Warner Bros. Picks Blu-Ray Over HD-DVD

With Warner on 70% of all HD movies are Blu.
You people who keep talking "combo players" are COMPLETELY deluding yourselves. HD DVD is going to collapse in a very short period of time. This is over. Theres no good reason for hardware companies to do combo players any longer.
 
In such an unstable market, I wouldn't be jumping to conclusions so fast. Anything can still happen. We've seen companies jump ship to HD DVD, and jump ship to Blu-ray. It is all about who wants to shell out more money. Until all studios choose one side, the consumer still loses.
 
w1retap said:
Could be soon.. but probably not. Warner just breached many contracts doing what it did, so we'll see how it pans out. There have been talks that some BR exclusive studios might go dual format as well, so don't hold your breath.
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Much less incentive for anyone to go Dual format towards HDDVD at this point. Warners move will be extremely influential over the remaining studios.
 
But if Blu-ray cared about public perception and really winning the war, they would offer HD-DVD consumers a credit of some $$ value ( $50 ) for a standalone player, and $5 per disc in credit towards a Blu-ray player or movie purchases. For me as a consumer who owns both, it would really bolster my support for that format, and ensure I switch fully over even before a winner was declared.
 
Very true. The next 6 months will be interesting as to what happens.

But as a customer, we'd hope for choice, not to be force into a standard which we might not like for various reasons. But I can see the cost issues of producing movies on both formats.

If all the studios do decide to go Blu-ray, the closeout HD DVD's will be in the cheap bin. With 420+ titles to choose from, it will hold me over until I buy a cheap HDDVD/Blu-ray combo PC drive. :D
 
But as a customer, we'd hope for choice, not to be force into a standard which we might not like for various reasons. But I can see the cost issues of producing movies on both formats.
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How can some of you get so far into a conversation and completely miss the point. This has nothing to do with the cost of producing discs in both formats. The problem is that not many people are purchasing high def contents players, and they reason they are not purchasing them is due to the format war. Customers had the choice, and customers did not buy the players, plain and simple. With both formats on the market, the consumers have decided to simply save their money, and high def sales have been crap compared to DVD sales.
 
Ill stick to normal DVD's. :)

It will be easier/cheaper to see who wins at the end.
 
Actually, no. People just aren't willing to shell out the money. Prices are still sky high compared to their $10 DVD's and $30 DVD players. Go ask people why they haven't upgraded. Many will say because their DVD player is good enough. Others will say it costs too much. Many people don't even have HDTV's. Some people don't even know what HD DVD and Blu-ray is. :p
 
w1retap said:
Could be soon.. but probably not. Warner just breached many contracts doing what it did, so we'll see how it pans out. There have been talks that some BR exclusive studios might go dual format as well, so don't hold your breath.
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do you work in the industry or something cause you talk alot of shit about what companies can do, what they cant do and what you think there going to do or not do... Not to point out anything but your so called what warner can do and what they did do is WRONG because they did it. So im just wondering if your wrong about your shit all the time, do you think i should even continue to listen to what your saying or see it as being hddvd propaganda so you can feel like your fighting the fight?
 
w1retap said:
In such an unstable market, I wouldn't be jumping to conclusions so fast. Anything can still happen. We've seen companies jump ship to HD DVD, and jump ship to Blu-ray. It is all about who wants to shell out more money. Until all studios choose one side, the consumer still loses.
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sorry seen this post to late for last post but what does a company spending have to do with anything. Companies spend billions of dollars every day so they can make 10x that for the next few weeks, so why would they care what they spend if they are going to get it back. The only ones who would are broke as companies that are scrapping dollars to pretend they have a business, do you really want a company who is buying the cheapest shit, selling their cheapest shit to you? that dont make sense to me but what ever :rolleyes:
 
WicKeDcHilD said:
do you work in the industry or something cause you talk alot of shit about what companies can do, what they cant do and what you think there going to do or not do... Not to point out anything but your so called what warner can do and what they did do is WRONG because they did it. So im just wondering if your wrong about your shit all the time, do you think i should even continue to listen to what your saying or see it as being hddvd propaganda so you can feel like your fighting the fight?
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lol, don't be so angry here. We're just having a discussion. I'm citing info from the reports on highdefdigest as well as articles from engadget and other places. I also might have a little more insight than some people because I have access to some inside news groups through the TV studio at work. Things certainly don't look good for HD DVD.
 
