Blu-ray camp fires back at latest HD DVD announcements
Will we ever get one disc to rule them all?
(Credit: kotaku.com)Ah, the emails and voice mails were flying fast and furious yesterday after Paramount and DreamWorks made their little announcement about going HD DVD exclusive. At just after 4 p.m. in New York, Fox and MGM put out a press release saying they were unveiling "an aggressive global Blu-ray Disc release strategy, including 29 new release and 'must-have' catalog titles that runs through the end of the 2007 calendar year."
The release went on to say that Fox intends to put out "at least one state-of-the-art title per month featuring numerous BD 'firsts'" and highlighted the fact that "Blu-ray was out-performing HD DVD 2-to-1 at retail in 2007." Among the 29 new releases, my eye was drawn to Master & Commander, Ronin, Cast Away, Independence Day, A Bridge Too Far, 28 Days Later, The Day After Tomorrow, and the Die Hard trilogy.
After the email went out, the phone started ringing: All the CNET the home-theater editors were contacted, so the PR folks at GCI Group in LA were working overtime, trying to do a little damage control. The basic message was, they may have this, but we have a whole more of that. And, did you hear that the Paramount deal doesn't include any of Spielberg's movies and that the deal only ran for 18 months? Tit for tat. Tat for tit. The war was raging.
Then, thanks to a New York Times article, word got out this morning that indeed (as I suspected), someone was getting paid off. The article noted that, "Paramount and DreamWorks Animation together will receive about $150 million in financial incentives for their commitment to HD DVD, according to two Viacom executives with knowledge of the deal but who asked not to be identified." Microsoft denied paying anything, but wouldn't rule it out as a tactic in the future. There was no word on who might be paying Universal for its exclusive HD DVD agreement, but you gotta think there's a pretty sweet deal in place there, too.
The end result? Most people seemed either amused or pissed. The media came across a little cranky about what looks increasingly like a protracted battle. "So Far, Consumers Lose In Battle Between Blu-Ray, HD DVD," was the headline for a story that's running today on NY1, courtesy of Tech Beat reporter Adam Balkin. Yesterday, Balkin came to my office and interviewed me on camera. He must have got about a dozen sound bites. The one he went with happens to sum up my opinion of the current status of the war pretty well:
"The problem right now is that you're almost going to have to pick your format by the studios you like," I said. "The impact may ultimately be that people just don't buy any of the next-gen players. 'Shrek' is going to look pretty good on DVD, so you just buy the DVD and call it a day."
Hunkered down in New York City, Executive Editor David Carnoy covers the gamut of gadgets and writes his Fully Equipped column, which carries the tag line "The electronics you lust for." He's also the author of "Knife Music," a novel. E-mail David. Follow David on Twitter. 
That is, if Sony can convince people to keep buying PS3s. Its too bad for them that their game line-up for this year stinks.
That is, if Sony can convince people to keep buying PS3s. Its too bad for them that their game line-up for this year stinks.
That is, if Sony can convince people to keep buying PS3s. Its too bad for them that their game line-up for this year stinks.
And btw, does anyone even bother to fact-check the statements that come out of the Sony/BDA camp anymore?
And btw, does anyone even bother to fact-check the statements that come out of the Sony/BDA camp anymore?
And btw, does anyone even bother to fact-check the statements that come out of the Sony/BDA camp anymore?
I have a 1080p TV with a great surround system, and I still don't have an HD plater because the adoption costs are just to great. Unless you have an Xbox 360 ($179), players are at least $300, and each HD movie is something like $35!!! $35 for a movie???? so 3 movies will cost me over $100??? not to mention that there is a chance that after spending that kind of money, the format will not survive? no thanks.
besides, all this format war stuff is garbage, where HD video is going in the near future is downloadable content via the web and services which can be digitally played on your home theater setup. Then there are no formats or problems, just a single payment and download.
Sorry but what a load of crap,Living in a small populated country of 20 million and not in the USA lets us Aussies have a different perspective of the technology wars.When video players were all the rage Australians had 3.5 players per house hold, more per capitar than any where else in the world,the same now has happened with DVD players and Mobile (cellular) phones we hold the numbers again. Its the older generations of over 55 that have come on board and continually buy and rent DVD's their the ones with more leisure time that are spending the dollars, sorry they don't download.The internet is strong for all ages world wide with even older generations googling and surfing the net but downloading movies over the net is still trival it can be compared to the sad DVD-A fad, I doubt it will ever take off, people are still scared of being ripped off now or in the future on the net .Older generations like to have that receipt and a firm object in their grasp like a DVD Disc in a box, take it home and plug it in.The present war is know not the future in 50 years time when the present above 55's are gone .My country is swaying Bluray having HDDVD in opostion is dragging down prices of both formats which isn't abad thing, our rental shops are also putting out more Bluray discs for hire.
