dsa_shea,

Oh, so you believe Warner decided to go Blu-ray because they all had a group hug, drank Green Tea, and sang Sarah McLachlan songs at a fireside chat with Sony. Oh yeah, I believe that one.

Must've been the FREE Birkenstocks Sony offered them.

Because many of us are not willing to spend $40 for a bare-bones Fox title that was delayed 6 months that has plenty of room to include most/all of the SD features, but instead puts some silly Java game that I could program on my TI83 calculator. Thats why there is so much Fox bashing going on. IF their pricing was more in the Sony/Disney/WB/Universal area, with some/most of the SD features, no one would be bitching. Lets not mention them constantly putting on DTS-MA that 99% of people can't play (and 95% own a PS3 that can't decode it), there should be room for bitching.

Oh course this does not stop me from buying there titles BOGO, but I will never pay that high price for a bare bones Fox catalog release. Ever.

Maybe. Maybe not. They're never going to tell. Maybe they like Michael Bolton and don't want you to know.

OMG! That is just WRONG. :lol:

At least we can all laugh at something.

Like I said before, you're nuts (well, anyone) if you think Warner chose Blu-ray out of the kindness of their hearts. Money/Incentives was involved, and it makes the Paramount deal look like milk and cookies. This has been said several times in the past two weeks that both formats were courting Warner with money/incentives. Many people. Insiders on both ends.

Again, the war is pretty much over. HD DVD can not recover. Not going to happen. But please, don't be so naive to think Warner just changed sides 2 weeks after Christmas, 3 weeks after launching Harry Potter 1-5, because they believed Blu-ray was "it".

For the most part we on both sides have been very cordial about this so lets keep it at that. I am no means trying to bash you, but you take off the Blu glasses and just think for a while. My red glasses are on my nightstand next to some tears and a bottle of Vodka, I promise.

Hug? :grouphug: ?

I think we all understand why many don't want Fox discs. I don't condone their pricing and bare bones policies.

But the constant "Fox sucks" posts do get very tiresome.

Wouldn't it be easier to put it in your sig then posting it over and over?

Is it true that women are more attracted to bassoonists over, say, clarinet players, because of the mastery of the double-reed and the associated embouchure therein vis-a-vis oral technique?

Ummm....Burn...Pwned... :shrug:

So? Things are rarely decided on merits.

Let's say that Sony did invest $1B for this to happen (whether in a form of a check or future marketing/licensing concessions) ... perhaps Sony decided that it was a worthy investment if this meant a quicker end to the format war and if this meant that BD will gain a lot more momentum, enough to challenge DVDs in the near future. That's a lot of IFs, but Sony is known to make big investments in their own proprietary format (Beta, 8mm, MD, ATRAC). It may be years, if ever, that Sony ever recoups on the investments, but that seems to be a secondary matter to Sony.

GizmoDVD isn't denying merits aren't usually a part of business transactions, he's simply saying how this decision was made, and how particular Blu-ray supporters think it had to do with logical analysis of the Blu-ray format in general. Because we hear more about the "features" of Blu-ray, rather than, "Hey, Sony had the cash and used it!"

Well I'm glad a verdict was finally reached. I'd say within a year, two at the most, blu will be everywhere. I'm happy I went with blu. Not because it's my favorite color but because I knew with the ps3's backing it that it would do well. Disney is also a key player. All those little kiddies who want Pirates and Ratatouille for xmas on hd can only get it on blu. That was a big concern.

It wasn't looking good when Paramount went HD Exclusive but now that WB is going solo, it looks like Blu has a chance. I'll be waiting for the day when I can get Jaws on Bluray. Cheers and congrats Blu-Ray fans. It's a good day.

Well ... I just sensed a little bit of bitterness in the tone, that it was wrong to do it for that reason as opposed to merits. But, yeah, I totally agree that it's extremely naive to think that there were no concessions made.

I can't tell you how many times I heard kids crying and screaming at a Best Buy or a Target because they couldn't get a Disney movie on HD-DVD.

Speaking of concessions, where's my token ribbon and shiny plastic trophy for participating in this HD competition. :lol:

Also, can people who say "HD" who mean HD DVD, not confuse the two terms. HD is High-Definition. HD DVD is the format. So to everyone, please don't post, "I knew HD was going to be dropped by WB." or something similar. Because that sounds retarded. If you mean HD DVD, then say HD DVD. Thanks. :)

Ah that explains it. You only heard them.

Maybe they were adults that just sounded like children. ;)

Oh, I understand that. But when Warner makes statements like looking at SA Sales etc, and then just takes a check...just kinda pisses people off who went out and bought an HD DVD player thinking they were "helping". Much like they people who buy 20+ movies in a BOGO just to "help out" the cause.

