Look at all those 2008 Q1 HD DVD releases.

Looks like your research paid off well, catalyst.

1/3/2008 2:02:01 AM

You know, if you take the combined reviews at Rotten Tomatoes of the three Resident Evil movies and War, then add them all together, you're still under 100.

Lets not go trying to criticize someone for not wanting to jump onto that bandwagon.

1/3/2008 7:57:57 AM

Quote :

"PS3 AD Campain "Do you want it" (ok decent and catchy) followed by "Do you need it" ????? Its a high end piece of electronics that youre aiming to sell to people who obviously dont need it and you ask them multiple times....."

LAWL

1/3/2008 8:50:08 AM

Quote :

" Look at all those 2008 Q1 HD DVD releases. Looks like your research paid off well, catalyst. "

Pretty weak lineup for the next month or two. I don't really see how this reflects on my choice, considering I've only purchased 3 HD DVDs so far, and have alot of stuff already released to purchase before I'm yearning for a new release Tuesday. Combine that with a Netflix subscription and I'm a happy camper.

On that note, fellow HD DVD enthusiasts should take advantage of the Blu-Ray bogo on Amazon. Order what you want, take em to Wal-Mart and swap em for the HD DVD versions (in case you missed out on the Amazon HD DVD BOGO).

So while you quietly pick sand out of your vagina Santa, I'll be enjoying my hi-def movies.

1/3/2008 8:59:31 AM

Quote :

"You know, if you take the combined reviews at Rotten Tomatoes of the three Resident Evil movies and War, then add them all together, you're still under 100."

Transformers got a 57%, and still outsold Ratatouille's 97%. There's also a positive correlation between a movie's % on rotten tomatoes and the amount of screen-time it gives George Clooney; however I don't think Michael Clayton will sell that well.

1/3/2008 11:47:09 AM

Stein

We really don't want to compare libraries here.

Also

3:10 to Yuma
Con Air ( I loved this, but everyone else hated it so YMMV)
The Rock (See above)
Crimson Tide
Master and Commander
Wall Street

vs

Zodiac
The Pianist
Elizabeth the Golden age


I mean, I wouldn't normally get on you for bad taste in electronics. I DO have an iphone, but you said you did research catalyst and thats clearly not the case.



Enjoy.

1/3/2008 11:47:12 AM

sweet the rock is one of my fav. Action movies. Plus all those others sandsanta listed are badass. The only hd DVD I'll get/ rent is elizibeth the golden age. Never saw it in theaters.

1/3/2008 12:10:26 PM

The Rock and Con Air were both awesome.

That said, lets not go trying to insult the kid's purchase because he wasn't won over by the trilogy of suck known as the Resident Evil movies.

1/3/2008 12:10:32 PM

I just got a suitcase full of the first five Harry Potters on HD DVD from Amazon.

1/3/2008 12:11:37 PM

Resident Evil doesn't suck.

1/3/2008 12:13:32 PM

hd dvd also has these movies in Q1 that were "left out":

* Girls Gone Wild: Baby Bash - Live And Uncensored (Mantra) - i'm sure some folks will buy it
* Into the Wild (Paramount Entertainment) - awesome movie on lots of top 10 of 2007 lists
* No Reservations (Warner) - actually a decent movie
* Things We Lost in the Fire (DreamWorks) - awesome movie on lots of top 10 of 2007 lists

February 19, 2008

* In the Valley of Elah (Warner) - awesome movie on lots of top 10 of 2007 lists
* Michael Clayton (Warner) - haven't seen it

February 26, 2008

* The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Warner) - on lots of top 10 of 2007 lists
* Beowulf (2007) (Paramount) - haven't seen it

March 11, 2008

* Bee Movie (DreamWorks)
* Dazed & Confused (Re-Issue) (Universal)
* Fletch (Universal)
* Land of the Dead (Re-Issue) (Universal)

March 25, 2008

* Bonnie & Clyde (Warner)
* Star Trek: The Original Series - Season Two (Paramount)
* UFC: The Best of 2007 (First Look)

most of those are really solid movies

blu ray shares a few of those...the first blu ray movie that will make me really wish i had one is Across the Universe. if it's done correctly, i may cave and add a blu ray player to my home theater.

[Edited on January 3, 2008 at 12:19 PM. Reason : /]

1/3/2008 12:15:48 PM

Oh, I've done my research. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if Warner announces HD DVD exclusivity at CES this year. Several Blu Warner titles have gone missing from online retailers websites lately while the DVD and HD DVD releases remain (upcoming releases).

If I'm wrong... well I'm wrong and SandSanta can berate me all he wants, and I'm not going to feel bad. If I'm correct, I'll save $200 and will not insult anyone else's choice of format.

