What are you talking about? Content was not even. The only exclusives Blu had were Lost season 3 and High School Musical 2 and you have to be insane to think those two titles would even come close to Bourne in sales volume.

With Bourne being the 2nd highest profile title of the year for hd-dvd, it was a foregone conclusion by many that this would be the week that hd-dvd would win. The fact that it as 61-39 and not something close to the fifties for both formats is a pleasant surprise for the BDA whether you like it or not.

Where in that post did I suggest HD DVD? I was stating that either side could pay off Warner in response to someone saying Warner had no reason to go exclusive.

There's nothing wrong with using a ps3 as a movie player. Maybe that should be my sig.

You're right, it doesn't matter if Warner stays neutral. HD DVD can be 40% forever and we can be stuck with 2 formats.

If it's so old that noone can find it, maybe it's not that important an article anymore?

The ps3 controller actually makes a decent remote. It's a little silly. But the buttons are big and it works easier for me than my A3 (response time, little precision in aiming, etc).

Considering that is the only media remote that works with the PS3, I don't think even that is an accurate gauge, as people may be buying that to use with regular DVDs.

Go look on rdjam's site, you're sure to find it there. :lol:

I was speaking specifically about Harry Potter.

that's a good point. i hadn't thought of that. however, it seems like it still might give a closer to accurate number than the percentages that seem to get pulled out of the air or ones that are perpetuated from stale survey data.

Could be. On the other hand, people may be using their controllers for Blu-ray and not buying the remote at all. But it would probably be more accurate than the random and widely varying numbers we see on here.

Go to AVS and click on the HDTV software media discussion and type in Warner Brothers in the search. See how many multi-page threads you get.

Well i get 4 pages of threads. Usually the burden of proving a statement goes to the person making the statement. But I'll try ...

I did find this article
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/...2bb7aed90a45d6

I don't see anywhere there where Warner says standalone sales is their primary deciding factor.

Enough. Just because it doesn't fit with your views doesn't mean it wasn't said. I think this comment is generally accepted as having been said a few weeks ago. This is the comment that kicked off all the "Warner picking sides" talk that is still going hot and heavy.

No one HERE thinks the PS3 is a bad BD player. The problem is the PRIMARY function of the device is to play games, which means that counting the players in these machines towards BD's total is both good, and bad depending on how you look at it. It raises the installed base which is good, but it also dilutes the attach rate which is bad.

Besides that, there are LOTS of people who consider video game consoles toys, and would never add them to their entertainment center. BD neds to be careful that the general public does not see it as "the PS3 movie format" like they did with UMD.

In another contentious roundtable, representatives of both the Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD groups sparred over which was better to supplant DVD, while a representative of Warner Bros. took the middle ground.

“What we find people are excited about isn’t interactivity,” said Andy Parsons, SVP of new product development and technical support for Pioneer Electronics, and chairman of the Blu-ray Disc Association’s U.S. Promotion Committee. “[They buy high-def] because they want to see high-definition. “… Blu-ray titles are consistently outselling HD [DVD] 2-to-1. Yes, interactivity is nice, but it isn’t causing anyone to not watch 300 on Blu-ray.”

The comments about high-def interactivity, something HD DVD representatives say they have an advantage over Blu-ray on, earned a series of responses from HD DVD reps.

“Each of these formats provide great picture and sound,” said Alan Bell, EVP and chief technology officer for Paramount Pictures. “But we need to sell more than that.”

Bell said Paramount, which went HD DVD exclusive in August, made its decision because HD DVD is “the best consumer proposition,” and production of HD DVD is easier and quicker than Blu-ray.

But Don Eklund, EVP of advanced technologies for Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, said HD DVD will lose because it’s still just a DVD technology. “Blu-ray is a format. It’s not just a movie delivery system,” he said, pointing to Blu-ray recording and camera devices.

Price and game consoles

Kevin Collins, Microsoft’s director of HD DVD evangelism, said the key to the war will be which side wins the dedicated set-top box battle. And with a $199 HD DVD player expected soon, half the price of the cheapest Blu-ray player, the PlayStation 3, Collins said HD DVD has the advantage.

