Of course the counter argument to this is price. For the price of a BD deck you can get an HD deck and a mess of films.

Now which is more important? It really comes down to content vs. price. I believe that lower prices will eventually draw the content, but we shall see.

Price + Quality vs. Content actually.

Why do HD-DVD owners not open their eyes to the PS3? You can get a PS3 for 499 that plays BD movies through component or 599 for a HDMI one. Oh and they play ps1/ps2 and ps3 games as well. You will never win the price argument because the reality of the situation is, every advantage HD-DVD has is short lived. Its all up from here for BD.

Right now, aside from Sony, is any Studio BD exclusive? I'm talking about actually released product.

Lions Gate.

I don't want to pay $500+ for a gaming machine.

::

No shit???

That's only because they can't get any WORSE unless the players just suddenly stop working.

I can imagine all the players simultaneously blowing up when 2nd Generation players hit the market.

It is Sony. They're going to need to do something with all those Dell and Apple laptop batteries they've recalled.

Or they could just revoke the HDCP keys and force everyone to buy a new player. I wouldn't put it past Sony to have considered this.

I could see them trying to pull a reverse DIVX. The discs are good forever, but the players won't work past X date.

My eyes are wide open.

1. It's a gaming machine. While its impact on BD movies will not be trivial, I think it is probably being overstated by Sony and others. People will treat it as a curiosity at best. They aren't going to build large BD libraries with a PS3 as the heart of their HT.

2. It's still SUPER FRIGGING EXPENSIVE. Anyone who is claiming that the price tag on that thing isn't nuts is kidding themselves. It's nuts.

3. You're still talking about future state. How many PS3s will there be in homes in 12 months? No one knows. We can't even get a firm number on how many they'll actually be able to produce, let alone sell. And they're not releasing this $600 gaming machine in a vacuum -- there are competing (cheaper) systems coming out at the same time.


Much as everyone likes to use the term "soft launch", it really doesn't mean much to me. These products *have* launched. They're available. And HD DVD from my perspective as a consumer, is blowing BD out of the water in just about every respect.

You say that every advantage that HD DVD has is "short lived". From my perspective, the only advantage of BD right now is studio support by LG, Fox, and (especially) Disney. Anyone who thinks that advantage isn't "short lived" has blinders on. If the Q4 sales figures come down in favor of HD DVD, you can bet that all three will be looking pretty hard at HD releases in 2007.

At that point, what possible advantage is there with BD? Sony films? That's pretty much it.

Sony films that don't even have the extra features their DVDs have.

Lets see how open they are, shall we?

People can be curious with the PS3, buy a few flicks, decide they like it, then buy a stand alone. The major point here being, they dont have to buy new hardware to try out BD. They own a player. If they want to casually buy the hottest new flick on it, they can. If they want to just try it out, they can. If they want to build a collection, they can. Theres NOTHING stopping a PS3 owner from buying a Blu-Ray disc. Im actually going to go further ahead and say that most PS3s will be sold with BD movies for this holiday season. Its a great way for stores to get people into buying their movies over again in high def, AND still buying games for it. Its nothing but an advantage for those who have bought a PS3.

It is pricey. I dont think anyone is going to say otherwise. I was thrown back as well when i watched the conference and saw the prices reveiled. However, you DO get your moneys worth and then some. For comparisons sake, take the 360 Premium vs the PS3 premium.

The PS3 costs 599, the 360 399. The PS3 has built in Wifi, MS's Wifi adapter is 99. So we're at 599 vs 499 now. The PS3 has a multi-card reader built in. Now we're at 599 vs 519. The PS3 has a 60 gig Hard Drive and HDMI. The 360 has no option for a bigger hard drive (and considering they charge 99 for a 20 gig, take a guess what a 60 gig will cost), and no possible way for a HDMI cable to be done on the 360. Oh, and you get a the ability to play High Def Blu-Ray movies on it. Add that onto the cost of a 360, which is AT THE LEAST 200, and you've surpassed what a PS3 costs by a long shot. And still no 60 gig of hard drive space, no free online gameplay and of course, NO HDMI. Now, looking at the big picture, its not so expensive. In fact, it is an incredible bargain. Ill be in line for either a 499 or 599 system, i have no intrest in upconverting DVDs and i dont have a 1080p capable set yet, once i do, im sure i can sell the 499 unit and buy a 599 one without a hassle at all.

