- LOCK - Format War - HD DVD vs. Blu-Ray - LOCK -

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[quote name='dallow']I pray for nothing but B&W titles in HD.[/QUOTE]

Yea... you do that. I'll be the one laughing when studios continue to release modern 'blockbusters' (a.k.a 99% crap) for the next 2-3 years.
 
Ahhh well you can always import "Venus and Braves". It's suppose to only take 7-9 hours.
Frankly I haven't seen much lately to get excited about gamingwise myself except "Mass Effect" and "Sadness". I REALLY hope "Sadness" comes too and is quality and highly successful just to give these lazyass non-innovators a boot in the ass to do something really different and in a NON-mini game sense I mean.
As for Arthouse stuff "2046" and "Black Book" are coming at least. I'm dying for some Miyazaki here though. If Studio Canal brings out "Spirited Away" for HD DVD I will be buying it no question. We should e-mail them and encourage them to do it as such. I think Disney may not for a while, at least here and I don't know about Japan. I mean "Akira" was dumped for crying out loud.
edit: Yeah dallow. Sony has said nothing about releasing "Bridge On the River Kwai" which is SUPPOSE to be released by them this year. Frankly Sony has been piss poor about releasing catalog titles but is great everywhere else. Warner is good for Catalog but doesn't match Sony in variety of contemporary release offerings. If both of them would fix those faults we'd have at least two studios really doing their max to push HD. Regardless except for Universal being good about catalog titles though below Warner everyone else is shit to Warner and Sony offeringswise or their job when they do release the product. All of the shit I read about Lion's Gate is them not doing a good job on their catalog titles except for "Dirty Dancing", even with T2.
 
[quote name='Sarang01']I mean "Akira" was dumped for crying out loud.[/QUOTE]
Wait, what happened to Akira? Is there still a Blu-Ray and/or HD-DVD release coming? I want it in HD, but right now, my only option is renting it off the XBLM, and I'd rather own it.
 
[quote name='zewone']Wait, what happened to Akira? Is there still a Blu-Ray and/or HD-DVD release coming? I want it in HD, but right now, my only option is renting it off the XBLM, and I'd rather own it.[/QUOTE]

I don't know, just that it was scheduled and it hasn't been released when it should've. Myself, I'm NOT in the mood to download it off XBLM since I know I'll get a dub shoved up my ass and I'm NOT going to tolerate anything more then a sub.
 
Does Funimation release titles in Japan? I thought they were an American comapny who likes to butcher anime.

I don't really keep up.
I hope Akira comes back.

I'll be importing Paprika however. All movies should boast this:

Japanese 5.1 LPCM Language
Japanese 5.1 Language
French 5.1 Language
English 5.1 Language
German 5.1 Language
Czech 5.1 Language
Italian 5.1 Language
Spanish 5.1 Language
Polish 5.1 Language
French Subtitles
English Subtitles
Arabian Subtitles
Czech Subtitles
Danish Subtitles
Dutch Subtitles
Finnish Subtitles
German Subtitles
Greek Subtitles
Hebrew Subtitles
Hindi Subtitles
Italian Subtitles
Norwegian Subtitles
Polish Subtitles
Swedish Subtitles
Turkish Subtitles
Hungarian Subtitles
Spanish Subtitles
Portuguese Subtitles
Croatian Subtitles
Slovene Subtitles
Icelandic Subtitles
Bulgarian Subtitles
English SDH Subtitles
 
Don't hold your breath for Universal to jump ship. Gleaning from this article, the financial incentives they're getting to remain HD DVD exclusive are larger than those the BDA camp had offered.

http://www.hollywoodinhidef.com/blog_detail.php?id=107

There's no longer any question as to who's keeping the hi-def format war alive, or why.
It's Universal Studios and the top home entertainment exec, by his own admission.

I had been hearing over the last few days that various Blu-ray Disc manufacturers have been offering Universal plenty of incentives to join the parade but that Universal was walking away from the table every time without any reasonable objection.
Now we know why.

Universal president Craig Kornblau told me this week that the studio actually wants the format war to continue.
He also said Universal is getting financial incentives to create exclusive HD DVD features such as the Xbox Live component for the upcoming "Heroes" release.
"I’m not going to tell you that we don’t cut financial deals with people every day," he says.

