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[distantmantra]

I don't think either is inferior. I just want one format, as it will help push HD media with the general public.

I really hope that even further confusion and indifference won't lead to the rise of digital distribution...

 

[OokieSpookie]

The "just support both formats" is kind of what this move was trying to inspire I would say.
Nobody that is not hiding behind fanboy blinders and with any common sense knows that this will not have enough of an impact to even put HD in the lead much less change the tide.
It is a stall, it is like playing to a time limit draw when you know that you are currently not in a winning position.
150 million is nothing in the scheme of things, and for that price HD gets some big names exclusives, good advertising , plus the added bonus of threads like this and all of the new stories that will be airing the news ( like they did with the blockbuster and other BR things) which is honestly better than normal advertising not to mention every site with an anti sony agenda whether it is an avs or a gaming site will be all over this news also and have it front and center.
It is honestly a hell of a steal for HD, and paramount and co kind of come out looking like a cheap street hooker that could have probably negotiated a much better deal if thought about it with either side.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

I don't see this deal as making a big difference.

Warner Brothers has some huge titles that are pretty much HD-DVD exclusive RIGHT NOW, and that's not affecting the sales momentum of Blu-Ray over HD-DVD.

That being said, I am a bit mad at this announcement, as it makes absolutely no sense unless money hats were involved.

Overall, the only real 'loss here' for me personally is Paramount. Transformers was garbage, and while I'd like to have Shrek in HD, it's not a huge deal. If they want to go exclusive to one format over reasons unknown, then I'm not going to support them and give them my money.

I have enough titles to buy in 2007 with the Spiderman Trilogy, Pirates 3, Ratatouille, and Die Hard Trilogy that I don't really care.

It'll be funny when Blu-Ray expands its lead to 3:1 soon, while the Paramount announcement does nothing to significantly boost HD-DVD sales and merely acts as a means to rile up HD-DVD fanboys on the internet more than anything else. Most of the movies I want from Paramount include the Indiana Jones series, which is going to be format neutral.

In the end, I'm still supporting the best format with the most studio support, and this doesn't compel me to run out and grab HD-DVD. I won't be supporting an inferior format simply because one company chose moneyhats.

You will be attacked for this sensible post.

 

[BlueTsunami]

That was so important and unique a stance that you had to post it twice? BTW, upconverted DVDs are a scam unless your TV has a shit scaler. What you really mean is 480p FTW.

Yes it was since no one would be able to respond to me in the other thread dumb dumb

Also my old 1080i RCA probably does have a shit scaler and since I own a PS3, I'll be making full use of it.

 

[Mifune]

Well, HD media was nice while it lasted.

What a terrible shortsighted decision this is. The war will continue, and both camps will eat into each other's marketshare rendering the whole format irrelevant. Brilliant.

 

[krypt0nian]

Which, IMO, is exactly what Microsoft wants.

Unless this thing ends pretty dramatically by early next year, both formats seem likely to die with the studios just moving onto downloads as the preferred method, likely through a secure set top box with a cable operators as the middle man as they've already got such high penetration and they can tag it along with the monthly service fee as opposed to buying a box.

I was saying I'll wait for the HD-DVD exclusives to hit Blu-ray. I have a PS3 and will continue to buy BR releases. But there is no way I'm buying both formats. I'd rather spend the cash on more films.

 

[Snah]

Up to you.

But as a dual-format owner, I can tell you right now that the only difference I can perceive between HD and BD movies is when the lights are on and I'm looking at the machine that's playing them.

Which is to say, not often.

Except for the movie 300, where HD DVD's PiP feature was utilized to awesome effect. In which case, I'm confused as to which "inferior format" you're referring to.

The "inferior format" I'm referring to is the one that only can support 30 GBs and has an bit rate of 36 mbs while the competition has 50 GBs and 54 mbs. You may not notice a difference, but for me as a PS3 owner, there's no reason for me to want HD-DVD to win when it's inferior on pretty much all fronts and won't be used as an advantage for gaming.

