Well, that's... interesting. What an odd commercial. Is it possible that this is a rough cut and they're going to tighten it to :30? Because, although I realize I'm clearly outside the demographic their aiming for, that commercial doesn't seem to work as well as they think it does.

Put some snappy editing in there to really make the dancing seem more exciting, and it *might* help.

Well ... yeah ... this belongs in the WE'LL SEE department. My guess is that, in the long run:

(1) BD and HD DVD won't be much different in content. If the content comes to <30GB, then it'll fit on 1 HD DVD or 1 BD. If it comes to <50GB, then it'll fit on 2 HD DVDs or 1 BD. If >50GB, then it'll fit in multiple discs for both. Not really an advantage to either format. As many said before, "ON 2 DISCS" may be a big selling point.

(2) They won't be much different in production cost either. By the time HD discs go mainstream, production costs should be pretty close. More importantly, both will be very profitable.

You for got the "if" one or both goes mainstream.

If the other doesn't, then, no, it won't drop in production costs.

Interesting, G4 just interviewed a few people on the street asking about the PS3. One said he loves his 360 and a couple of the others questioned the price. None said they would buy it.

Very true. When you figure that popular videogames sell in the millions (FFX sold 1.9M copies in 4 days - in Japan only!), economies of scale say that production costs will go way, way down. In fact, I bet the the first disc on either format to sell 1 million copies will be a game.

What's all that extra space on Unforgiven and The Searchers going to be used for?

I wonder how game production will factor into the production of the discs for movies??

You're still putting data on the same type of disc either way. If that data's compiled code for a PS3 game or a John Waters movie, it's all the same to the machines churning out the discs.

I understand that....but I mean in regards to physical disc production....there is obviously a limited amount of production for discs....so are games or movies the priority for the discs?

Im assuming that games dont need BD50, so those resources would go towards movies...right?

Some more info from AVS about...

I'm having a slow day (forgot to pay the brain bill this month); would you mind telling me what that means, exactly? Does it mean LG & Disney have already made a decision to go neutral?

The ambiguity was intentional.

I don't know if anyone's mentioned this yet, but in this month's Playboy Advisor someone asked about going into HD DVD and/or Blu-Ray. Tech editor Scott Alexander advised for buyers to wait "a few years" before buying into it. I've yet to see a big MSM article encouraging people to go into one of the formats and to do it now. For the most part, I agree with them. The only reason I jumped into this at all was that I needed a new DVD player.

I'm very interested to see how the next few months pan out for BD sales.

Yes. Where have you been? They just haven't officially announced it yet.

And this was said regarding Fox at the meeting yesterday:

My common sense tells me that it's legit, given the supposed "hints" the companies' actions have given. However, I'm also one that likes hearing definite things, like "Yes, we at Disney/Lionsgate will be releasing on HD DVD..." It just makes me more confident to see official confirmation.

Of course! Don't we all. There's a certain press release that I can't WAIT to read but I have a feeling it's about a year down the line.

Regardless, I'm sure there will be a thread that stays close to the top of this forum as soon as the news is released. It'll probably be started by me.

a year from now? That's a long time to wait for an announcement that could tilt any scale for this "war" don't ya think? I'm sure this "war" will still be going though, don't get me wrong, but a year from now, Sony will have had a long time to perfect their product and get their true launch out and steam rolling.

I just don't see Toshiba/HD overcoming that huge media push and advertising dollars that Sony and it's partners have spent, and will spend. Not only that, we have the idiots and morons that work at all the retail stores that cloud our cities with lies, filth and deceipt about products. Don't forget the impact of those losers on J6P.

I am still holding out for HD though, I always root for the small guy. I just can't see myself investing in them right now with the other studios holding the majority of my favorite discs. I have never been a fan of being a beta tester for a company either. I will however buy a HD player given the right price though heh.

You don't think Toshiba will have time to perfect their product? HD DVD is backed by Microsoft as well, so I see no reason why they won't advertise just as aggressively. They have launched a $150 million HD DVD ad campaign, so that's a nice start. Big rumors are that LionsGate will become a neutral supporter, so BD will be losing one of its exclusive studios. Disney is rumored to follow, that would be 2. Those would be positives for HD DVD.

And don't forget the major manufacturers that are rumored to start making HD DVD players next year.

And Zman...the announcement I have in my head isn't about "tilting." It's about "ending."

Oh no, I do think Toshiba will continue to improve their product. It's the media/retail people that will be the biggest hurdle and the impact on J6P. Remember most of us (me included) are not HUGE AV guys. I go one step further by doing a ton of research on all products so maybe i'm just a tad above the regular J6P. Think of how many arent though, how many don't look up reviews on players or discs. How many people go to BB on a daily basis thinking they are true experts in their craft and get talked to death about BD format?

When if Lionsgate and Disney make the move over to HD, then they have another buyer 100% in me and at least 5 of us here locally. That would be fantastic news, but if it took 1 year to get that news out, that'd be just that much more time for BD to keep selling on false promises and rumors alone.

I don't see that happening anytime soon due to certain STUBBORN parties, but wouldn't that be sweet.

Also the fact that the Chinese HD DVD players should by out by Q1 '07. Last I checked the BD group was strongly against allowing Chinese manufacturers to build BD players. Getting those sub $200 players onto the market first will be a HUGE advantage, which in the end probably means more than any studio jumping over.

Drop my "1 year" comment.

LG will be with HD DVD officially by the end of the year. Disney will be officially by January.

Link, or is that just your speculation?

If true, I'd probably break down and get HD-DVD.

edit: n/m, just read up in the thread. But I'm still doing nothing until it's actually official.

Again, it's NOT OFFICIAL YET.

Every Insider has been talking about it for the last few weeks though. It's definite. But not official.