I wonder if the "300 titles" figure was simply an estimate. I didn't take it to mean they have 300 known titles already selected for release.

oh....

my....

gawd!!!!!

I can't wait to see and own a HiDef version of 'Wings of Honneamise' I would assume this time around the 5.1 soundmix is for both the original Japanese language version and English dub.

I had some of the same worries but i took a chance on Scary Movie 4 - my wife loves that series - and it loaded and played just fine on my A1. I am looking at buying 4 or 5 more of thier releases in the near future (Matador, Pulse, Clerks 2, Lucky # Slevin, and maybe Wolf Creek)

Probably an estimated number between the bigger studios. WB stated they would give Sony a run for their money with regards to releasing HD titles in 2007 so we may be looking at around 90-100 titles from WB this year. This is the number given by Sony.

Oh well.

However...

Universal has declined to announce anything at CES: http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/news/..._Universal/429

Honestly, as long as they keep up the support, I suppose it doesn't matter all that much that they're not giving us many hints right now...I suppose....

EDIT: Guess I wasn't fast enough with my posting. Oh well, looking forward to American Pie.

Another HD DVD partner showing disinterest in the format. Excellent, just what I wanted to hear.

This is what I care about.

I'll take 4 of those, please.

And if they add in United 93, I'll be a happy pup.

Of course its about hardware, but that doesnt mean they shouldnt make software announcements. Obviously, Bluray knew this and hd-dvd underestimated it.

Unless hd-dvd makes some announcements soon (which they very well might seeing the response to BD's title announcements), then alot of people are gonna buy bluray HARDWARE over hd-dvd HARDWARE.

As we all know, titles are gonna sell machines. Price is important too, but many of us would plunk down $800-1000 for a machine that can play certain titles.

Id take 5 of them AND your United 93 suggestion.

Sorry...I still don't think the general public gives a shit about Blu-ray OR HD DVD. And especially not in BD at their prices.

Hell, they may think that HD DVD is a cheaper version of BD and buy one of those. The public is so totally clueless about this format war that I wouldn't put it past them. And the studios only have themselves to blame.

I am going to take DFNYC's advice and chill about the whole CES thing. I was pissed about the lack of info. and was even entertaining the idea of doing what LG should have done (go format nuetral), but i have since came to my senses.

When you think about it, all the BD announcements don't mean anything at the end of the day. So they are releasing all these great movies on Blu-Ray, so what? All that means is a bunch of Blue cases sitting on BB/CC/etc shelves rotting because no one is buying them. I mean i was at Wal-Mart earlier and they had PS3's sitting on the shelf, a buddy i work with bought one from Gamestop the other night and said the worker told him they can't sell the damn things anymore. HD DVD is winning this war whether Sony likes it or not.
So yeah, I am just going to chill and ride this thing out and hope that the underdog prevails over Sony and their bullshit & lies.

That sound you hear is Universal dropping the ball. Spin it anyways you want but they screwed the pooch IMHO...
It's a bloodbath in the HDdvd forum on AVS

Clearly. Because to some of those losers, this is the equivalent of an atomic bomb.

Remember kids? This is supposed to be a fun hobby.

This format war has sucked the life out of it.

Ummm, are you kidding? It means that anyone who owns a BD player can actually enjoy these titles...

completely agreed! We can't even all be geeks together in harmony!

This stupid format war also just delays and maybe screws the eventual adoption of HD media into the mainstream. Look at SACD/DVDa. Very possible that will happen again.

Folks, this is the smartest post in this whole thread. Max is exactly right. HD formats have a 1% market concentration right now. I'm sure that will build throughout 2007, but not until, like we have all been talking about, lower cost players and multi-format players. I would be surprised if HD was hitting 10% by xmas 2007.

So now, BD and HD-DVD can release all they want, but the key is ARE THEY SELLING? Right now, not very well (and we've all seen the numbers to show that) as compared to regular DVD.

Perhaps this is part of the HD DVD forum's strategy - wait until the market has a higher concentration then blast it with releases.

But does that really work?

Are you asking if market saturation works when there is high demand for a product? Because if so, then yes, practically every time.

CES 2007: TDK'S 200GB Blu-ray Disc and Mini-Blu-ray Disc


January 9, 2007 - TDK is brining the Blu-ray Disc love to CES 2007. The company announced its ginorma-tron-gantic new Blu-ray Disc, which weighs in at a very hefty 200 gigabytes. Currently, top-of-the-line Blu-ray Discs are able to store some 50 gigabytes and even that is considered enormous when compared to HD-DVDs, which can generally hold about half that amount. TDK call its new super Blu-ray Disc the "most advanced optical media ever developed." And when we consider just how many secretly snapped photos of our naked co-workers we could store on these discs, we can't help but agree.

"TDK's 200GB blue laser disc technology represents an important milestone for optical media. As a founding member of the Blu-ray Disc Association, we are proud of our work to shape the future of digital recording," commented Sethu Palat, TDK Director of Marketing. He continued, "With TDK's technological advancements, Blu-ray is proving to be the ultimate, future-ready format. As the technology continues to evolve, Blu-ray Discs are becoming increasingly important products in TDK's line." Palat concluded, "At CES 2007, attendees can preview the 200GB blue laser disc, and learn more about the technologies behind the format that is redefining the consumer electronics industry."

The company's new Blu-ray Discs can store an amazing 18 hours of high-definition video content encoded at 24Mbps -- the same bitrate employed by today's AVCHD-encoded HD camcorders.

TDK also revealed its new 8cm Mini Blu-ray Discs, which naturally do not store 200GBs of information, but are, of course, physically smaller -- always a benefit for portable devices. These discs store 16GBs of data and will be utilized by a new breed of Blu-ray compatible HD camcorders.

It seems obvious that there are hundreds of things more important in the companies' minds than HD movie viewing, from what I have seen.

Have we ever had something like this before?

No.

Beta/VHS doesn't really count.

Yeah...like whose....disc...is bigger.

I completely admit that I'm disappointed by the lack of a strong, announced, surprising lineup from the HD DVD camp at CES (especially from Universal, given that they are the sole HD DVD-only major studio), partially because my expectations were so high (Lionsgate and Disney will convert! Studios will announce every one of their biggest titles ever!). And while I still feel that it wouldn't have hurt HD DVD to have a big list in their corner, now that things have settled somewhat, I will agree that what actually happens in 2007 is more important than what is promised for 2007.

Granted, BD may bring out something like Independence Day...but it might be bare bones with a mediocre picture, while HD DVD will likely continue its consistency. Of course, since I'm a dual-format supporter now, I don't want things like Independence Day to look bad or be featureless, but it's still a concern for Blu-Ray...not so much for HD DVD.

And the AVS forums are somewhat useless. Whenever something is announced, there are five different threads for the same information, and that's to say nothing about the majority of those who post there....