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Paramount and Dreamworks drop BLURAY - go HD DVD.

engadget.com — No transformers for BLURAY.

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  • username9000, on 10/10/2007, -8/+333I think this is a pretty surprising decision.
    • pooper, on 10/10/2007, -11/+137Wow, losing Dreamworks is a HUGE blow for Sony.
    • zybch, on 10/10/2007, -16/+58Not really. I think these companies have just woken up and realised that if they support BluRay they risk getting screwed by sony just like the music publishers are getting screwed by Apple (in their own minds at least).

      Toshy seems to be more open about its format and although not big on anyone's radar, the support that folks like HP and MS (both multi billion dollar companies) are giving to HD is enough to make anyone think twice about the whole thing.
      • GawtMilk, on 10/10/2007, -39/+24Blu-Ray Disc Association's Board of Directors

        Apple Inc.
        Buena Vista Home Entertainment
        Dell
        Hewlett Packard
        Hitachi
        LG Electronics
        Mitsubishi Electric
        Panasonic
        Pioneer Corporation
        Royal Philips Electronics
        Samsung Electronics
        Sharp Corporation
        Sony Corporation
        Sun Microsystems
        TDK
        Thomson
        Twentieth Century Fox
        Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group
        Warner Home Video Inc.

        Keep in mind this doesn't include production houses, manufacturers, etc. There are thousands of people behind Blu-Ray.

        HP is supporting Blu-Ray. Blu-Ray has more money behind it than HD-DVD, and also more production studios on board.

        Sony's revenue far outpaces Microsoft's.
        • zulhadm, on 10/10/2007, -26/+23Exactly dude. I really hope Paramount and Dreamworks get their act together and get back on the bandwagon because BD is the far superior format. For once, we as consumers have the unique opportunity to see the better format win. Didn't work out that way with Beta vs. VHS...
          • jordanlund, on 10/21/2007, -21/+26Blu-Ray is POTENTIALLY a superior format. For right now though it's half baked, Java support is gimped (see 300, extra features not possible on Blu-Ray currently). The 50 GB discs were fubar for a long time and even now there's only, what? Like 4 movies that support 50 GB?

            They need to get the bugs ironed out... Meanwhile on the HD-DVD side, they're outselling stand alone players 4:1 and when it comes to the PS3, the NPD group reports 60% of PS3 owners don't even know it's a Blu-Ray player. Of the 40% that do know, only half of them actually use it. That's 20% of PS3 owners playing Blu-Ray media.
          • GliTCH82, on 10/21/2007, -6/+30Blu-Ray players are much slower than HD-DVD players. Blu-Ray is designed to infringe on fair use and is not only more expensive to manufacture, but it's also more inherently complex than HD-DVD.
          • svartgotik, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3Yes, superior interactive menus! Oops, maybe not. Disc size is superior? I'd choose a better codec over disc size.

        • allywilson, on 10/10/2007, -5/+20If you're gonna post one sided stats - don't post at all.
        • Icebox3, on 10/21/2007, -12/+6Why is GawtMilk being dugg down? He's simply correctly stating - to all the retards who think Sony is in charge of Blu-ray - that infact a large number of different companies are behind it.
        • Konstantino, on 10/10/2007, -3/+17Uh...newsflash: Just because Microsoft supports HD-DVD doesn't mean that they're the ones behind it.
        • thebaron2, on 10/10/2007, -2/+15Holy fanboy, Batman!
        • hafniOum, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6HD-DVD = http://www.hddvdprg.com/eng/about/member.html
          Toshiba, NEC, SANYO, Microsoft, etc...

          Blu-ray : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_corporations_supporting_Blu-ray
          Sony, Apple (Walt Disney), Panasonic, etc...
      • daridave, on 10/10/2007, -2/+4I absolutely agree.

        We, as consumers, would also be pretty f*cked if everything shifted one side. It's like this for everything, not just the "disc wars" ... I haven't bought one HD player yet and I aim to eventually get BOTH no matter what, but I'm glad to read this. Too much power in one hand will crush the other one, and that's just not good for US.
      • NgrHader, on 10/21/2007, -3/+8I actually thikng Paramount will regret this decsion
    • JefffN, on 10/10/2007, -11/+78Is it weird that the reason I want Blu-ray to lose is because I want Blu-ray players to end up getting sold very cheaply just so I can buy a bunch, take them apart and steal the lasers?
      • kevinmotel, on 10/10/2007, -6/+41imma chargin mah blu-ray!
      • TechCF, on 10/10/2007, -22/+2Same lasers in hddvd units
      • noblepenguin, on 10/10/2007, -4/+26You, sir, are clearly an evil genius hellbent on taking over the world.
        I won't have it, sir! I won't have it!!!
        • hottyson, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Sharks and fricken laser beams!
          Muhhwaaaaaa....
      • zweben, on 10/20/2007, -4/+23If Blu-ray fails, the prices will drop significantly, but not nearly as much as they would eventually drop to if they were a success.

        DVD burners started out at $1000. Now you can get one for what? $20?
        • pipedreambomb, on 10/20/2007, -3/+7How much are Betamax recorders?
      • anchorman, on 10/21/2007, -1/+11If you buy 'em... how are you stealing?
        • greenblob, on 10/10/2007, -4/+5I don't know, but either way, you'll get arrested or fined if you do that.
        • eyefork, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4Youre stealing it from the player, which will shoot you onsite if you are caught.
        • pipedreambomb, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4He'd be voiding the warranty! I mean, that's sort of evil..
    • superkendall, on 10/21/2007, -9/+31IT is a surprise, however the rumor is it involves $50m to Paramount and $100m to Dreamworks from someone (not sure who).

      It's a blow to Blu-Ray (not to Sony in particular) but not enough I think to offset Fox and Disney and Sony all being Blu-Ray exclusive.
      • jacksons98, on 10/20/2007, -6/+11I read the same thing. My source also said $100million isn't enough for a movie studios entire catalog. They are estimating this is just a timed exclusive thru 08.
      • battletrax, on 10/21/2007, -8/+3oh well.. consumers don't know that

        Can you say 2400% rise in hdvd player sales on amazon?
    • betterth, on 10/10/2007, -3/+28I totally agree, this is, well impressive. This certainly moves us away from what was looking to become a BluRay victory.
      This means that HDDVD now has Universal, Weinstein and Paramount, and Paramount/Dreamworks is the box office leader of the year. BluRay has Sony Pictures (big surprise!), Disney and Fox.

      It's going to be an interesting end of the year for the format war now.
      • wageslaven, on 10/20/2007, -10/+24Transformers will be the largest selling High Definition movie ever, this Christmas. HD-DVD exclusive.
        • battletrax, on 10/10/2007, -6/+5Wow microsoft is going to be the comback kings of the year. Good games this fall, no more red rings of death, plus support of all these companies?
        • betterth, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4I don't care if Michael Bay blows his gay lover, Transformers was amazing. I
      • greenblob, on 10/10/2007, -3/+9Competition is good.
        • pipedreambomb, on 10/10/2007, -2/+5Yes, clearly the biggest winner is the consumer.
      • djphatjive, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Viacom is part of paramount, so you got MTV and Anything Viacom has too VH1 stuff like that.
        • guyzero, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Viacom is the parent company of Paramount, not the other way around ... (Viacom also owns CBS)
    • spoiled1, on 10/10/2007, -25/+15BOOray
    • rento, on 10/21/2007, -31/+22Let me see how did it all begin? (MS=Microsoft, TS=Toshiba):
      MS Oops were loosing... TS Yup. MS: You know what, let's buy some of these studios back TS: Really?! Oh you serious? ughh rrh mmm, I mean do you think we can do that? MS: Sure I have been doing this ***** for years kid, got some money? TS: Yeah, I guess MS: Good, I ll start making some call$
      • cplex, on 10/10/2007, -9/+20Comment buried. Good idea, poor execution. FAIL
      • allywilson, on 10/10/2007, -12/+3wtf? This isn't about 360 vs ps3 (aka microsoft vs sony). This is obviously a business decision - pure and simple. If you disagree - go and buya sony vaio and check out the OS.
        • hafniOum, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4What are you talking about? Where you get the 360 vs PS3 part?
      • Myonosken, on 10/10/2007, -5/+6So what? Microsoft have the money, it's perfectly fine for them to spend it on their assets. That's just common sense.
      • IllBeBack, on 10/10/2007, -2/+9I hope that the executives at Microsoft and Toshiba don't write or speak like this. If they do, I hope they're fired as soon as possible.
      • grumpyrain, on 10/10/2007, -2/+4Because Sony is the most morally upstanding company?
    • Pritchard, on 10/21/2007, -11/+2These aren't surprising at all. Both blu-ray and HD-DVD suck my big salty balls, and they do it with half a gig to spare. Take a look at more promising technologies such as HVD (holographic versatile disk) and others, whose names I don't have on hand. They store anywhere from several hundred gigabytes to 3-5 terabytes.
      • dvddesign, on 10/10/2007, -1/+13Well, I'll just run right down to Fry's and pick up a few HVD's and... Well ***** they're out of stock of HVD discs, players, and drives. WTF?!