Sony is competing with microsoft. Nintendo isnt in the picture for the Next Gen, they offer non HD gaming and a control scheme that to me personally, is nothing but a huge gimmick, along with hardware thats hardly better then last gen's xbox. I honestly see nintendo dead last again and hope they wake up and become a third party company. They will make a ton of cash and not have to rip off consumers with hardware they dont need to play the games. Microsoft is doing a awesome job on the gaming front, i should know, i own a 360. However, as far as getting gamers into high def video, its just an afterthought for microsoft. In fact, microsoft went on record saying if HD-DVD fails, they'll make a Blu-Ray addon instead, then later retracted it due to toshiba getting upset over the comment. I cannot predict what will happen come this holiday season, but everythings shaping up for a really good show for us all.


As i said, short lived. Nothing more to say.


Its not just content. Its better technology. Its better copy protection. Its more future proof by a LONG shot. Its got the support of every major CE company other then toshiba and the cheapy chinese industry. Theres proof in that puddin.

Look up. Id also like to point out that reviews of the newest BD discs have been steller, and look absolutely amazing. Stargate is the newest example. All WB titles from here on other then FMJ will be VC-1 and will look identical to its HD-DVD version. Ontop of all that, cheaper players from LG and other lower end companys are making its way to the market for the Xmas season to compete with the HD-A1, or so ive been told. BD50 will be out this holiday season and will start to become mainstreem from there. Theres a lot to look forward to in the Blu-Ray camp, where in the HD-DVD camp, you can look forward to more overpriced combo discs.

So, does your tune change when these predictions/promises fail to become a reality? Or does it just morph into "Wait until 2007... BD will totally rule next year!"

"Wait until 2029, Blu-ray will totally rule this year! I hear they almost have BD50 working!"

There's some info on AVS, an interview with a Tosh exec. He's saying TL45 is in the works, and that it could come out as early as Summer 2007. But it's unclear whether 1st and maybe 2nd gen players could play them.

If BD doesnt deliver for this holiday season in BD50 discs (i dont care if its 1-2 of them, if they're out, that means only more can follow soon) and the PS3 not being out, BD is toast and ill admit that no problem. That is not going to be the case.

No, because he said in on TV here in Japan.He was being harrased by the reporters and he was not happy at all with it.So he made a point.

The problem with the 2 titles Sony is claiming to release on Bd50 is that lab released discs in small quantities is no proof that BD50 is a viable product for the studios. Sony needs to prove that a replicator such as Cinram or Singulas is able to manufacture and provide the studios with these discs. Anything other than this is Sony stalling the studios away from Hd-dvd.

If Sony is going to use MPEG-2 and uncompressed PCM, every single one of their releases has to be BD50 or the format will be in serious trouble. They could get away with BD25 if they got some goddamn sense and used VC-1/DD. But since we know they think MPEG-2 looks amazing, it's all in BD50 or nothing. If you really think two BD50 titles is enough to support the whole format, well, that's your problem.

Really? So you've seen them, or are you just using a crystal ball?

A codec is a codec, why should it be different?

Right.

And every DVD player plays them the same?

Well, for one, the architecture of the discs are different. And the players have different components in them. I'm sure they will look pretty much the same, though.

Of course, if VC-1 somehow looked bad on BD, then we'd know it's a problem with the actual format.

I hate to try to drag this thread kicking and screaming back on topic, but any word on how much the NEC drive will cost, or how much blank HD-DVDs will cost?