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DoubleSith
Post Posted: January 4th 2008 4:40 pm
 
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[hr]
WARNER BROS. ENTERTAINMENT TO RELEASE ITS HIGH-DEFINITION DVD TITLES
EXCLUSIVELY IN THE BLU-RAY DISC FORMAT BEGINNING LATER THIS YEAR

Decision Made in Response to Strong Consumer Preference for Format

(January 4, 2008 - Burbank, CA) - In response to consumer demand, Warner Bros.
Entertainment will release its high-definition DVD titles exclusively in the
Blu-ray disc format beginning later this year, it was announced today by Barry
Meyer, Chairman & CEO, Warner Bros. and Kevin Tsujihara, President, Warner
Bros. Home Entertainment Group.

"Warner Bros.' move to exclusively release in the Blu-ray disc format is a
strategic decision focused on the long term and the most direct way to give
consumers what they want," said Meyer. "The window of opportunity for high-
definition DVD could be missed if format confusion continues to linger. We
believe that exclusively distributing in Blu-ray will further the potential for
mass market success and ultimately benefit retailers, producers, and most
importantly, consumers."

Warner Home Video will continue to release its titles in standard DVD format
and Blu-ray. After a short window following their standard DVD and Blu-ray
releases, all new titles will continue to be released in HD DVD until the end
of May 2008.

"Warner Bros. has produced in both high-definition formats in an effort to
provide consumer choice, foster mainstream adoption and drive down hardware
prices," said Jeff Bewkes, President and Chief Executive Officer, Time Warner
Inc., the parent company of Warner Bros. Entertainment. "Today's decision by
Warner Bros. to distribute in a single format comes at the right time and is
the best decision both for consumers and Time Warner."

"A two-format landscape has led to consumer confusion and indifference toward
high definition, which has kept the technology from reaching mass adoption and
becoming the important revenue stream that it can be for the industry," said
Tsujihara. "Consumers have clearly chosen Blu-ray, and we believe that
recognizing this preference is the right step in making this great home
entertainment experience accessible to the widest possible audience. Warner
Bros. has worked very closely with the Toshiba Corporation in promoting high
definition media and we have enormous respect for their efforts. We look
forward to working with them on other projects in the future.

[hr]

Just announced today. Up until now, Warner was neutral.
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Raveers
Post Posted: January 4th 2008 5:35 pm
 
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Hmm, it's very possible. As I stated in my HD Vs. Blu-Ray thread that I think that Blu-Ray will come out on top. A lot more films lately have been released more on Blu-Ray than HD. I hope though that if Blu-Ray is the offical winner of this format war that the other movies that are strictly for HD will be released on Blu-Ray.
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stan Marsh
Post Posted: January 4th 2008 5:59 pm
 
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There was no way sony was going to lose this time, once was enough with Beta. I love B Ray and of course ultimately the format that can hold more is going to win, people or at least americans always want more.
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Obi-Wan Starkiller
Post Posted: January 4th 2008 6:36 pm
 

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But usually only if they can get more for less. I love HD-DVD but I have to say it is a dying format. The PS3 and movie studios have won the war for BR. At least for the time being. Anything can change. Paramount went HDDVD exclusive just 6 months ago.
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Raveers
Post Posted: January 4th 2008 7:46 pm
 
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Well I'm sure Paramount will go to Blu-Ray, if they don't then they're pretty fucking stupid.

Anyways I emailed Bill Hunt and see if he knew about that maybe if the current HD only titles will eventually be released on Blu-Ray. He replied back saying yes they will be, it will take probably a year or two but eventually they will be.
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Topeka
Post Posted: January 4th 2008 10:27 pm
 
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Quote:
A two-format landscape has led to consumer confusion and indifference toward
high definition


Very true. BD>HD
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Ayatollah Krispies
Post Posted: January 7th 2008 4:00 am
 

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You kind of figure Blu-Ray had to win, simply by virtue of the fact that it was NOT supported by Microsoft, which has proven itself especially clueless when it comes to hardware. I don't have either the PS3 or the XBox 360, but do I understand correctly that the PS3 plays BD no matter which configuration you buy? And that the XBox 360 doesn't play HDDVD unless you purchase an add-on?