And, you may not notice a difference, but there are plenty of titles that use the advantages of blu-ray over HD-DVD in terms of bit rate and storage. Pirates is one of them.

 

[Vyer]

Dual format, boyz. If you love movies and you love HD, there's no other way.

If ya can't swing both, then love the one ya got. It's entertainment, not the end of the world.

Ah, but some folks here also have this fueled by their video game console of choice as well. So that makes it, you know, much more end of the world. :lol

 

[Kolgar]

Which, IMO, is exactly what Microsoft wants.

Unless this thing ends pretty dramatically by early next year, both formats seem likely to die with the studios just moving onto downloads as the preferred method, likely through a secure set top box with a cable operators as the middle man as they've already got such high penetration and they can tag it along with the monthly service fee as opposed to buying a box.

But do you really think physical media will ever go away completely? I know I'm not alone in wanting to physically hold something I've purchased and put it in my house or take it to a friend's.

Besides, we seem a long way from having the bandwidth to download these huge movie files at 1080p and with all the cool extras.

No, I think we need an optical disc format to succeed DVD. And we'll have one. Maybe not today and maybe not tomorrow, but the studios and retailers will make sure we have one eventually.

 

[BlueTsunami]

HOLOGRAPHIC DISKS (aka HVD)

Can't wait till that becomes consumer ready

 

[thaivo]

I don't see this deal as making a big difference.

I think most here would agree it suddenly made HD DVD much more viable. The news is huge, especially considering the potential repercussions, i.e., other studios taking another look at HD DVD.

Warner Brothers has some huge titles that are pretty much HD-DVD exclusive RIGHT NOW, and that's not affecting the sales momentum of Blu-Ray over HD-DVD.

Indeed, but most other Warner titles are coming out at the same time. However, the ones that are, are rather gimped compared to their HD DVD counterparts. There is a great difference between format neutral (with a leaning towards one side) and absolute exclusivity. Paramount is basically discontinuing all support, and present Paramount BD's are effectively limited editions.

I have enough titles to buy in 2007 with the Spiderman Trilogy, Pirates 3, Ratatouille, and Die Hard Trilogy that I don't really care.

Everyone has different tastes, personally I thought Transformers was more entertaining than all those movies other than Rataouille (disregarding the older Die Hards, which were awesome).

In the end, I'm still supporting the best format with the most studio support, and this doesn't compel me to run out and grab HD-DVD. I won't be supporting an inferior format simply because one company chose moneyhats.

Some would say that BD is the inferior format, considering the better interactivity and web access. I've tried these things and they're very cool. Not something that I would use often, but they definitely differentiate the HD DVD experience from regular DVD.

Me, I'm hoping this is only the beginning... this with $299 MSRP but $200 street priced HD DVD players, and suddenly the thread title has changed.

 

[LJ11]

That was so important and unique a stance that you had to post it twice? BTW, upconverted DVDs are a scam unless your TV has a shit scaler. What you really mean is 480p FTW.

Well all DVD's are encoded in 480i IIRC, so 480i FTW. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[womfalcs3]

This only means that moneyhats are definitely going to start flying both ways.

Highest bidder wins now.

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB118763006171303081-lMyQjAxMDE3ODI3MDYyMzAwWj.html

^

A lot of bribery going on.

 

[Kolgar]

The "inferior format" I'm referring to is the one that only can support 30 GBs and has an bit rate of 36 mbs while the competition has 50 GBs and 54 mbs. You may not notice a difference, but for me as a PS3 owner, there's no reason for me to want HD-DVD to win when it's inferior on pretty much all fronts and won't be used as an advantage for gaming.

And, you may not notice a difference, but there are plenty of titles that use the advantages of blu-ray over HD-DVD in terms of bit rate and storage. Pirates is one of them.

I haven't noticed Pirates because, pretty looks aside, the sequel was a shit movie.

