Hammer99

I'd be surprised to see anything that hasn't already been announced for release by Warner to end up on HD DVD. I think they are just giving the HD DVD supporters some common courtesy that Paramount didn't give the Blu supporters this summer.

DthRdrX

When D-VHS ended, all of my titles tripled in value. I'm sure that will not happen with most/any of the HD-dvd titles because it was a more widespread format, but I still wouldn't just dump titles asap thinking they are worthless.

In all honesty I have over 200 HD-dvd titles, and the only ones that piss me off is the TV sets that will now never be completed.

geauxwdw

I agree, I hate paying $30 for a disc that looks like a burnt copy with no cover art.

Mr. Cinema

DobyBlue, who works for Panasonic, had mentioned before on AVS that Batman Begins would arrive on BD to tie in with the theatrical release of The Dark Knight. Now that they have dumped HD DVD, I wonder if they will re-encode the film.

I expect we'll see a Matrix Trilogy announcement this weekend for BD.

bunkaroo

I agree. And it sounds like WB is going to delay any remaining HD DVD's until shortly after the Blu-Ray and DVD street, which will likely help the BD numbers as well.

From the release:

" Warner Home Video will continue to release its titles in standard DVD format and Blu-ray. After a short window following their standard DVD and Blu-ray releases, all new titles will continue to be released in HD DVD until the end of May 2008."

Damed

Nope. Nor will there be now that Sony has all but won. No incentive for them to lower prices.

DVD Josh

I don't know the numbers, but assuming this $450M number is true, have there even been $450M in TOTAL HD/BD sales? I really doubt there has been. That's alot of money to be throwing around over a format the public has not given widespread acceptance to.

Bill Geiger

Looking through, I only own 4 WB titles, and I paid a total of $40.00 for em.

Mr. Cinema

It's still kind of weird they chose BD only though. They had released 15-20 HD DVD only titles. They helped form the DVD Forum, who backs HD DVD. They, supposedly, get some royalties for each HD DVD disc sold. They have preached interactivity since the format launched and have spent lots of money on those features, especially that new community feature on Harry Potter. They've favored HD DVD since launch. They said it's not wise to base a movie format on a game console (PS3).

Yet, they go Blu only. All of the above points to a Time Warner coprorate decision. They said "we don't care, BD is selling more. Let's pick the side that's ahead now."

DVD Josh

No disrespect my friend, but I strongly disagree.

They have EVERY incentive to lower prices. Why? NOW is the time to get people excited about next gen formats!! They can claim dominate studio support, put up pictures of Gone with the Wind, Wizard of Oz, Batman, Matrix, Ben Hur, Cinderella, Spider-Man and say ONLY ON BLU RAY.

But they need to get players in houses and media sold. That's why you lower prices. They can have all the studio support in the world, but without players in houses, it's all for naught.

DthRdrX

I hope those remaining HD-dvd releases are a short printing.

Hammer99

You can thank Jeff Bewkes for that.

PhantomStranger

If anyone is interested, no new copies of older WB titles will be pressed for HD DVD. Just like in the case of Paramount when they dropped BD, whatever stock remains right now is all that will be available forever.

namja

That's the scariest/stupidest part. Throwing all this money around to a format that may or may not survive (this goes for both formats). Will BD (or HD DVD) eventually overtake DVD? At the moment, it's crazy/stupid to think that it will.

stingermck

More:

Though it's widely expected that Warner Bros. subsidiaries New Line and HBO will follow Warner Home Entertainment to Blu-ray exclusivity, for the moment they remain format-agnostic.

That's according to Warner Home Entertainment President Kevin Tsujihara, who said that the studio's announcement that it would drop HD DVD support does not extend to titles released by New Line, HBO or the BBC (which Warner distributes here in the US).

"They'll be making whatever decision they're going to make," said Tsujihara. "I assume they'll let people know very quickly, but they are not covered by this initial announcement."

Tsujihara's comments came in a post-announcement conference call with various members of the media, including High-Def Digest.

Stay tuned for more news from the Warner conference call...

Damed

I agree, but this is Sony we're talking about. They don't exactly have a record for lowering prices. They also no doubt will take some time to recoup the losses they incurred during the war (exclusivity contracts, b1g1 free promos, massive losses on PS3, etc, etc).

While I'd like to believe what you're saying will come to light (and I agree it would make the most sense if it were any company BUT Sony..) but considering it's Sony, I think we'll see $600 to $1000 players and $30+ software become the mainstream again.

Time will tell.

bluetoast

I'm pretty sure they have incentive to get people to actually buy the player. Just because they "won" doesn't mean everybody is automatically going to go out and get one. Not sure when, but I'm positive there will be lower prices this year.

Arpeggi

Oh well, the War (2006-2008) was fun.

TheMovieman

I agree. If BR is going to be the format that replaces DVD, they need to lower prices on the machines to get it into the majority of homes. I don't expect the PS3 to come down to $200 or 250 but I'm sure some other companies might produce a machine (or current ones will cut prices for the holidays like HD-DVD did) that can be sold for $150-200 or so. At that price point, I'll jump in.

Drexl

I'm not sure that matters much at this point even if they weren't covered. They've been insignificant so far. All New Line has put out is a few day and date titles and Pan's Labyrinth, which were solid titles but not blockbusters. HBO has only released a couple of overpriced TV sets, and wasn't there some word that they would be staying out for a while anyway due to the (shockingly) poor sales of The Sopranos?

dsa_shea

I think now that they have "won" you are more likely to see cheaper players. They will want as many people as possible to buy their players so that software sales will proliferate. If in 6 months we don't see cheaper Blu-Ray players then you can serve me a huge plate of crow and I'll eat it. The idea that Sony only wants to rape us but the other "big name" companies don't is ludicrous.

Peep

Any news on after-hours trading of Toshiba stock?

PopcornTreeCt

Hey guys, I just popped in an HD-DVD and it didn't work. What's going on?

Seriously, I think we all knew this was gonna happen eventually. There's no way in hell I would ever re-buy a Blu-ray movie that I owned on HD-DVD. There's no upgrade there. I own both formats and financially speaking I've supported both formats nearly evenly. I like to think this announcement could fuel Paramount/Dreamworks to release a ton of movies same goes for Universal.

And yes I will still buy HD-DVDs. If my player ever breaks down I will buy another one (with this new fangled thing called the internet you can buy stuff if they stop manufacturing them.)

HD-DVDs won't be obsolete until a new format with better PQ and AQ comes along. At least that how's I look at it.

Mr. Cinema

What will Toshiba do now that the writing is on the wall? Will they begin plans for a dual format player?

They didn't exactly thrill the other CE companies by cutting player prices so much. I wonder what pricing they will have in mind when they do make a BD player.

Engel07

I guarantee you that they will not increase price of players. They'll continue to attract more people to buy the players.

Can you imagine if they increase that kind of price? How can they find new consumer to accept it? This will DESTROY them and create havoc with the studios. They are no dummy....

I can only see the price remain the same for now, but cheaper down the road as they look at their sales number on a month by month basis. If they see a decline, then I'm sure they'll start putting up sales. It's business to sale...not keep it on the warehouse collecting dust.

All common sense mate.