Sayonara Laserdisc

Japanese consumer electronics corporation Pioneer announced yesterday that it will cease manufacturing laserdisc players after the final 3,000 units of its four models currently in production are completed. Pioneer introduced the laserdisc player in October 1981, eventually selling 3.6 million laserdisc players in Japan alone.

The laserdisc format originated concurrently with the CD format, and stands as the predecessor of the current DVD and Blu-ray disc digital media storage formats. Countless anime titles were released on laserdisc in Japan, many of which have not been re-released on DVD. American anime distribution companies including AD Vision, AnimeEigo, Central Park Media, and Manga Entertainment released domestic anime LDs.

If anyone cares, I’m a proud owner of a Pioneer DVL-700 DVD/LD player.

Source: Anime News Network