But he has rationale for all of the above.
Kornblau says Universal does the same as every other studio in cutting deals to utilize another company's technologies and services.

But Kornblau says Universal's position is not driven by deals but by a long-term and consumer-focused strategy that is supported by Universal parent NBC and corporate owner GE. Universal never initially wanted a war, he says, which is why the studio made a decision years ago to back only one format.

Of course, that's the same position taken by Disney as well as Fox; the only difference being they individually chose the opposing format for a number of their own reasons, not the least of which is that each independently told me from the beginning that they believe that Blu-ray will ultimately offer the most consumer satisfaction and that the technology represents a full step forward in technology -- not a half-step -- to ensure the longest-term value for consumers. And, most importantly to Fox from the outset and now others as well, an extra layer of protection against piracy.

However, now that the market has evolved as it has, Kornblau says the hi-def format war has been "the very best thing that ever happened for consumers, retailers, and, frankly, studios" -- everyone except consumer electronics manufacturers -- because it has driven prices down further and far more quickly than would have been the case if there had been only one format in the market. (CE manufacturers are no small exception since they were among the primary groups driving the introduction of hi-def discs in order to restore the profit into their business that long ago evaporated with $49 DVD players from China. The format war has already forced some manufacturers to start subsidizing their hi-def players.)
Without the format war, Kornblau believes that even after more than a year in the market, the lowest-priced players would still be priced out of reach of most consumers at more than $1,000 and they would only drop to $800 or $900 over the next year or two.

Of course, that's impossible to know for sure and it's a bit of a faulty premise if you consider that PlayStation 3's, which play Blu-ray Discs and are by far the top-selling hi-def disc player of either format, were introduced last November at $600. As for the cause and rate of price declines in players, 10 years ago the cost of DVD players dropped about 20% in the first year and another 30% in the second year without any format war, according to "CE Historical" at the Consumer Electronics Assoc. web site www.ce.org.

With Universal the only holdout in sticking with HD DVD exclusively, Kornblau reluctantly concedes that HD DVD's position is just fragile enough that if Universal decided to release in Blu-ray now, it would have a serious, if not life-threatening impact on the future of HD DVD. So in addition to weighing how his decision will impact the studio, he now must also factor in the potential demise of the HD DVD format entirely if Universal would opt to release its movies in Blu-ray.

For now, that's not something Kornblau is willing to risk. He says Universal chose HD DVD initially because it offered the least expensive hardware and software manufacturing costs and immediate across-the-board interactivity and connectivity in all HD DVD players. "To this date, nothing's changed," he suggests.

Kornblau believes interactive and connected features are essential for the success of any hi-def disc platform, especially as more and more consumers realize that they can buy a DVD player for $129 that upconverts their DVDs to near-hi-def quality.

"DVD would not have grown to a $16 billion market if all we did was put movies on a disc," he said. Enhanced features are even more critical for the success of hi-def discs, which do not offer as many revolutionary distinctions from DVD as did DVD over VHS.

In fact, Kornblau says the lack of comparable interactivity and connectivity in Blu-ray as compared with HD DVD at this point is why Universal refuses to go the same route as Warner and Paramount in releasing in both formats but being forced to offer less interactive and connected features on the Blu-ray versions, such as Warner's new "300."

Hmmm, with the notable exception of the "U-Control" interactive feature that Universal introduced on several titles last year, the studio hasn't exactly been blazing many trails of innovation with content that couldn't be delivered on Blu-ray Discs and even DVDs in many cases. Warner has been leading that charge with web-enabled features introduced on "Blood Diamond" and continuing through last week's "300." After about a year-and-a-half in the market, Universal's first web-enabled feature will come courtesy of Microsoft on the Aug. 28 release of "Heroes."

And, not for nothing, but early results of "300," at a record 250,000 copies sold in the first week, show that at least 65% of those sales went to Blu-ray. Some expected the numbers to skew even further in favor of Blu-ray given it's appeal to the PlayStation 3 demographic.

Meanwhile Blu-ray promises even more dynamic connectivity features with its new "BD Live" component in Blu-ray players and titles coming as early as this fall, as well as further enhancements to its "BD-J" interactive technology.