I mean, that's pretty fucking stupid, isn't it?
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Bandersnatch
Post Posted: January 7th 2008 7:04 am
 
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I'm still on the fence about this. I have two very nice Panasonic and Sony SD-DVD player/recorders with HDMI outputs, and even though I've been impressed with what I've seen on both Blu-Ray and HD, I'm perfectly happy with the picture quality my current equipment can produce on my Panny plasma display. I'm still gonna wait at least couple of years before investing in more shit that I can't afford.

Having said that, it now certainly looks like Blu-Ray is to HD-DVD what Obama is to Hilary at the moment.

:monocle:
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Cryostar
Post Posted: January 7th 2008 7:56 am
 
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I think they've both lost already.

This has gone on for 18 months now. Someone has already come out with a single drive that reads both....consumers will be buying them as soon as they come down in price, so what's the incentive?
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Obi-Wan Starkiller
Post Posted: January 7th 2008 8:31 am
 

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Ayatollah Krispies wrote:

I mean, that's pretty fucking stupid, isn't it?


Only since the prices have come down. When PS3 was $599, it was ridiculous to buy it for BR. Now is a different story. I bought my 360 over a year ago for videogames. 6 months ago I bought the add on when it went down in price. I love it. But I wasn't about to buy a PS3 just for BR.
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Ayatollah Krispies
Post Posted: January 7th 2008 2:47 pm
 

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Obi-Wan Starkiller wrote:
When PS3 was $599, it was ridiculous to buy it for BR. Now is a different story. I bought my 360 over a year ago for videogames. 6 months ago I bought the add on when it went down in price. I love it. But I wasn't about to buy a PS3 just for BR.

That's not really what I'm saying. I figure there had to be quite a few people who bought a PS3 for the same reason you bought a 360 -- for the games. And then suddenly they've got a Blu-Ray player as well. So as soon as they lose interest in the game they're playing, or are simply between games, they've got this hi-def player they can check out. It's already in their house. Whereas people who do what you did have to make the decision to buy an extra part -- and even after the price drop, it still lists for about 180 bucks, right? Even the so-called "Elite Bundle" still doesn't feature the HD-DVD player (yes, I've done a little research since last night). It just seems to me that XBox 360 owners were more likely to make NO changes in their DVD viewing preferences, whereas the PS3 was encouraging its owners to try something different.
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Obi-Wan Starkiller
Post Posted: January 7th 2008 3:10 pm
 

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Well, I'll say this, it was the best thing for BR. It is the main reason it will win the HD war. People were not going out and buying standalone BR players. They were buying PS3's. I think that is where Xbox made the mistake of not thinking next generation with their console. But anyway, not that it matters, but I believe the majority of people who bought PS3's are now only watching BR movies because there aren't a lot of good games on Sony's console.
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DoubleSith
Post Posted: January 7th 2008 11:00 pm
 
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This might be over even quicker than I thought:

Financial Times reports Paramount to drop HD-DVD

Quote:
Paramount in HD DVD blow

By Matthew Garrahan and Mariko Sanchanta in Las Vegas

Published: January 8 2008 02:49 | Last updated: January 8 2008 02:49

Paramount is poised to drop its support of HD DVD after Warner Brothers’ recent backing of Sony’s Blu-ray technology, in a move that will sound the death knell of HD DVD and bring the home entertainment format war to a definitive end.

Paramount and DreamWorks Animation, which makes the Shrek films, came out in support of HD DVD last summer, joining General Electric’s Universal Studios as the main backers of the Toshiba format.


Universal would be the only studio left backing HD-DVD.
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Raveers
Post Posted: January 8th 2008 1:02 am
 
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No doubt they will fall in line. They will be fucking stupid if they don't.
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Cryostar
Post Posted: January 8th 2008 6:41 am
 
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This is hollywood, "fucking stupid" is their middle name. Why else have we had a strike last for 60+ days? :P
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stan Marsh
Post Posted: January 8th 2008 10:31 am
 
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I think Microsoft didn't have faith that HD would survive, not to mention when X-Box 360 came out I think they were in talks with Blu-Ray trying to come to a agreement. Microsoft demanded that Blu-Ray use their technology while BR wanted to use Sun's Java platform. I suppose they left the HD option off just n case an agreement was reached and they would support BR. I am glad BR stayed with java, microsoft doesn't need it's hooks in anyhting else.

