In the face of the credit crunch and rock-bottom DVD prices, manufacturers are hoping that Blu-ray technology will finally catch on this Christmas. The adoption of Blu-ray has so far been quite sluggish, but many industry insiders predict that Blu-ray’s fortunes will turn around this Yuletide.

Although the Blu-ray format has been around since 2006, it has yet to capture the public’s imagination. It is resilient however, and beat Toshiba’s rivalling HD DVD into submission to become the surviving High Definition format.

Blu-ray’s mastery of the HD market mirrors the supremacy of VHS over Betamax a couple of generations earlier. VHS was helped to establish itself as the main video format because it was adopted by the porn industry; if any one wanted to watch porn at home (dirty devils) they had to buy a VHS player.

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Grab Disney Pixar’s robo rom-com at Argos for £9.97, that is surprisingly cheap even for the cut price catalogue retailer. Check it out here.

Buy Wall-E today at Play.com and get a free slinky. Pixar’s latest animated comedy follows the adventures of WALL-E whose mission is to clean up an earth completely covered in trash. You can buy a copy of WALL-E on Blu-ray here.

There are some new releases on DVD in the coming month. To set up a stock alert click on the DVD title:

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Harrison Ford returns in the fourth instalment of the popular series, this time the antiquated archaeologist is pitted against the Russians, helped by a much younger Shia La Boeuf. The film is released on the 10th of November.

Kung Fu Panda - Jack Black’ animated film about a Kung Fu Panda is released on the 17th of November. The cowardly panda must learn the secret arts of Kung Fu to save his valley from an evil snow leopard. He is helped in his quest by Angelina Jolie and Dustin Hoffman who play a snow tiger and a red panda respectively.

Wall-E - Pixar’s film about an abandoned robot left on an earth covered with rubbish is released on the 24th of November. The film centers around the adventures Wall-E a robot who’s job it is to clear up all the rubbish left on earth by humans who have long since left.

Hancock

Will Smith plays Hancock the amnesiac, alcoholic super hero who is vilified by the city he tries to protect. The film is both funny and action-packed, and sees Will Smith at the top of his game. Hancock is released on the 1st of December.

Batman: The Dark Knight

There is one major reason to see this film: Heath Ledger. His performance as the joker, the clown-faced psychopath was truly out of this world. The Dark Knight is dark, edgy, dramatic and utterly compelling. The Dark Knight is released on the 8th of December.