But I've seen enough HD movies on both formats to know that quality varies from film to film. So far, I haven't seen anything on either format that's head and shoulders above the other.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

Ah, but some folks here also have this fueled by their video game console of choice as well. So that makes it, you know, much more end of the world. :lol

You're probably right, but for me, the movies influenced my choice of game system, not the other way around. I was pretty horked off at Sony for a $600 game olayer, but for $100 more than the cheapest HD-any-format player ($500 for HD DVD at the time) then $100 for a console seemed like a good deal. And it has been, since if any format will dominate, it'll be BluRay.

 

[Vyer]

Which, IMO, is exactly what Microsoft wants.

Unless this thing ends pretty dramatically by early next year, both formats seem likely to die with the studios just moving onto downloads as the preferred method, likely through a secure set top box with a cable operators as the middle man as they've already got such high penetration and they can tag it along with the monthly service fee as opposed to buying a box.

If you believed that DD could take hold so quickly then you would have to believe that the whole HD format war was doomed to begin with. (which you might have, I don't know)

Since not only would we have to wait on a winning format, we'd have to wait on the price points to hit the right mark and for adoption and market penetration rates to reach a high enough level. That would have taken longer than early next year.

 

[rubso]

The "inferior format" I'm referring to is the one that only can support 30 GBs and has an bit rate of 36 mbs while the competition has 50 GBs and 54 mbs. You may not notice a difference, but for me as a PS3 owner, there's no reason for me to want HD-DVD to win when it's inferior on pretty much all fronts and won't be used as an advantage for gaming.

And, you may not notice a difference, but there are plenty of titles that use the advantages of blu-ray over HD-DVD in terms of bit rate and storage. Pirates is one of them.

inferior? explain Hot Fuzz superiority? 30GB/VC-1/Dolby TrueHD/Interactivity
300 30GB/VC-1/Dolby TrueHD/Interactivity

 

[Snah]

I think most here would agree it suddenly made HD DVD much more viable. The news is huge, especially considering the potential repercussions, i.e., other studios taking another look at HD DVD.

Other studios taking another look at HD DVD? Not likely, especially considering the sales gap is only widening.

I hope for Paramount's sake that the money hats were large enough to offset potential sales from Blu-Ray releases.

Indeed, but most other Warner titles are coming out at the same time. However, the ones that are, are rather gimped compared to their HD DVD counterparts. There is a great difference between format neutral (with a leaning towards one side) and absolute exclusivity. Paramount is basically discontinuing all support, and present Paramount BD's are effectively limited editions.

I'd venture to say that the titles that Warner has released on both formats haven't been nearly as big as Batman Begins, V for Vendetta, or Matrix. Those are some pretty huge titles that are HD-DVD exclusive RIGHT NOW, and that's not making the slightest bit of difference.

Everyone has different tastes, personally I thought Transformers was more entertaining than all those movies other than Rataouille (disregarding the older Die Hards, which were awesome).

True, everyone does have different tastes, but I see Transformers being exclusive as pretty much less impacting than Matrix or Batman being HD-DVD exclusive.

Some would say that BD is the inferior format, considering the better interactivity and web access. I've tried these things and they're very cool. Not something that I would use often, but they definitely differentiate the HD DVD experience from regular DVD.

Considering the "interactivity" can be changed and increased on BR, and it will eventually reach parity, this is a non issue.

HD-DVD cannot increase it's single disc capacity to 50 GBs or 54 Mbs.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

inferior? explain Hot Fuzz superiority? 30GB/VC-1/Dolby TrueHD/Interactivity
300 30GB/VC-1/Dolby TrueHD/Interactivity

yahso?

 

[sonycowboy]

But do you really think physical media will ever go away completely? I know I'm not alone in wanting to physically hold something I've purchased and put it in my house or take it to a friend's.

Besides, we seem a long way from having the bandwidth to download these huge movie files at 1080p and with all the cool extras.

No, I think we need an optical disc format to succeed DVD. And we'll have one. Maybe not today and maybe not tomorrow, but the studios and retailers will make sure we have one eventually.