Kornblau, who was kind enough to speak with me very frankly in the midst of a hectic time, also conceded that Universal could not have picked a worse time to be carrying the torch for HD DVD in terms of strong releases to help support its position and the platform.
Although Kornblau referred to his studio's weak movies over the past 9 months, Universal's release slate has been pretty dismal for the last several years. The studio had only two theatrical films in the top 30 at the domestic box-office in 2005 and it's lone top 20 title last year was 18th-ranked "The Break-Up," with $119 million, according to Boxofficemojo.com. After suffering through the first six months of this year with its biggest hits being the sleeper romantic comedy "Knocked Up" and the financial disaster "Evan Almighty," Universal is finally enjoying a solid franchise hit with last weekend's "The Bourne Ultimatum" opening with $69 million.
Kornblau sees all that as setting up a big fourth-quarter for his studio on the home entertainment and hi-def fronts, starting with "Heroes," followed by four $100 million-plus titles, "Knocked Up," "Evan Almighty," "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry" ($92 million after 3 weeks), and "Bourne Ultimatum."

But that's pretty much the highlight for the rest of the year as far as programs available exclusively on HD DVD.
Almost everything else will be on Blu-ray, either exclusively or along with HD DVD, including everything from Steven Spielberg's first hi-def disc release, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," exclusively on Blu-ray, to most of the top-grossing movies of the year, such as "Spider-Man 3," "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" (both only on Blu-ray) "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" (not announced as yet); "300," "Ratatouille," "Wild Hogs," and "Blades of Glory" (the latter three only on Blu-ray). And as soon as Fox rejoins the BD party with its MGM distribution in tow -- which everyone hopes will be soon -- that studio could release its trio of summer hits exclusively on Blu-ray, "The Simpsons Movie," "Live Free or Die Hard," and "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer."

Even if, for the sake of argument, you go along with Universal's belief that the format war is driving prices down more quickly, Kornblau admits that there is only a limited window of time for which this situation can be interpreted as beneficial for consumers, retailers, and studios. He says that window will start to close when players drop to a price of $200 and consumers start making their choice, which is what will guide Universal's ultimate course.

So that’s the story. Universal did not want the format war and Kornblau believes the studio did not initiate the war, but he and the studio are now intentionally and strategically keeping the format war alive for what they believe is for the good of the consumer, retailers and studios while awaiting a clear consumer preference for Blu-ray or HD DVD once prices drop to $200. Universal chose HD DVD because costs were lower and it had about a year’s head-start on some interactive features and web connectivity.

Okay, Kornblau has always been straight with me so I have no reason to believe he doesn’t truly believe most, if not all of that.

But if consumers are already showing a 2-1 Blu-ray preference for every movie released in both formats months before Blu-ray introduces its more sophisticated web-connected and interactive features and even while HD DVD is riding a low-price advantage of about $150 - $200, it’s difficult to envision consumers becoming less interested in Blu-ray when all those features debut amid a flurry of the year’s biggest movies exclusively on Blu-ray.

When that point comes, on behalf of those of us who don’t believe that prolonging the format war is a good thing, I hope that Kornblau and Universal are quick to respond to the will of consumers and end this war.

In the meantime, I guess those customers who are already choosing Blu-ray will have to live without hi-def versions of "Knocked Up," "Evan Almighty" and "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry" for awhile.
Click to expand...

And, while I promised myself I would no longer reply to Gizmo (since he's an admitted troll, many of you would benefit from doing the same), other people have mentioned that "300" is a "meathead" movie, so it's perfect for the PS3/BR crowd. I don't disagree with this assertion about 300 - it *is* a meathead movie. A movie as aesthetically beautiful as its script is plodding and unintelligent. It's like a pretty "O'Reilly Factor." I agree. But:

1) It's a wildly popular movie no matter how you cut it, with large appeal.
2) Neither format has really reached into the realm of "artistic" films, or classic films, just yet. BR has some old John Wayne films (and Elvis as well, I think); HD has Chinatown (a fucking *classic* bit o' noir). But, for the most part, both formats are selling contemporary movies that have broad appeal and are immensely popular; "The 40-Year Old Virgin" isn't a particularly smart movie, but it was enjoyable and is popular. So it sells. Neither format can even begin to claim to have an edge with regards to "cinema" versus "movies" (if the distinction is clear).

