Well, Alex stated that we should be talking about MGM supporting HD-dvd before Disney. Sony and Fox are probably rolling at that issue. Maybe thats why Big Ben was let go? These studios changes and rumblings are happening within the first year of the format though. What does that tell you about how much they value the bottom line vs commitment?

Every time a CE company on the BDA side of things has even hinted or is rumored to sell a HD-dvd player or dual format player, we get a nice press release stating they remain exclusive to Blu-Ray and have no plans at the current time. Why have we not seen any studios jump out denying it? I would assume when the Lionsgate execs have these questions coming at them, as we heard about this week, they would have tried to silence it officially by now.

I think 2-3 years from now we'll probably alll be laughing, and still fighting of course, as both formats are still hanging around with all studios supporting both, save maybe one oddball. Guess who!!! The question is at what point in time would Sony decide they are better off making money selling both?

I've heard people talking about MGM like they're going to be neutral, too, but I don't know exactly what's up with them.

And again, as I stated, makes me wonder if others like Paramount or WB might end up choosing one side over another if they see that it might not benefit them to be neutral.

MS 360 commercial

Teasing us with a picture of Kong .... jerks.

Agreed, the superior picture is HD DVD consistently at this time. Thanks Forrester!!

If Bluray EVER gets it's act together, it will be equal, never better.

Sony tried to force the game to be played using Mpeg2 - this would have been very cunning, since Mpeg2 required the extra space that Bluray was "supposed" to have been able to deliver.

Trouble is, HD DVD wasn't dumb, they used VC1. The game never played with the ball and pitch Sony wanted.

Meanwhile they believed their own hype and truly thought that Mpeg2 could be untouchable at these bit rates - which was... ready for it? ... WRONG!

Just look at this review excert for Click, the first (reverent hush...) 50 Gig bluray disc:

"'Click' comes to Blu-ray with a bit of historic import. The first-ever BD-50 dual-layer disc to hit the format, this one has a lot of expectations riding on it. If 'Click' looks anything short of fantastic, it may be seen as a bit of a disappointment by some... Now, the big question -- is all the hype surrounding BD-50 justified? Of course, it is impossible to truly know after watching only one title, and there is no BD-25 version of 'Click' to compare anyway... One caveat, though -- and this could well be indicative of the source material -- I did find that darker scenes and some of the more vibrant colors appeared a bit too alive with movement in the form of slight video noise..."

Possible. But Warner is the real heavyweight* one way or the either when it comes to leading the industry. Hd-dvd was their preferred format but they couldn't argue with the PS3 sales expectations and what it "might" mean.

*Don't think WB is not pushing other studios to offer discs for sale on both formats. Their "we are offering consumers both" ad that came out a few months ago was directed at the studios and retailers.

Yes, they want all studios to give the public the option. But at which point do they say that the public has spoken? It's quite possible that eventually they may decide to just release on one...and not the other.

I don't see how some studios going neutral would make currently neutral studios think it's a bad idea to stay neutral.

I didn't say that. One has nothing to do with the other.

Well, considering you posted your comment about WB and Paramount right after my MGM comment, I thought you might be referring to it.

P.S. Like my new user title?

Oh cool. So you finally got a BD machine, eh?

I bought it just for Click. Adam Sandler in HD = me spending thousands of dollars I wouldn't normally spend.

Oh, wait, I already have Happy Gilmore on HD DVD! *runs out to return Sony VAIO*

Yes, and PCM blows DD+ 1.5Mbps away. What is your point? That one studio is using 1.5Mbps (Universal) yet two studios are using PCM (Disney and Sony)? And I see your ~5 TrueHD discs with all the Fox/MGM titles coming out next month with DTS MA.

On October 31st, Warner is releasing 4 Blu-Ray discs. 50% of those discs will be on BD50 - Unforgiven and The Searchers (here's hoping for exclusive features!). Paramount has also announced that World Trade Center will be on a BD50. Damn, these things must be really tough to make, because Click is a token BD50 disc.

I doubt Unforgiven and The Searchers will have exclusive features to BD. I bet they will just be the same editions as the hd-dvds.

As for World Trade Center, since its a new title, you might be right. They might have some features that they dont include on the hd-dvd, but who knows. Maybe have them in HD??

Did not know that. Sounds great Unforgiven & WTC will certainly be mine. I don't care about extras, but if the space is there why not fill it?

Because up to this point, WB has just ported over everything from the HD-DVD.

Paramount has done the same, but since WTC is a new movie, it could potentially have extras in HD and possibly exclusive ones.

I wouldnt hold my breathe for exclusives on the WB side though.

Well, that sucks for BD then.

Funny how BD people "could care less about extras" but HD DVD people do. That's an interesting divide. I wonder if BD could include all extras from the beginning they would be caring more.

'Cause of the time and money it'd take to create new extras to fill that space, more than likely. These are "catch-up" catalog titles and probably not a priority for Warner the same way something higher profile/exclusive/just out of theaters would be. The HD DVDs don't have anything other than HD video/better audio over the DVDs, and I'd expect the Blu-ray to be the same way.

I feel pretty confident that the main doc on The Searchers was produced in high-def, and it'd be a nice feather in Blu-ray's cap if it were presented that way on the BD release rather than the anamorphic widescreen version on the HD DVD.

I don't think this will happen.

Studios want to go HD even more than we want it. They get superior copy protection (DVD being cracked already) and they can resell everything they own again (not to metion double/triple dips on HD discs). The push is coming from the fact that DVD sales are slowing/peaking.

They know a format war only delays their goal of moving to HD. Not only that it slows DVD sales (from people holding off waiting for the winning HD format). They want the format war to end even more than we do.

It made sense at first to support Blu-ray because Sony made it sound like the best thing since sliced bread. When Sony didn't deliver (and now is getting its butt kicked by HD DVD because of it) naturally they are rethinking their options.

Remember their goal is to move to HD and resell their catalogs so it certainly doesn't hurt that HD DVD outsells Blu-ray by a healthy margin. Given their motivations, their best stance would be to go neutral which would move as much product as possible and let the market end the format war quickly.

50%? I guess thats a 'positive' way of looking at it. Had it only been 1 BluRay disc that day it would have been 100%!!!!!

Nothing funny about it. I never cared about the non-existant extras when I bought my laserdiscs nor when they appeared on DVD. I just want the movie and technical upgrades. Anyway, now with BD-50 there's going to be more space to fit these extras (or just go to waste apparently), so I don't see the problem.

Rhetorical question, I know, but...

Of course they would! That was supposed to be the whole point of BD50-- more capacity for more and better extra/special features-- ALL IN HIGH-DEF and so on.

This is the only BD differentiator-- they need BD50 bad... and extras to make it worthwhile.

Exactly. This is what Blu-ray is all about if you read the stuff Sony has been saying for the past year or two. This format was never about craming a movie on a BD25, it was about those BD50 discs with high bit rate video and a ton of extras.