People are dreaming if they think downloading is the way of the furture people don't have the spare time or patience ,one of the Hi REZ formats will win and the point will be mute.
I have a 1080p TV with a great surround system, and I still don't have an HD plater because the adoption costs are just to great. Unless you have an Xbox 360 ($179), players are at least $300, and each HD movie is something like $35!!! $35 for a movie???? so 3 movies will cost me over $100??? not to mention that there is a chance that after spending that kind of money, the format will not survive? no thanks.
besides, all this format war stuff is garbage, where HD video is going in the near future is downloadable content via the web and services which can be digitally played on your home theater setup. Then there are no formats or problems, just a single payment and download.
Sorry but what a load of crap,Living in a small populated country of 20 million and not in the USA lets us Aussies have a different perspective of the technology wars.When video players were all the rage Australians had 3.5 players per house hold, more per capitar than any where else in the world,the same now has happened with DVD players and Mobile (cellular) phones we hold the numbers again. Its the older generations of over 55 that have come on board and continually buy and rent DVD's their the ones with more leisure time that are spending the dollars, sorry they don't download.The internet is strong for all ages world wide with even older generations googling and surfing the net but downloading movies over the net is still trival it can be compared to the sad DVD-A fad, I doubt it will ever take off, people are still scared of being ripped off now or in the future on the net .Older generations like to have that receipt and a firm object in their grasp like a DVD Disc in a box, take it home and plug it in.The present war is know not the future in 50 years time when the present above 55's are gone .My country is swaying Bluray having HDDVD in opostion is dragging down prices of both formats which isn't abad thing, our rental shops are also putting out more Bluray discs for hire.
People are dreaming if they think downloading is the way of the furture people don't have the spare time or patience ,one of the Hi REZ formats will win and the point will be mute.
I have a 1080p TV with a great surround system, and I still don't have an HD plater because the adoption costs are just to great. Unless you have an Xbox 360 ($179), players are at least $300, and each HD movie is something like $35!!! $35 for a movie???? so 3 movies will cost me over $100??? not to mention that there is a chance that after spending that kind of money, the format will not survive? no thanks.
besides, all this format war stuff is garbage, where HD video is going in the near future is downloadable content via the web and services which can be digitally played on your home theater setup. Then there are no formats or problems, just a single payment and download.
Sorry but what a load of crap,Living in a small populated country of 20 million and not in the USA lets us Aussies have a different perspective of the technology wars.When video players were all the rage Australians had 3.5 players per house hold, more per capitar than any where else in the world,the same now has happened with DVD players and Mobile (cellular) phones we hold the numbers again. Its the older generations of over 55 that have come on board and continually buy and rent DVD's their the ones with more leisure time that are spending the dollars, sorry they don't download.The internet is strong for all ages world wide with even older generations googling and surfing the net but downloading movies over the net is still trival it can be compared to the sad DVD-A fad, I doubt it will ever take off, people are still scared of being ripped off now or in the future on the net .Older generations like to have that receipt and a firm object in their grasp like a DVD Disc in a box, take it home and plug it in.The present war is know not the future in 50 years time when the present above 55's are gone .My country is swaying Bluray having HDDVD in opostion is dragging down prices of both formats which isn't abad thing, our rental shops are also putting out more Bluray discs for hire.
People are dreaming if they think downloading is the way of the furture people don't have the spare time or patience ,one of the Hi REZ formats will win and the point will be mute.
I have a 1080p TV with a great surround system, and I still don't have an HD plater because the adoption costs are just to great. Unless you have an Xbox 360 ($179), players are at least $300, and each HD movie is something like $35!!! $35 for a movie???? so 3 movies will cost me over $100??? not to mention that there is a chance that after spending that kind of money, the format will not survive? no thanks.
besides, all this format war stuff is garbage, where HD video is going in the near future is downloadable content via the web and services which can be digitally played on your home theater setup. Then there are no formats or problems, just a single payment and download.
- Consumers lose in the HD format battle
- by brett_fish August 21, 2007 1:39 PM PDT
- The losers in the HD format battle will not be HD-DVD or Blu-Ray, they will be the consumers.
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Showing 1 of 4 pages (93 Comments)I have a 1080p TV with a great surround system, and I still don't have an HD plater because the adoption costs are just to great. Unless you have an Xbox 360 ($179), players are at least $300, and each HD movie is something like $35!!! $35 for a movie???? so 3 movies will cost me over $100??? not to mention that there is a chance that after spending that kind of money, the format will not survive? no thanks.
besides, all this format war stuff is garbage, where HD video is going in the near future is downloadable content via the web and services which can be digitally played on your home theater setup. Then there are no formats or problems, just a single payment and download.