Which makes me scared to death of what an HD/BR equivalent of the "Criterion Collection" might cost. Egads.

So, let's just drop the "300" talk, because each format is sopping with contemporary crap. K?
 
definitely my biggest complaint about Blu-ray right now-- it's 99% crap action movies. Something like City of Lost Children would really benefit from the HD treatment...
 
[quote name='zewone']Wait, what happened to Akira? Is there still a Blu-Ray and/or HD-DVD release coming? I want it in HD, but right now, my only option is renting it off the XBLM, and I'd rather own it.[/QUOTE]

Bandai Visual delayed the Akira Blu Ray, but it's still scheduled to come out.
 
I just hope they back out of the BD/DVD thing they were going to do with Akira and make it just BD.

They have lots of titles still scheduled so I'm sure Akira is ok.

(check release schedule at www.animeondvd.com)
 
[quote name='mykevermin']Don't hold your breath for Universal to jump ship. Gleaning from this article, the financial incentives they're getting to remain HD DVD exclusive are larger than those the BDA camp had offered.

http://www.hollywoodinhidef.com/blog_detail.php?id=107

[/quote]
That article was far less biased than I expected, given the source. For those who don't know, Hollywood in High Def is a BDA shill site run by Fox. But it was reasonably measured, which surprises me. :)
 
[quote name='geko29']That article was far less biased than I expected, given the source. For those who don't know, Hollywood in High Def is a BDA shill site run by Fox. But it was reasonably measured, which surprises me. :)[/QUOTE]

Funny that you think that, as I saw a lot of "jeez this Universal guy is just delaying the inevitable death of HD DVD," and "EVAN ALMIGHTY? HAW HAW WE CAN HAZ SPIDRMAN!" in that article. A good interview, and very informative, but I did see a lot of "is this Universal guy for real" tinged in the piece.
 
[quote name='mykevermin']Funny that you think that, as I saw a lot of "jeez this Universal guy is just delaying the inevitable death of HD DVD," and "EVAN ALMIGHTY? HAW HAW WE CAN HAZ SPIDRMAN!" in that article. A good interview, and very informative, but I did see a lot of "is this Universal guy for real" tinged in the piece.[/quote]
I must be really jaded or really tired. :) Maybe it was because I only saw a few bald-faced lies (BD-Live 2.0 players this fall?), and I'm used to reading so many stories/blogs that are the written equivalent of that ass on YouTube last year with his "PS Triple". :)
 
[quote name='GizmoGC']But just because they have a 360 does not mean they have the HD DVD add-on. My thoughts, and always will be, is until games come out for the PS3 that people will continue to buy into Blu-Ray because they need to somehow rationalize the $500-$600 they spent on it. Once you start seeing games, on a weekly basis, Blu-Ray sales will die down (and EB/GS will gets tons of used copies in). Just like what happened with UMD Movie sales and the PSP launch. Once games arrived, the UMD Movie sales died off. Now, I don't doubt a certain amount of people will continue to buy into Blu-Ray because this thread obviously shows some people will buy both games AND movies, but I do believe you will a big drop in the amount of catalog and non 'huge' releases. I can understand Transformers and such selling really well even IF there are tons of PS3 games coming out, but smaller titles will suffer. Why spend $20-$30 on a 2 Blu-Ray movies when I can get a game instead? Again, MY opinion, but history has already proven it with UMD (yes, I know they had no competition and it could ONLY be played on the PSP, but the basis is still the same)[/quote]

i couldn't resist... sorry dude, BDs are not UMDs and your logic using UMD to forecast the downfall of BD is seriously flawed. UMD is meant for portable entertainment, the reasons that it's not doing well because 1. Battery problem of the PSP 2. Can't export to larger display (that will change with the new PSP lite though) 3. People can rip the movies onto the mem sticks

As for your logic regarding PS3 games and BDs... well, that's also true for people support HD-DVDs, "hey, look at those new X360 games, sigh, i can't get that HD-DVD movie..."
 