I'm not so sure. If they provide your local cable operator with the movies, getting them a couple of miles is definitely doable with the right SW and security. It could leverage the single platform of a set top box and use peer to peer technology and the huge percentages of folks close to you with new releases to make it fly.

Sort of like Joost, but with HW and SW they can get to you for free and that they can control (mostly).

I'm certainly not calling for the death nell or anything like that, but the longer the format war drags on the harder it's going to be to get significant penetration with a splintered hardcore base and confused casual base.

 

[rubso]

yahso?

should he bring "inferior" arguments all over again? Ignatz?

 

[Snah]

I haven't noticed Pirates because, pretty looks aside, the sequel was a shit movie.

But I've seen enough HD movies on both formats to know that quality varies from film to film. So far, I haven't seen anything on either format that's head and shoulders above the other.

Well it being a "shit movie" in your opinion doesn't negate the fact that it's impossible on HD-DVD.

inferior? explain Hot Fuzz superiority? 30GB/VC-1/Dolby TrueHD/Interactivity
300 30GB/VC-1/Dolby TrueHD/Interactivity

Hot Fuzz superiority in what? Because it has a 30 GB disc when both pirates films have 50 GBs and have bit rates that exceed HD-DVDs potential?

I'm not understanding your argument.

 

[thaivo]

People saying that digital downloads are going to trump disc based media are a little out of touch I think. Most of us are probably quite tech savvy, the general market is not. Additionally, by the time networks get fast enough to make DD seamless (no 2 hour downloads / large compression), HDM will be more reasonably priced.

 

[XMonkey]

HVD is completely unnecessary for HD movies. We don't need the space it offers.

Look, 1080p will become the standard resolution for many, many years to come. 1080p is the resolution that TV will eventually go to (this will take even longer than HD movies of course), and 1080p is what will become the standard for TV sets. There is no reason to come up with a format that offers anything higher than this. Bluray and HD-DVD are perfectly capable of delivering movies that come as close to the actual film master as possible.

 

[rubso]

Hot Fuzz superiority in what? Because it has a 30 GB disc when both pirates films have 50 GBs and have bit rates that exceed HD-DVDs potential?

superiority in what? sorry, I won't discuss this anymore with you.

 

[BlueTsunami]

HVD is completely unnecessary for HD movies. We don't need the space it offers.

I think it will be more important for the PC space (backups) but I would prefer to have that and be able to have the highest bitrate while being able to fit tons of other stuff (great for whole seasons of TV series on one disk etc).

I would rather have HVD than BD or HDDVD honestly and if it was unified...even better!

I seriously think this gen of HD MOVIES is going to get leapfrogged by better tech. Paramount certainly isn't helping any format stick with consumers.

 

[offtopic]

I wonder what else ms might have up their sleeve. $150 million to secure rights to content...would we be surprised to see cash backing for a manufacture (ie toshiba) to market at the $199 price point (or lower) this holiday season?

The two moves would seem to have some synergy if cash isn't the issue.

 

[XMonkey]

I think it will be more important for the PC space (backups) but I would prefer to have that and be able to have the highest bitrate while being able to fit tons of other stuff (great for whole seasons of TV series on one disk etc).

I agree with you on HVD as a PC backup tool. That will be its primary purpose, but it isn't going to break into mainstream territory like DVD or Bluray/HD-DVD can.

Bluray/HD-DVD bitrates are fine for delivering movies at 1080p. They aren't bandwidth starved. TV series on one disc is nice, but not really a critical factor.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

I just wanted to say "yahso?"

 

[PleoMax]

What i like is the "I hope they got paid big time, because they are on the wrong boat to destination Failure, so for their sake...because i'm really worried for them, i mean Blu Ray will sell much more than HDDVD allways and i know this because i believe in it!"

It's such a strange and funny way of re-assuring one self, that he supports the right product, like somehow he had invested a part of his life on it, and that he would come back to harvest the fruits of such a well succeeded bet by his part, and that his life would improve by it.

