Friday, January 4th 2008
Warner Bros. Opts for Blu-ray Exclusivity
The HD disk market has seen another twist with the news that Warner Bros. plans to make all of its high definition film releases exclusive to Blu-ray. The movie label is claiming that the decision was a strategic move, saying:
Source:
DailyTech
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. 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. 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. will stop releasing HD DVD movies in May this year, and any movies it does release before that cut-off will be initially launched on Blu-ray and released on HD DVD after a "short window." This news follows Paramount and DreamWorks announcing that they would release movies exclusively on HD DVD four months ago.
58 Comments on Warner Bros. Opts for Blu-ray Exclusivity
The point I made about prices holds true for BR as well. If we see the exclusive BR producers cross the picket line and BR is up against the ropes, you can bet BR prices will fall to restore balance.
The only way Sony is able to subsidize right now is because the market is still so small. Once the market increases beyond critical mass, the loss that producers will realize by not offering dual formats will be to great to ignore and Sony will not be able to compensate. Right now the producers see it going either way so why not take the money and put out a little BR propaganda and if HD maintains then they just offer both next year.
Block Buster is the most probable to breakdown first as they are getting their tails whipped by Netflix already. So now they just handed Netflix a few thousand customers wrapped in a bow. It will start with the CEO getting fired then the anouncement to offer both formats again. That will be the first domino.
but, until there is a firm winner (read: standard), I don't intend to buy any HD hardware.
and i just read the new line cinema, the sister cinema of warner bros is going blu-ray exclusive as well!!!!
Im just glad a good portion of my HD DVD's are dual format so at least I do have an expensive DVD should HD DVD not win.
I still will support HD DVD as long as Microsof strongly supports it though. I wonder what Bill Gates big announcement is going to be at CES
Remember, the average IQ is quoted at 90-110 (depending on which IQ scale you use) . . . but the average IQ of Americans has been quoted between 70-80. We've become a nation of morons who can't think for themselves.
Okay lets take your HD DVD is dearer than Blu Ray argument i see that HD DVD is the cheaper to manufacture disk but i think that most movies are the same price fair game blu ray trying to match out by losing a bit of profit
Why would a movie need to be on a bigger disk HD content should be the same on a smaller disk it should be the same size on both disks, okay a few more bonus features on a bigger disk but to justify that is stupid.
I dont actually give a damn but all i see is better moveis on HD DVD like Transformers and The Bourne Ultimatum.
But if you think that a larger choice of crappy movies is better then your daft.
Seriously i just like normal dvd coz you can get a box set of dvds for the price of a normal HD format disk.
AND AHEM yes blu ray is a feature on PS3 just like the wireless connectivity to a psp is a feature.
Ill wait untill the formats slug it out till the end and then by that time ill have a hd tv.
Not to mention that a xbox 360 hd dvd player can work on a pc aswell
but im not getting one.
Just saying that not everyone wants a ps3 or a console so just saying that blu ray will win is a sony fanyboy idea.
Just like your dreams of a ps3 winning the console war all i see is DS DS DS every where and the wii selling more.
If anything im a pc fanyboy if those exist and a DS fanboy.
Whats the point in owning a blu ray drive or a hd dvd drive for your pc unless all you do is watch moveis sure a lot of people will use it for back up but a hard drive is cheaper for that. Also its not like HD DVD and Blu Ray have games for the pc.
And when did I say that the PS3 would win the console war? Never said that in my post, the PS3 has a lot of potential but the Xbox 360 is ahead because of the immense game library compared to the PS3, but again it's been out 1 more year than the PS3. That's one year they could have taken to fix the RROD issue.
IMO the Wii has a great chance of winning the console wars because of it's wider audience, which now also includes mature audiences. And don't say that I'm biased towards one of the consoles because I'm not. I own ALL 3 consoles. And also, I really want to get an HD-DVD player, but the only 2 titles that I want are the Bourne Collection and Transformers, besides that the rest of the titles that I want are on Blu-Ray.
Whipping out my crystal ball here . . . although many of the Hollywood film companies might be readily accepting BR, once BR takes the majority of the market, you can bet hardware and software support is going to become dodgy - I can easily see Microsoft, Intel and HP (all HD-DVD supporters) pulling some devious stunts at this point at both a hardware and software level, and I can also forsee Blu-Ray optical drives either dwindling in supply as under-the-table dealings force manufacturers to quit building the BR capable devices, or prices will sky rocket to stoopid levels (prob citing supply and demand as the cause), and consumers will merge back over to HD-DVD in response to price gouging . . . and who will follow suit at that point? The film companies - god forbid they lose a dollar on the deal (as if they don't make enough at the box office).
And I hate the HD DVD/DVD combo format. Those movies are 30 frickin dollars. I'll take the $24 Blu Ray version, thank you very much. If I need a standard def version that bad, I'll re-encode or download it.
Warner Just Made The Mistake Of Their Life As A Company! And They Managed To Hit All Consumers In The Bulls Eye! Have They Ever Seen The Superior Quality Of Hd Dvd Over Blu Ray In The Same Television ? I Have Seen It Because I Own Both Format Players! Wait Until All Of You See The 10+ Quality Of Upscaling The Hd Dvd Players Have In Your Dvd Movie Collection Andcomparing It With The Sh..ty Quality Of Even The Most Expensive Bluray Player!
All Of Us Allready Have Some Dvd Movies, Why Not Allowing Us To See It In Higher Quality By Supporting The Bluray Format Which Is Inferior!
Some Of You Might Ask Why I Choose To Own Both Format Players And The Answer Is That Because Some Movie Are Released In Only One Format And Because I Had To See What Were The Differences In Quality! Since The Cost Of Production Of A Bluray Disc Is Much Higher The Hd Dvd Why All Didn't They Support It Fully?
It Would Cost Less For Them And Less For Us The Retailers! And Given The Lower Prices Of Hddvd Players The Format War Sound Have Finished Along Time Ago. So Since I Am A Consumer I Say To S O N Y That Blu Ray Is Not What We Want!
The difference in upscaling DVDs has nothing to do with HD DVD or Blu Ray. It has to do with the upscaling engine of the player you're using. My PS3 upscales better than any standalone I've seen.
I'm sure there's more p0rn on the HDDs of US citizens then all of EurAsia combined