        HVD is a decent spec, but there's an overhead cost to investing in new technology. BR and HD DVD got to market first. How long has holographic storage been in planning stages? 6-7 years? It's still not here yet.
      • yabos, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1It might be a superior storage technology but we can't even get the next generation HD disks settled with only 2 formats. Adding another one isn't going to help one bit. Blue-Ray and HD-DVD are good enough as they are for storing HD content.
      • gregdigg, on 10/10/2007, -1/+9HVD = vaporware. Their website (http://hvd-forum.org) made a claim that HVD would be available summer 2006, and since then has stopped updating their website.
        • Renton, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5"July 28, 2007 HVD Standards have been approved and published."
      • conman16x, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4Guys, HDTVs lick on my carrot. You should wait for holodecks.
    • zuppy, on 10/10/2007, -1/+21I just don't care which one wins, but pretty please, decide faster which is going to be the format and let's switch all on it.
      • headband, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2a longer war just means more competition and priced dropping faster. More people can afford hardware and thus it gives a bigger insentive to release more content for us. Its a win win for the studios and consumers. The only people who care would be the hardware backers and they may eventually all switch to dual format players anyways.
        • pipedreambomb, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2It means you're tossing a coin to decide wether or not you'll be throwing away your defunct player in a couple of years.
    • anchorman, on 10/10/2007, -8/+22I'm thrilled with this news. I lost so much respect for Sony with that rootkit fiasco... I just can't find it in me to support that company anymore. Granted... I'm no lover of MS either.... but I like HD DVD better than BluRay anyway.
      • spoiled1, on 10/10/2007, -8/+5you like HDDVD because you own it
        • anchorman, on 10/10/2007, -2/+8No I don't. Not yet at least. Waiting for MS to release the 360 with a built-in version HD-DVD player. I know it will come sooner or later.
      • jcarlock, on 10/10/2007, -9/+6Why would you choose a worse format because of a very bad attempt at pleasing the RIAA? So they F***ed up, MS has been pulling ***** like that for years, but no judgement? ***** HD-DVD, go blueray. HD DVD has not one quality to make it better for viewing. Also, since when do the corporation set the standards, does consumer driven economy mean something to anyone?
        • Birdoftruth, on 10/10/2007, -3/+2ha true that, They stole tons of korean code for mouse drivers and things alike
        • pipedreambomb, on 10/20/2007, -0/+9People talk like there are two Microsofts, Microsoft the games company who does no wrong, and Microsoft the evil software conglomerate who does no right. Wake up, soylent green is people!
    • anchorman, on 10/10/2007, -13/+4Regarding why its bad for Blu-Ray to win the format war... watch the video posted here.

      http://www.gizmocafe.com/blogs/gizmo_cafe_blog/archive/2007/02/08/106130.aspx
    • einsiders, on 10/21/2007, -0/+7This is a big coup for HD-DVD, but the fact still remains that both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray combined account for less than 1% of all movie discs sold on the market. Fox, Disney, Universal, Paramount, they're all positioning themselves for when demand for hi-def dvds start becoming more prevalent. And in the case of Paramount, they've decided that reaching the $199 price point first is probably more important than having a superior storage format in terms of who wins this "war." Still, whether you're in either camp, you've got to acknowledge this is a pretty big win for HD-DVD, since this is the first company to head back in their direction after first supporting both formats. Early adopters be ready for more heartache, this war isn't close to being over.
    • Responder656, on 10/10/2007, -10/+8Ha! Even more PS3 exclusives lost!
    • hackmyballs, on 10/21/2007, -7/+4Oh my sience, here comes M$ again bribing everybody, greens in one hand and a baseball bat in the other.
      Nothing new here...
      • chilekillr, on 10/21/2007, -7/+4Thank you for using "M$". When you put that in your comment, I know that you are a blatant fanboy and I can digg you down.
      • MrSteamTank, on 10/21/2007, -3/+3Considernig Sony is bigger than microsoft I don't understand why people think Sony is the underdog.
    • rpgmaker, on 10/21/2007, -10/+6BD is harder to pirate so ***** BD. If the PS3 is harder to be modded to the point of almost impossible then ***** PS3 too.
    • vammirato, on 10/21/2007, -2/+5Which one does my wii play???

      Oh, none. Well, never mind then!
    • Rukaribe, on 10/10/2007, -7/+4Blu-Ray sucks. ***** Sony.
    • l0k0, on 10/21/2007, -4/+4Are you really surprised another Sony format appears it will fail to become the industry standard? 15 years of losses include Betamax, Minidisc, and UMD and that's just the tip of the iceberg. Was there really a compelling reason to believe Blu-Ray would be any different?
      • r3zonance, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Betamax was massive in the broadcasting arena, because of its superior picture to VHS.
        • woron, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1No, Betacam was massive in the broadcasting arena.
    • stockjones, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Not too suprising. After doing a lot of evaluation looking at "production cost", cost to consumers etc HD-DVD is the more economical choice and it isnt any less inferior to BLU-RAY other than the fact that BLU-RAY has a bit more storage capacity. One thing though, they said this excludes any Steven Spielberg films which is odd.
  • obeezy, on 10/10/2007, -52/+37More woes for the PS3. HD DVD it is.
    • harrypl0tter, on 10/10/2007, -33/+12you sir are a dumbass for thinking this after this announcement. Check you dvd collection and see how many movies are paramount
      • JackyAppleJones, on 10/10/2007, -12/+56Anyone who starts a sentence with "you sir", is a presumptuous *****.
      • Shawn4168, on 10/10/2007, -11/+18You might want to make sure that you spelled the word "your" correctly next time you try calling somebody a dumbass. And yes, quite a few movies that many people own are either Paramount or Dreamworks.
      • jordanlund, on 10/10/2007, -4/+7Sure, why not?

        http://jordanlund.dvdaf.com/

        92 Warner Brothers (Dual HD-DVD/Blu-Ray)
        45 from Universal (HD-DVD only)
        56 Paramount (HD-DVD only)
        7 Dreamworks (HD-DVD only)
        3 Weinstein (HD-DVD only)
        HD-DVD potential total 203
        ----------------------------------
        62 Fox (Blu-Ray only)
        11 Sony (Blu-Ray only)
        8 Disney (Blu-Ray only)
        Blu-Ray potential total 81
        • apoc06, on 10/10/2007, -3/+10assuming that your figures are right, you still forgot to add the warner bros movies to the blu-ray side as well, since they are on blu-ray too. that would bring the blu-ray total to 173.
          • jordanlund, on 10/10/2007, -5/+7When Warner makes HD discs they make them all for the HD-DVD platform. However they only make a fraction of them for the Blu-Ray platform. The Matrix trilogy being a prime example. That's why I didn't list them on the Blu-Ray side.
  • username9000, on 10/10/2007, -41/+19No Indiana Jones on BLURAY either.

    Oh here is a link to the official press release for those doubters.
    http://www.viacom.com/NEWS/NewsText.aspx?RID=1042073
    • mcaaronice, on 10/10/2007, -3/+55Actually, at the bottom is says: Today's announcement does not include films directed by Steven Spielberg as his films are not exclusive to either format.
      • username9000, on 10/10/2007, -1/+11MIssed that. Good catch. I still doubt considering his movies are with Paramount and Dreamworks that they will not be coming as soon or at all though. Sounds more like a disclaimer more than a statement they will be on bluray.
        We'll see.
        • harrypl0tter, on 10/21/2007, -12/+12This just shows Steven S. was the only non-dumbass over there
  • vandy, on 10/10/2007, -42/+34We were one studio away from having a winning high-def format...now we get to re-live the past few years.
    • mcaaronice, on 10/10/2007, -12/+19Was that one studio Sony? If so, then I agree.
    • STARTSOMETHING, on 10/10/2007, -5/+13We? Do you have a blue ray gang?
    • wageslaven, on 10/10/2007, -6/+8You're totally delusional.
    • JayD16, on 10/10/2007, -6/+8Whys he getting dugg down? Had Universal gone bluray before this announcement you guys don't think it would have meant a victory?
    • stockjones, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1image quality and all is no different between BLU-RAY and HD-DVD so whats the worry?
  • MikeNovick, on 10/21/2007, -36/+148From a business perspective this seems rather stupid. I wonder how much the HD-DVD camp paid for this exclusivity. Blu-Ray has outsold HD-DVD this year 2-to-1 and still Paramount and Dreamworks decide to go from supporting both systems to supporting only HD-DVD? Where is the logic in that? Or has the official statement been interpreted totally wrong?
    • Gunegune, on 10/21/2007, -13/+38It's rumored it was driven by a $150M exclusivity deal (which isn't much when you consider how much they could have made with Blu-ray in the coming years) with the HD DVD Group. Source: http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=412

      Here's the AP release (as posted by username9000) if you'd like to review it. http://www.viacom.com/NEWS/NewsText.aspx?RID=1042073
      • Jugalator, on 10/10/2007, -5/+7Why do you guys digg this one down so hard?
    • hungryforair, on 10/21/2007, -10/+100The reason for the jump is probably because of the projected Sub $200 dollar HD DVD players this Christmas. Those would Boom in sales and in sales of HD DVDs.
      • hexix, on 10/21/2007, -4/+9But they wouldn't need to go exclusive to make money off of a surge in HD DVD. It seems like it would have been a lot smarter to wait for HD DVD to actually pull ahead (assuming they still can) before going exclusive with them.

