Comments on: Blu-ray camp fires back at latest HD DVD announcements

The emails and voice mails were flying fast and furious yesterday after Paramount and DreamWorks made their little announcement about going HD DVD exclusive.

[brett_fish]

Consumers lose in the HD format battle

The losers in the HD format battle will not be HD-DVD or Blu-Ray, they will be the consumers.

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.

[brandonh33]

HD-DVD Tryin to busta move

Not to mention that this is only a deal for a little more than a year, this still wont be too much of a hit at all for Blu-ray. These studios arnt a huge percentage of the industry. And Blu-ray is fighting back, so really in the long run this move will be better for Blu-ray.

[brandonh33]

HD-DVD Tryin to busta move

Not to mention that this is only a deal for a little more than a year, this still wont be too much of a hit at all for Blu-ray. These studios arnt a huge percentage of the industry. And Blu-ray is fighting back, so really in the long run this move will be better for Blu-ray.

[brandonh33]

HD-DVD Tryin to busta move

Not to mention that this is only a deal for a little more than a year, this still wont be too much of a hit at all for Blu-ray. These studios arnt a huge percentage of the industry. And Blu-ray is fighting back, so really in the long run this move will be better for Blu-ray.

[BMS77531]

WE ALL should Contact VIACOM

With the announcement this week that Viacom's Paramount Pictures and
DreamWorks Animation would exclusively support HD DVD. I want Viacom to
KNOW I will NO longer watch or support the show or movies. Being average
Consumer, and being a STAR TREK fan this announcement does not support
me. I own a PS3 and rent/ buy Blu-ray and with this decision I will not buy
another player to watch my favorite shows and movies; in fact I don?t need to.
This is just another way for a CEO to GET MORE MONEY and HANG THE REST
OF US. It is no wander why pirated copies of DVD's are a problem, and if you
ask me a company that thinks only of its BONUS and not it costumers
DESERVES IT. For being so, progressive by having two formats now you have
lost any respect.

[i_am_still_wade]

Spoken like a fanboy.

Where is the outrage for Fox and Disney supporting only 1 format? You cannot have it both ways. Is it right or wrong for a studio to support one format exclusive? I personally want every studio to support both formats or to have cheap universal players.

The blu-boys and Blu-ray camp sound like a spoiled child that is threating to take their ball and go home when things don't their way. So what is Paramount was paid off. Sony has done the exact same thing. You cannot have it both ways. Is it right or is wrong to be paid for exclusive rights? I say it is wrong for anything and everything, from iPhone to NFL Sunday Ticket.

I cannot help but wonder if Paramount knows something we don't.

[BMS77531]

WE ALL should Contact VIACOM

With the announcement this week that Viacom's Paramount Pictures and
DreamWorks Animation would exclusively support HD DVD. I want Viacom to
KNOW I will NO longer watch or support the show or movies. Being average
Consumer, and being a STAR TREK fan this announcement does not support
me. I own a PS3 and rent/ buy Blu-ray and with this decision I will not buy
another player to watch my favorite shows and movies; in fact I don?t need to.
This is just another way for a CEO to GET MORE MONEY and HANG THE REST
OF US. It is no wander why pirated copies of DVD's are a problem, and if you
ask me a company that thinks only of its BONUS and not it costumers
DESERVES IT. For being so, progressive by having two formats now you have
lost any respect.

[i_am_still_wade]

Spoken like a fanboy.

Where is the outrage for Fox and Disney supporting only 1 format? You cannot have it both ways. Is it right or wrong for a studio to support one format exclusive? I personally want every studio to support both formats or to have cheap universal players.

The blu-boys and Blu-ray camp sound like a spoiled child that is threating to take their ball and go home when things don't their way. So what is Paramount was paid off. Sony has done the exact same thing. You cannot have it both ways. Is it right or is wrong to be paid for exclusive rights? I say it is wrong for anything and everything, from iPhone to NFL Sunday Ticket.