1/3/2008 12:21:23 PM

Yes

They'd clearly support a format that has absolutely no penetration in Europe and Japan.

CES won't settle anything but more cross platform titles.

1/3/2008 12:30:40 PM

Yes.

They'd obviously support a format that is essentially controlled by one of their biggest rivals in the motion-picture industry. Sony.



[Edited on January 3, 2008 at 1:13 PM. Reason : sp]

1/3/2008 1:10:55 PM

You have no idea how consortiums work do you?

1/3/2008 1:20:52 PM

Of course I do. But I think you underestimate the power Sony has over this format. Something like 97.5% of Blu-Ray players are PS3s or Sony made SAs.

Essentially (but not entirely), this is a Sony format as it stands now. Their devices are driving the sale of BRDs and I honestly don't think Warner wants to commit its future in HDM to Sony and it's audience of gamers.

For the most part, HD DVD owners are people who purchased the technology on it's own merits, not picking up a package deal by getting a PS3.

Warner makes movies, it's what they do. I don't think they want the future of HDM resting in the hands of a demographic that may or may not buy movies consistently. HD DVD is a settled and consistent format, selling on it's own merits and it's sales numbers are not being inflated by consumers who do not understand HDM or for that matter ever plan on utilizing it.

1/3/2008 1:33:09 PM

Exactly 100% of HD DVD players are made by Toshiba.

Quote :

"For the most part, HD DVD owners are people who purchased the technology on it's own merits."

I thought they purchased it because it was cheap.

[Edited on January 3, 2008 at 2:16 PM. Reason : .]

1/3/2008 2:14:45 PM

Quote :

"Exactly 100% of HD DVD players are made by Toshiba."

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4790609

WHOOPS

Quote :

"They'd clearly support a format that has absolutely no penetration in Europe and Japan."

HD DVD has plenty of penetration

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070112-8602.html

zing

1/3/2008 2:26:31 PM

Quote :

" Exactly 100% of HD DVD players are made by Toshiba. Quote : "For the most part, HD DVD owners are people who purchased the technology on it's own merits." I thought they purchased it because it was cheap. "

Last time I checked, Toshiba didn't run a multi billion dollar film company. People did purchase HD DVD technology on it's own merits. They found a good deal and they bought a device that plays movies. They didn't purchase a game system with the bonus of a blu ray player. Stand Alone players are what drive the market.

[Edited on January 3, 2008 at 2:35 PM. Reason : $$]

1/3/2008 2:34:44 PM

The RCA HDV5000 is just a re-badged Toshiba HD-D1. They're both crappy players, with 1080i output and 45-second load times.




Onkyo also pulled the same thing with the DV-HD805 which is just a rebadged Toshiba HD-XA2. The Onkyo player has a MSRP of $899, which I suppose isn't TOO much higher than the Toshiba's MSRP of $599.

Nice try, but I am not convinced.

Quote :

"Stand Alone players are what drive the market."

Which market is that?



[Edited on January 3, 2008 at 2:46 PM. Reason : Stand Alone players are what drive the market.]

1/3/2008 2:44:56 PM

all of this bickering for nothing. who cares? and not only that, you will watch what you want to watch and thats just it.

1/3/2008 2:47:24 PM

Stand alone players are what drives the HD media market. I'll repeat it as many times as necessary. Studios want to see stand alone players in consumers homes, because they know the device will play movies, and that consumers are purchasing players for that purpose.

The whole point of the HD DVD and Blu-Ray format war is to find a successor to DVD that will hopefully become the new "DVD" in the next few years. I can tell you that movie studios won't be banking on my parents, or grandparents, or any non-gamer, to purchase PS3s or Xbox's to play high-definition media. They will be looking for stand alone player sales to fuel software sales.

It's what drives the HD market forward, for both Blu-Ray and HD DVD, and if there is any area where BRD is hurting the most, it's in SA sales.

1/3/2008 2:57:56 PM

Shhh, that makes too much sense and he can't create an inline link to an article or chart about it.

1/3/2008 3:01:00 PM

I mean yea you're going to use the stand alone player argument because thats the only thing you can conceivably use.

Software sales?

Nope.

Overall Blu Ray drives vs HD DVD drives?

Nope.

Which leaves you with "HURRR TOSHIBA DRIVES R SELL FAST AT WALMART CHINA R BUILD MORE SOON YOU LOSE REMEMBER BETA MAX K"

Which is cool, whatever floats your boat.

1/3/2008 3:14:02 PM

what is the point of arguing this?

1/3/2008 3:17:21 PM

Because the thread title is Blu Ray or HD DVD.

As in, which is better?

As in, lets argue which is better.

1/3/2008 3:18:21 PM

^

Let's try to intelligently argue, if not, I'm gonna quit and go watch a movie.