        But business is business, and there must be some solid reasoning behind this decision.
        • byronm, on 10/21/2007, -7/+9Read the real press release. Its cheaper to product and distribute on HD-DVD so even if BluRay outsells HD DVD it still costs more and takes more time to produce a BluRay movie. Not only that they mention the higher stand alone sales and lower price point for cost of entry being better on HD DVD.

          Just makes more financial sense and that is what business is all about.
    • dagamer34, on 10/10/2007, -12/+30Because HD DVD players will hit the magic $200 mark far sooner than Bluray players will. Especially if the PS3 is the sole player driving the BluRay market, that means it could be years before you can get a $200 BluRay player. The cheapeast BluRay player that isn't a PS3 still sells for $599 compared to HD DVD's cheapest at $299.

      Doesn't take much common sense to figure out that people will pick a cheap player over a better format any day of the week.
      • dougmc, on 10/10/2007, -4/+12... which is why the standard DVD (not HD-DVD, not Blue Ray) is still winning by a large margin. I can get a decent player for $20 -- and it even does almost HD resolution on most movies.

        Well, that and nobody wants to get all invested in a format that's going to die. I don't know who's going to win, HD-DVD or Blue Ray, but they're not *both* going to win ...
        • yabos, on 10/20/2007, -4/+8You can't compare upscaled DVD to 720p to true 1080p. You might get away with it on a smaller HDTV but try it on a big on and you'll be wanting some true HD content.
        • wageslaven, on 10/21/2007, -9/+7Direct Download HD movies FTW.
          • grumpyrain, on 10/10/2007, -4/+2Why digg him down? I give optical discs (in any format) 5 years max before they need to start competing with an iTunes style online HD shop.
        • Myonosken, on 10/10/2007, -2/+8@Yabos, most of us would rather keep the £100+ difference and just upscale to be honest.
        • mysnowlife, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1The format war is and will be much ado about nothing - much like the last war between dvd-r/dvd+r because in the next 12-18 months hybrid players will make choosing one format largely obsolete.
          • diggrim, on 10/20/2007, -0/+1which sadly will be the better quality...that obviously costs more to produce...hurray for least common denominator :(
      • superkendall, on 10/21/2007, -4/+6It doesn't matter how cheap a player it is, if it doesn't play what you want. Paramount is pretty big but can a format really thrive without Disney or Fox? What if Fox comes out with Star Wars on Blu-Ray this Christmas?
        • thejokell, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3Sony is pretty big but can a format really thrive without Universal or Paramount? What if Back to the Future and Indiana Jones are released on HD DVD this Christmas? What if Jurassic Park, Gladiator, and Braveheart are released on HD DVD this Christmas?
        • battletrax, on 10/20/2007, -6/+1what if box office topping transformers and shrek came out on hdvd this christmas?

          All they have to do is not release them on dvd. The sales would be crazy.
      • mcmlxxii, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1re cheap player over better format - that depends how much better.
      • NgrHader, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1There is actually Blu-Ray disc player coming out in the fall for 299.99...not bad if you ask me...and it will more than likely go on sale every now and then for 249.99
    • superkendall, on 10/10/2007, -4/+28The rumor is $50m to Paramount, $100m to Dreamworks:

      http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/desperation-move-cash-grab-or-intensified-blu-rayhd-dvd-format-war/
      • Gunegune, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7Paramount Pictures is DreamWorks' parent company. And Viacom is Paramount's owner.
    • byronm, on 10/10/2007, -9/+7Explain to me how you think this is "stupid" The press release from Vivendi & Paramount directly states that its Cheaper to Produce & Distribute HD DVD and that the consumer electornics pricing has meet there expectations. BluRay could sell a lot more but if they're spending more to produce it and don't see prices falling like sony may hev promised and the alternative is a better situation why not make the leap of faith based upon cold hard facts instead of fan loyalty?
      • gostars, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Either Blockbuster or Paramount is stupid. Pick your logic. But you've got to call one of them stupid.
      • Birdoftruth, on 10/21/2007, -1/+6than why did the 300 Hd-DVD cost more than the Blu-ray one?
        • Kenban, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1There is an extra $5 for the DVD/HD-DVD combo disk. If it had just been HD-DVD it would have been the same price.
          • derkmerkin, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2ALL blu's are cheaper than hd-dvds, it doesnt matter if its a dual format disk, hd-dvd is typically 3-7 dollars more expensive
        • Birdoftruth, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Its the little things that add up my friend. If If If....
      • derkmerkin, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2You are full of crap! HD-DVDs cost the consumer MORE even though the players are cheaper, and i don't buy this cheaper to distribute BS, they weight the same come in the same size box, and unless HD-DVDs are capable of warping space time then they are costing the same to distribute.

        Any one who things HD-DVD is superior to blu-ray is either a fanboy or clueless about the FACTUAL (none of this i heard blah blah blah crap) differences between the 2 formats. What "cold hard facts" do you have that shows blu is inferior to hd-dvd?
    • Cyxelsid, on 10/10/2007, -5/+6Exclusivity is the only reason that makes any sense. It's all well and good for people here to show their hands as fans of HD-DVD, but a currently cheaper player & a rumored $200 player is no reason to go exclusive. Those provide no reason for these companies to not continue to stick with the better-selling format. How would a $200 HD-DVD player make these companies not want to produce products for the currently better-selling market? That makes no sense.

      It's obviously the payoff for an exclusivity deal that got this done and just like Blu-Ray's exclusivity deals, in the end, it's the consumers that lose.
    • nicepants, on 10/21/2007, -11/+18The average dumb consumer has no clue what "Blu Ray" is...but say "HDDVD" and they think "HD" + "DVD". It's a no-brainer for them.
      • apoc06, on 10/21/2007, -2/+22unfortunately thats the reason many people are buying hd dvds by accident thinking they can run them in their normal dvd players and returning them.
        • NgrHader, on 10/21/2007, -1/+3That is very true, at least Blu-Ray users know they need an HDTV and Blu-Ray player first
        • VictoryGin, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1well how come my "Flat Round VHS" format didn't win that last format war? I thought surely no one would buy a "DVD" (what's that even mean??)
    • indiefan, on 10/10/2007, -10/+6Even if the rumors of a deal are true, i don't care what their motives were for doing the right thing. Format standards are a good thing and i hope Sony goes out of business trying to leverage their electronics and strong arm the industry again and again.
      • apoc06, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3if this isnt a case of MS leveraging their cash, and strong arming yet another industry they dont belong in, i dont know what is...

        do you know what a format standard is?

        blu-ray and hd-dvd use nearly all of the same technology outside of the discs. the discs are format standards otherwise they wouldnt play on the various players made by companies.
    • anchorman, on 10/21/2007, -9/+23In Europe HD DVD is outselling BluRay 3 to 1 for set top boxes. http://crunchgear.com/2007/07/12/hd-dvd-outselling-blu-ray-in-europe/
      The USA is not the only country that matters here.
      • NgrHader, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1Yes, however don't count out the fact that many are buying PS3s for both gaming and Blu-Ray movies...set top boxes don't mean much unless there was a gaming console with it standard for HD-DVD
    • akhomerun, on 10/10/2007, -8/+9who cares if bluray is outselling hddvd in the us? the market is TINY, a SINGLE DVD release can outsell the entire blu-ray and hd-dvd catalog at any given time.

      the sales difference probably has to do with ps3 fanboys. really, so few people own HD players. With the HD-DVD push that Walmart is doing, I would think that HD-DVD, as the cheaper version, is the smarter choice anyway.
    • plnegative1, on 10/10/2007, -3/+2hey mike, i think that huge corprations now a little bit more about marketing and economy than you do
    • plnegative1, on 10/10/2007, -5/+2Hey Mike, I think huge corporations know a little more about marketing strategy and economy than you do.
    • NgrHader, on 10/21/2007, -2/+3How Stupid can Paramount Be? Sure they are being paid a lump sum of cash for accepting it...but face it...when 300, The Departed, and even TMNT came out on both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray... Blu-Ray sold as much as 7:1 when I tallied up the sales at my Best Buy. Even though those are far from official results it's quite obvious that one version is selling much much more.

      So let's see...Ice Age and Madagascar vs. Monsters, Inc. and Toy Story....I wonder which one is more appealing
  • PimpMoneyRich, on 10/10/2007, -44/+32Another failure for Sony...this one is going to hurt them big time...oh well...serves them right for making self-destructing products
    • Gunegune, on 10/21/2007, -21/+12Nobody wants to here your FUD "PimpMoneyRich". HD DVD won't win just because Paramount is backing them exclusively. Besides, Blu-ray still has the exclusive support of Sony, MGM, Lionsgate, Fox, and Disney on top of numerous electronic companies.