Eh, its over though. Hopefully, HOPEFULLY, this pushes more catalog titles are way. Warner, me wantee Gremlins!

I don't hold out any hope. I really won't let it affect my day. Am I disappointed...yes. wil it stop me from buying HD-DVDs that I want if they are a cheap price...no. Will it make me run out and by a BR or PS3 today...no.

As far as why I wished HD-DVD would win...to answer honestly...it was mainly for selfish reasons:

1. I bought a HD-DVD player and HD-DVD discs. Why wouldn't I want the format I bought into to "win?" Granted I got them for almost nothing with bunches of free discs but why would I be excited that they may be part of a dead format sooner than later? Would you be excited if this announcement had been the other way around even though it killed the format war?

2. I dislike Sony. But then again, I dislike Bose, Nintendo, Kodak, Pepsi-cola, and various other companies all for various & personal reasons. If it came out that there was only going to be one cola from now on and it would be Pepsi...I would probably drop dead on the spot.

3. I seem to be attracted to underdogs. HD-DVD always seemed to be the underdog in this "war" and that, along with the price made me pull the trigger. Hell, I have been an Auburn Tiger fan for 25 years and live in Birmingham, AL...that should tell you something. :) It also seemed like the press that BR would put out seemed so arrogant and grand-standing. Guess that is why so many of the fanboys here who post constantly for BR seem to get it honestly. I just do not see the HD-DVD supporters acting the way so many of the BR fanboys have acted, especially if the shoe was on the other foot. Coming out of a whiny, self-imposed "retirement" to gloat does not make me want to join your club. Constant bashing of HD-DVD by posters who have already been mentioned (and some banned months before this) does not make me want to support your chosen format. Maybe it is just me. :shrug:

I knew the risks of buying into HD-DVD and have accepted the small investment I put into them. I just think it is premature to just throw up your hands and cry "Uncle" before the announcement even hits 24 hours, but then again...I am an underdog fan...and this attitude can cause great rewards or severe (and sometimes frequent) disappointments.

In the end, I buy movies for my enjoyment and am not married to a certain format. I just may wait for quite awhile this time before I say, "I do."

brianluvdvd...good post. :up:

The quicker Universal and Paramount announce BD support, the better off everone will be. I think we will hear something soon. Everyone knows day & date titles are the only thing that sells right now. And even those must be blockbuster films. How many true blockbuster films will Universal and Paramount have this year? 4? 6? With WB, BD commands 70%!! of the market share, and retail space. What I'm getting at is how much longer is it worth to only focus on HD DVD? I don't think there's any chance that Universal or Paramount would let Christmas '08 go by without releasing any BD titles. Q4 could see a big surge in sales since the focus should be only on Blu-ray.

I would say their catalog titles would probably take some time before they are released, but we would likely see the newest films. The Bourne series, Transformers, Knocked Up, Zodiac, etc.

The sales ratios have been 60:40 mostly, but I think we'll start seeing 70:30 or greater soon.

Also, I wouldn't be surprised if Best Buy carries even less HD DVD product. With the WB decision, they may see this as an opportunity to slowly phase out HD DVD and add even more shelf space for BD. Target was already favoring BD with shelf space, so I doubt they'll have a problem expanding. The focus now needs to start becoming BD vs DVD. I know BD probably won't overtake DVD, but we need more people to now join the BD group and at least start taking some sales away from DVD. This decision is a giant step towards getting more classics released. Maybe we'll get Spielberg much sooner now. And dare I say, Star Wars?

What I'm getting at is how much longer is it worth to only focus on HD DVD?

That my friend, depends on who comes to the table and offers $$$ for those invested in HD DVD. Because Sony spent their cash on WB, effectively eliminating the need to pay other movie studios.

The only way to prevent other movie studios from jumping on the Blu-ray Bandwagon, is for someone with a lot of cash to give the remaining studios incentives, or within the realms of quantum possibilities, to convince some other studio to switch to HD DVD. This would be rather interesting if it did happen. So, more than likely, we will see movie studios concede in the following months, pending any wild and crazy possibilities.

Target was only "favoring" Blu-ray because some paid them some money to carry only Blu-ray players in stores this Holiday season and the expand Blu-ray space.

I'm not sure what sales figures you're looking at, but the PS3 has consistently been in last place since it launched. The PS2 was outselling it! And there still aren't any system-sellers released for it.

Now, it definitely is selling well if you treat it as a Blu-Ray player. My only point is that if WB was trying to single-handedly end the format "war" by switching to Blu-Ray exclusivity, they are obviously banking on mass adoption by average people- people that haven't and won't spend $400 on a movie player.

I don't think WB was banking on anything. They were almost going to go HD DVD exclusive, but Toshiba had to get Fox to go as well. That didn't happen, so they went with BD.