Senator Stephen Conroy, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, today joined Michael Ephraim, Managing Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Australia & New Zealand, at the opening of the new multi-million dollar Sony DADC Blu-ray Disc plant in Huntingwood, New South Wales.
The occasion marked a significant milestone in the uptake of the Blu-Ray format as a storage medium, reflecting the growth in consumer confidence and demand for Blu-ray content, with production beginning in Australia for the first time.
The new Blu-ray Disc plant is the only one of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere and features three Blu-ray lines, including one dedicated solely to the production of PlayStation 3 games, with a total output capacity between them of 12 million Blu-ray Discs per year.
Michael Ephraim commented at the opening, "PLAYSTATION 3 has played a critical part in the success of the Blu-ray format, both locally and globally, and has demonstrated its value in over half a million Australian living rooms as a true entertainment hub offering. With a current attachment rate of almost eight games for every PS3, that’s over 3.5 million Blu-ray Disc games that have been sold to date in Australia."
Ephraim continued, "Blu-ray Disc games clearly show what an out-of-this-world experience the larger storage format can deliver on PS3, while from a movie perspective, PS3 is one of the most awarded pieces of Blu-ray hardware, receiving numerous accolades for its Blu-ray playback capabilities. PS3 was also the first Blu-ray player on the market to offer BD-Live functionality, thanks to its wireless internet connectivity and system software updates. So, PS3 offers not only the superior Blu-ray format, but also the connectivity for complementary downloadable content."
"From a games perspective, PS3's Blu-ray enables developers to create the richest possible experience through high definition graphics, sound and interactivity that is not possible on DVD format. Highly anticipated games such as God of War III are, in fact, only possible on PS3."
Ephraim finished, "The opening of this local production plant should be a clear sign to consumers that Blu-ray is now a permanent fixture on the format landscape in Australia and that their investment in a PS3 will be relevant for many years to come."
Does this mean PS3 games may get cheaper? We'll just have to wait and see.
©2008 AOL Australia Pty Limited. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
