You forgot giving a "TJ Crack Whore" a bad rep. :D

I have been sitting out on this HD format war but with Warner's decision, the choice has been made easier for me.

However, I don't plan on rushing out to buy a BD player and I'll probably wait until summer or fall in order to purchase one.

I'm not going to believe those figures. However, Toshiba was prepared to do the exact same thing and it almost happened. We could very well be saying HD DVD won. I still find it strange that Fox is the studio they were trying to sway. They have been almost as vocal as Sony regarding BD. Disney would have seemed to be the easier target, especially since they were the only BD studio who ever voted on HD DVD issues, including voting yes for the TL 51 disc. And I believe they had tested on those discs as well. Fox never hinted, ever, that they would release in red.

But I think we can all say that this war wasn't won because of BD specs. WB ended it because they knew the path HD was headed with 2 formats. It wasn't because of 50gb of space, or bandwith, or anything else. They wanted 1 format and they were ready for that to be HD DVD, but Toshiba fumbled the ball on the goal line. GAME OVER.

The Panasonic BD30, which I own, is a terrific player, and has features the PS3 doesn't offer right now. Of course, it's $499, but as far as standalones go, Panasonic is at the top, imo. We will be seeing alot more BD standalone players announced during CES. I think with the WB decision, we will be seeing budget players for Christmas '08. The BDA has this year to really try and push people into HD. I think all studios will be producing on BD by mid-year.

I just really hope that Fox will release BD titles with the equivalent or preferably *more* features than their SD counterparts. If they continue with their laissez-faire attitude, I will *not* be buying. And for gosh sakes, take a hint from Warner inre MSRP...

Look, I don't like Sony's attitude and never have. Even before blu-ray. They make quality products, and I may not like other companies attitudes on certain things either... but when Blu-Ray is the only high def medium out there to own content in HD, I doubt anybody will be boycotting certain companies and will worry more about owning the movies they want to own.

Given the rumor that it was FOX talking to HD-DVD, I wonder if they have been purposely holding back higher quality releases so they didn't get burned on one format. I expect them to ramp it up over 2008.

That's my hope. :fc: I forgot about CES coming up, so I'll keep an eye out for what they'll show.

I COULD pay $400 for a player now but that would leave less money for some discs. I don't wanna do what I did when I bought my first CD player on impulse. I had just enough money for 1 disc and had to listen to that 1 disc for 2 weeks :lol: I like buying my DVDs as opposed to renting. I might have to revise that thinking with HDM, though.

I hope you're right, Josh. However, with recent moves (take the DH4 theatrical vs. unrated cut fiasco), and piss-poor extras on major catalog titles (ID4 is a great example), I'm not encouraged. Hope springs eternal... :)

I invested about $250 on an A2 and a few movies. I'm actually glad I did that instead of buying a crappy Blu Ray 1.0 player for $500 and no movies. (well I guess I would have gotten a few freebies)

Long term, I would rather have a fully functioning if obsolete A-2 over a Blu-Ray 1.0 player that won't play all the features of newer Blu Ray's.

It still boggles the mind that Fox was actually going to consider going HD DVD exclusive.

Were they going to try and get more copy protection a la BD+? Did they no longer care about region coding? Why pick BD for these traits only to dump them later on?

Not to mention, losing 20GB of potential storage (sorry, 51GB doesn't count yet) would seem to make it much more likely Fox would continue their bare bones practices.

This announcement just woke me up. I'm glad it happened because I didn't need to be buying anymore. I bought 8 HD-DVDs on the amazon BOGO sale 2 weeks ago, and the only reason why i bought the movies was because they were on sale. Bought all the Harry Potters and now i am simply just going to return them because this made me realize that i need to start renting on ole Netflix.

I'm glad you have patience, because I don't. I'll be picking up a PS3 (which I was thinking about doing before WB went Blu-Ray exclusive) which is a great Blu-Ray disc player, and up-converting SD DVD player.

It also plays games. :D2:

Here's more good stuff from insider David Vaughn about how the deal went down:

"Warner made this choice to end the war. By them switching without another studio, it would have been a 50/50 proposition. If they got another studio to go with them (FOX), then the tide is turned and then HD DVD had the advantage and the war would eventually end with HD DVD on top.

"I gave everyone a hint when I said that Warner's decision wouldn't happen in a vacuum. Without FOX, there wasn't going to be a deal with HD DVD. Warner wanted to end the format war, not prolong it."

"From the information that has been told to me by two different sources close to the negotiations, FOX was certainly in play for HD DVD. Fox has not been a happy BD camper in regard to BD+ being semi-cracked within a couple weeks of being released, the PR disaster of their discs locking up players and finally, having some of their titles canceled for "QC" issues. They were in fact bumped (or so I have been told) on a couple of occasions from having their discs pressed by Sony DADC and there was a 3 week backlog to have discs made."

(REGARDING FOX) "From what I have been told...their concerns have been alleviated by financial concerns."

"Cinram also must have played a role in this and have told Warner that things are improving enough that their concerns of late have been minimal. If the costs are higher, I'm sure that was part of the "financial considerations" that Warner (and Fox) have received to go (or stay) with Blu-ray."

Some have asked about the Toshiba Stock, well, here ya go! Mind you, this is from Japan.

Sony Corp. (6758 JP): Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. Entertainment said it will stop selling DVDs compatible with the high-definition technology developed by Toshiba Corp. (6502 JP), bolstering Sony's Blu-ray in the battle to become the next home entertainment standard. Also, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. will team up with Skype Technologies SA. to add an Internet phone service to its PlayStation Portable gaming device, the Nikkei newspaper reported. Sony declined 410 yen or 6.6 percent, to 5,790 yen. Toshiba fell 36 yen, or 4.3 percent, to 801.

Sure he is. The section you quoted screams "I told you so!" What a pompous prick.

Another thing, not really changes. Sadly, it is still going to be the same amount of releases and it will still not compare to the amount of "dvd" releases.

Just received my copy of Rambo First Blood Part 2, from Xploited. Awesome. At least its not on Blu yet :)

You know, Criterion going to HDM completely outweighs the negative aspect of HD DVD dying.

Chances are any 'financial considerations' given to either side were not cash. More likely, they are things like reduced royalty payments, production incentives, etc.

I tend to agree with this, but just think back to how long it took for Criterion to embrace anamorphic widescreen transfers...

i read alot of this thread, im looking for nice and honest answers, i just bought a hd dvd player less than 2 months ago i have a bunch of unopened hd dvds, should i really think about returning them? i knew as soon as i picked a side this would happen. it really seems like there is no hope fot hd dvd right now, if after may 70% will be blu only titles

If you are desperate to have new releases as well as the most options, then return everything. If you are content with being limited to the current HD DVD library, plus nice upconverted DVD's, then keep it.

"Rumor" + AVS = I don't believe it.


There has yet to be a reputable source confirming that WB was paid for this move. And further, the WB exec denied it during the conference call. Compare this with Paramount situation, where (if I am remembering correctly), the only dispute was the source of the payment (Toshiba vs. Microsoft).

*At this juncture*, I think it is irresponsible to claim WB was paid to go Blu exclusive. And I don't want to rehash the specs of each, but the fact that WB had to dumb-down the picture and audio quality of their releases for Blu (so could just use the HD encodes) had to factor in.

Like I said, this will never end. Guarantee you in a few years, some Japanese company will have technology available better than HD and the ball will start rolling towards that format and everyone will be going in that direction. Will likely take 10 years as everyone will need to buy new tv's that are compatible with the new format.

Think I am crazy? Just watch.

Might even be new formats talked about at the new CES show.