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Michael Bary, an American film director who has had great success with the likes of Transformer, Armageddon, The Rock and Pearl Harbor has slammed Paramount’s decision to go HD-DVD exclusive. In a blog post titled ‘Paramount pisses me off’, he commented that he wants people to see his films in the best formats possible and thinkgs its wrong to deny people who have Blu-ray.

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So by now you’ve heard that Paramount has dropped support for Blu-ray right? Good, so has a notable Hollywood director. Michael Bay — the man behind “Transformers,” “Bad Boys,” “Pear Harbor,” etc. — just threw down with Paramount in his personal blog. In a forum post titled “Paramount pisses me off!”, he states, “I want people to see my movies in the best formats possible. For them to deny people who have Blu-ray sucks! They were progressive by having two formats. No Transformers 2 for me!” That’s right Mike, aim your PS3 right at their coffers!

News Source: Engadget.com

Two Viacom executives have confirmed that Paramount received a massive pay off of $150 million in order to drop the Blu-ray format and exclusively support HD-DVD for a period of 18 months. However, the deal does not include films which have been directed by Steven Spielberg.

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The NY Times has confirmed via two Viacom executives, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, that Paramount has received a $150M pay-off to support HD DVD exclusively for a period of 18 months. The $150M is comprised of cash and future marketing deals. Also re-confirmed is that the deal includes no films directed by Steven Spielberg.

The Chairman of the Blu-ray Disc Association has commented that Paramount’s decision to exclusively support HD-DVD seems ‘oddly timed’ as Blu-ray is picking up with a ‘tremendous’ momentum. The BDA seem bemused as to what exactly made them walk away from the format as they are claiming that Blu-ray is selling a whole lot more than HD-DVD.

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In response to Paramount’s decision to exclusively support HD DVD, Andy Parsons, Chairman, Blu-ray Disc Association US Promotions Committee had this to say: “The decision seems oddly timed given Blu-ray’s tremendous momentum both with consumers and with retail. Blu-ray title sales continue to outpace HD-DVD sales by nearly a 2 to 1 margin, and major retailers have expressed a strong preference for Blu-ray. Moreover, the price delta between HD DVD and Blu-ray players has been greatly reduced in the past few months, a trend that is on its way to eliminating any perceived cost advantage the HD DVD format has claimed to have. Under these circumstances, we can only imagine what could have enticed them to walk away from a format that is clearly selling significantly more software than the ailing HD-DVD format.”

News Source: Blu-ray.com