      Also, why don't you do some research next time you post. No ONE company created Blu-ray, it was created by the Blu-ray Disc Association which Sony just happens to be a member of.
      • uradox, on 10/21/2007, -0/+3Might want to check your research, Many companys support Blu-ray sure but it was developed by one... then a second one joined the party later
    • coheedcollapse, on 10/21/2007, -6/+20Self destructing products....? I'm so not going there.
    • michaelje0, on 10/10/2007, -2/+9Oh Snap, someone got told.
    • apoc06, on 10/10/2007, -4/+3self destructing? uh, have you read any stories on the xbox360 over the last two years?
      • sinrtb, on 10/21/2007, -2/+3I think you missed that bit where sony was using spyware/virus's in their DRM on their CD's
  • mcaaronice, on 10/10/2007, -34/+100Well, now there will be only one HD format where you can watch Norbit. Take that Blu-ray! This war is now over.
  • jmdajr, on 10/10/2007, -39/+31die blu-ray!
    • DangerMouse9, on 10/10/2007, -11/+4The fastest way to kill Blu-Ray is by killing yourself in protest. Even if it doesn't "kill" Blu-Ray, you won't have to deal with it.
    • dieselstation, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3um... WHY?
      • jmdajr, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1because you are paying more for the same ***** you get with hd-dvd.
  • Silince, on 10/10/2007, -6/+184Just when it looked like things were going Sony's way for once, it looks like we could end up with another BetaMax/UMD situation. Sony has never had a successful proprietary format.

    They could keep this war going a long, long time though, just by releasing their own movies on Blu-Ray with the combination of many people having Blu-Ray players by default (PS3's).

    I really just wish this war would end.
    • Gunegune, on 10/10/2007, -30/+7Blu-ray isn't proprietary. Anyone can buy blank media and anyone can buy a media writer. The only thing proprietary about Blu-ray is the hard coating technology which varies among companies. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray_Disc#Hard-coating_technology
      • Otto, on 10/10/2007, -5/+7Oh, and the fact that they're putting executable code onto the thing has nothing to do with it? Look up the new protection schemes that they're planning on implementing. BluRay discs will include executable code (Java? perhaps) that will do disc decryption. Your BluRay player will have to be capable of running this code. And people wonder why HD-DVD is going to win on price?
        • Gunegune, on 10/10/2007, -3/+2Are you talking about BD+? http://www.afterdawn.com/glossary/terms/bdplus.cfm

          BD+ is the reason motion picture companies like Fox are staying exclusive to Blu-ray. That's why Blu-ray will win the format war, they have more companies backing them, especially the ones backing them exclusively. And people wonder why HD DVD still isn't winning with it's price advantage?
    • zybch, on 10/10/2007, -4/+43Face it, the only successful consumer format Sony has ever had is the floppy disk!
    • ChileanGoD, on 10/10/2007, -13/+4Dont forget the sony memory stick.
      • themuffinman, on 10/10/2007, -2/+13What device uses a memory stick that *isn't* made by sony?
        • dougmc, on 10/10/2007, -3/+6Minolta DiMAGE G500.
          Supports both memory stick and sd card.

          But point taken.
    • iceperson, on 10/10/2007, -8/+4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floppy_disc#The_3.C2.BD-inch_microfloppy_diskette
      Maybe you heard of them. I know Sony has some nice big shiny failures to point at, but Sony didn't get where it is because they couldn't get anything right.
      • Nossie, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5I take it thats why they are going down now? because they CANT get anything right without their political media arm getting in the way to 'secure & protect' users rights?
    • rediculous, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8S/PDIF was and is still pretty popular. Sony has had some success in proprietary formats.
      • r3zonance, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Don't forget DAT, one of their other biggest successes.
    • timmerk15, on 10/10/2007, -2/+8Yeah, and I think the CD-ROM was pretty popular, but I could be wrong.
    • tinselsnips, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3Blu-Ray isn't proprietary.
    • DJCult, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4minidisc was pretty awful. With that ***** ass software for it, god that was bad.
    • skyshock1, on 10/10/2007, -3/+6Mini-Disc (1991)--custom disc format, and used ATRAC audio compression, which is proprietary.
      Sony Dynamic Digital Sound (1993)--a competitor to the Dolby Digital 5.1 standard.
      Multi-Media Compact Disc (1994)--Sony's proprietary format for high-density optical storage, developed in conjunction with Phillips. Negotiations merged this format and Toshiba's Super Density disc format into what would become DVD.
      Music Clip (1999)--Sony's first digital player, used ATRAC audio compression.
      HiFD (1998)--a competitor to Iomega's Zip drive.
      Memory Stick (1998)--proprietary memory device as a competitor to SD and Flash memory.
      Super Audio CD (1999)--an optical disc format with higher fidelity than the CD.
      PSP (2004)--Uses Universal Media Disc (UMD) media, a proprietary media format.

      Add Blu-Ray to that list in the next year or so. When will Sony learn?
  • Visceral, on 10/10/2007, -9/+30Big news and not good for blue ray or Sony or consumers for that matter as they've clearly been favoring blue ray. However, that matters little as is proven time and time again. If the blue ray camp doesn't have a answer to this and quick, it might be a turning point for hd-dvd. At least we'll maybe finally get rid of one of them.
    • superkendall, on 10/10/2007, -5/+11The Blu-Ray "answer" is and has been the fact they have Fox + Disney + Sony all exclusive - just look at the Christmas Blu-Ray lineup.
      • sadilak, on 10/10/2007, -6/+2Damn, Blu Ray has the High School Musical 2 !! That movie apparently set a viewership record or something like that last week I heard. I think as long as Disney is pro Blu-Ray, BR DVD will be the dominant one. Personally , I hate both the formats. I have a $25 COBY dvd player that is both PAL and NTSC compatible and my ROI is phenomenal. I cannot afford to buy LOTR in HD DVD, Spiderman in Blu Ray, Stargate in Blu Ray, Transformers in HD DVD etc etc. This is just insane. I think I will probably invest in a progressive scan DVD player for now.
        • superkendall, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4I think a lot of people are going to think as you do, two hi-def formats means consumers mostly sitting it out.
      • jordanlund, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3Sure, lets look at the lineups through the end of the year:

        Dated Blu-Ray releases:

        http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/releasedates.html

        September 25, 2007
        * The Wild Bunch (Warner)

        October 30, 2007
        * Spider-Man: The High-Definition Trilogy (Sony)

        December 11, 2007
        * Lost: The Complete Third Season - The Unexplored Experience (Disney)

        December 18, 2007
        * Blade Runner (Ultimate Collector's Edition) (Warner)

        Well that's 4 I'd buy (or six if you count all 3 Spider-Man flicks.) Let's look at the HD-DVD side:

        http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/releasedates.html

        August 28, 2007
        * Heroes: Season One (Universal)

        September 18, 2007
        * The Last Starfighter (Universal)

        September 25, 2007
        * The Wild Bunch (Warner)

        November 10, 2007
        * Star Trek: The Original Series - Season One (Paramount)

        December 04, 2007
        * Battlestar Galactica: Season One (Universal)

        December 18, 2007
        * Blade Runner (Ultimate Collector's Edition) (Warner)

        Hmm... looks like I'll have to live without Lost in HD along with the Spider-Man flicks, but I get Heroes and Battlestar Galactica instead. Most of the crap I cut out is on both formats as well.
    • airiox, on 10/10/2007, -6/+7ummm engadget said that HD-DVD titles for at least these two studios were outselling blu-ray 2:1... Now if that says Consumers love bluray over HD-DVD then maybe Alice in Wonderland is a true story.
      • MasterGrief, on 10/10/2007, -9/+3I instantly dislike anyone who starts a sentence with an un-capitalized word. I instantly despise anyone who starts a sentence with the word "ummm".

        Double Jeopardy.
        • Nossie, on 10/10/2007, -4/+4I instantly dislike anyone who thinks they are a smart *****, what is your point?
        • Nossie, on 10/10/2007, -4/+2I instantly dislike anyone who thinks they are a smart *****, what is your point?
          • grumpyrain, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2I dislike the digg double post comment system.
    • SouthsideIrish, on 10/10/2007, -8/+7It's good for me. Blu-Ray players are way overpriced. Now to see some good movies on my Toshiba player.
      • Cyxelsid, on 10/10/2007, -4/+1These companies weren't exclusive to either format. You don't get anything from this unless you get off on other people not being able to buy movies for their chosen format. The same applies with all exclusivity deals.
      • Aggaman, on 10/10/2007, -4/+1It's good for piracy and not much else. Show your disgust at their antics by ripping off their movies and they will soon come around. It's the only leverage consumers have.

        How these idiot corporations don't understand that they are shooting themselves in the foot is beyond me.
    • superkendall, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6And in fact here is Fox's specific answer, a rushed press release for the current Fox Blu-Ray lineup coming this year:

      http://forums.highdefdigest.com/showthread.php?p=259307#post259307
    • JonLatane, on 10/10/2007, -4/+6You say it's not good for consumers? I'll admit, Blu-ray is marginally better if you want to have a REALLY long movie in 1080p. However, if you want to talk about what's better for consumers, how about having control over their own product? I've been praying and praying, in spite of the better technology, that Blu-ray will fail simply because of BD+.

      All Blu-ray players have to allow the disc to execute native code, basically meaning that if Sony decides they want to, they can simply scan anyone's player for the ability to play backed up flicks, and brick it. Even if it's a false positive. Given that the cheapest Blu-ray player is $599, that's just not viable.

      Would you buy a Porsche if they reserved the right to destroy the engine remotely if they thought you were fleeing a crime scene in it? I hope not. Performance/quality doesn't mean ***** if you have an artificially crippled/cripple-able product.

      Read up: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluray#Digital_rights_management_.28DRM.29
    • derkmerkin, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Where in the hell does it say sony reserved the right to brick a blu ray player? do you think they are that retarded to destroy you hardware? they havent bricked any psp's on purpose have they? your just making up all this *****. the only company i've ever known to "brick" a modded product is MS.