WicKeDcHilD said:
sorry seen this post to late for last post but what does a company spending have to do with anything. Companies spend billions of dollars every day so they can make 10x that for the next few weeks, so why would they care what they spend if they are going to get it back. The only ones who would are broke as companies that are scrapping dollars to pretend they have a business, do you really want a company who is buying the cheapest shit, selling their cheapest shit to you? that dont make sense to me but what ever :rolleyes:
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I wasn't talking about production. I was talking about associations and their contract negotiations.
 
w1retap said:
I wasn't talking about production. I was talking about associations and their contract negotiations.
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that is the same as the products they are putting it out as well... Thats why they combine ventures together or do you not see it that way? Thats also why this is happening now.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/04/hd-dvd-group-cancels-ces-press-conference-in-wake-of-warner-anno/

You made a post of big news for hd-dvd at ces this year that you heard for your insider news, Lol. care to comment on what that big news is?
 
This has looked and smelled just like the BETAMAX fiasco Sony pulled before and now if we all knew the real story we would all be mad about it!! But it probably has something to do with cash payouts or rebates from Sony to the other Studios or maybe it has to do with the coercion and Mafia type schemes the RIAA has pulled off on all consumers and Sony threatening to spill it's guts out if things don't go their way! LOL It sounds good any way doesn't it?? ;) I really do believe though it all boils down to us poor consumers getting the shaft as per ususal and all the studios standing in line to have a turn at our butts with our heads caught in a trap you know??
 
Hey don't ditch those hd-dvd players just yet, a killer new use!
8fowktwmr4.jpg
 
WicKeDcHilD said:
that is the same as the products they are putting it out as well... Thats why they combine ventures together or do you not see it that way? Thats also why this is happening now.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/04/hd-dvd-group-cancels-ces-press-conference-in-wake-of-warner-anno/

You made a post of big news for hd-dvd at ces this year that you heard for your insider news, Lol. care to comment on what that big news is?
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The news was actually Fox and Warner supposedly going to HD DVD exclusive. They had been in talks up to last week about it. But now (supposedly) Fox was just in it to drive up the negotiation prices to something the HD DVD camp could not afford to pay out. Then Fox retracted once the prices hit $500 million in negotiations that the BDA was going to persuade Warner with. The HD DVD group fell $70 million short of what they wanted to shell out for the deal. Thus now Warner went to the BDA and the HD DVD camp cancelled their CES conferences and celebrations.

That is just the preliminary info and what the sources are saying, so the figures and stories could be off. I'm sure all the details will come out soon, so we'll know for sure what happened. You don't have to believe anything anyone says on the internet though, just so you know. Don't get all worked up over it.
 
londonandlawson said:
Hey don't ditch those hd-dvd players just yet, a killer new use!
8fowktwmr4.jpg
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I love how the beer is still cold enough to see fingerprints. :D

My un-educated, un-researched, un-don't give a shit opinion is when PS3 dies blue-ray dies. Of course your going to buy the blue-ray version of Date Movie when you buy your PS3. Not the baby boom generation however. Ain't goin happin'.
 
As a follow up. I'm either going to be eating my words like a bowl of hearty chili or Warner is going to be jumping ship under the radar like nothing happened. Either way, they come out better looking. ;)
 
Big Lebowski said:
I know people with Samsung and Sony players that can't use features off the Resident Evil: Extinction disc, so what this means is either you'll get great features that aren't being used by studios since most players can't use them, or you'll get movies with features your player won't support. That is stupid.
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Early adopters always get hosed. The fact that the features are part of the movie's software makes it seem different, but it's not. CD Players had new features added all of the time and if you wanted them you had to buy a new CD player. As I recall, in the 90's they had some sort of new type of CD that was backwards compatible, but sounded best on newer players that supported the change.

IMO, virtually everyone that's bought a stand alone HD player is an early adopter, and most will upgrade in the next 2 years anyway.
 