[quote name='armyjon99']I currently own the 360 hd dvd player and im planing on a ps3 so honestly the war is over for me.[/quote]

it's not over... you will soon discover that the hd-dvd playeradd-on is a low end player. So, if you want something better, you gonna scratch your head and say "damn, i need a better hd-dvd player."
 
Has anyone here used or seen D-VHS tapes?

Not that popular in the States, but they're digital VHS tapes and you get up to 1080i and DD 5.1 on them.

For some titles, it's the only way to see them in HD for now.
ebay usually has them for sale.
 
[quote name='Serpentor']
As for your logic regarding PS3 games and BDs... well, that's also true for people support HD-DVDs, "hey, look at those new X360 games, sigh, i can't get that HD-DVD movie..."[/QUOTE]

But there's a difference between the two formats in that respect. The majority of BD players out there are PS3's, while the majority of HD DVD players are standalones. So when games like Halo 3 come out this fall, HD DVD sales aren't going to see a major drop because there is still a large standalone player contingent, much larger than those who own the add-on. When Heavenly Sword, MGS4, FFXIII, etc. comes out, it'll have more of an impact on BD figures since the PS3 represents the largest share of the BD player market.
 
[quote name='orimental']But there's a difference between the two formats in that respect. The majority of BD players out there are PS3's, while the majority of HD DVD players are standalones. So when games like Halo 3 come out this fall, HD DVD sales aren't going to see a major drop because there is still a large standalone player contingent, much larger than those who own the add-on. When Heavenly Sword, MGS4, FFXIII, etc. comes out, it'll have more of an impact on BD figures since the PS3 represents the largest share of the BD player market.[/QUOTE]

The increase in PS3 games will lead to an increase in PS3 sales, thus increasing the amount of hardware, and potential customers out there.
 
not exactly true... since we don't know for sure what %age of the PS3 owners are actually using the machine for BDs and games, you can't really say there will a drop in BD sales when new PS3 games are out.

I would say a majority of PS3 owners are in for both game and BDs right now. If only for games, the gamers probably want to wait until MGS4 or something before buying a PS3. As for the rest of the PS3 owners, they are in for the BDs.

If more PS3 games coming out, the probable sale drop in BD can be off set by the possibility that the new games draw more sale of the PS3.
 
[quote name='mykevermin']Funny that you think that, as I saw a lot of "jeez this Universal guy is just delaying the inevitable death of HD DVD," and "EVAN ALMIGHTY? HAW HAW WE CAN HAZ SPIDRMAN!" in that article. A good interview, and very informative, but I did see a lot of "is this Universal guy for real" tinged in the piece.[/QUOTE]

Personally I think if Universal was really serious about this instead of just releasing a slew of quick catalog jobs to HD DVD with paying little attention to restoration they should do a combination of two things instead. One, really do a quality remastering with a few big titles as well as cult films. Two, start putting a LOT of their tv shows that have come out lately in HD DVD. This is their big strength right now to get people to pay attention to it and they're really using it minimally, what with just "Heroes" and like one other show coming. I say they put "Eureka", "Monk", "House" and others on HD DVD.
 
[quote name='Serpentor']i couldn't resist... sorry dude, BDs are not UMDs and your logic using UMD to forecast the downfall of BD is seriously flawed. UMD is meant for portable entertainment, the reasons that it's not doing well because 1. Battery problem of the PSP 2. Can't export to larger display (that will change with the new PSP lite though) 3. People can rip the movies onto the mem sticks

As for your logic regarding PS3 games and BDs... well, that's also true for people support HD-DVDs, "hey, look at those new X360 games, sigh, i can't get that HD-DVD movie..."[/QUOTE]

Again, I am using UMD and PSP as an example of what I THINK will happen. I already stated I know one was portable and could be played only on THAT.