I actually basically did buy the ps3 for the BR player. I was in the market for a gaming console somewhat, but more so I was looking for an High Definition video player. I was partial to BR but the cost was a little steep, so when the opportunity to get both for under $500 I was glad to go ps3 and BR.
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DoubleSith
Post Posted: January 8th 2008 5:35 pm
 
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New Line falls in line

Quote:
Confirming earlier reports that it would follow Warner to Blu-ray exclusivity, New Line says its first HD DVD title ('Pan's Labryinth') will also be its last.
Though it was widely assumed that New Line (whose parent company is Time-Warner) would follow Warner Home Video's lead and continue to release on HD DVD through May 2008, a company rep tells us that New Line's move will go into immediate effect, with all of the studio's planned HD DVD releases now cancelled (including the HD DVD versions of current Blu-ray releases 'Hairspray' and 'Rush Hour 3,' which had previously been planned for HD DVD release sometime in early 2008).

As for 'Pan's Labryinth,' which hit stores late last year as the first (and only) New Line HD DVD release, the studio says that once current retail supplies are depleted, the title will be discontinued -- making it an instant collector's item.
New Line says it's not planning to issue an official press release trumpeting the move, ending its short-lived HD DVD support with a relative whimper.
The studio also tells us they won't be revealing any new Blu-ray titles at CES, though they do plan to continue to support the format throughout 2008 with a variety of new release and catalog titles to be announced in the future.


I want my HD LOTR now, please.
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Ayatollah Krispies
Post Posted: January 8th 2008 5:38 pm
 

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Digital Bits is reporting that Paramount may bail on HD-DVD this week. Apparently they've got an option to jump ship if Warner ever did.

More than likely EVERY studio had this option regardless of format. I'm sure these guys are just as sick of the format war as consumers and were ready and willing to jump with just the slightest push.
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CloneCommander
Post Posted: January 17th 2008 7:35 pm
 

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Here's a funny subtitling of a clip from the German WWII Movie Downfall (Der Untergang), but the subtitles it is now called The Downfall of HD-DVD. B)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=friS4OOcdgQ
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Topeka
Post Posted: January 17th 2008 11:30 pm
 
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"What about our Christmas sales?" :lol:
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DoubleSith
Post Posted: February 15th 2008 11:15 am
 
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Quote:
Toshiba to drop HD DVD, sources say

Toshiba is widely expected to pull the plug on its HD DVD format sometime in the coming weeks, reliable industry sources say, after a rash of retail defections that followed Warner Home Video's announcement in early January that it would support only the rival Blu-ray Disc format after May.


Hollywood Reporter

Also:

Quote:
Wal-Mart puts stake through HD DVD's heart

Wal-Mart Stores announced on Friday morning that it, too, has chosen a side in the battle for high-definition video supremacy: by June, it will stock only Blu-ray Disc players.


News.com
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CloneCommander
Post Posted: February 15th 2008 8:40 pm
 

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My only gripe against BluRay is the fact that they don't do dual formats like HD-DVD does with Standard and HD on the same disc. This would be ideal for me as I'm still saving up to do the HD deal right, but at the same time, I don't want to skip buying movies or end up re-buying the same movie, but in HD.
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Bandersnatch
Post Posted: February 16th 2008 9:14 am
 
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CloneCommander wrote:
...Standard and HD on the same disc.


Duel format discs have had some major bugs, though.

Don't most Blu-Ray players play both SD and Blu-Ray discs?
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CloneCommander
Post Posted: February 16th 2008 10:34 am
 

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Bandersnatch wrote:
CloneCommander wrote:
...Standard and HD on the same disc.


Duel format discs have had some major bugs, though.

Don't most Blu-Ray players play both SD and Blu-Ray discs?

How would there be a problem if it's on different sides?

But that's the thing, I don't want to waste money on SD and then buy the same movie again in HD.
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DoubleSith
Post Posted: February 16th 2008 10:45 am
 
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The war is officially over!:

Quote:
Toshiba plans to withdraw from HD-DVD production

Toshiba Corporation has decided to withdraw from next generation high-definition DVD production.

Toshiba has been struggling with its version of the next generation DVD format, as support for Blu-ray technology has spread among US retailers.

Toshiba has been in heated competition with other Japanese electronic giants such as Sony, Panasonic and Hitachi, which produce the high-definition DVD format, Blu-ray.

The Blu-ray format now makes up 90 percent of the Japanese high-definition DVD market after winning last year's price war for DVD recorders and players.

