I really don't get Sony on this. I mean how much can it cost them to put in the chip for BC. I mean doesn't that chip cost next to nothing now. It's really ridiculous for them to just up and get rid of it. I don't get their logic on this one.

They wouldn't be Sony if they did things logically.

forgive me if i don't give much credence to that "news," which confuses paramount with universal.

i believe they've stated it's because they want to encourage people to move beyond PS2 games and buy PS3 games.

Umm...the only news portion of this is the OLD quote. And the whole article messes up Paramount and Universal.

Secondly, Spielberg has never said he was format exclusive..what has said he is probably doesn't want it on HD DVD only (as the Paramount pact requires other titles)..so nice try, but you are wrong.

Ouch. That's a pretty lame excuse and points to their lack of sales for PS3 software.

Worst excuse ever.

Is the 360 backwards compatible? Oh I forgot that they just stopped making Xbox games in the middle of the night leaving first generation adopters out in the cold. At least Sony didn't do this. Also, Microsoft lied about the existense of their "Elite" unit up until about a week or two before it was actually released. Why people choose to bash Sony and blindly worship Microsoft is beyond understanding.

Especially with as many shoddy systems out in the market. I've been burned twice with RROD and I'm pissed as hell at Microsoft for putting a shitty product in the market place. Yes I know they have a 3 year warranty but by the time you send it to them and by the time you get it back, that's already a month right there.

I'm not disparaging the games on the system, because they're great but what good are games when you don't have a system to play it on.

Except that one of the original PS3 selling features was its ability to play PS2 games...now thats gone..

Its not the cost of the PS2 hardware that is driving this decision, Sony is obviously concerned about the fact that the PS2 continues to sell well..so they are trying to limit the market for PS2 games...so instead of buying a used PS2 game or a greatest hit you have to buy $60 games to go along with your $400 system...no thanks..I will wait...I mainly want this as a Blu-Ray player, and I figure Blu ray players will be sub $300 within a few months..

In my view, Sony is panicking by announcing another price drop with a stripped down PS3..they need to get some PS3 units in houses this holiday season, and this bastard version still fits the bill.

Wow, way to take something from nothing and turn it into a Microsoft rant. Nice work.

Well the Xbox wasn't as strong of a system sales wise compared to the PS2. The PS2 is STILL going strong.

Also, Sony denies reports of lowering sales prices and releases of newer models in the same manner you accuse Xbox of doing. Not to mention, Sony made a commitment to its consumers about backwards compatability. Now they're saying 'well it evens out to buy the cheaper model now out and buy a PS2'. So come on, be fair here.

I'm not a Sony hater, and I'm not a 360 fanboy. But I do keep a close eye on news in gaming, and BOTH sides are guilty of the same kind of withholding of information. Don't hold Sony in a higher light here, because you're ignoring the other side of the facts here.

i agree it does come off as a bit lame. that said, i can understand why they would do it from a business perspective.

they still sell a lot of PS2 systems. if someone wants both a PS2 and a PS3, they can buy the 80GB PS3 with BC or they can buy a real PS2 and a 40GB PS3 for about the same total price. either choice would maximize Sony's short-term profit on PS2 capability, for those who want it, since we know that the 80GB PS3 doesn't cost that much more to produce than the 40GB. and for those who don't care about PS2 capability, the lower-priced 40GB PS3 should send a ton more systems into homes. that's good in the long-term for Sony, as it gets all that many more Blu-ray players in homes, as well as encourages the video game software developers who have been less than impressed with the system's inability to meet Sony's target sales volume and probably find it much more compelling to just keep making PS2 games.

it is pretty annoying for some consumers, but i do think it makes fairly decent business sense.

Agreed. This report is also old and full of spin. The current stance, IIRC, is that Spielberg would rather have dual platform releases or no releases. Is this still accurate? This blurb gives hope to those thinking Jaws will come to BD.

Only when you compare it against the PS3.

I think it might be the other way around -- he's not opposed to a release on HD DVD but wants there to be a Blu-ray release in any event. (BD only? Okay. Both BD and HD DVD? Okay. HD DVD only? No dice.) There's no indication that he's putting any pressure on Sony for an HD DVD of Close Encounters.

In general. Games still come out for it. New ones.

360 is BC, yes. Xbox sold a total of what, 15 million systems worldwide. How many did PS2 sell? 130 Million and growing. PS3 being BC is more important then Xbox especially since PS2 is still selling, and BETTER then the PS3. 360 at least have some BC, while PS3 will soon have 0. I'm sure this 'No BC' will be passed on to all future PS3s as well.

As for the Elite...who cares? All it had was an HDMI port and was black. Is that such a big deal? We all knew about the 40GB PS3 with Spider-Man for 2 months and Sony denied its existence. Best Buy has a SKU for it and it was denied. The SKU rang up at Target and Sony denied. They just 3 days ago announced its existence, 2 weeks before it was due to be sold.

Please, do us all a favor and don't compare Xbox 360 to the PS3. The 360 is enjoying a nice 5:1 sales and the Wii is at 6:1. Feel free to bash either of those systems when PS3 actually starts to sell more then the PS2.

IIRC, Aside from this being old news and from an unknown source...these studios can release his movie. He does not own them (Unlike Lucas, who does). The only reason they are not is to not piss him off. Spielberg is rumored to be close to taking Dreamworks and going over to Universal...so why would Universal piss him off? Regardless, while some of his movies are great, none of them will "turn the war" in HD DVDs favor. Most people are still have with their $20 BTTF set and $10 Jaws DVD to spend $200+ on an HD DVD player and $45 on a disc (might as well go with his running price considering CE3K, right?)

selling a ps3 at a reduced price which isn't backwards compatible with ps2 games is pretty clever and works for them in many areas of their business. of course it's not quite such a win for consumers, but then which business has the best interests of it's consumers in mind when making decisions? those bitching about it in this thread seem to be the usual suspects who moan about bd at any given opertunity. and, no, it doesn't matter if they hide behind the pretense of dual format support.

i'm not sure why this thread seems to attract so much activity, when there are far more interesting things happening in the world of hd dvd with regard to triple layer and region coding...

Has anyone that has watched Meet the Robinsons comment on it? I've heard the PQ on it is quite excellent and am leaning towards buying it but just wanted to get some thoughts first.

You're right. Its been confirmed by several insiders TL51 is a go and works on all machines, including Gen 1. Region Coding still was never a promised aspect of HD DVD so if it goes...oh well.

Not my kind of movie, but the previews made the HD aspect look amazing. I do, however, think the ads saying "Blu-ray Exclusive" when it is in fact going to be on both SD and Blu-ray a bit misleading.

nothing new has come out on either of those issues in weeks. TL51 is in testing and has been for awhile. region coding is up in the air and has been since the format's inception.

the release of a lower-priced PS3 is actual recent news and is much more discussion-worthy.

Aside from the rumor you posted what other insiders have confirmed that TL works on ALL machines?

Pro-B