PSP had no games at launch and for several months if not a year later. To help justify their purchase, people bought UMDs on impulse. They just spent $250 on this handheld and all thats available is poorly done PS1/PS2 ports. Hell, I did THE SAME THING. I got a PSP at launch and bought a handful of UMD movies because I to had to justify WHY I still own it and why I shouldn't just sell it and be done with it. This is what I think is going on with the PS3. Gamers spent $500-$600 depending what Sku/Bundle they got. Now you have an expensive system with not a whole lot of games available, most being poorly done ports of 360 Games that were released months if not over a year ago, what else are they going to do? Sure, it has exclusive titles like Motorstorm and Ninja Gaiden, but its not going to have anywhere near the amount of games the 360 has or will have this year. With GTA4 now delayed I fully believe Blu-Ray sales will continue to either grow or stay the same. Once you start seeing games coming out you will see BR sales decline as people now have a reason to actually keep it as a gaming machine. Again, MY OPINION.

Hell, I think I know why 'Premonition' is a top seller now. Too many wives/girlfriends told their husband/boyfriend to sell it if he wouldn't use it so he went out, bought that crappy movie, and said 'Look! A girls movie...in Hi-Def!!!! Can I still keep my PS3 :cry: . Why would anyone who has a Blu-Ray player by that movie? WHY?!?!
 
I can safely say I only bought 1 UMD movie ever since buying my PSP at launch.
(and I only had 2 games the first year)

And that was only because I'm a fanatical Morrissey collector and I bought his UMD which strangely made it to UMD format.
 
[quote name='mykevermin']Don't hold your breath for Universal to jump ship. Gleaning from this article, the financial incentives they're getting to remain HD DVD exclusive are larger than those the BDA camp had offered.

http://www.hollywoodinhidef.com/blog_detail.php?id=107[/QUOTE]


You realize that site is actually run by the BDA...Sony...Fox...Disney....right?
Bill Hunts, owner and founder of 'The Digital Bits' write propaganda articles for them as well. While some of that may in fact be true, its going to be biased as its coming directly from the BDA.
 
[quote name='dallow']I can safely say I only bought 1 UMD movie ever since buying my PSP at launch.
(and I only had 2 games the first year)

And that was only because I'm a fanatical Morrissey collector and I bought his UMD which strangely made it to UMD format.[/QUOTE]

I bought a handful 'just because'. It was an interesting movie format, and would have caught on had they had pricing at $10 or less. Look how well iTunes is doing with movies that are $9.99 that you download to a tiny 4:3 iPod screen. Insane.
 
[quote name='GizmoGC']I bought a handful 'just because'. It was an interesting movie format, and would have caught on had they had pricing at $10 or less. Look how well iTunes is doing with movies that are $9.99 that you download to a tiny 4:3 iPod screen. Insane.[/quote]Yeah, I can't believe that crap.

At $10 or less at launch, I might have bought some.
But now, even at $5. I don't even give a second look.

They look a heck of a lot nicer than any iPod video that's for sure.
 
[quote name='GizmoGC']Again, I am using UMD and PSP as an example of what I THINK will happen. I already stated I know one was portable and could be played only on THAT.

PSP had no games at launch and for several months if not a year later. To help justify their purchase, people bought UMDs on impulse. They just spent $250 on this handheld and all thats available is poorly done PS1/PS2 ports. Hell, I did THE SAME THING. I got a PSP at launch and bought a handful of UMD movies because I to had to justify WHY I still own it and why I shouldn't just sell it and be done with it. This is what I think is going on with the PS3. Gamers spent $500-$600 depending what Sku/Bundle they got. Now you have an expensive system with not a whole lot of games available, most being poorly done ports of 360 Games that were released months if not over a year ago, what else are they going to do? Sure, it has exclusive titles like Motorstorm and Ninja Gaiden, but its not going to have anywhere near the amount of games the 360 has or will have this year. With GTA4 now delayed I fully believe Blu-Ray sales will continue to either grow or stay the same. Once you start seeing games coming out you will see BR sales decline as people now have a reason to actually keep it as a gaming machine. Again, MY OPINION. [/QUOTE]

While more games come out, more (and hopefully better) movies will come out, prices will decline, the amount of HDTVs will increase (many PS3 owners are still in SD), and the overall number of BD hardware sales will increase. With all that in mind, I find it hard to believe that BD sales will decline when the games start coming in.