As someone who owns the 360 hd-dvd drive and about 15 hd-dvds and has a very love-hate relationship with sony i'm kind of pissed about this. I'd picked my side and was happy with it. Now it seems i'll be buying even fewer HD movies. If it quickly turns south for hd-dvd then fuck'em all, i'll figure something else out for now. If they were all really interested in the consumer then they would have settled on one standard with industry and consumer input before release. Obviously that was too idealistic, but I really hoped something halfway decent would have been figured out by now.
 
kubicki2007 said:
Does anyone remember another Sony folly called BETAMAX ? How about what ended up killing the format? Porn. Adult videos were widely available on VHS. That was the difference. Well it could happen to Blu-ray. Since Disney publishes to Blu-ray only, they are trying to keep all mastering / production facilities from producing adult material on Blu-ray. There are some facilities that will produce adult material Blu-ray discs, but very few because of this. HD-DVD has embraced the adult video industry and in the end that might be the difference.
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Porn companies are going to back whatever makes them the most money. This ain't Beta vs VHS.

I've generally thought we'd end up with lots of combo players within 2 years, but this move may prevent that, with Warner siding with BD.

In the end, I guess I'm not to bummed. I don't own either, and I'd rather have the format with that can hold the most data/layer (because dual layer media is likely to cost far more than 2 1L recordable disks), and that's Blu-Ray.
 
pigpen said:
It's always funny to me when companies try and justify greedy moves by saying it's better for the consumer. When is exclusivity ever a benefit to the consumers? How does this benefit people who already have or plan to buy HD DVD players?
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It doesn't benefit the former and it's meaningless for the latter, since they now will either buy a BD player or wait till those drop enough to justify buying a BD player.

But, for the most part, making exclusively one type of disk over another doesn't seem to hurt the consumer. Did it hurt consumers that they didn't have Pre-recorded Beta tapes? Not really. Did it hurt consumers when they didn't release albums on MD or DAT? Nope. Did it help consumers that there was SACD and DVD-A? Nope.

Were consumers hurt when music labels quit releasing music on 8-Track (or more recently Cassettes)?

If we had dual format players at reasonable prices, I'd be thrilled for both to survive, but if only one can make it, i'll take BD. 25GB of storage > than 15GB.
 
Old_Way said:
For the rest of us, we're waiting on dual format players or one of the formats to truly win. Even then, the movie studios will be pretty disappointed in their sales if the HD media doesn't come down to the same price as traditional DVD's. Very few people are willing to pay twice as much for a movie they'll only watch once or twice anyway.
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QFT

Hell, my DVD purchases dropped dramatically as prices of movies with features jumped rather dramatically. One need look no further than Harry Potter disks. The first 3 movies were 2 disk affairs that generally sold for 10-15 bucks during the first week. Now you're lucky to find them for $20.00...but you can get the stripped 1 disk version for relatively cheap.

Regardless, paying $30.00 for a movie ain't gonna happen very often. And while it's possible that prices will drop, my recollection is that DVD prices went up as they went mainstream, not down. In 1998, I was getting most movies for around $12 - $15.00 shipped....sometimes less
 
New Line is going Blu-ray only along with Warner. (via digital bits)

Bluray has 70+% of all hd content now. Its over. Those of you waiting for dual format players (aside from the one thats out), are deluding yourselves, theres no reason to manufacture them anymore. Its over.

Those of you crying "well maybe maybe maybe" and pretending hd dvd can pull out of this are absolutely mind-bogglingly insane.

Go buy bluray movies if you want them. I saw a bunch of stuff on sale at $20 just today in retail stores. The prices are dropping and the outcome is assured, time to move in.
 
Toshiba, masters of the HD DVD format, just issued a press release expressing their "particular disappointment" with Warner, also implying that the move to go Blu-ray exclusive is actually in breach of contract.
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God forbid the lawyers get left out of the fun....
 
Toshiba's Comment on Announcement from Warner Bros. Entertainment of Its Exclusive Support for Blu-ray Disc Format

TOKYO, Jan. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Toshiba is quite surprised by Warner Bros.' decision to abandon HD DVD in favor of Blu-ray, despite the fact that there are various contracts in place between our companies concerning the support of HD DVD. As central members of the DVD Forum, we have long maintained a close partnership with Warner Bros. We worked closely together to help standardize the first-generation DVD format as well as to define and shape HD DVD as its next-generation successor.

