subject: Blue Ray Media Technology [print this page] Each format was soon supported by an alliance of software and hardware developers, as well as production studios. Most notable perhaps was HD DVD's adoption by Microsoft and Blu Ray's sponsorship by Sony, firmly integrating the format war into the high-profile competition in the home videogame console market, with Microsoft's X-box 360 arming itself with HD DVD and Sony's Playstation 3 with Blu Ray. The decisive factors between Blu Ray's eventual victory was the shift of support by major production studios, and Sony's decision to directly incorporate Blu Ray technology as the standard for their PS3 - as opposed to the X-box 360's requirement of an addition peripheral to play HD DVDs. Because Blu Ray was now used as Sony's format for games as well as movies, PS3s alone outsold HD DVD players almost 10 to 1 - including both the X-box 360 peripheral and standalone units. Shortly thereafter, HD DVD's primary supporter, Toshiba, announced its abandonment of the format in 2008, cementing the victory of the Blu Ray disk.
