Travis McClain

Show us where, in all of this, you qualified any of your adamant statements as simply your "opinion." Everything you stated was presented as fact, coming from someone whose insight and knowledge gave him the smugness to assume a vantage point to "cut through the crap."

WMAangel

WTH? How are YOU clearly stating anything?? You are the one who is stating that BD is "on life support" and "near death", but not once have you provided anything to back up this belief! You keep saying the word "format", but I think it is you who needs to give us what definition it is that you seem to have for that word in your head, as the only thing I can deduce from your ranting is that you are actually trying to make an argument for "physical media" vs. "digital/downloadable files", which is an entirely separate argument...

ctyankee

Wrong. I discussed how the Blu-Ray Group is already promoting a new 3D format that may not be compatible with current players. Pay attention.

ctyankee

You won't find in any of my posts things like IMO or the like. You see I KNOW I'm stating opinion and expect that all but the dim-witted understand that. None of us need to qualify our opinions. If I want to bring facts to the table, I cite them (see my earlier post on digital audio).

mdnitoil

Personally, I would have no idea if BR is on life support or not. I will say that studios and manufacturers have wasted next to no time subsidizing the hell out of it trying to generate market share. I'm wondering how much longer this latest drop in disc prices can last. If the studios were bitching about shrinking markets with SD, pricing BR at the same point yet with higher production costs must have their accountants losing their minds. Particularly since it doesn't appear that they are actually growing the market. Sure, BR is gaining more sales, but SD is losing them at an even faster pace so the net result is still total market loss. From that perspective, it appears obvious that BR is no great shakes, but that's hardly the format's fault. It's just a bad time to be a disc. If anything, the whole format is starting to look like a delaying action until the studios can figure out what the hell to do about streaming/downloads.

WMAangel

Give me a break...BD 3D is an optional extension of the BD format, much like DTS soundtracks were to DVD, or the Balance Board is to the Wii console....maybe you should pay more attention instead of acting like this gimmick is somehow a whole new successor to BD as DVD was to pre-recorded VHS/laserdisc (or CDs were to cassettes/vinyl)....

orangerunner

We still don't know what 3D formats will be introduced at this point or which one(s) will succeed.

I have a feeling 3D will be a beast unto its own and won't really be an extension of BR. You'll need a new 3D console, new 3D HDTV, 3D glasses probably with shutters. I imagine we'll need new computers and software to author 3D videos. We`ll get 3D still cameras, video cameras and on and on ...

It won't be a mere extension of what Blu-ray is. But on the bright side it will probably be backwards compatible.

Josh-da-man

Catalog titles seem to be Blu-ray's biggest obstacle.

We're now four years into the format, and catalog titles are coming out in a tricke.

I can remember back in 1999-2000 (the third and fourth years of DVD; it came out in 1997) when DVDs were being released like crazy. I was getting packages from reel.com almost daily. Within about five years of DVD's launch, it managed to kill off both VHS and LD.

I don't think it was ever realistic for Blu-ray to overtake DVD that quickly -- and DVD is a fairly unique consumer format in that it's something that was a long time coming, and people went nuts for it -- but it's moving very slowly at the moment. It's fairly obvious that dipping into their catalogs is not a major priority at the studios.

mdnitoil

I don't think it's got anything to do with priority. With studios deciding that the only way to make money off of catalog titles these days is to do burn-on-demand of shitty video masters for premium prices, Blu Ray releases make absolutely no sense.

I'm sure the top 500 or 1000 catalog titles of all time will eventually be trickled out to BR, just like they hit every other format. But at this point, it seems pretty obvious that we'll never be seeing the deeper catalog stuff on BR. I wouldn't be holding my breath for Charlie Chan on BR, for example.

dkedvd

Thus killing the "collecting of cinematic media all together. At that point say goodbye to ownership of titles. And hello to "permanent" renting. And by permanent I mean until the next format after streaming/downloading comes out and we are forced to re-buy everything. Woo Hoo! I cant wait!

Travis McClain

There is always the possibility that someone will greenlight a remake of some of the older catalog stuff, and potentially spark enough interest to justify those kinds of things. But, by and large, I think you're right that SD burn-on-demand/download is the standard going forward for such releases.

orangerunner

I agree BR is being subsidized to gain market share but what I've noticed in this last month is that BR prices have gone back up again.

Hot deals can be found on Amazon or if you scour the internet long enough but the brick & mortar store prices have certainly gone back up.

For instance Zombieland is $19.99 on DVD & $29.99 on Blu-ray. Warner catalogue titles like True Romance, Ocean's Thirteen etc. were at the $7-$10 price points, now they are all back up to $15.

I know Christmas time has better deals but it seems like it was all a bit of a tease to push the format.

Let's face it, brick & mortar shops are really the gateway to introducing a new format. That's where people are visually introduced to a new product and catches their attention.

The internet is great for people already in the know and are looking for good deals but the local retail stores are a vitally important tool for introduction and a good barometer of how well a product is selling.

The yo-yo pricing at the store level isn't helping things.

dadaluholla

Um, why would you be forced to rebuy anything?

mdnitoil

Oh, I wish you hadn't done that. We already have an active thread on that subject. No need to derail this one.

dadaluholla

Oops. I see that now. Very sorry.

Disc-Flipper

Due to lack of HD source materials (eg. stuff shot on video) - many things will never make it to Blu-ray.
Due to lack of sales of certain titles on DVD (eg. crap movies) - many things will never make it to Blu-ray.
Cherish many of your DVDs!

Josh-da-man

The actual prices never really went down in the first place. The MSRP didn't change on any of the sale titles; there just a lot of sales going on around the holiday season. Now that the holidays are over, the sales are over and the retail prices are going back up to where they normally are.

Once/If the MSRPs start going down, we'll be seeing lower everyday prices.