Toshiba faced even more difficulty when the major movie studio, Warner Brothers Entertainment, announced that it planned to use only the Blu-ray format for its movie software.

The company said it will continue to sell HD-DVD products for a while but will stop further development of HD DVD. Meanwhile, it said its DVD factories in Aomori Prefecture, northern Japan, would be closed.

Market observers said that Toshiba could suffer a loss of hundreds of millions of US dollars.


NHK Online

Now gimme my 1080p Star Wars boxset ASAP, LFL!
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Ayatollah Krispies
Post Posted: February 17th 2008 6:18 pm
 

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Well, it's still not "official." But it's all but.

What amazes me about this is not that Toshiba caved (which was inevitable) but that so many prognosticators were saying that it would be 2009 before the war would truly be over. Makes me wonder what stats they were looking at.

And what amuses me about this is that Microsoft chose wrong yet again. :)
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Bandersnatch
Post Posted: February 18th 2008 7:05 am
 
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CloneCommander wrote:
How would there be a problem if it's on different sides?


I'm not sure, but I had heard a few people and some reviewers say that there were physical problems with those discs and some players just wouldn't read them at all.
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Ayatollah Krispies
Post Posted: February 18th 2008 11:15 am
 

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In the middle of a still non-committal report this morning (which includes such insightful pearls of wisdom as pointing out that the death of HD-DVD "would likely boost sales in Blu-ray gadgets") appear the following stats:

Quote:
Adding to Blu-ray's momentum was the gradual increase in sales of Sony's PlayStation 3 home video-game console, which also works as a Blu-ray player. Sony has sold 10.5 million PS3 machines worldwide since the machine went on sale late 2006.
...
Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 game machine can play HD DVD movies, but the drive had to be bought separately, and its proliferation is believed to be limited. Toshiba said such players are included in the overall tally of 1 million HD DVD players sold so far.


Look at that again. 1 million HD-DVD players sold, and that includes sales of the 360 add-on. Whereas Sony has sold 10.5 million PS3s, a figure that does not take into account the number of standalone BR players sold.

Why are we still even reading about this crap? Please stop humping the corpse and bury it already.
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Ayatollah Krispies
Post Posted: February 19th 2008 4:36 am
 

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Corpse buried.
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DoubleSith
Post Posted: February 19th 2008 1:11 pm
 
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Universal officially jumps ship.
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CloneCommander
Post Posted: February 19th 2008 2:32 pm
 

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So how much longer will it take for BR Player/PS3 prices to drop? Though I do have a bad feeling that since they're now the sole HD format, the prices are going to remain the same.
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Ayatollah Krispies
Post Posted: February 19th 2008 6:17 pm
 

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They may lower prices fairly soon to draw in everyone who's been waiting on the sidelines. And now that they're not competing and might start to show serious profit, prices may eventually drop across the board. Additionally, a lot of hardware manufacturers who have been hedging their bets will now jump aboard the Blu-Ray ship. Personally I'm looking forward to an $80 Philips BR player. :)
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Obi-Wan Starkiller
Post Posted: February 19th 2008 9:30 pm
 

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They may have even roped in the simple Wal-Mart shoppers too. My Dad (who doesn't have an HDTV) told me tonight he was thinking of going out and getting one of those Blue movies.... :whateva:
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DoubleSith
Post Posted: February 21st 2008 10:48 am
 
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And Paramount finally comes aboard. Indy 4 on Blu-ray day and date with the DVD release, please!
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Raveers
Post Posted: February 21st 2008 5:34 pm
 
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Good to know that the format war is truely over. Now I can safely switch over to Blu-Ray starting this summer.
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Ayatollah Krispies
Post Posted: February 21st 2008 7:45 pm
 

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Found this story linked to on The Digital Bits, about Microsoft's shenanigans during the format war:

Lessons From the Death of HD-DVD

And then within that story I found this one, which is just as funny (well, funny if, like me, you think that Microsoft sucks ass):

Wii, PS3 and the Death of Microsoft's Xbox 360
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Obi-Wan Starkiller
Post Posted: March 3rd 2008 1:42 pm
 

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Well, I finally gave in. I went to the local electronics store yesterday and got a new 56' DLP and saw the PS3 sitting there. I couldn't help it. So, now I have a Blu-Ray player
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