 

[rubso]

I just wanted to say "yahso?"

Captain Obvious to the rescue ?

 

[VictimOfGrief]

The "inferior format" I'm referring to is the one that only can support 30 GBs and has an bit rate of 36 mbs while the competition has 50 GBs and 54 mbs. You may not notice a difference, but for me as a PS3 owner, there's no reason for me to want HD-DVD to win when it's inferior on pretty much all fronts and won't be used as an advantage for gaming.

And, you may not notice a difference, but there are plenty of titles that use the advantages of blu-ray over HD-DVD in terms of bit rate and storage. Pirates is one of them.

jesus you want to get banned fast don't you?

EDIT : :lol

EDIT #2 : So by your logic, because HD DVD is limited to 30GB it somehow is "inferior" to Blu-Ray just due to disc space? :lol Everything Rubso said here :

inferior? explain Hot Fuzz superiority? 30GB/VC-1/Dolby TrueHD/Interactivity
300 30GB/VC-1/Dolby TrueHD/Interactivity

is spot on and you can't argue with those specs. Course if the gun is pointed the other direction, I would say the arguement that Blu-Ray doesn't use all the 50GB and you pay for space not used----Does that make it the inferior format?

 

[thaivo]

Other studios taking another look at HD DVD? Not likely, especially considering the sales gap is only widening.

Perhaps, but does that mean the fact that this thread has just exploded, and that its title has changed is a sign that the announcement meant nothing... People should stop getting so excited about this nothing press release.

I'd venture to say that the titles that Warner has released on both formats haven't been nearly as big as Batman Begins, V for Vendetta, or Matrix. Those are some pretty huge titles that are HD-DVD exclusive RIGHT NOW, and that's not making the slightest bit of difference.

You seem to like going to extremes. Those titles as far as I know have always been promised to BD, and you know this fact, as I'm sure you've followed the news.

True, everyone does have different tastes, but I see Transformers being exclusive as pretty much less impacting than Matrix or Batman being HD-DVD exclusive.

Personally, I loved Batman Begins and the original Matrix film. I think the world of them, and like them much more than Transformers. However, Transformers is a new release, and I think anyone can see that a new release has much larger impact than even high quality catalog releases such as Batman Begins and The Matrix. It is the first time that Transformers will be available, and it is exclusive. BB and The Matrix were already bought by the vast majority, and mostly hardcore fans would double dip.

Considering the "interactivity" can be changed and increased on BR, and it will eventually reach parity, this is a non issue.

HD-DVD cannot increase it's single disc capacity to 50 GBs or 54 Mbs.

Hopefully you have a player (the PS3 I assume) that can be upgraded to spec 1.1.

 

[typhonsentra]

Why would people that already own one or both of the players stop buying discs for their collection on that format?

 

[BlueTsunami]

Jesus christ, rubso has to be yahso :lol

jesus you want to get banned fast don't you?

EDIT : :lol

EDIT #2 : So by your logic, because HD DVD is limited to 30GB it somehow is "inferior" to Blu-Ray just due to disc space? :lol

Well, 50GB is more than 30GB. So in that regard...

 

[HyperionX]

What i like is the "I hope they got paid big time, because they are on the wrong boat to destination Failure, so for their sake...because i'm really worried for them, i mean Blu Ray will sell much more than HDDVD allways and i know this because i believe in it!"

It's such a strange and funny way of re-assuring one self, that he supports the right product, like somehow he had invested a part of his life on it, and that he would come back to harvest the fruits of such a well succeeded bet by his part, and that his life would improve by it.

Otherwise known as blatant fact and aversion to a long, drawn out format war. Blu-ray has consistently outsold HD-DVD for the last 7-8 months or so, and there is little reason to believe this will change. The only possible outcome is a Blu-ray victory, so anything that slows this down should be met with disapproval.

 

[VictimOfGrief]

Jesus christ, rubso has to be yahso :lol



Well, 50GB is more than 30GB. So in that regard...

yeah... added more to that. But seriously, 20GB more.... OHhhhhh boy. With all the shit they can pack on either HD DVD and Blu-Ray, disc space at this point doesn't matter*.