[quote name='GizmoGC']Hell, I think I know why 'Premonition' is a top seller now. Too many wives/girlfriends told their husband/boyfriend to sell it if he wouldn't use it so he went out, bought that crappy movie, and said 'Look! A girls movie...in Hi-Def!!!! Can I still keep my PS3 :cry: . Why would anyone who has a Blu-Ray player by that movie? WHY?!?![/QUOTE]

You give the general masses too much credit. Since when have they had good taste? Premonition is a top seller because, like most crap movies these days, people will buy into anything that has hype and a few well known actors in it.
 
[quote name='dallow']Yeah, I can't believe that crap.

At $10 or less at launch, I might have bought some.
But now, even at $5. I don't even give a second look.

They look a heck of a lot nicer than any iPod video that's for sure.[/QUOTE]

Yet when EB/GS cleared them out for $5 people were going NUTS. I saw many people buy handfuls just because they were $5. Sony could have had a winning format on their hands had they been priced cheaper. Hell, they even had Universal releasing titles for them!
 
Yea, I think UMD should've launched at $10. They would've performed much better, and maybe given other companies, aside from Sony, a reason to support it. I would've like it if it were more universally supported.
 
[quote name='dpatel']You give the general masses too much credit. Since when have they had good taste? Premonition is a top seller because, like most crap movies these days, people will buy into anything that has hype and a few well known actors in it.[/QUOTE]

I can see it selling well on SD because its owned by MANY people, but if 90% of Blu-Ray players are PS3'.....WTF is going on.
 
[quote name='GizmoGC']I can see it selling well on SD because its owned by MANY people, but if 90% of Blu-Ray players are PS3'.....WTF is going on.[/QUOTE]

I'm not sure what you're getting at here. If you mean to say that, since the PS3 is a hardcore gaming machine, the movies should reflect as such, you have to remember that many PS3s were bought with the sole purpose of playing BD movies.
 
[quote name='dpatel']Yea, I think UMD should've launched at $10. They would've performed much better, and maybe given other companies, aside from Sony, a reason to support it. I would've like it if it were more universally supported.[/QUOTE]

I thought nearly every studio support UMD?
Sony, Fox, Universal, Lionsgate, Anchorbay(Starz), WB, Paramount...
I honestly can't think of a studio that did not support it.
 
[quote name='dpatel']I'm not sure what you're getting at here. If you mean to say that, since the PS3 is a hardcore gaming machine, the movies should reflect as such, you have to remember that many PS3s were bought with the sole purpose of playing BD movies.[/QUOTE]

Dude, Premonition, Top #3.
Something evil is going on...
Next I am going to hear "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants' is announced and in the top 5 on Amazon!
 
I meant hardware wise. If UMD was a success, I'm sure many companies would've released UMD players. This, in my opinion, was its biggest fault (that, and price). I felt no need to buy a movie that would only be used on my PSP. If I could use it on my TV through some UMD player, I would have a little more incentive.
 
[quote name='GizmoGC']Dude, Premonition, Top #3.
Something evil is going on...
Next I am going to hear "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants' is announced and in the top 5 on Amazon![/QUOTE]

That wouldn't surprise me at all. This isn't anything new. Has been happening with movies on DVD, movies in the theaters, and games.
 
[quote name='dallow']Hmm, if the PSP had the TV out option from the get go, I might have picked some up as well.[/QUOTE]

Yea. I wish they could've released some peripheral for that, instead of releasing a slimmer PSP. I really want video out, since most of my PSP gaming is done at home anyway.
 
[quote name='GizmoGC']I can see it selling well on SD because its owned by MANY people, but if 90% of Blu-Ray players are PS3'.....WTF is going on.[/QUOTE]

95%.

Also, I'm sure you'll come up with *some* excuse on your own. You like to look at information and come to conclusions after the fact. You're the one who went off about 300 selling 65% of its hi-def discs on Blu-Ray as perfectly predictable, since all BR owners are pimply-faced macho man randy savage wannabe dorks. Now that you've found evidence that a non-macho man movie is selling very well for Blu-Ray, you'll surely come up with an excuse to satisfy your need to make up explanations.

[quote name='GizmoGC']You realize that site is actually run by the BDA...Sony...Fox...Disney....right?
Bill Hunts, owner and founder of 'The Digital Bits' write propaganda articles for them as well. While some of that may in fact be true, its going to be biased as its coming directly from the BDA.[/QUOTE]

Evidently you didn't see the part where what I posted was an *interview* with the president of Universal. RTFM.
 