      Maybe you took "If a playback device manufacturer finds that its devices have been hacked, it can potentially release BD+-code that detects and circumvents the vulnerability. These programs can then be included in all new content releases." from your wikipedia article as sony will brick your player, you need to learn to read.
      • PJBonoMan, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2One word : Rootkit.
      • derkmerkin, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1yeah, and that bricked so many machines didnt it. and of course sony didnt learn their lesson on that one did they?
      • r3zonance, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2@PJBonoMan

        It's not a rootkit (certainly not by definition). What it is, is part of the Blu-ray spec requires that a player except overriding encyption algorithms (on the disc) in place of the built in encryption. Basically it takes the HD-DVD's "revoking keys" thing a stage further.

        Blu-ray's way is better, cos if the encryption does actually get broken, then they can completely replace it on the newer discs. Both formats will still allow old content to be playable.
  • Cygnus, on 10/10/2007, -28/+1http://digg.com/hardware/Paramount_to_offer_movies_in_HD_DVD_Exclusivity/who
  • culturemagnet, on 10/21/2007, -21/+116i hate this crap... i was SO looking forward to Transformers on Blu-ray.. and I'm NOT getting a second player, just so I can watch Paramount movies..
    I'll stick to plain old DVD for another 5 years until a new format comes out...
    I just wish these companies weren't so greedy and would actually look at the benefits to the consumer... :(
    • byrdgang, on 10/10/2007, -6/+24If they genuinely cared about customers, they would ensure that formats were entirely open, not proprietary. Making both formats entirely open would mean that anyone could use them, and therefore, exclusive deals wouldn't make any sense. Proprietary standards sicken me, because every number of years, consumers have to dish out a bunch of money while the fight between different standards goes on. Instead of making things more difficult for consumers, they can come together, make their standards open, and decide on a single standard so that we don't have to buy multiple devices to use media for different devices.

      Their tactics makes me support circumvention through methods such as DeCSS.
      • ArkAngel06, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3I heard that movies directed/produced by Steven Spielberg will be available on both....So don't be disappointed yet.
    • KyleMistry, on 10/21/2007, -1/+14Same. I was going to start buying movies again.

      Well, eff that. Stickin' with piracy until this whole format war dies. That'll be a fun few years of waiting.
      • silverfires, on 10/21/2007, -0/+8That's an excuse I haven't heard before..
    • cool8man, on 10/10/2007, -3/+4What about Universal and The Weinstein Company? It's worth owning an HD DVD player just to see stuff like Jurassic Park, Gladiator, Transformers, Sin City 2, Back to the Future, Indiana Jones, E.T., Minority Report, Saving Private Ryan, Forrest Gump, Shrek, Jaws, King Kong, The Mummy, The Hulk, War of the Worlds, The Godfather, exclusively on HD DVD. Plus a lot of Warner Bros. movies are exclusive to HD DVD like Batman Begins, V for Vendetta, The Matrix, The Perfect Storm, etc.
      • Myonosken, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Yeah HD dinosaurs with guns coming to HDDVD in a matter of years!
    • akhomerun, on 10/10/2007, -4/+3that's what you get for being an early adopter. What did you expect, Sony has never released a popular format (failures: betamax, minidisc, UMD, memory stick, all these formats are only used in the sony world).

      and did you really think choosing sony was going to give you the most consumer oriented solution?
    • MasterGrief, on 10/10/2007, -4/+2You have a good point, cool8man. I hadn't really considered it, but some of my favorite movies are those that you just listed, and they won't be on Blu-Ray now.
    • CannibalTom, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4I plan on getting a player that plays both HD and bluray. Theres a few of those out there right?
      • Nossie, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4problem with that is at the last time I looked they cost the same each as both an HD and bluray units bought together
      • CanadaMan87, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2LG currently has one on the market, but it doesn't support all HD-DVD features, plus it's quite expensive. But Samsung is releasing one this fall that is fully compliant with both formats - don't know what it'll cost though.
    • daz80, on 10/10/2007, -3/+2hmm so if you buy a blu ray player tomorrow for say, $520 USD (see amazon Samsung BD-P1000) , thats $104 a year or approx $2.15 a week over 5 yrs..... So you would rather spend the next 5 years watching DVD because you dont want to invest 2 bucks a week for this technology....?
      Think long term.
      • thafooz, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Two problems with that:
        1) You're resting on the assumption that enough movies are available in blue ray now (which there aren't) and that it will win the format in the near future (which I'm not convinced of).
        2) Your costs don't factor in the additional cost of the media. BluRay discs are still double that of DVD's, and rentals are usually a buck or two more. I consider myself average, I rent maybe 3 or 4 movies a month and buy one... should I do so in BluRay, it would be another $25 or so a month more than DVD. $520 + $25 per month over 5 years with a modest 5% compound interest is about $2,400 just to watch in 1080p rather that upscaled 720p. That's thinking long term :)
        • daz80, on 10/10/2007, -1/+0well thats what this whole topic is about - the lack of titles available. Its certainly something that will impede blu rays success should it not be rectified. As for the media costs, i would imagine if someone is willing to purchase any sort of hardware that has media associated with it, they are aware of the costs of such media and have factored that into the "can i afford to own one of these" equation.
    • plnegative1, on 10/10/2007, -4/+3Then why'd you buy blu-ray? Sony is the one who started the format war. They saw that HD DVD was coming then they thought... hmmm we gotta control everything so... LETS CREATE THE FORMAT WAR.
    • JeremyBanks, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2If you want fair, don't support Sony.
  • Nath5000, on 10/10/2007, -11/+38Well, this could also mean that the format war is just going to get a lot more confusing and more people might hold out now to see who "wins" before buying anything. I know some people who started buying Blu-Ray without worry thinking that it would definetly be the winning format after the "Blockbuster chooses blu-ray" announcement. I for one think HD-DVD is a more marketable format from a layman’s perspective because it uses a brand that people are already familiar with, "DVD," and tags on the new buzzword that even many elderly people with no technical knowledge (like my grandparents) even somewhat understand "HD". Plus I find it easier to picture movies like Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Shawshank Redemption, The Godfather Collection etc in a red case while only movies like "Surfs Up" "Jaws" and "The Abyss" etc seem to suit the blue case color of Blu-ray movies. Just my opinion.
    • byrdgang, on 10/10/2007, -4/+3Yup...just wait until the war dies down before you buy anything.
    • BabaRamDass, on 10/10/2007, -2/+5Most consumers could care less what format it's in, as long as their player will play it. And drive manufacturers know this... I see combo drives being the "winner" in this format war.
    • bilbravo, on 10/10/2007, -0/+18You had me until you started talking case colors.
      • Nath5000, on 10/10/2007, -6/+1Honestly, it doesn't bother you? I don't really like the fact that the cases are colored at all in the first place. I don't want my home theater to look like willy wonkas chocolate factory. I like the design of both formats cases I just don't really care for the colors, but If i had to choose one I'd pick the dark red over the blue regardless of which format used which. If blu-ray does come out as the more successful format I bet that more films start to use their own unique case designs or throwing cardboard sleeves on many movies, even though they can be annoying.
        • praisethelard, on 06/06/2008, -0/+5haha...man, I thought you were just joking around with the color talk.
    • Jugalator, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7The DVD part can work against it though, making novices think it's somehow related to DVD technically and somehow compatible, when it's in reality not.
      • Nath5000, on 10/10/2007, -2/+0very true. that's one theory. This time its not really like the move from VHS to DVD in that the actual physical storage device looks completely different. DVD to this next gen looks almost identical to someone who doesn't know any better and maybe calling it something completely different than "DVD" is what they need to realize that its actually a non-compatible new next-gen format. It depends on how clueless we assume the average consumer to be.
  • username9000, on 10/10/2007, -6/+69Quote from Engadget regarding studio support. Again, very surprising considering how much people talked about more support for bluray. I was unaware it was this close.
    "So at our count, Blu-ray has eightstudios actively supporting (taking out the two that haven't released a Blu-ray title in months), and HD DVD has 12. So HD DVD actually has more studio support at this point if you factor in the porn studios and smaller studios like HBO and First Look Studios. If you remove these two and add back in Fox and MGM (assuming they'll some day release some more titles on Blu-ray), the two formats are dead even at 10 a piece."
    • lo0ol, on 10/10/2007, -5/+14With the way things are, the winner's going to end up being online distribution. Barring something surprising coming along, it seems like it's set up for at least a few years of unclear muddiness where the consumer is at risk of being screwed over. With faster internet connections, more focus on the web by companies like Netflix and Apple, and greater emphasis on torrent sites in regard to high-def movies, the whole argument between Blu-ray and HD-DVD might be all for naught, eventually. Of course, online distribution has issues with quality (via compression), file sizes, legality (via torrents), and DRM (via an Apple or a Netflix), but at this point I'd rather go that route rather than spend hundreds on a hardware player that could die out a few years down the line.
      • drachemorder, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Not to mention that the hardware players are DRM-encumbered as well.
        • wageslaven, on 10/10/2007, -6/+3A very little mentioned fact is that 1.5 of the 8 Cores in the PS3 CPU are dedicated to managing the DRM on BlueRay.(actaully, 1 dead core is acceptable out of the 8)
      • kefler, on 10/10/2007, -4/+6I'm tired of people saying this. ONLINE DISTRIBUTION IS NOT HAPPENING ANY TIME SOON FOR HD MOVIES.