1/3/2008 3:20:37 PM

i've just come to realize that 720p xvids are about 700mb/hour...at about 1.5gb/movie, that's not too bad

1/3/2008 3:22:55 PM

I can't intelligently argue with you when your decision boils down to "sony pissed in my cereal and they're a big meanie so I support the other guys."

I mean I've pretty much debunked every retarded claim you've had besides that.

=)

1/3/2008 3:33:36 PM

For me it all boils down to choice, which Blu-Ray player did you purchase?

1/3/2008 3:46:04 PM

blu-ray = sony
HD-dvd = not sony

HD-DVD wins.

thats all the argument this thread needs.

1/3/2008 3:48:31 PM

philihp you can't just link to a blu-ray vs. hd dvd sales chart that only includes movies.
you do realize right now that it's the PS3 and Xbox360 driving those dvd sales and not just the standalone players

show me a chart that shows both blu-ray & hd dvd sales of JUST PEOPLE that own standalone players then you'd see what will drive the general public and not just the gamers.

[Edited on January 3, 2008 at 4:02 PM. Reason : m]

1/3/2008 4:02:20 PM

Dude

Your choices are:

Toshiba

or

Toshiba.

ARE YOU SERIOUS?

1/3/2008 4:48:52 PM

Prospero, sales are sales.

Right now, the top Amazon DVD bestsellers (that's combined, HD DVD, Blu-ray, *AND* DVD), the current rankings are as follows:

1. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire [Blu-ray]
2. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban [Blu-ray]
3. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets [Blu-ray]
4. 300 [Blu-ray]
5. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone [Blu-ray]
6. Planet Earth - The Complete BBC Series [DVD]
7. The Bourne Ultimatum (Widescreen Edition) [DVD]
8. Jeff Dunham: Spark of Insanity [DVD]
9. Lost - The Complete Third Season [DVD]
10. Ratatouille [DVD]
11. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Two-Disc Special Edition) [DVD]
12. Jeff Dunham - Arguing With Myself [DVD]
13. Full Metal Jacket (Deluxe Edition) [Blu-ray]
14. The Simpsons Movie (Widescreen Edition) [DVD]
15. 3:10 to Yuma (Widescreen Edition) [DVD]
16. Resident Evil - Extinction (Widescreen Special Edition) [DVD]
17. The Departed [Blu-ray]
18. The Tudors - The Complete First Season [DVD]
19. Fantastic Four - Rise of the Silver Surfer [Blu-ray]
20. GoodFellas [Blu-ray]
21. Kingdom of Heaven (Director's Cut) [Blu-ray]
22. Pirates of the Caribbean - At World's End (Widescreen Edition)
23. Blood Diamond [Blu-ray]
24. Die Hard [Blu-ray]
25. The Day After Tomorrow [Blu-ray]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/dvd/ref=pd_dp_ts_d_1
http://charts.highdefdigest.com/rank.aspx

In the top 100 DVD bestsellers, 55 of them are DVD, 42 of them are Blu-ray. 3 of them are HD DVD.

1/3/2008 5:23:22 PM

Gosh, phillip, I sure do wonder why that is!

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/01/02/shocker-amazons-blu-ray-bogo-boosts-bd-rankings/

This is like when Amazon had the initial price drop of the 60 GB PS3 and everyone was like "OH MAN, LOOK AT HOW FAST IT'S SELLING ON AMAZON. IT'S OUT OF THE HOLE NOW!"

Meanwhile, over in reality, that wasn't the case at all.

[Edited on January 3, 2008 at 6:28 PM. Reason : .]

1/3/2008 6:14:02 PM

Quote :

"Prospero, sales are sales."

you are a fool if you believe the sales generated from the PS3 and Xbox360 are going to decide this format war, sales are not conclusive if it does not include the general public

it's going to come down to price, standalone player market penetration, and which studios back which format, in the end the PS3 and Xbox360 owners will be in the minority of sales

while i think the PS3 has helped the blu-ray momentum, we won't see the final results until standalone players out number gaming consoles

here's an interesting trend:
http://www.google.com/trends?q=Blu-ray%2C+HD%20DVD
red= hd dvd
blue= blu-ray


[Edited on January 3, 2008 at 6:28 PM. Reason : .]

1/3/2008 6:23:02 PM

Quote :

"Dude Your choices are: Toshiba 400$ or Toshiba. > 400$ ARE YOU SERIOUS?"

