Chicken Little is a reason to buy Blu-ray? Jeez. They're really grasping for the straws now.

It is more likely that I will pass on Chicken Little even if it is on the holodeck of the starship Enterprise.

It may not matter much to early adopters, but Disney is huge, and always will be. Theres a thread on the HD-DVD forum on AVS with people trying to bash disney as something that doesnt matters, and HD-DVD fanatics are saying how stupid they are, and how important disney is to the big picture. Dont underestimate the mouse.

But you can only buy Batman Begins and The Thing (and King Kong and Spartacus) with an HD DVD player. Which is more likely?

And where is Warner's release date on Batman Begins for BD?

So now the ONLY reason to buy BD is because they have more studio support? The problem is that the studio support was garnered by promises of all this extra capacity. What happens if the BD-50 discs don't materialize soon enough for these companies?

Content has always been the #1 reason to go blu-ray. 90% of the flicks to be released will be on Blu-Ray, HD-DVD is 30%. Again, it might look better now, but HD-DVD has hurdles to go through. All they have is universal, and who knows if they're going to want to miss out on the big PS3 debut sales thats going to happen for sure. Heck, i'd buy The Mummy for sure! Just not on HD-DVD. Thursday is the big announcement from the Blu-Ray group, i REALLY doubt its going to be universal, but if it is, then i have no clue what hd-dvd would have an advantage of, other then price, which becomes mute as soon as the ps3 is released.

Also, BD50 is comming this holiday season. Sony & Panasonic are making BD50 discs as of this or next week. Yields will be enough to get through this holiday season, with it ramping up bigtime by march 07.

I guess the sky really is falling now.

I don't underestimate the mouse, but I do underestimate Chicken Little. Disney will wait at least a year (probably two) before they start to release really good titles that I would want to see, and I'm not convinced that they will only support BR at that time, so I am content to let Chicken Little slip through my fingers right now.

I honestly don't mind if BR comes out on top, but I hope that if it does, we actually get some quality behind it. I don't even mind buying a player from both camps, but I'm not going to do it until I see quality, either.

And I wish like hell I could justify buying a PS3, but I can't even justify the 360. Stupid grown up responsibilities have just left me with too little time to play video games anymore. Now all I do is read all the trade magazines and wish like hell I could play them.

I can't believe we're arguing with someone who:

A) Thinks CHICKEN LITTLE is a system seller; and
B) Does not understand the difference between MUTE and MOOT.

I was gonna feed the troll, but I thought I'd respond to this instead and say HAHAHAHAHhhaHAhaahHAhahahHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!

Which would you rather see, Batman Begins, or Chicken Little??

I didn't evne bother to see Chicken Little in the theaters, much less on DVD, but I've watched BB about 5 times just on DVD

Finally, you admit the Blu-Ray technology is not all its cracked up to be.

And as far as your 90%/30% ratio, you're wrong. It's more like 75% and 50%. Stop spouting numbers you've made up.

Advantages for HD DVD?

• More Capacity
• More extras
• Better interactivity
• More titles
• Price
• TrueHD 5.1

Note that the HD-A1 can be had for ~$450 street price (after tax/shipping). The HDMI version of the PS3 will be hard to find and more expensive ($599 before tax/shipping).

Don't you understand that the REASON the studios jumped on board BD was because of the supposed technical superiority? If that's not there what reason is there for them to stay exclusive?

If Disney could dictate a format based solely on its support then DIVX would have been a smashing success.

Not that BD is like DIVX, but DIVX had its problems and it is an understatement to say that BD has its share of problems.

The underlying product has to be worth a shit before Disney can factor in.

Really?

Content/"studio support" is a pretty flimsy "#1" argument for a format, especially at such a early stage. If that's the main advantage of a format, that format is in trouble. Because support can change in an instant.

Other than Sony, every other studio on the planet could announce support for HD DVD tomorrow. Given BD quality concerns, the lack of promised BD50, and current sales figures vs. HD DVD... you have to figure that they're all considering it.

If that happens, then what does BD have? Exclusive rights to Stealth in HD?

This is the key to the whole argument. My guess is the BD market share will not be more than 40-60% at best. Lower range is my current best case belief, but if the marketing efforts and supply of HD doesn't change then the upper bracket may be possible. These are obviously rough guesses. In either case with at least 40% market share for HD DVD every studio except possibly Sony will also eventually release on HD DVD. Only Sony could be dumb/stubborn enough to pass on more than 40% of the market. And since their movies aren't worth buying yet in BD there is absolutely no temptation (for me at least) to go Blu. I choose HD DVD and will let the studios come to me.

What does this have to do with NEC's drive?

Which is why i don't understand why no interviewer will take any of the BD companies to task. Perhaps they're just all scared to.

"BD rep, why does your product look like shit right now?"

So how long do you think it would take for the DVD Forum to officially add TL-45 as an official spec for HD DVD?

Good question.

From reading the opening post it seems the drive in question is designed for 15/30Gb HD DVD-ROM playback (note the specs) but the reviewers were unable to test this not having any HD DVDs to hand. The DVD playback, however, had issues.

The NEC PDF is a publicity sheet, not a spec sheet for this specific drive. It's similar to the 200Gb claims of several BDA companies, and just as concrete. Or has anyone actually seen a working prototype of a 45, 60, or 90Gb HD DVD being played?

Considering how heavily the DVD Forum is leaning towards BD, it's very difficult for HD DVD to get it passed, according to Amir.

I understand that, but I have to be honest....if that was THE reason, why are they still holding onto BD and not at least putting movies out on both formats? I think there must be something else there.

I think at this point it's a question of ego. Switching sides is akin to admitting you're wrong, which has a stock market impact as well as a career impact on the individuals who made that decision.

There are too few players in the market from either format to make a decision to launch titles for either standard right or wrong, from the perspective of the studios. So far it's all just fun and games...

In general Disney buying out game companies like Avalanche in 2005 and their interest in the PS3. We can guess all day long what the attachment rate of Blu-Ray software will be with the PS3 but the attachment rate of video games will be very high, as it is a game console after all! Disney could be attacking with both games and movies soon.

The other is a question mark as to just what Sony is doing for the studios, namely subsidizing disc production for them.