        Dude, even Mpeg4 compressed they are 30 GIGABYTES. One thing everyone keeps missing is that home cablemodem bandwidth does not scale like CPU speeds, memory sizes, and harddisk sizes. This is because the speed you can download things is in the hands of the cable companies.

        Look, even if we had crazy South Korean internet which gets 15Mbps, its not fast enough to stream HDDVD, and it would take 4-5 hours to download a movie. That isn't going to work for most people. Not to mention we'd all need whole-house ethernet near the TV. Add to that the fact that many people are just trying to get to DSL from Dialup, and there is no way on demand HD movies are going to make it here anytime soon.

        Of course there can be some FIOS demo in a major US city in the near future, but for it to become a viable business will take many many years (7+?) of infrastructure deveopment here.
        • zweben, on 10/10/2007, -3/+3Even if your internet is too slow to stream HD, which not everyone's connections are, you don't have to wait for the entire movie to download. Before you start watching, you only need to load enough to account for the difference between the bitrate of the movie and your download speed. That's rarely 4-5 hours on broadband. More like half an hour or less.
        • sinrtb, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1Wireless connection (10mbps) would be fine so you don't need to have your house wired. And as zweben said you dont have to download the movies all the way just get enough done so that you don't watch faster then you download.
        • alterImperson, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Where do you guys live that you get high enough speeds to stream HD over the internet? Hell, how could you stream HD over wifi, my xbox 360 wont stream normal video at 10mbs?
        • woron, on 10/10/2007, -1/+0"and there is no way on demand HD movies are going to make it here anytime soon."

          Huh? My cable provider (TWC) has HD on demand for last couple of years.
      • superkendall, on 10/10/2007, -5/+3Yes, who has a lot of money to pay off Paramount/Dreamworks and a huge stake in having online distribution succeed over physical formats? The answer would Microsoft, with the only current HD video marketplace around.
    • zybch, on 10/10/2007, -7/+23I think the under rated Bittorrent Disk format is the way to go...
    • Cyxelsid, on 10/10/2007, -5/+4I seriously don't know the answer to this, but HBO is exclusive to HD-DVD? Both parts of the final season of The Sopranos have been/will be released on Blu-Ray.
  • sint4x, on 10/10/2007, -15/+11Its all about money -- it's cheaper so Viacom is in. Certainly a big hit to Blu-ray (which I am a fan of)
    • zybch, on 10/10/2007, -8/+5Why are you a fan of BluRay?
      I just don't understand people who are a fan of a particular disk type when it has nothing to do with the visual quality of the movies they contain.
      • tnoy, on 10/10/2007, -4/+13Some people are a fan of the potential and longetivity that Blu-Ray has over HD-DVD

        There is more to the "format war" than movies.
      • WhereAmI, on 10/10/2007, -8/+3I am a fan because the PS3 I have over there plays it. Also, better movies and companies were on Blu-Ray. Were. Now wtf, I so wanted Transformers, god dammit.
      • KMartSheriff, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8The biggest reason for me was size capacity. (Unless that's changed recently?)

        I know Blu-ray was at 50 gb and HDDVD was at 30 gb (both being dual-layered).
      • ShogunWarPig, on 10/10/2007, -3/+5To me right now the difference between these two formats means jack *****, however, when the technologies get cheaper and I'm buying one for my computer the decision is a no brainer. Blue-ray just offers more space.
      • wageslaven, on 10/10/2007, -5/+3He owns a PS3. This means two things:

        They think if the appeal of the "Free BlueRay Player" sells PS3, that means PS3 will increase its install base and be more attractive for gamers *and* assure that he wont have to buy a HD-DVD player when movies stop being published on BlueRay.

        All the pro-BlueRay talk in this forum is the reality-distortion efforts by PS3 owners... All this "oh, I thought the format war was over (snicker-wink-wink)" talk is an attempt to re-enforce their wishful worldview.
      • zulhadm, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2Ddude look at the capacity differences. imagine a movie trilogy on a single BD. can't do that with HD-DVD.
        • DaRizat, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4Imagine being stupid enough to think that a company would ever make a trilogy on one disc, when they can easily make you pay for 3 discs!
  • blackyiraqi, on 10/10/2007, -4/+162I just want one format to win so i can buy some movies, I haven't and won't buy any high def movies at all until there is a clear winner
    • crackedplastic, on 10/10/2007, -3/+20Well, that and once the studios STOP making ten billion editions of the same damn movie. Aren't we all sick of the "Ultra Ultra" editions by now? Just make one with everything and leave it at that.
      • dougmc, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5Yes, we're tired of them. Yet apparently we still buy them, and so the studios still profit.

        As long they keep profiting, they're going to keep doing it.
      • rmwaite, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3It's called price discrimination and it isn't going away. See, there are three groups of customers for a given product. Those that *really* want it and will pay a lot for it, those that want it but not so much that they're immune to price, and those who don't want it at all at any price. So by offering an expensive "Ultra Ultra" version to those that are more willing to pay the premium, but also offering a cheap "Standard" version to those that would just pass up the $40 directer's cut they max out their customer base. If they didn't offer the cheap version, they'd miss out on the second group - they would just join the third and say "screw it I'll watch it when it comes on TBS."
        • sinrtb, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3I think cracked was referring to those editions that have already had the special edition and cheap version release but then a year later we get this new thing that has all this new stuff they didn't tell us about the first time through.
    • drachemorder, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6I won't buy either one myself until the DRM is irrevocably cracked.
    • TeamZissou, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I agree with you blackyiraqi. I'd like to buy hi-def movies, but can't afford to re buy movies if my format ends up losing.
    • daz80, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0if no one buys either format, how will a winner be determined? I think people should do their homework on the formats, and make a choice based on what you can afford, as most people seem to be complaining that its a pricing factor stopping them from choosing a format. Pretend theyre the same price and choose one on its technological merits, then if its out of your price range, save your pennies until you can buy one and it will be all the more sweet since you worked and saved so hard to get something you want. :)
      Obviously, this doesnt solve the problem of movie availabilty as the corportations start to take sides and only release some films on some formats.
      i dont have either format yet as i dont have a high def TV to utilise the technology....one day...
    • mbm1512, on 10/10/2007, -3/+0Why dont you just buy a player that does both?
    • skyshock1, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1So don't buy any then. Pirate them when the HD rip comes out, and watch them using a media center PC (mythTV or WMC). ***** 'em, they deserve it.
  • Mitchl, on 10/10/2007, -17/+2So Blades of Glory is going to be HD-DVD exclusive-- I might just need to buy that second player. ;)

    Well, at least I don't have to worry about buying any Star Trek Remastered at $200 a season. Bummed about Transformers. FU Brad Gray and Jeff Katzenberg.

  • meshgiath, on 10/10/2007, -13/+25Nice ) On the front page twice.

    http://digg.com/movies/Paramount_adopts_HD_DVD_kicks_Blu_ray_to_the_curb
    • DCstewieG, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6That's what happens when a story fits in multiple categories (though I don't know why this was put in the Software subcategory)
  • Piedramente, on 10/10/2007, -17/+9Oh that's it, Bluray is dead....

    /s
  • santa7, on 10/10/2007, -3/+10Wtf this is just a few articles down
  • volanin, on 10/10/2007, -11/+3It's a dupe... and both are in the front page RIGHT NOW!
    • zybch, on 10/10/2007, -4/+2Its NOT a dupe. The submissions cite different sources and even have different titles.
      It is a bit annoying though, but the arstechnica link on the other story is a lot more in-depth. This one is just a quick summary.
    • gamerzworld, on 10/10/2007, -3/+3Who cares, as long as it's bashing the PS3, it's going to be on the front page of Digg.
  • tvh2k, on 10/10/2007, -12/+65Sucks to be Blockbuster right now, considering they just announced that they're dropping HD-DVDs from their collection
    • duniyadnd, on 10/10/2007, -5/+8That's only in their stores - not online.
    • ryan112ryan, on 10/10/2007, -5/+5yeah they have tons of HD DVD's online, but they cut back on their in store exchanges so i canceled
    • jettone, on 10/10/2007, -3/+5sucks to be blockbuster, former wholly owned division of viacom, now the redheaded step-child who was abandoned and now b*tch-slapped by their old parent company.
    • drachemorder, on 10/10/2007, -4/+2They can always change their mind.
    • wageslaven, on 10/10/2007, -6/+5You think Block Buster *wont* be renting and selling HD-DVD Transformers this Christmas? Hmmm think again.
    • funknjunk, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Hurry Hollywood Video, get some HD DVD's up get back in business! =p
    • headband, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2they just said they were expanding blu ray to all their stores and if the market said otherwise they would do the same to hd dvd when the time is right...this is the time
  • mt066, on 10/10/2007, -9/+99OMFG! The format war is over! Again!
  • therealNofutcha, on 10/21/2007, -51/+57people actually want to see Transformers again? man, thats crazy.

    (i know i'm gunna get dugg down for that, but i stand by it)
    • hockey, on 10/10/2007, -8/+8And you stand alone.
    • RacerX10, on 10/10/2007, -7/+12transformers was merely decent, no more no less
    • jcarlock, on 10/10/2007, -7/+4Idugg you up...

