Trying to be as objective as possible (really), how could purple/HD-DVD possibly actually win this format war??

I don't even know why some people think its such a hard call to make. Sure blu discs cost more to make than purple. Studios need HD to save their collective butts since DVD is going downhill fast and they know it. It can't be denied that Fox and Disney will never go purple because of piracy concerns. For Warner Bros. to go HD-DVD exclusive would serve to do one thing only- hamper the HD home video medium right as it as about to take off. They would create a hung jury of majors. Consumers week in and out go blu over 2:1 over purple already. A Hundred million dollar+ bribe from Microsoft can't possibly be enough for Warners to take an action that would likely discredit this needed platform (HD) in the eyes of consumers...can it? They have the power to end this war and assure themselves countless millions in sales of HD discs for the next decade- why wouldn't they go for it? It just seems to be the only smart business move to make.

Anyway, with all these facts in mind, propose logically how you think purple/HD could realistically pull off an upset here. Really I have no grudges against purple. If it wins I'll buy a player no prob. Just want to know how in blazes a win is possible for the Toshiba team this time around.

What is the point of your post? The opinion repeated a thousand times else where? Fantastic.

There are a ton of threads on similar subjects, most get locked because they do nothing to further discussion. I expect the same to happen to this one.

And FWIW, it's a silly battle over a storage medium with ridiculously similar technology, purple will likely win out in the long run because much like DVD+R/-R, the difference just isn't that big.

Edit: and FWIW, I don't care who wins, but right now I can afford HD and can't afford Blu. So I will continue supporting them until Blu prices get a bit more reasonable.

Additionally, Bluray winning would not speed up HDM adoption. The slow adoption of HD would continue to be a painfully slow process due to high prices. The "holding out for a winner" group is decidedly limited.

Fox cares about piracy, not Disney (as much). Disney has so far voted twice for continued development of the TL51 HD DVD (the only Pro Blu studio to do so) and has been rumored to be testing it.

Ooh a rumor!!!

I vote for thread closure. Even though I pretty much agree.

My only theory is
Microsoft money + Warner's poor decision (going red) would = prolonged war.
Small chance Sony bails out to focus on games and stop losing money, figuring HDM is doomed to less than LaserDisc status. The consumer loses as studios focus on anything but HDM and maybe one day try again with 4k discs.

The point of my discussion was to get people to post their theories on how purple could pull off the upset. Sure these points have been discussed elsewhere but I can't remember a proper self-contained thread on simply how purple could pull it off- that and that alone. Frankly it seems like this topic needs a dedicated thread badly since "HD/Blu news" or whatever is just way too general.

Maybe not referring to purple (which is a more recently appreciated term) directly, but you still state purple/HD in your OP and numerous "a tie can't work" threads have found their way up.

Disney helped develop HDi and, as Gizmo mentioned, has voted twice on continuing development on triple layer HD DVDs. To say they would never go neutral is a bit of an overstatement.

As for this thread, this subject has in fact been discussed before, and it's always led to awful fights. Nobody wants a repeat of that, and I don't want to hand out suspensions. So it's getting closed now before it can even start.