Its been like 2 years, why the fuck is the cheapest player a god damned console. I dont want a ps3, it will be 300$ by the time MGS comes out any damn way

FUCK

1/3/2008 6:40:11 PM

# of PS3 owners in US (12/2007) = 3.5M
[source:http://vgchartz.com/aweekly.php#hard]
# of people in US (12/2006) = 300M
[source:http://www.census.gov/popest/national/tables/NA-EST2007-01.xls]
# of people in US (12/2006) w/ DVD players = (81.2%) = 243M
[source:http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/12-19-2006/0004493848&EDATE=]

1/3/2008 6:49:37 PM

two good articles:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/carroll/?p=1772
http://www.betanews.com/article/HD_DVD_player_sales_top_750000_Bluray_claims_lead_in_Europe/1196182088

"95% of blu-ray players are PS3"

"750,000 HD DVD players have been sold" (includes stand-alone + Xbox360)

"Although the attach rate -- the number of movies purchased per player -- for the PS3 is a scant 0.6, there are enough gamers willing to try out Blu-ray movies to keep disc sales above those of HD DVD. The attach rate for HD DVD, meanwhile, is closer to 4, according to the Promotions Group."

looking back at philihp's comment, ultimately the goal is to sell content, not the players, but to judge the war based on existing sales in an inaccurate representation of what the other 240M people will do

i have no vested interest in either, i just like low prices, so once one of them shows themselves to be the clear winner and support drops for the rival format and the price is lowered, i'll be a convert.

another thought is that the people buying PS3's and HDTV's have money to spend and are typically early adopters, so if they are willing to spend money on blu-ray discs before the war even comes to the general public, the war may be over before it even started.

[Edited on January 3, 2008 at 7:00 PM. Reason : .]

1/3/2008 6:58:05 PM

See, this is a good argument, except for whoever posted the Amazon sales charts. BOGOs are the oldest trick in the book to boost sales numbers and to "come out on top" in the Nielsen ratings.

Plain and simple, it comes down to stand alones. If you cannot see this, you are either blinded by red or blu fanboyism. I prefer HD DVD, but I promise you, if they could get stand alone Blu-Ray players into peoples houses as easily as they "Trojan Horsed" the PS3, this format war would be over.

Same for HD DVD.

1/3/2008 7:25:18 PM

betamax = superior playback, less storage than its competitor
HD DVD = superior features, less storage than its competitor

HMMMM

[Edited on January 3, 2008 at 7:57 PM. Reason : i don't really care one way or the other though since i have both]

1/3/2008 7:55:16 PM

this is my first and probably only post in this thread

I just bought and A-3 since it was ~150 and I get 10 movies.

1/3/2008 7:59:41 PM

Awesome deal, way better deal than what we got on the 360 add on floating around here.

Is there anyone in this thread that has a stand alone Blu-Ray player?

1/3/2008 8:07:07 PM

heh

1/3/2008 8:27:07 PM

Quote :

"you are a fool if you believe the sales generated from the PS3 and Xbox360 are going to decide this format war, sales are not conclusive if it does not include the general public"

clearly google search frequencies will decide the outcome of the format problem

1/3/2008 10:06:33 PM

so someone break down how hddvd is superior to blu ray

1/3/2008 10:45:19 PM

it's got HD in it!

1/3/2008 10:49:13 PM

Quote :

" Its been like 2 years, why the fuck is the cheapest player a god damned console. I dont want a ps3, it will be 300$ by the time MGS comes out any damn way FUCK "

EMOOOOSTRIIIIIIIIIIIKE


Catalyst, dude, quit with your stand alone line. Content sales are so amazingly skewed to blu ray, despite a year head start for HD DVD in the US alone. Global sales are like fucking LOL.

Don't want a ps3 (which is a better disc player then anything else available right now, including the abomination of an idea known as the Xbox addon) then don't bother with HD content. Just wait for someone to win and buy their junk.


[Edited on January 3, 2008 at 10:59 PM. Reason : .]

1/3/2008 10:54:58 PM

how are y'all so blind to the numbers? how is this NOT about the standalone unit?

yes, blu-ray is leading, but what's driving it? the PS3? you can't call that a win i'm sorry, 240 MILLION people are NOT GOING TO BUY A VIDEO GAME CONSOLE

it's about standalone units, the PS3 is only a factor because they are banking on it's multi-use, as of right now this is the ONLY blu-ray player out there that are driving sales, all 3.5 million of them.

IF, and this is a big IF... IF the PS3 market for blu-ray content is enough to a) convince studios to drop all HD DVD support, or b) convinces the general public that blu-ray is the winner, THEN and ONLY THEN will it result in blu-ray becoming the winner.

[Edited on January 3, 2008 at 11:21 PM. Reason : .]

1/3/2008 11:20:36 PM

I think it's a wasted argument. SandSanta is a PS3 fanatic, I do believe. That and he seemed to enjoy shitting in the Time Warner cable thread earlier.

I do agree though, it's a bout mainstream penetration. For the sake of both formats, I think alot rides on getting these players into homes quicker than the current pace.

1/3/2008 11:24:41 PM