The gloomy economic conditions and the current recession notwithstanding, gaming appear to be standing stoic - what with the flourishing sales of Blu-ray Disc movies and players all across Europe! In November, Blu-ray hardware sales - which include PS3 consoles - outsold DVD hardware sales, including PS2 consoles, by five times.

Most business analysts feel that 2008 has certainly "been a breakthrough year for Blu-Ray." British Blu-ray player owners bought nearly 462,500 titles in November, a 165% increase over the previous month. The latest numbers for December, released by the British Video Association (BVA) show that 'The Dark Knight' sold an astounding 513,000 units on the first day alone, and 21% of those sales were Blu-Ray.

Undoubtedly, Blu-Ray is really catching on in Europe, and evidence is indicative that the format fares equally well in the US too. The holiday numbers in January will be a clear parameter to gauge how far Blu-Ray has fared.

According to a recent Futuresource press release published at PRWeb, "sales of Blu-Ray disc movies are defying the odds and bucking the credit crunch." Jim Bottoms, Managing Director of Corporate Development at Futuresource, said: "The Blu-ray disc format offers an unparalleled home entertainment experience. We fully expect Blu-ray to continue its rapid growth, stimulated by falling prices and even more bundling deals with large screen TVs."

Though Blu-Ray sales are forecast to increase three times by the end of 2009, the real test for Blu-ray in the coming year is whether it can also cut into DVDs dominant home video market share with blockbuster and catalog titles.