      ***** transformers, not impressed.
    • eyefork, on 10/10/2007, -3/+2I just thought Michael Bay tried way too hard to appeal to the "Geek Subculture". You know like he thought people would sit there watching and say "Hah! Yeah that is so true!". Like he is controlling our brains.
    • barney74, on 10/21/2007, -1/+2I went and watched it. Storyline was ID4 rehashed. the only 2 saving graces in that movie Megan Fox and the cgi. Thats it. That same weekend I watched Live Free or Die Hard, much better movie.
  • underxoath, on 10/10/2007, -14/+7Im the only person in the world who hasnt seen transformers yet so i dont care.
    • Shawn4168, on 10/10/2007, -4/+10Not the only person...
      • PAPAsoMEAN, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2me 3 , first i did get hyped but appeal didn't last
  • rcarroll215, on 10/10/2007, -11/+30betamaxed!!!
  • lukeamotion, on 10/10/2007, -10/+55I bet Blockbuster is sulking now. Viva le Netflix!
  • Spr0k3t, on 10/10/2007, -14/+8I don't care... I just want one of the formats dead and gone before I support either. I've got a DVD player that upsamples to 1080p anyway... and I can make my own backups of DVDs very easily without having to work with the 09-f9-11-02-9d-74... key.
    • djSyndrome, on 10/10/2007, -6/+42You're kidding yourself if you think those upscaled DVDs are anywhere near HD quality.
      • DCstewieG, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2And would you be surprised if his "backups" fit on 1 or 2 CDs? Obviously many people are plenty happy without HD.
        • Spr0k3t, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Exactly. I make my backups byte for byte... I don't compress the image/sound or remove features. HD is indeed many times better than upsampling, but it's worthless without the consumers right to backup the data they buy.
      • KMartSheriff, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6I know I love the ignorance of some of these people. Anyone who says HD doesn't look good (or some upscaled ***** looks as good) hasn't seen true HD.
    • gamerzworld, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3........E3-5B-D8-41-56-C5-63-56-88-C0
      • svartgotik, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Now, do you have any idea of what to do with that code, or are you just a parrot?
  • Singulariter, on 10/10/2007, -8/+5I don't care who wins, can we please have a standard....
  • RooDoG, on 10/10/2007, -4/+20This is a surprise considering Blu-ray sales have been so promising and with blockbuster support. I wonder how this decision was made?
    • vancanucksfan, on 10/10/2007, -4/+15Toshiba paid for exclusivity
      • byronm, on 10/10/2007, -3/+4And sony doesn't? Sony leverages BluRay entirely on the PS3 which is subsidized from the getgo. Also, no one has proven your subsidy rumor either.
    • rootstyle, on 10/10/2007, -3/+10150 mil makes decisions a whole lot easier!
    • zman14321, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Doesn't microsoft lead dreamworks? I am pretty sure apple is pixar, so it would make sense for microsoft to pathetically push their losing choice onto dreamworks and try to get paramount to comply too.
    • Menoats, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1With a checkbook.
  • Warhammer, on 10/10/2007, -6/+22Such an odd move. They are basically limiting their audience. They surely must be making profit on whatever blu-ray movies they sell along with the HD. My only thought is that Paramount is getting some kick-back $$ from an HD-maker somewhere. Otherwise it doesn't make sense as a business model.

    I personally could not care since I have both a PS3 and a 360 with HD, so I watch both formats. But people who want one or the other are going to have to decide on Spiderman vs. Transformers basically.
    • byronm, on 10/10/2007, -3/+4Read the press release, they made it obvious that HD DVD is cheaper to produce, easier to produce and has meet the pricepoint of consumer electronics where they feel they can capitalize on there releases.
    • indiefan, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1that's not a difficult decision at all
  • RonAcierno, on 02/07/2008, -12/+19Anyone think this has to do with Walmart introducing those "Budget" HD DVD players this holiday?

    I remember years ago when I first herd of BluRay and HD DVD , I knew that HD DVD would win just because almost everyone unterstands what it is. Also the fact that it is so much cheaper to produce then BluRay ( they can use the same factories and presses as DVD i think).

    I just hope this whole thing is over soon, its really holding me back from buying the HD DVD player for 360.
    • superkendall, on 10/10/2007, -4/+6The budget players were found to be Blu-Ray players from Funai, the HD-DVD players from China were just rumors started by a production company.
    • stubadub, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Toshiba has $300 players at this time which I've seen go for as little as $250. Is the $200 budget player at Christmas that crazy?
    • bCabulon, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0The production cost difference can't be more than a few cents per disk. I'd bet it is less than one cent per disk. What I wonder about is the difference in royalties.
    • ShagratOfMordor, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1It's not cool to out maneuver the spell checker with a homophone, or haven't you herd?
  • ha1f, on 10/21/2007, -25/+109*****. i hate myself for buying a ps3...
    • PAPAsoMEAN, on 10/10/2007, -13/+8c'mon c'mon, there's mgs4, gt5, gow 3, tekken 6, cheer up now
      • SharkyTech, on 10/10/2007, -4/+8Yeah, enjoy waiting for MGS4, I'll be playing Bioshock and Halo 3 and Mass Effect.....
      • MasterGrief, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2Heheh... Gonna have to go with Sharky here. There are only two games on the PS3 I care about--MGS4 and whatever Team ICO ends up making. Boshock, Halo 3 and Mass Effect all come out in the next three months, and the three of them alone make it worth owning a 360 instead of a PS3.
      • D1lux, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2Meh, I own a PS3 and I'll still be able to play 2/3 of those games if I wanted to on my PC (and maybe all 3 since Mass Effect is made by MS Game Studios and they tend to release on both xbox and windows). Not going to play Halo since I am not a big fan of the series and Mass Effect isn't my thing either but I'll probably pick up Bioshock once it's released.
    • UnstableMind, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1No *****, that's really the main reason I bought mine, a cheap blue-ray player... This sux ass!
    • sikedsyko, on 10/10/2007, -1/+0yup, now im gonna have to jump on hte hd dvd player for the 360. Damn format wars
    • frostieDude, on 10/10/2007, -3/+4Don't worry about it. Everyone hates you - and not just because you bought a ps3. You also smell bad and your mother dresses you funny.
    • captaindoobers, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2dont worry. the ps3 will come around in about 15-18 months. anyways, you got a blueray player for $600 - not a bad deal.
      Trust me, I'm not a fanboy. I love my 360 - it does a lot of great things and the graphics are beautiful. But it was obviously built in the dark by a monkey with one hand.
  • DrAtheist, on 10/10/2007, -9/+10I'm pretty srprised by this, I don't know how things are set up in america, but in the UK, go into any HMV or Virgin, and there are 4 or 5 BluRay shelves for every HD-DVD shelf.
    Then again, there's also that ratio DS to PSP and Wii to PS3 shelves, and we all know who's selling most in that war.
    • vlurk, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Don't be surprised by a story posted on engadget: after all, they were advertising a $299 HDDVD player sold at Walmart this summer. This site is not so reliable when it comes to news. Consider also that they state that this news come from an official statement, but they don't give any source/link: maybe it is an secret official statement? LoL.
    • willynilly, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Americans are stupid, so really, what's to wonder about?

      They're also the most heavily screwed over by the media conglomerates. While UK record stores are rife with up-to-the-minute compilations, interesting special-edition EPs, and SINGLES, we get essentially none of that. Historically, you could find albums from US ARTISTS in Europe that Americans have never seen.

      Dumb and screwed over, while defending one and denying the other. That's the American Way.
      • bCabulon, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0Hmm, are we really any more stupid than the rest of the world. I've yet to see proof of it. There seems to be plenty enough stupidity for everyone to have his share. As for these EPs and SINGLES you speak of, they can be found at U.S. record stores. Walmart ≠ record store
  • corneliusJones, on 10/10/2007, -14/+17I refuse to buy a player or any discs until this ***** is resolved. Why can't Sony just focus on making great HD-DVD players, instead of trying to create this Betamax for a new generation.
    • Cybrwolf, on 10/10/2007, -4/+2I totally agree! Screw HD! Until there is ONE format, I'm sticking with DVD until this is resolved!
    • apoc06, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3uh... until today, sony was one studio away from claiming nearly all the major studios. the format war could have been over.
    • LordBalderdash, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3betamax used all 525 lines of horizontal resolution on ntsc monitors - vhs only used around 380. beta was better - by far - which is why it went on to become a broadcast standard.
      • willynilly, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Absolute *****. There is no fixed number of "lines of horizontal resolution", especially in an analog setup. Furthermore, the NTSC standard has 525 lines of VERTICAL resolution, of which 486 are normally used.

        And only the Beta CARTRIDGE is a "broadcast standard." The recording format on the tape is far superior to (and totally incompatible with) consumer versions.
    • panzergeist, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6Why couldn't Toshiba go along with all the corporations behind Blu-ray? Why is it always Sony's fault (besides the fact that it's emo cool to hate Sony right now).
    • cockmaster, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5god dammit people on this site are dense. you all just keep repeating the same ***** and dont even know why.
  • Mitchl, on 10/10/2007, -11/+16thedigitalbits.com states that Microsoft is paying something in "Promotional" fees to Paramount and Dreamworks for this exclusivity. Now isn't that a violation of some anti-trust law somewhere? When discs are released on Blu-Ray and HD-DVD, they generally sell more Blu-ray copies. Would seem to be a no-brainer to the studios.