I cannot help but wonder if Paramount knows something we don't.

[BMS77531]

WE ALL should Contact VIACOM

With the announcement this week that Viacom's Paramount Pictures and
DreamWorks Animation would exclusively support HD DVD. I want Viacom to
KNOW I will NO longer watch or support the show or movies. Being average
Consumer, and being a STAR TREK fan this announcement does not support
me. I own a PS3 and rent/ buy Blu-ray and with this decision I will not buy
another player to watch my favorite shows and movies; in fact I don?t need to.
This is just another way for a CEO to GET MORE MONEY and HANG THE REST
OF US. It is no wander why pirated copies of DVD's are a problem, and if you
ask me a company that thinks only of its BONUS and not it costumers
DESERVES IT. For being so, progressive by having two formats now you have
lost any respect.

[i_am_still_wade]

Spoken like a fanboy.

Where is the outrage for Fox and Disney supporting only 1 format? You cannot have it both ways. Is it right or wrong for a studio to support one format exclusive? I personally want every studio to support both formats or to have cheap universal players.

The blu-boys and Blu-ray camp sound like a spoiled child that is threating to take their ball and go home when things don't their way. So what is Paramount was paid off. Sony has done the exact same thing. You cannot have it both ways. Is it right or is wrong to be paid for exclusive rights? I say it is wrong for anything and everything, from iPhone to NFL Sunday Ticket.

I cannot help but wonder if Paramount knows something we don't.

[zlguocius]

Shrek? Shrek?? Who cares about Shrek?!

Sorry, but if all that's at stake is a buying a copy of Shrek, then we the
consumers deserve this fate.

Presumably there are much better movies out there to buy (or use as a
blogging example) than Shrek.

Phew, just had to get that off my chest.

And now, back to the regularly scheduled discussion.

[zlguocius]

Shrek? Shrek?? Who cares about Shrek?!

Sorry, but if all that's at stake is a buying a copy of Shrek, then we the
consumers deserve this fate.

Presumably there are much better movies out there to buy (or use as a
blogging example) than Shrek.

Phew, just had to get that off my chest.

And now, back to the regularly scheduled discussion.

[zlguocius]

Shrek? Shrek?? Who cares about Shrek?!

Sorry, but if all that's at stake is a buying a copy of Shrek, then we the
consumers deserve this fate.

Presumably there are much better movies out there to buy (or use as a
blogging example) than Shrek.

Phew, just had to get that off my chest.

And now, back to the regularly scheduled discussion.

[sjohnsto]

wait for the hybrid

Best to wait for a good, relatively inexpensive player that does both formats. I'm still thinking some dark horse will come trump 'em both.

Seriously, though, I know there are players out there that will play both, so if I were inclined to get a high-definition player (and I'm still not sold on high-def anyway. I get it every day by, um, opening my eyes. Free.), I'd get a dual-format one.

[sjohnsto]

wait for the hybrid

Best to wait for a good, relatively inexpensive player that does both formats. I'm still thinking some dark horse will come trump 'em both.

Seriously, though, I know there are players out there that will play both, so if I were inclined to get a high-definition player (and I'm still not sold on high-def anyway. I get it every day by, um, opening my eyes. Free.), I'd get a dual-format one.

[sjohnsto]

wait for the hybrid

Best to wait for a good, relatively inexpensive player that does both formats. I'm still thinking some dark horse will come trump 'em both.

Seriously, though, I know there are players out there that will play both, so if I were inclined to get a high-definition player (and I'm still not sold on high-def anyway. I get it every day by, um, opening my eyes. Free.), I'd get a dual-format one.

