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Boon to the PS3? Warner Bros goes Blu-Ray

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S

sonycowboy

Member
It's being jumped all over on the OT, but not everyone here goes to the OT and IMO, this is big enough that it is definitely going to have some ramifications on the PS3's performance one would think. Or do gamers not really, really care?

http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssConsumerGoodsAndRetailNews/idUSN0432340820080104


Warner Bros to back Blu-ray DVD format exclusively
Fri Jan 4, 2008 3:45pm EST

NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Time Warner Inc's (TWX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Warner Bros studio on Friday said it would exclusively release high-definition DVDs in Sony Corp's (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research) Blu-ray format, dealing a big blow to Toshiba Corp's (6502.T: Quote, Profile, Research) rival HD DVD technology.

Warner Bros, Hollywood's biggest seller of DVDs, representing about 18 to 20 percent of sales in the United States, was one of the few studios that backed both formats.

All sides of the format war had agreed it was confusing to consumers and a stumbling block for a potential multibillion-dollar industry.

Total DVD unit sales fell 4.5 percent in 2007, the first major year-over-year decline since the disc format debuted in 1997, according to Adams Media Research. Sales fell 4.8 percent to $15.7 billion.

"The window of opportunity for high-definition DVD could be missed if format confusion continues to linger. We believe that exclusively distributing in Blu-ray will further the potential for mass market success and ultimately benefit retailers, producers, and most importantly, consumers," Warner Bros Chairman and Chief Executive Barry Meyer said in a statement.

News Corp's (NWSa.N: Quote, Profile, Research) 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney Co (DIS.N: Quote, Profile, Research), and Lionsgate (LGF.N: Quote, Profile, Research) are among studios backing the Blu-ray format. Viacom Inc's (VIAb.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Paramount studios and General Electric's (GE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) NBC Universal release movies in HD DVD format.

Warner said it would continue releasing in the HD DVD format until the end of May, although those releases would follow the standard DVD and Blu-ray releases.

(Reporting by Kenneth Li in New York and Bob Tourtellotte and Peter Henderson in Los Angeles; Editing by Brian Moss)
Click to expand...
 
B

badcrumble

Member
Too bad they aren't format neutral, but I'm glad that I'll still be able to see The Dark Knight, and in the end I agree that studios need to just get the format wars over with.

Let's hope Lucasfilm and New Line follow suit when they start releasing on high-def formats.
 
K

Kittonwy

Banned
sonycowboy said:
It's being jumped all over on the OT, but not everyone here goes to the OT and IMO, this is big enough that it is definitely going to have some ramifications on the PS3's performance one would think. Or do gamers not really, really care?

http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssConsumerGoodsAndRetailNews/idUSN0432340820080104
Click to expand...

Yes!!! Thanks for teh news sonycowboy!!!111!!!
gladtomeetya.gif


...
Indifferent2.gif


YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!111!!! Batman Teh Dark Knight on Bluray ftmfw!!!111!!!
gladtomeetya.gif
 
K

KTallguy

Banned
I hope this damn war ends now, it's so annoying.

I do feel sorry for people who bought an HD-DVD player. I hope they got good deals...
 
Woo-Fu

Woo-Fu

Banned
This is the main reason the PS3 has a BD drive. Looks like Sony's gamble is going to pay off for BD, lets hope the planned-on synergy works both ways and the PS3 gets a boost as well.
 
G

GhaleonEB

Member
~Devil Trigger~ said:
this is bad news
Click to expand...
To the extent that the format war ends, which will ultimately be helpful to everyone, it's quite good news.

And it's the beginning of when Blu-Ray turns from being a hinderance to the PS3 (price) to the incentive Sony wants it to be.
 
D

DECK'ARD

The Amiga Brotherhood
sonycowboy said:
It's being jumped all over on the OT, but not everyone here goes to the OT and IMO, this is big enough that it is definitely going to have some ramifications on the PS3's performance one would think. Or do gamers not really, really care?

http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssConsumerGoodsAndRetailNews/idUSN0432340820080104
Click to expand...

Good news the very silly format war is over.

I don't think it will impact PS3 that much though. HD movies are still going to be a slow-burner.

I think thing like NetFlix's TV-based online delivery system, and whatever Apple come up with, are going to have more impact on the movie side of things in the long-run. And DVD's will reign supreme for a long while yet.
 
S

satori

Member
Holy shit...this actually took me by suprise. Even if the rumor was in the air this was in the works but wow, to acutally see it happen.

I really do not care who wins, just want there to be a definite format, I am a movie fan, so bring on the movies!
 
S

shintoki

sparkle this bitch
Funny enough, I mentioned it in the Sony needing 2008 thread.

If they improve their position, its going to be because of BluRay:lol
 
B

bendak

Member
http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/01/04/warner-goes-blu-ray-exclusive/

Very strange when you consider stuff like how Warner has only released the Matrix trilogy on HD DVD and not Blu-ray.

It doesn't really affect me since I'm format neutral and buy both formats, but it's very surprising nonetheless.

According to engadget, "quite a sum" was paid out to Warner to make the switch. Microsoft/Toshiba aren't the only ones giving out moneyhats (Paramount) it seems.

What I want to know is how long I have to wait until I get Transformers on Blu Ray.
Click to expand...
Maybe years. Thats Paramount/Dreamworks who went HD exclusive not too long ago.
 
T

Tmac

Member
Cruzader said:
Like we didnt know Blu was gonna win.
Click to expand...


Like if they took the oposite direction things whoudnt change completely....


Good decision WB, this will speed up this stupid war end.
 
V

Visualante

Member
Well I'm glad the format war is one step closer to being over. It wasn't good for consumers.

I read an interesting blog post that argued that Microsoft's support of HD-DVD exists only to confuse people as Microsoft plans to save the day with digital distribution and they couldn't care if they lose billions on the platform because they aim to own digital distribution channels around the World.
 
suikodan

suikodan

Member
Hopefully this will end this format-war that is simply plain stupid.

It's good to be on the winning team. XD
 
N

nib95

Banned
Microsoft's last attempt will be the 360 Ultimate and it's HD-DVD drive, but that won't be enough to save HD-DVD from this fatal blow.
 
B

Beer Monkey

Member
I know several home theater buffs that have bought the PS3 for use as a BD player but they hardly buy any games at all. Among gamers that are also home theater buffs, this makes the PS3 more attractive than it was since there is effectively no more format war.

From a pure hardware perspective the best way to have this move a lot of PS3 is to price it cheaper than standalone players, but that doesn't necessarily make sense. The best thing for the BD format is to have standalone players that are much cheaper than the (considerably more complex and advanced, not to mention less profitable) PS3s.
 
S

squicken

Member
I'm just glad the pretense of this whole argument not being about the console wars has been abandoned and we can all celebrate Blu-ray, and be glad to be one step closer to a one-format future.
 
C

C4Lukins

Junior Member
Ouch. Huge news for Sony and BR fans. I do not see how HD-DVD can survive this without some sort of miracle announcement that I cannot even possibly cook up if I tried. I am not sure if this will have a huge impact on the PS3, but there is no doubt that the PS3 had a huge impact on making Blu-Ray the winner.
 
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