Group, however, sees Blockbuster's decision as unfounded. Ken Graffeo thinks that basing their move on the Blu-ray flims' success over the first three months of the year was too short-sighted.

Despite it all, Blockbuster will still keep renting out HD-DVDs in their original 250 locations and online. But as it stands, that's 1,450 stores with exclusive Blu-ray, and 250 offering Blu-ray and HD-DVD. Now do the math.

Toshiba has reportedly announced that it will be scaling back its expected target of 1.8 million HD DVD players released in Canada and the U.S. down to 1 million. This drastic 44% drop has been attributed to low sales of their players in both markets.

Most are finding this surprising considering that Toshiba recently announced it was leading the market and holds 60 percent of the disc player business versus its opponent, Blu-Ray.

Apparently, those facts, while true did not account for the PlayStation 3. The reason they weren't included in the equation according to Universal Studios Home Entertainment VP Ken Graffeo is that they believe people purchasing the said system are not a major movie market.

Most PS3 owners buy movies only sparingly compared to those who buy the players alone. Consumers who are buying Playstation 3 are buying it as a game console. They're simply not buying it for watching as many high-definition movies as Sony said they would.

Nonetheless, it appears that the format wars have really taken its toll not only on the consumers but the creators of hardware themselves. A lot of people have been holding out to see which group would win before they decide to invest their hard earned money on it. After all, who would buy a thousand dollar movie player if it was to be deemed obsolete by next year? Keep checking back for the latest industry news here on QJ.net.