Topic: Game over for Blu-Ray  (Read 2130 times)

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Offline Lloyd007

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Game over for Blu-Ray
« on: October 28, 2007, 03:30:50 am »
$198 with 5 HDDVDs. HDDVD just got game set, match and Sony is now stuck with Beta V2. It really doesn't matter how much bullying Sony or Disney or etc. tries to do at this point they are probably crying in their coffee but they really should have seen this coming...

http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/34570/118/

 Wal-Mart sub-$200 HD DVD player a reality
Consumer Electronics
By Mark Raby
Friday, October 26, 2007 12:36
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Bentonville (AR) - After a long period of speculation, Wal-Mart has answered rumors of an HD DVD player for under $200, making it the cheapest next-gen DVD player to date.

Wal-Mart has officially stocked and begun selling Toshiba's low-cost HD-A2 HD DVD player for $198.  The player was already the least expensive standalone HD disc player, but the Wal-Mart price point takes that record even lower.

The player, which only allows playback of up to 1080i content, originally reailed for around $500, but retailers very early marked it down on their own, most notably of which was Amazon.  The online giant came close to the $200 point.

Right now the cheapest Blu-ray player on tap for the holiday season is the new $400, 40 GB version of the Playstation 3.  The PS3 has quite consistently been the cheapest Blu-ray playback device since its launch last year.

Competitive discount store Target has announced it will only sell Blu-ray players for the holiday season.  The battle for the average consumer in the high def DVD war will most likely begin over the next couple months, just as DVD player sales spiked in the holiday seasons of the late-90's and early 2000s.

Offline KOTH-KieranXC, Ret.

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Re: Game over for Blu-Ray
« Reply #1 on: November 26, 2007, 05:24:56 pm »
Can HDDVD players also play standard DVDs? I haven't really kept up with the latest tech, unfortunately, seeing as I can't afford any of it right now. ;D
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Offline jualdeaux

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Re: Game over for Blu-Ray
« Reply #2 on: November 26, 2007, 06:21:42 pm »
Can HDDVD players also play standard DVDs? I haven't really kept up with the latest tech, unfortunately, seeing as I can't afford any of it right now. ;D

Yes. both HD DVD players are backwards compatible. I wouldn't get one yet though. Not until the format winner is truly known.
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Offline knightstorm

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Re: Game over for Blu-Ray
« Reply #3 on: November 27, 2007, 10:58:45 am »
I still think blu-ray is going to win the format war.  My experience going to video stores in my area is that blu-ray seems to have more titles available.  From what I've read, the majority of blockbusters only carry blu-ray.  I started paying attention after I got a laptop with a built in hd dvd player.
« Last Edit: November 27, 2007, 01:03:52 pm by knightstorm »

Offline Lloyd007

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Re: Game over for Blu-Ray
« Reply #4 on: November 27, 2007, 09:00:35 pm »
When Paramount jumped ship on Blu-Ray it really put a crimp in that camp too. Blockbuster continues to marginalize itself imo they are just a bad company.

Offline Dash Jones

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Re: Game over for Blu-Ray
« Reply #5 on: November 28, 2007, 08:11:43 pm »
I think it depends on whether Microsoft truly backs HD-DVD.  If they do, you can bet that the ONLY thing that will really be supported with Self-Made movies, and independant film, will be HD.  In addition, if they make it so that all games that require multi-DVD's (when they start coming out more so) require HD, and that all burners are HD and will play HD by default (though Micro is running behind on that, it's not due to really come into effect until later), then HD will take off in a big way...saying Microsoft doesn't delay to long.

Afterall, if Blu-Ray get's big, that entire investment that Microsoft has between it and Hollywood, and invested in itself in HD, will go caput with the security protections, as I don't think Blu-Ray is bulit into their HD protections they placed in Vista...

Though maybe I'm wrong.
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Offline The_Joker

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Re: Game over for Blu-Ray
« Reply #6 on: November 29, 2007, 02:28:25 am »
I'm wondering if the PS3 can keep Blu-Ray alive?
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Offline Lloyd007

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Re: Game over for Blu-Ray
« Reply #7 on: November 29, 2007, 02:36:18 am »
It's the ONLY thing keeping Blu-Ray alive... That and M$'s monumental stupidity with regards to not putting an HD-DVD in it's Xbox 360. If they had done that the format war would have been over months ago.

Honestly the Blu-Ray backers are towers of arrogance. Their supposedly higher quality higher capacity disks have worse menus and special features than normal DVD's let alone HD-DvD's which in general look a lot more polished and superior to DVD than the sloppy "We're gonna win so here's a movie that has a cruddy menu and compression artifacts at the good parts" Blu-Ray.

Offline knightstorm

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Re: Game over for Blu-Ray
« Reply #8 on: November 29, 2007, 07:00:18 am »
Microsoft didn't include HD-DVD out of the box with the 360 because it actually wanted to place in the console war.  The PS3 is the most expensive video game console, and is behind the others in sales.  A 360 with HD-DVD out of the box would have been more expensive, and had poorer sales.  It does however offer an HD-DVD attachment.  Also, blu-ray has one huge advantage.  It has the support of the porn industry, YES, YES, YES!!!
« Last Edit: November 29, 2007, 08:11:20 am by knightstorm »

Offline Lloyd007

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Re: Game over for Blu-Ray
« Reply #9 on: November 29, 2007, 11:27:09 am »
You mean HD-DvD has the support of the porn industry  ;).

another interesting article from Toms.

Even though BD sales are 2:1 considering that there are approx 4 million BD players to 750k HD-DVD players the difference is quite stark. If HD sells 750k more I'm betting sales will equalize or even beat BD and then you'll start getting more defectors like Paramount.

http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/35008/97/

 HD DVD players pass 750,000 unit sales     Print
Consumer Electronics
By Mark Raby
Tuesday, November 27, 2007 13:18
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Los Angeles (CA) - The HD DVD Promotional Group today announced that over 750,000 players have been sold to date.

That's significantly more than the introductory year of the DVD.  In that format's first year, just over 300,000 DVD players were sold.  However, it falls significantly behind Blu-ray Disc players.

The HD DVD group cites retailer reports.  The 750,000 unit mark includes sales of standalone HD DVD players as well as the HD DVD add-on to the Xbox 360, which until recently was the least expensive device to play the high-def format.

According to the HD DVD Promotional Group, standalone players have outsold standalone Blu-ray devices, which excludes the Playstation 3.  The Digital Entertainment Group agrees, reporting that standalone Blu-ray player sales have not even reached 200,000 units yet.  However, when the PS3 is factored in, Blu-ray dwarfs its competitor.

According to the Financial Times, PS3 lifetime sales have reached 3.7 million units.  This has led to Blu-ray movies consistently outselling HD DVD titles, usually at a monthly rate of two-to-one.

Offline knightstorm

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Re: Game over for Blu-Ray
« Reply #10 on: November 29, 2007, 12:21:58 pm »