Spoiler

Until HD DVD^2 :lol

 

[PleoMax]

Otherwise known as blatant fact and aversion to a long, drawn out format war. Blu-ray has consistently outsold HD-DVD for the last 7-8 months or so, and there is little reason to believe this will change. The only possible outcome is a Blu-ray victory, so anything that slows this down should be met with disapproval.

Sure, whatever keeps you from a sad face.

 

[Snah]

jesus you want to get banned fast don't you?

EDIT : :lol

EDIT #2 : So by your logic, because HD DVD is limited to 30GB it somehow is "inferior" to Blu-Ray just due to disc space? :lol

Yes, it is. That's why DVD is inferior to HD-DVD and Blu-Ray and why we even have these new formats to begin with.

A 20 GB gap is not negligible.

Perhaps, but does that mean the fact that this thread has just exploded, and that its title has changed is a sign that the announcement meant nothing... People should stop getting so excited about this nothing press release.

No one is 'excited' about this press released but HD-DVD enthusiasts. For the vast majority, this news sucks. I'm not saying it's not a slight blow, but I don't think it's going to matter AT ALL in terms of what decides this format war.

The only one losing out is Paramount, and like I said, I hope those money hats offset potential sales losses.

You seem to like going to extremes. Those titles as far as I know have always been promised to BD, and you know this fact, as I'm sure you've followed the news.

Promising and delivering are two different things. Warner has only been "neutral" in press releases. They've yet to deliver on any of their promises, and frankly, it's been almost a year. It's getting ridiculous. Like I said, having such huge titles being HD-DVD exclusive is nothing to snuff at. Most people do not know that Warner will supposedly bring those titles over. They only know what they see on the shelves. And that's HD-DVD having Batman and Blu-Ray not having it.

Personally, I loved Batman Begins and the original Matrix film. I think the world of them, and like them much more than Transformers. However, Transformers is a new release, and I think anyone can see that a new release has much larger impact than even high quality catalog releases such as Batman Begins and The Matrix. It is the first time that Transformers will be available, and it is exclusive. BB and The Matrix were already bought by the vast majority, and mostly hardcore fans would double dip.

I'd wager that Batman Begins on Blu-Ray would outsell Transformers on HD-DVD.

Batman Begins, while not a new release, is still a huge title and as a Blu-Ray supporter it's one that I'm waiting on.

Hopefully you have a player (the PS3 I assume) that can be upgraded to spec 1.1.

I do, as do most blu-ray owners.

 

[djkimothy]

jesus you want to get banned fast don't you?

EDIT : :lol

EDIT #2 : So by your logic, because HD DVD is limited to 30GB it somehow is "inferior" to Blu-Ray just due to disc space? :lol Everything Rubso said here :
is spot on and you can't argue with those specs. Course if the gun is pointed the other direction, I would say the arguement that Blu-Ray doesn't use all the 50GB and you pay for space not used----Does that make it the inferior format?

What was so inflammatory?

 

[drohne]

I think most here would agree it suddenly made HD DVD much more viable.

i wouldn't agree. i don't mean to downplay the significance of this announcement -- i think it's huge -- but really it's just made blu ray less viable. the only way either format was going to emerge from this morass was by uniting all the major studios. blu ray had a shot. and now it doesn't -- not in the foreseeable future.

 

[rc213]

I can understand the anger in here but Transformers is definitely not a shit movie.

Which makes it harder to understand this move because Transformers is a movie that would sell a boatload to the PS3 user base. Also, The Blu-Ray camp cannot sit on it's ass this holiday with only the PS3 @$399~$499 and allow HD DVD to go out and sell $199 players. They need to match it or else the fight will only get worse.

 

[Vyer]

Otherwise known as blatant fact and aversion to a long, drawn out format war. Blu-ray has consistently outsold HD-DVD for the last 7-8 months or so, and there is little reason to believe this will change. The only possible outcome is a Blu-ray victory, so anything that slows this down should be met with disapproval.

