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3D, PS3 hot topics for 2008 - December 17, 2007

U.K. based media analysts Screen Digest are out with a few forecasts for 2008 this morning, and they Sony's PS3 "strategy" finally starting to pay off.

Analyst Piers Harding-Rolls predicts that, while Nintendo's Wii dominated 2007, in 2008 the market climate may change significantly as Sony’s pipeline of exclusive content and the launch of multi-media services may result in a significant uplift for the PlayStation 3 in 2008.

Says Harding-Rolls:

One of the market shifts to watch out for in 2008 will be the continued evolution of Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 from games consoles to multi-media hubs. Now that these multi-media services – online video, IPTV, digital terrestrial TV and PVR functionality - are now available or poised to come on line in different markets, this ‘hub’ strategy is emerging as a key console battleground for Microsoft and Sony.

Film and cinema analyst Charlotte Jones says 'Beowulf' will prove a trend-setter and that 3D will be the thing in theaters next year:

Our research has shown that 3D films can earn up to three times more revenue per screen, as film-goers continue to demonstrate a strong preference for the 3D screenings and are happy to pay more for the superior, immersive experience. 2008 will be the year that 3D movies really enter the mainstream multiplex environment as the 3D screen count more than doubles again to hit our forecasts of 3,000 by the close of 2008 on track to 6,000 by 2009. We’ll see the highest number of 3D films released to date, including U2’s concert film ‘U23D’ scheduled for a January release, plus New Line’s ‘Journey 3-D’ and Disney animation ‘Bolt'.

Media Wonk can hardly bear to discuss the topic anymore, but the Screen Digest analysts also offer some thoughts on the Blu-ray vs. HD DVD format war.

According to analyst Richard Cooper:

Next year we expect to see shifting alliances, and with such a delicate stalemate, it’s only going to take one major player to swap sides and the market will shift seismically. We believe this will happen over the course of 2008, with major players moving to format-agnostic or format-exclusive positions. Both formats must start to make an impact on the HDTV viewer next year if hi-def is to become more than just a niche market – we have seen hardware prices drop in 2007, but the battle over content in 2008 will be the year this storm breaks.

Let's hope it breaks before we do.
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