    The press release also makes that stupid claim that PS3 gamers don't buy as many movies as standalone units. Well I don't buy any HD-DVD, because I do have a PS3 and won't buy anything other than Blu_Ray (or I will still buy old-style DVD)
    • superkendall, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8I don't think it would be illegal for Microsoft to do this, as they only have a monopoly in computers, not movies...
      • Urusai, on 10/10/2007, -4/+2Restraint of trade, maybe? Paying third parties to refuse to support your competition is clearly not an ethical market practice, regardless of its legality.
      • wageslaven, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1There is no evidence for that FUD. Jesus you peopel are ridiculous.
  • rick2k, on 10/10/2007, -16/+15Hmm too bad i wanted to buy transformers.... oh well.. stupid decision on their part.

    I don't know anyone with a hd dvd player but most of my friends have a samsung bluray player or ps3 so :/
    • prockcore, on 10/10/2007, -10/+10I don't know anyone with a ps3 or bluray player.. therefore no one has one.
    • surfing, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1There goes rick2k talking about his invisible friends again.
  • jason469, on 10/10/2007, -12/+55I keep telling people not to count HD-DVD out. MS pushes HD-DVD (Xbox 360 add-on) you know damn well HD-DVD isn't going to go down without a fight.
    • Jugalator, on 10/10/2007, -2/+14"HD-DVD isn't going to go down without a fight"

      Yeah, and at this point I don't even think that's a good thing. Who wants a lengthy fight here, anyway?
      • KMartSheriff, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3No kidding. And for the love of God Microsoft, add the damn HD-DVD player into the 360 (or maybe just the "elite" version). Enough add-on crap.
        • wageslaven, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1Bah, just drop the price to about $50.
      • wageslaven, on 10/10/2007, -5/+1I agree. There isnt any point for Blue-ray. The Publishers should just ship games on Blue-Ray and thats it; just like UMD for the PSP, the world has repeatedly said no to Sony's domination of media formats. It has happened time and time and time again, and I agree with you.

        Sony should just drop it.
  • bdawg923, on 11/07/2007, -21/+11***** you Paramount.
  • jerrycan, on 10/10/2007, -14/+7At least we know an HDDVD disk should fit on a bluray disk.....
    • KMartSheriff, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3Donno why you're getting dugg down. It's true.
    • willynilly, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I agree. Digg is obviously no longer the domain of the technically savvy.
  • breckinshire, on 10/10/2007, -16/+10The only Transformers Blu-ray will see is one that transforms to a Betamax cassette and back again.
  • waterdrop, on 10/10/2007, -3/+23Buying a combo HD-DVD and Blu-Ray player is probably your best bet. I just don't see either format going anywhere anytime soon.
    • EochaidRiata, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3"Buying a combo HD-DVD and Blu-Ray player is probably your best bet. "

      Except they currently cost several hundred dollars more than buying both players separately.

    • spatulacity, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2The main problem is the current combo players can't access the "advanced features" of the HD-DVD discs.

      Well, that and you can almost get an HD-A2 and a PS3 for the price of one.
  • drewdvorak, on 10/10/2007, -15/+5BURIED AS DUPLICATE
    • Cybrwolf, on 10/10/2007, -4/+2Sorry, but This article is the one I saw first, so I'm digging this one!
    • Arctirus, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6DUGG DOWN FOR ALL CAPS
    • skunkman62, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1who cares why you buried it.
  • Rupan, on 10/10/2007, -22/+12I got to be honest with you, I hate HD-DVD and think it should fail? Why? No one has bought a DVD player in how long? I know I have not bought a stand alone DVD player for myself ever actually. I started watching them on PC then PS2. Now, I have a PS3 that plays Blu-Ray and I wish everything was out on Blu-Ray. I dont want to have to go drop another $200 on my 360 for a HD-DVD player because really, I dont care that much to watch movies in HD. Its nice, but not so nice that I would go off and pay money to be able to do it.

    We switched so fast from VHS to DVD because everything in the world played DVDs. In my house I have 6 things that can play DVDs, and only one of those are a designated DVD Player. I know, some PCs are starting to come with a Blu-Ray drive and burner because they are much cheaper then HD-DVD burners, how is Blu-Ray not winning?
    • BabaRamDass, on 10/10/2007, -4/+8HD-DVD standalones are much cheaper than the Bluray standalones. Most people don't want or need 6 things in the house that will play movies.
      • wageslaven, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Computers (laptops included) are going to see HD-DVD far far sooner than Blue-Ray. That will include HD-DVD burners after. That is going to decide this "war" IMHO.
    • BobsYourUncle, on 10/10/2007, -4/+6The other reason for the quick adoption of DVDs over VHS was the noticeable jump in quality. The jump from DVD to HD is not _as_ dramatic. Granted, HD looks better, but the regular joes (who drive sales, therefore adoption) don't see the need to jump into HD as DVDs are 'good enough'. Also, HD doesn't require the purchase of a new TV set.
      • gfnw, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Why the hell is this guy getting dugg down?
    • VSLOATHE, on 10/10/2007, -2/+4Bluray isn't winning because it's not THAT big a technological leap, and HD-DVDs are much cheaper to produce. Most consumers don't have a ton of discretionary income to throw around. I own two HD TVs that can display 1080 resolution, but my parents only have one and they would have never thought of buying something that pricey while we were growing up. To you and me, 2,000$ for a TV may not seem like that much, but to people who actually have the money to buy a 2 thousand dollar TV (our parents and grandparents), it's still a ridiculous sum of money. They are buying HDTVs, but right now you can buy an HD-DVD player, and a pretty decent one at that, from Costco for 250$, while I still haven't seen a Bluray player available anywhere except higher-end big box stores.
    • McG2k1, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4I agree that sales are up for blu-ray discs but I think if you look at the sales of players its really HD-DVD which is in the lead. I think that general mass consumers have selected HD-DVD and gamers who favor sony's flavor have selected Blu-ray. Although those extra units on the market are a huge help it still represents a niche and not mass market, which neither have hit, but at least HD-DVD is poised to be priced so its at least POSSIBLE. I look at it this way, is my 65 year old father going to buy a PS3? no way. Is he going to buy a $900 blu-ray player? no way. Is he going to buy a $250 HD-DVD? there's a slim chance. Most people are on extremely fixed budgets and don't see the improvement in HD images anyway (mostly, imo, because they are looking at standard def on a high def TV and don't know it).
    • Verugan, on 10/10/2007, -1/+0/golfclap
  • cloudyprison, on 10/10/2007, -4/+4I'm going to continue holding off on either.....Until all are one.....
    • Jugalator, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Yes, either "cheap" combo burners or the format after this one. :-p I won't bother until either of these happen though. At this point I don't think either format will win, and it'll be like the DVD+R and -R.
    • ChromaVita, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2One will stand. One will fall.
  • naevity, on 10/10/2007, -9/+18The first dvd player to sell at $99, and have HD releases at $20 or under will win. This $400 for a DVD player and $30 for a dvd sucks.

    Personally, I think HDDVD is going to win, the only reason bluray got a jumpstart was with the playstation 3, but I honestly think many people won't be using that as a dvd player.
    • Rupan, on 10/10/2007, -4/+13actually, from what Ive heard, the PS3 is one of the best Blu-Ray players out there. A lot of them have slow down with the java menu interfaces, and I can attest to the fact that the PS3 runs them smooth as butter.
    • bilbravo, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3While I dont' agree with your ps3 comment, I'll bite on the $30 for a "dvd" sucks.
      If one company were to drop their MSRP on discs to what you suggest, that would be a HUGE deal to consumers. If I can buy discs 3 for the price of 2, it's obvious which one I'll buy. (This of course ignores the fact that movies one wants may NOT be available on the cheaper format)
    • piper999, on 10/10/2007, -6/+1I have a PS3 for Blu Ray movies and out of the four I've tried so far one of them (Reservoir Dogs) wouldn't even play. Apparently it was 'for my own protection' and related to the DRM but when I took it back to the store the people who work there told me they get BluRay discs returned all the time because so many are unplayable.
    • thedragon4453, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1I have to agree with naevity. I think this will be won by a price war. a $299 hddvd player from walmart will put a big nail in the coffin of blu ray.

      Agreed on movie prices. I simply am not going to pay $10 more for the same movie, even if it is a little more high res.
  • jedicurt, on 10/10/2007, -1/+34http://www.viacom.com/NEWS/NewsText.aspx?RID=1042073

    "Paramount Home Entertainment will issue new releases day and date as well as catalog titles exclusively on HD DVD. Today's announcement does not include films directed by Steven Spielberg as his films are not exclusive to either format."....

    Wow, Spielberg is the man, if he has such control over his movies
    • Rupan, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Well, he is one of the CEOs of Dreamworks IIRC. No, he is a Principal whatever that means
    • superkendall, on 10/10/2007, -3/+5Actually currently his films are exclusive to Blu-Ray, since Close Encounters is coming out for Blu-Ray later this year and he hasn't let Universal offer any of his movies on HD-DVD.
      • stubadub, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Close Encounters is owned by Sony.
    • RooDoG, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Yes, I'm Saved!
  • ryan112ryan, on 10/10/2007, -6/+22in for HOLOGRAPHIC media!