http://gear.ign.com/articles/772/772518p1.html Notice how p*rn titles hardly factor into the race at all? Maybe because such few people (relativly) buy p*rn on dvds. Maybe this will slow the PS3/Blu-Ray haters... oh who am I kiding. Nothing can do that.
and good riddance, just because I'd prefer a single HD dvd format so we can get all the studios on the same page
Actually, p*rn DVDs are the standard that people buy. Also, there are very few p*rn titles out in HD-DVD yet, but that's slowly changing. Give it time. Same thing happened during the VHS-to-DVD p*rn transition.
I still don't get the p*rn argument. It seems like some last hope that HD DVD supporters have. Not sure why they would focus on that since the price advantage of HD DVD hardware and the advantage in interactive features for HD DVD are probably much more important than HD p*rn. A delay to BD-J features that match HDi (effectively making some Warner and Paramount titles exclusive to HD DVD) and $300 (or less) HD DVD players would be a much greater concern to the BDA than the release of a few p*rn movies on HD DVD IMO. Even if p*rn was all that important, there will probably be a decent amount of p*rn on Blu-ray if HD p*rn is indeed in high demand (Vivid has several Blu-ray releases planned if their first title does well IIRC). FWIW, here's a story from the NYPost about the format war: http://www.nypost.com/seven/0308200...cending_entertainment_lou_lumenick.htm?page=1
I haven't even watched a Blue-ray yet on my PS3. Not any titles that appeal to me yet. Prestige or Departed might be my first. My friends all asked about blu-ray first when I showed it to them, that's what interested them most about it - I use it for games. I just got MotorStorm today. If you have HDNET, this weeks "World Report" has a story about p*rn and HD. The head guy at Vivid says all the fuss is over nothing. He says there are so many different mediums (Computer, Satelite, Digital Cable) where content can be delivered, who wins the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray battle is mute. I'm off to the races now.
Let's not call the war over just yet. The reason no one bought HD-DVDs last month is because THERE WERE NO HD-DVD RELEASES!!! Here's a list of what came out on HD-DVD in February: 2/6 - Hollywoodland 2/13 - The Departed, The World's Fastest Indian 2/20 - Babel 2/27 - Bullitt, The Getaway, Nine Inch Nails Live: Beside You In Time 7 whole titles. And the biggest one on that list, The Departed, did sell pretty well. Although it was outsold by its Blu-ray counterpart, likely due to it being $5 cheaper on that format(the HD-DVD/DVD combo releases are $39.95). This month is gonna be even uglier. There are even fewer titles coming out in March for HD-DVD. And Blu-ray has Casino Royale which is gonna be HUGE!!! Incidentally, that title looks and sounds fantastic. If you have a Blu-ray player, you must pick it up. April and May will be the months to watch. Universal has announced a crapload of titles, and since they're the only major studio that's exclusive to HD-DVD, none of them will be available on Blu-ray. Let's wait and compare the sales figures for those two months.
IMO, it's been obvious from the start that Blu-Ray would win because it had more studios behind it plus the PS3. It's just a matter of time. Unless they have more money than sense, anyone who buys an HD-DVD player should have their head examined. It's money wasted.
count_dough-ku, you act like people only buy movies when they come out... [see your 7 titles released comment] If HD-DVD is not releasing many titles... shouldn't that tell you something? DonnyMost, ummmm... I don't get it.
HD-DVD has 3 major studios supporting it. Warner Bros, Paramount, and Universal. Unfortunately all 3 studios hardly released a thing in the first quarter of 2007. Sure, HD-DVD owners can still go out and buy existing titles, but almost no new releases is still gonna have an adverse effect on sales figures.
I hope one of them settles in, so the prices can start coming down and we have one format decided. The biggest obstacle for HDDVD/BR isn't each other, but how long it will be before the vast majority will (if ever) make the switch.
<object width="240" height="180"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/m8DQYi25-nc"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/m8DQYi25-nc" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="240" height="180"></embed></object> ^ pr0n has HD-DVD , Disney has blue ray. COINKIDINK?
Blu-ray aims to oust DVDs within three years HANOVER, Germany (Reuters) - The Blu-ray disc association said on Thursday it aimed to replace the DVD storage format within three years. "Within three years it will just be Blu-ray," Frank Simonis, the Blu-ray Disc Association's European chairman, said at the CeBIT technology trade show. Blu-ray, which offers five times more storage capacity than DVDs for storing high definition films and other content, will first have to beat the rival HD-DVD format which offers somewhat lower storage capacity but claims cheaper production of players, burners and discs. Measured in the number of players, Blu-ray is already well ahead of HD DVD because Sony's (6758.T) PlayStation 3 (PS3) video games console comes with a built-in Blu-ray player. Sony Computer Entertainment said it had sold 1.84 million PS3s by the end of December in Japan and North America and that one million PS3s are ready for launch next week in Europe. The HD DVD camp conceded it is being outsold by Blu-ray because of PS3 by at least five to one, but it claims that sales of movie titles are still level. Film studio 20th Century Fox, which supports Blu-ray, said weekly Blu-ray film sales are actually three times higher than HD DVD. A total of 5.2 million Blu-ray discs have already been sold, said Nick Sharples at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. Hundreds of thousands of titles have been given away to consumers buying a PS3. EUROPE IS BEHIND Any difference between regional sales may be explained by the fact that European consumers cannot yet buy PS3s and there are only two Blu-ray players available, Simonis said. "It's the launch of the hardware, pulling the software. That has yet to play out in Europe," said David Walstra, director of AV technology at Sony. Sony reiterated its target to have sold six million PS3 game consoles by the end of the year. Five out of eight major Hollywood studios support only Blu-ray. One studio, Universal, supports only HD DVD. The HD DVD promotional group, in a separate presentation, said consumers should not only focus on the big blockbuster titles from Hollywood, but also those from regional film houses in Europe and Asia which would bring many titles to HD DVD because it was cheaper and simpler. Toshiba (6502.T) and Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT - news), as the two main backers of HD DVD, support film studios and production houses to bring out their films on HD DVD, several studios said on Thursday. Hollywood and electronics manufacturers hope new high-definition DVDs, with better picture quality and more capacity, will rejuvenate the slowing $24 billion home DVD market. But the war between HD DVD and Blu-ray -- also supported by companies like Samsung (005930.KS), Philips (PHG.AS), Matsu****a (6752.T), Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL - news), and Dell (NasdaqELL - news) -- has curbed adoption. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070315/tc_nm/bluray_dvd_dc_2
If the console numbers going around are true - including today's sales numbers - then the strange thing is that Blu-Ray may be needed to save the PS3...not the other way around. I never would have expected that. It is struggling pretty badly right now.