Parsons disagreed.

“I think it’s erroneous to say think a cheap player is … going to cause a format to take off,” he said, adding that while the PS3 is primarily a gaming system, it is being used often for Blu-ray movies. “What ultimately causes a format to take off … is it’s still about the content.”

After Collins pointed out that Microsoft’s Xbox 360 has an HD DVD add-on, and said it was outselling Blu-ray set-tops boxes, Patrick Fitzgerald, EVP of worldwide sales, distribution, and trade marketing for Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, downplayed the rival next-generation gaming console.

“I wouldn’t throw PS3 and the Xbox 360 in the same sentence,” he said. “PS3 has a built-in [Blu-ray] drive … and they’re not selling many of those [HD DVD drives].”

Dan Silverberg, VP of high definition media development for Warner Bros., calmed both sides by saying 300 was marketed heavily to PS3 owners, but “it’s dangerous to just rely on gamers. To be reliant on them is something I don’t think either camps wants to do.”

Hardware specs and region coding

Warner Bros. has roughly 160 titles out on both formats, and Silverberg said 5 million high-def units have been sold, most of those new releases, despite 78% of high-def titles being catalogue. That makes it important for all studios to do day-and-date high-def releases with DVD, he said. After all, high-def is supposed to replace DVD.

“If you don’t do day-and-date the consumer isn’t going to wait around,” he said. “When people went from VHS to DVD, they didn’t go back. One of our challenges is how do we get the consumer to upgrade everything.”

Warner has held off on releasing some titles on Blu-ray that are out on HD DVD, until Blu-ray hardware specs become unified and can universally support the same features. That’s something Microsoft’s Collins said HD DVD has over Blu-ray.

New Line has announced two new titles, Hairspray and Rush Hour 3, for both formats, but the HD DVD won’t come until weeks after Blu-ray because of the lack of region coding on HD DVD and overseas theatrical arrangements for the films.

“One of the subtle benefits of HD DVD, and it’s not that popular with the studios, is it has no region coding,” Collins said, adding he buys 20th Century Fox and Disney films available on HD DVD overseas.

http://www.allthingshidef.com/ME2/di...9E9C55E986A7B2

Considering the fact there are actually other CE companies making players for BD, that is hardly an issue. Hd-dvd should be more worried that their format could be seen as "the Toshiba movie format". -wink-

I don't see how that above article gets turned into some widespread consensus that Warner's primary deciding factor will be standalone sales.

Some ps3 owners aren't gamers. You didn't bold the CEO comment
I'll take the CEO quote over the VP quote. The VP quote was a "calming" statement after the CEO quote seemed to set Microsoft off. Again, I don't see how that article provides the basis for the repeated claim that Warner is focusing on standalones over actual sales.

Just because someone repeats something over and over without objection doesn't mean that statement is true. It has nothing with fitting views. Everything to do with backing up claims.

how rude.

The difference being that people don't see Toshiba=Toy like MANY people see Video game console=toy.

He's the CEO of Pioneer, not of Warner Bros.

And actually where does it even say he's the CEO?

The PS3 and Xbox360 are hardly considered toys in this generation. For the most part, the general public is aware that both systems are considered electronics rather than toys.

my bad, didn't see the whole article (different Parsons apparently). anyways my initial point stands, Warner in that quote didn't state their primary issue of importance is standalone sales. It's an issue (but more so is figuring out what % of ps3 owners are primarily movie player owners). But nowhere yet have I seen Warner say it's more important than sales.

I think that's a pretty big stretch. The general public (here in the US, anyway) still views them as toys just as much as they consider comic books and cartoons to be "for kids".

That is, in a word, ridiculous. Aside from the cost issue (how many toys cost several hundred dollars), an enormous amount of gamers are above age 18. In this generation, it might be as much as 50%. ESPECIALLY for systems like 360 and PS3 rather than GC/WII.