Hybrid PlayStation 3 Blu-ray discs to be released this year

Now that the market’s being flooded with cheaper and cheaper Blu-ray players, the PlayStation 3 is in a marketing disadvantage. So now Sony‘s changing tactics, and is considering releasing hybrid Blu-ray discs, containing both a game and a movie.

Before the death of HD DVD (if any of you remember what that is), one of the PlayStation 3’s pitches was that it was both a game console and a Blu-ray player, making it a cheap device for what it can do.

But now that Blu-ray has the next-gen format all to itself, the market’s being flooded with cheaper and cheaper Blu-ray players. What’s Sony‘s game plan now? Make the PlayStation 3 cheaper?

You wish. (So do I.) No, they’re just changing tactics, and is planning to release hybrid Blu-ray discs, containing both movie and game. John Koller, director of hardware marketing for the PS3, says that:

We are actively pushing, and the way that we see the future is that the movie and the game are placed on the same disc. There are a lot of developers who say, we have this game based on a movie, wouldnÂ’t it be great to marry these concepts? We will definitely see this stuff this year.

Just in time too, with the slew of movie-based video games on the way. There’s Transformers, G.I. Joe, Wolverine, and who knows what else. Of course this won’t be possible for games like Metal Gear which take up most of the Blu-ray’s space, but then games that take up that much space likely won’t need a movie attached to sell anyway.

• Sony: Home is imminent, more PSP games next year, hybrid Blu-ray discs
• Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen gets official game, trailer
• G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra official game announced

Via Video Business