[extirpator]

This is diferent than what Disney and Fox did

Disney and fox picked their sides early on in the battle as did Universal; however, Warner and Paramount started off exclusive, and switched to dual format. This was not a problem because they expanded their support to include a format that they didn't before. The fundamental problem with what paramount has done in this situation is that they lied to their consumers. They flat out said that not only were they supporting blu-ray, but that starting in August they were shifting their focus from prioritizing HD-DVD to prioritizing blu-ray production due to the larger amount of demand. Suddenly out of the blue they didn't just shift their production priority back to HD-DVD, but dumped blu-ray all together, and then it comes to light that they didn't do it because of consumer demand for HD-DVD, but instead because HD-DVD in order to save their butt bribed them to dump Blu-ray all together.

This is the first time in this HD disc war that any company that supported a given format abandoned it's viewer ship in favor of a quick buck. It really speaks wonders for how little Viacom/Paramount thinks of the consumer. Also it shows how much Microsoft's influence on the who situation is affecting the industry. Microsoft is only interested in HD-DVD because the longer it exists the less chance blu-ray will have to take hold of the consumer HD market, and the better opportunity they will have to push their online down loadable content off xbox live. Which BTW soon will be available to home PC users, and Microsoft wants people to adopt as a the video version of itunes. People know Microsoft didn't offer Paramount physical money in this bribe, but there was an exchange of prime real estate on the xbox live movie system.

So please don't go calling people who are pissed off at this fanboys, because if universal suddenly bailed on HD-DVD for a similar reason it would have ended the war, and do you think we would all be happily watching a single format now instead of having this stupid discussion? Possibly, but there would be many who would feel just as betrayed. I expect to see an anti-trust suit stem out of this mess as paramount didn't shift its focus for reasons that were truly consumer oriented, but based solely off personal greed.

[thedrifter1]

Who cares it is about the price of the player

In the end who ever brings to market a cheap BR or HD 2 player to the mass market will win the HD players format wars. It is the HD player PRICE that will decide the market penetration.

the drifter

[bigmutt]

You are so naive!

What makes you think any of these companies "care about the consumer"??? They care about their shareholders, and their decisions are made based on strategic business projections.
No one will care about the how and why, two years from now. Only that we'll eventually be able to buy our equipment and media at an affordable price and enjoy whatever movie titles we want.

[extirpator]

This is diferent than what Disney and Fox did

Disney and fox picked their sides early on in the battle as did Universal; however, Warner and Paramount started off exclusive, and switched to dual format. This was not a problem because they expanded their support to include a format that they didn't before. The fundamental problem with what paramount has done in this situation is that they lied to their consumers. They flat out said that not only were they supporting blu-ray, but that starting in August they were shifting their focus from prioritizing HD-DVD to prioritizing blu-ray production due to the larger amount of demand. Suddenly out of the blue they didn't just shift their production priority back to HD-DVD, but dumped blu-ray all together, and then it comes to light that they didn't do it because of consumer demand for HD-DVD, but instead because HD-DVD in order to save their butt bribed them to dump Blu-ray all together.

This is the first time in this HD disc war that any company that supported a given format abandoned it's viewer ship in favor of a quick buck. It really speaks wonders for how little Viacom/Paramount thinks of the consumer. Also it shows how much Microsoft's influence on the who situation is affecting the industry. Microsoft is only interested in HD-DVD because the longer it exists the less chance blu-ray will have to take hold of the consumer HD market, and the better opportunity they will have to push their online down loadable content off xbox live. Which BTW soon will be available to home PC users, and Microsoft wants people to adopt as a the video version of itunes. People know Microsoft didn't offer Paramount physical money in this bribe, but there was an exchange of prime real estate on the xbox live movie system.

So please don't go calling people who are pissed off at this fanboys, because if universal suddenly bailed on HD-DVD for a similar reason it would have ended the war, and do you think we would all be happily watching a single format now instead of having this stupid discussion? Possibly, but there would be many who would feel just as betrayed. I expect to see an anti-trust suit stem out of this mess as paramount didn't shift its focus for reasons that were truly consumer oriented, but based solely off personal greed.

[thedrifter1]

Who cares it is about the price of the player

In the end who ever brings to market a cheap BR or HD 2 player to the mass market will win the HD players format wars. It is the HD player PRICE that will decide the market penetration.

the drifter

[bigmutt]

You are so naive!