[quote name='mykevermin']Evidently you didn't see the part where what I posted was an *interview* with the president of Universal. RTFM.[/QUOTE]

Its an editorial NOT an interview. There is way to much editorializing going on in there for it to be considered an 'interview'.
In that entire thing, how many quotes from the president of Universal are there? How much else is just stuff the 'interviewer' is just adding in to tout how awesome Blu-ray is? Its a site, funded by Blu-Ray backers. If you actually expect anyone but Blu-Boys to believe half that crap you are nuts.
 
fox_graphic.jpg


Remember that? Blu-Ray is currently 2:1 in software sales. I guess they overshot there, eh? That was suppose to be by the end of March. I assume they thought it would be 10:1 at this point, eh? :lol:
 
[quote name='dpatel']Yea, I think UMD should've launched at $10. They would've performed much better, and maybe given other companies, aside from Sony, a reason to support it. I would've like it if it were more universally supported.[/QUOTE]

This is why I fear Sony winning the format war. They don't know how to price worth shit. I mean jeez, not ONE of their exclusive studios are offering new releases at $20 when Weinstein has gotten into it on HD DVD. I think if these studios want to speed up HD disc adoption they should follow Weinstein's example. Even the SM collection from Sony won't be priced at $60 or less like it should be.
 
Blu Ray needs to do 1 thing to win me over(as mentioned) and thats get tv series seasons on 1 disc. Man i hate switching disc to watch a season of anything. Give me 10 blu rays for Simpsons seasons 1-10 instead of 10 box sets spanning about 40 disc and ill be a happy man.
 
[quote name='Sarang01']This is why I fear Sony winning the format war. They don't know how to price worth shit. I mean jeez, not ONE of their exclusive studios are offering new releases at $20 when Weinstein has gotten into it on HD DVD. I think if these studios want to speed up HD disc adoption they should follow Weinstein's example. Even the SM collection from Sony won't be priced at $60 or less like it should be.[/QUOTE]

The Spider-Man trilogy is priced just fine. Spider-Man 3 is CRAZY priced though.
 
[quote name='Weedy649']Blu Ray needs to do 1 thing to win me over(as mentioned) and thats get tv series seasons on 1 disc. Man i hate switching disc to watch a season of anything. Give me 10 blu rays for Simpsons seasons 1-10 instead of 10 box sets spanning about 40 disc and ill be a happy man.[/QUOTE]

Weeds Season 1 did it...but don't expect much more them that from either format. The discs may be larger, but so are the video files for these HD shows.
 
[quote name='Sarang01']This is why I fear Sony winning the format war. They don't know how to price worth shit. I mean jeez, not ONE of their exclusive studios are offering new releases at $20 when Weinstein has gotten into it on HD DVD. I think if these studios want to speed up HD disc adoption they should follow Weinstein's example. Even the SM collection from Sony won't be priced at $60 or less like it should be.[/QUOTE]

I'm not sure how much control Sony has over prices, though.
 
[quote name='GizmoGC']I thought nearly every studio support UMD?
Sony, Fox, Universal, Lionsgate, Anchorbay(Starz), WB, Paramount...
I honestly can't think of a studio that did not support it.[/QUOTE]

every studio except for dreamworks IIRC

at first lionsgate was the only one besides sony, but then sony sold like 100k really quickly so everyone jumped on board except for warner and dreamworks

warner eventually supported it, don't know if dreamworks ever did
 
[quote name='Sarang01']Personally I think if Universal was really serious about this instead of just releasing a slew of quick catalog jobs to HD DVD with paying little attention to restoration they should do a combination of two things instead. One, really do a quality remastering with a few big titles as well as cult films. Two, start putting a LOT of their tv shows that have come out lately in HD DVD. This is their big strength right now to get people to pay attention to it and they're really using it minimally, what with just "Heroes" and like one other show coming. I say they put "Eureka", "Monk", "House" and others on HD DVD.[/quote]

Universal owns House but the show is played on Fox... still can never get my heard around that one.
 
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