We were particularly disappointed that this decision was made in spite of the significant momentum HD DVD has gained in the US market as well as other regions in 2007. HD DVD players and PCs have outsold Blu-ray in the US market in 2007.

We will assess the potential impact of this announcement with the other HD DVD partner companies and evaluate potential next steps. We remain firm in our belief that HD DVD is the format best suited to the wants and needs of the consumer.
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oh... now that doesn't sound nice AT ALL.
 
I genuinely hope one of Warner Bros. competitors picks up HD-DVD. It will happen. People backing HD-DVD will be EVEN more ready to give out exclusive rights for their product because of this. $$$$$$$$$$$$$

HD-DVD: 0 Blue-Ray 1

Just watch, this isn't a follow the leader.

M$ isn't going to release their next OS on Blue-Ray. :eek: There I said it. M$ will not support it, neither will the machines that run it.

All I want is a cheap combo drive that burns. :mad:
 
stoney_titan said:
I genuinely hope one of Warner Bros. competitors picks up HD-DVD. It will happen. People backing HD-DVD will be EVEN more ready to give out exclusive rights for their product because of this. $$$$$$$$$$$$$

HD-DVD: 0 Blue-Ray 1

Just watch, this isn't a follow the leader.

M$ isn't going to release their next OS on Blue-Ray. :eek: There I said it. M$ will not support it, neither will the machines that run it.

All I want is a cheap combo drive that burns. :mad:
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there are already BD and BDR drives for the computer..
 
nightwalker said:
ur right there are.... but he said 'cheap' lol. i think its gonna be a long time before we see a cheap blu-ray burner, yet alone the blank media :p
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eh, it'll get there. the bd-rom drives are reasonable at $200 right now. Prices will continue to settle down. In a year it'll be $50 roms and $100 burners.
 
kubicki2007 said:
Does anyone remember another Sony folly called BETAMAX ? How about what ended up killing the format? Porn. Adult videos were widely available on VHS. That was the difference. Well it could happen to Blu-ray. Since Disney publishes to Blu-ray only, they are trying to keep all mastering / production facilities from producing adult material on Blu-ray. There are some facilities that will produce adult material Blu-ray discs, but very few because of this. HD-DVD has embraced the adult video industry and in the end that might be the difference.
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I get tired of reading this. It's FALSE. Betamax died because it couldn't compete with VHS' superior recording length, even though it came at the cost of video quality. Later, with the advent of Super VHS (which went largely unnoticed), it surpassed Betamax in quality.

Do you have any idea how marginal the porn industry was back then compared to film?
 
I hate not being able to edit posts. I should also point out that porn titles were available on BOTH Beta and VHS. So, please, stop spreading old rumors. They're old and outdated.
 
Porn doesn't matter. Porn generates its money via the web now. Sure, its still a huge media force, but it will simply move whole heartedly to blu. Porn makes so much money...they can afford to master with blu.
Its over folks. Stop fighting it.
 
S-B said:
I get tired of reading this. It's FALSE. Betamax died because it couldn't compete with VHS' superior recording length, even though it came at the cost of video quality. Later, with the advent of Super VHS (which went largely unnoticed), it surpassed Betamax in quality.

Do you have any idea how marginal the porn industry was back then compared to film?
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That's what I recall, along with cheaper VHS players. I also think that initially sony didn't license Beta to other companies, which also hurt Beta.

Nevertheless, there was tons of porn then. Aren't the 80's the golden age of porn? I recall some relatively high budget porn. I'm sure the business is bigger now, but there was a lot of rental money made from Porn. I suspect blockbuster would have driven all the smaller shops/chains out of business far sooner if not for the fact that they didn't carry porn.
 
BladeVenom said:
Warner Swayed by $500 Million
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Yeah, like that is a realistic number. This is not pocket change, that kind of money would have be explained to share holders. Warner gave an interview on Engadget and stated no money changed hands, they simply looked at the numbers with blu ray leading in every market (especially the overseas market) they just picked the winning side.
 
There are grumblings of Universal going to a neutral format as well, in the very near future ( within Q1 ).

I've already Craigslisted my HD-DVD player and don't mind as I got it for $99 and I'm selling it for $160. ;)
 
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