And yet, for some money, two studios are willing to go the other way.

I think that's the point...we just don't know. We dont' know what the studios will do, we don't know what the consumer market will do, we don't know what retailers will do. It's all up in the air. Sure, there seemed to be a little progress made but that doesn't mean it was a 'done deal.'

I mean, if you bought into only ONE format from the get-go (When things were FAR from decided) then it is kind of hard to justify getting really get upset over the uncertainty of the situation. You made a choice (hopefully) with the knowledge that you were an early adopter, whatever your reason may be.

It suck to continue to draw it out, but the early adopter apparently decided that THEIR FORMAT was going to 'win' even when they had no guarantee of such. So the one format early adopter is just as guilty of helping this get drawn out as anyone else.

 

[VictimOfGrief]

What was so inflammatory?

More of a quip really. Coming from the gaming side of things, if you called one system inferior to the other in the terms described.... sp0rk wouldn't like you very long. :lol

 

[Beer Monkey]

Blu-Ray and HD-DVD sales are shit. 60% of shit is just larger shit. No studio with a brain is making any decision based on current sales.

 

[djkimothy]

More of a quip really. Coming from the gaming side of things, if you called one system inferior to the other in the terms described.... sp0rk wouldn't like you very long. :lol

Well, its specifications (HDDVD vs Blu-ray) is inferior. Sure, HDi is a long way ahead of BD-J. But HDi is not part of the HDDVD medium. As a medium, HDDVD is inferior spec wise to Blu-ray.

 

[Azrael]

This announcement is the death of HD disc movies. There's really no reason to be happy about this announcement unless you hate Sony so much that you'd rather HD disc movies die altogether than Blu-ray to win. Mainstream consumers are not going to buy an HD player when studio support is split right up the middle. 1 exclusive studio versus 4 maybe, but not 2-4.

It sucks that Paramount took the moneyhat, but a lot of the blame has to go to Fox for this situation too. As soon as Blu-ray took a decisive lead they bailed out because of their ludicrous obsession with piracy, and Blu-ray was unable to expand its lead beyond its 65-35% split. Had Fox/MGM continued to support Blu-ray while BD+ was finalized, the gap between the formats would have widened, retail support for HD DVD would have dwindled even more than it did, and Paramount would have been less likely to take the moneyhat in the first place. Now they announce a bunch of titles when it's too little, too late.

 

[rc213]

Paramount is definitely not losing out here, If anything they are making out like bandits. They get a $150 million dollar moneyhat to hop on the HD DVD wagon to try and help them win the war. If it doesn't happen after a certain amount of time they can switch to Blu-Ray. I mean it's not like it's a lifetime exclusivity agreement or their movies wont sell on Blu-Ray in a year or two.

 

[djkimothy]

This announcement is the death of HD disc movies. There's really no reason to be happy about this announcement unless you hate Sony so much that you'd rather HD disc movies die altogether than Blu-ray to win. Mainstream consumers are not going to buy an HD player when studio support is split right up the middle. 1 exclusive studio versus 4 maybe, but not 2-3.

It sucks that Paramount took the moneyhat, but a lot of the blame has to go to Fox for this situation too. As soon as Blu-ray took a decisive lead they bailed out because of their ludicrous obsession with piracy, and Blu-ray was unable to expand its lead beyond its 65-35% split. Had Fox/MGM continued to support Blu-ray while BD+ was finalized, the gap between the formats would have widened, retail support for HD DVD would have dwindled even more than it did, and Paramount would have been less likely to take the moneyhat in the first place. Now they announce a bunch of titles when it's too little, too late.

Yah, I think FOX was caught with their pants down. paramount's announcement was a lot more relevant than FOX promised support.

 

[Beer Monkey]

This announcement is the death of HD disc movies.

Nah, HD disc will ultimately pull through because broadband delivery is just too many years from delivering to the public.