What makes you think any of these companies "care about the consumer"??? They care about their shareholders, and their decisions are made based on strategic business projections.
No one will care about the how and why, two years from now. Only that we'll eventually be able to buy our equipment and media at an affordable price and enjoy whatever movie titles we want.

[brandonh33]

Go back to the basics

Just something to add on here... Blu-ray is currently 50-60 gb while HD-DVD is only around 25 gb. Blu-ray still has about 70% of the market currently supporting it even after this deal, and this deal is not permanent to say the least, More just a sign of weakness of HD-DVD. Yes Blu-ray has pay'd off companys to just carry Blu-ray but no where EVEN close to $150 Million! thats outrageous for even the huge companys and you know it!

[brandonh33]

Go back to the basics

Just something to add on here... Blu-ray is currently 50-60 gb while HD-DVD is only around 25 gb. Blu-ray still has about 70% of the market currently supporting it even after this deal, and this deal is not permanent to say the least, More just a sign of weakness of HD-DVD. Yes Blu-ray has pay'd off companys to just carry Blu-ray but no where EVEN close to $150 Million! thats outrageous for even the huge companys and you know it!

[make_or_break]

War? There's a war going on?

Blu who? HD what? Never would've guessed there's any such fuss considering how STANDARD DVD SALES are still spanking both their butts. Guess all of us dog-plan, non-videophiles really don't give a hoot (hey, if you always do YouTube now you already admit to having no sort of elitist video snobbery anyways).

Ah, to live life in the gutter...it's a hell of a lot cheaper at any rate, and I can live with not further subsidizing some Hollywood/tech suit's Christmas bonus...at least until all the shouting has finally died down. 'Sides, all the HD movies I DON'T buy now will will ultimately find their way in some cheapo bargain bin, eBay or Amazon's used sales when and if I finally DO take the plunge...or will be re-released in some NEWLY remastered version with a snotload of bonus junk...er, I mean, [i]never-before seen content[/i]...that makes all your first-gen HDDVD/BR discs worthless anyways.

Yeah, I'z got it all figgurd out. :)

[tpegan]

Consumers aren't the big losers.

I don't understand these comments that state the consumers are the big losers in the format war. Don't these studios want to sell movies? Don't the manufacturers of these high-def players want to sell their machines? I've got to believe the answer is yes to both questions. The way it stands right now is if you're a studio that releases a movie in only one format your market consists of a very small subset of the movie buying public. Obviously you miss out on those people who own incompatible players but probably the bigger group that your missing is all the consumers sitting on the sidelines waiting for this to play out. It seems to me that this has turned into a big pissing contest and has little to do with good business. In the meantime technology marches forward. When the parties involved finally pull their heads out of their rears it may turn out the point is moot.

[extirpator]

You reealy don't get it.

The problem with the video market is that unlike the video game market, the average Joe doesn't want to have to think about buying a specific format. They want to put the movie into their player, and have magic happen. If the magic fails to start because they rented the wrong format, then they get angry. They simply do not want multiple formats. I work with several video savvy individuals, and I'm the only early adopter. When ever I inquire as to why no one else has taken the HD plunge, they say it's because they don't want to have to deal with the format war. They say that until a single disc format emerges or a good non hardware spacific HD download system emerges, they will stick with regular DVD's.

[jrosado5]

SONY= DRM= CONTROL over you! WAKE UP PEOPLE!

OK, so maybe Blu-Ray has advantages over HD-DVD, but come on people, have you forgotten all the propietary format, DRM garbage Sony has tried on us with BETAMAX, Minidisc, Laser Disc, PSP game disc and now Blu-Ray? The issue is not the HD quality but what company is trying to pry their way into my life and take control digitally. SONY! of course. They have great products but not worth me giving up my rights. I'll always stick with open source formats! Same can be argued with microsoft as well!