Console Post of the Week: Supplemental
The Financial Times (thanks Engadget) is reporting this morning that Paramount is dropping their HD-DVD exclusive deal:...Paramount, which is owned by Viacom, is understood to have a clause in its contract with the HD-DVD camp that would allow it to switch sides in the event of Warner backing Blu-ray, according to people familiar with the situation.
If Toshiba is going to do anything to salvage their format at this point, it better be soon. They don't have months--I think a few weeks (at most) would be more accurate.
I'll say this for Sony: yes, they've lost an incredible amount of money, and yes, they'll lose that much or more this year, but it's far better to lose that money and win the format war than the alternative.
One thing I forgot to mention yesterday about narratives is the relationship between specificity and intensity. It's been my experience that the most deeply-held narratives, for many people, are the ones that are the vaguest.
Why?
Well, it's very hard for data to weaken belief in a narrative that can't be proven to start with. That's why fanboys (be they console, political, or whatever) are impossible to sway.
Someone asked me yesterday why I didn't make more extensive use of European sales numbers. I'd certainly like to, but they're extremely difficult to even find. Unlike Japan or the U.S., there doesn't seem to be a single source for the information, plus there are dozens of different countries involved. I've tried to "back into" numbers for Europe based on press releases from the individual console companies, but that opportunity doesn't come along very often.
To the best of my knowledge, at least in relation to Microsoft and Sony, Microsoft would be leading in sales in the UK, and Sony is leading in the "rest of Europe." That's my best guess, anyway, but like I said, the data seems to be extremely scattered. Hopefully there will be some solid numbers released in January.
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