Blu-ray or HD-DVD?

[Rob Williams]

As posted in our news today, Blockbuster decided to go with Blu-ray in all of their retail outlets, excluding HD-DVD entirely except on their web service. Does this change your stance on who the next-gen format winner will be?

I own a couple Blu-ray titles, and I admit it's only because of the PS3, which I would have bought irregardless of movie support. However, support happened to be there, seen BD titles I wanted, so it was a simple decision. Those who want HD-DVD support for their Xbox 360 are only set back $200 though, so you would think that it would give a huge boost to Toshiba, but so far it doesn't seem to be the case at all.

I admit, it's not looking that good for HD-DVD at this point, since BB is a big player of the rental market (over 25%). Now, I understand most people here don't care either way, but feel free to input regardless ;-)

 

[madstork91]

I would argue that HD dvd was a fail as soon as Sony choose Blue-ray.

How much of the gaming market do they own? How much of the movie industry do they own? How much of the entertainment business industry do they own in general?

I wish that they would simply choose the cheapest form of for us, the consumer. Heh...

 

[Greg King]

This still reminds me a lot of the DVD-/+R wars when blank DVD media first came out. This was cemented in my mind when we saw hybrid players at CES that could read both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD.

I agree with Stork though, Sony does have a great amount of influence in the entertainment world but never underestimate how much money Microsoft will throw at a problem looking for a solution.

Personally, I prefer HD-DVD, only because I can watch them with my XBOX, that doesn't work, on my non-HD television.

 

[madstork91]

Interesting use of commas.

 

[Greg King]

I was known as the comma king in my high school days,

 

[Rob Williams]

I thought you were the period queen. Did I have my facts skewed or what.

 

[MakubeX]

Maybe comma king by day, period queen by night?

 

[Greg King]

No, I was only period king once every 28 days or so. It was more of a nuisance than anything.

 

[madstork91]

Midol

 

[Greg King]

Bumping Valium

 

[Matt Serrano]

To bring this thread back on track, I have to say at first I was a bit of a HD-DVD aficionado. Considering Universal is the only real supporter, I don't see it lasting long.

It doesn't really matter to me which format wins. They both serve the same purpose in the end.

 

[NicePants42]

Well here's a somewhat interesting story.

Oooh, and here are two more fairly interesting stories.

I don't really care which format wins, but I think that it could be decided by simply getting cheap drives into OEM PCs before the other guys do.

 

[Greg King]

I don't really care which format wins, but I think that it could be decided by simply getting cheap drives into OEM PCs before the other guys do.

I agree with that somewhat. The living room is where the format wars are going to be won or lost. Getting them into PCs will help their gaming front but who watches movies on the PC? I know there are people who do, but the vast majority use their home entertainment centers as the media hub in their house. Laptops might be a more reasonable approach.

Like I mentioned earlier, this still reminds be of the DVD +/- R format wars of a few years back. In the end, the industry got tired of waiting around and said screw it, we'll just produce a products that can read both. I hope that this will be the case with Blu Ray and HD-DVD.

And screw Universal, HD-DVD is Microsoft's baby and they are never ones to give up easily.

 

[NicePants42]

I agree with that somewhat. The living room is where the format wars are going to be won or lost. Getting them into PCs will help their gaming front but who watches movies on the PC? I know there are people who do, but the vast majority use their home entertainment centers as the media hub in their house. Laptops might be a more reasonable approach.

Agreed, however the ability to put cheap drives into OEM PCs implies the ability to put cheap drives into the living room.

While I agree that cheap players in the living room will win the war, I don't want to underestimate the power of leading-edge PC enthusiasts who are often asked for advice. Plus, the first writers in OEM PCs will generate more widespread blank media on the shelves.