Adboy151

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/product...-blu-ray_N.htm

<quote>
Warner Bros. will back only Blu-ray

NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES2008-01-04 20:22:49 GMT (Reuters) (Reuters) — Time Warner's Warner Bros. studio Friday said it would exclusively release high-definition DVDs in Sony Corp's Blu-ray format, dealing a big blow to Toshiba Corp's rival HD DVD technology.

Warner Bros, Hollywood's biggest seller of DVDs, representing about 18 to 20% of sales in the United States, was one of the few studios that backed both formats.

All sides of the format war had agreed it was confusing to consumers and a stumbling block for a potential multibillion-dollar industry.

Total DVD unit sales fell 4.5% in 2007, the first major year-over-year decline since the disc format debuted in 1997, according to Adams Media Research. Sales fell 4.8% to $15.7 billion.

"The window of opportunity for high-definition DVD could be missed if format confusion continues to linger. We believe that exclusively distributing in Blu-ray will further the potential for mass market success and ultimately benefit retailers, producers, and most importantly, consumers," Warner Bros Chairman and Chief Executive Barry Meyer said in a statement.

News Corp's 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney, and Lionsgate are among studios backing the Blu-ray format. Viacom's Paramount studios and General Electric's NBC Universal release movies in HD DVD format.

Warner said it would continue releasing in the HD DVD format until the end of May, although those releases would follow the standard DVD and Blu-ray releases.

(Reporting by Kenneth Li in New York and Bob Tourtellotte in Los Angeles, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)</quote>

DVD Josh

That's all she wrote folks. Time to sell my A2 and all my discs. Glad I didn't buy alot from that recent B1G1 HD-DVD sale at amazon.

Engel07

Wow..70% of the movies are now in Blu-Ray exclusive while 30% only in HD-DVD. Ouch.

DVD Josh

I'm just glad I only own 40 HD-DVD discs. That's not so bad.

I just hope WB knows what they are doing and that BD is ready to start releasing more quality product, with FULL extras and features.

sbelli

Yes, I was shocked to read this. Really was hoping they'd at least stay neutral. I have nothing against Blu-Ray, but since I have only the 360 HD DVD add-on, I'm not a happy camper to read this.

kvrdave

Yeah, it's over, but I won't be selling my player or my movies, in fact, I'll wait to pick up a lot of movies when they go on super sale.

RoboDad

At the risk of sounding like a "Blu-ray fanboy" (which I'm not, since I currently own more HD DVDs than BDs), I think it's time to quote Mace Windu.

"This party's over."

cartman

Boom! It's over (but not for a while still).

DVD Josh

That raises an interesting question for gaming.

Now that HD-DVD is soon to be a dying format by the end of 2008, will there be a BD add-on for 360?

And will the fact that the next gen of HD media will be exclusively BD encourage game makers to put more efforts into PS3 releases?

Interesting implications throughout.

Adam Tyner

I've been buying Warner's titles on Blu-ray anyway, so no dramatic change for me. Will be interesting to see how the HD DVD camp reacts, if at all.

kvrdave

I will say that I do appreciate the durability of the BD disks and have not been happy with the scratches on HD-DVD. I also like how fast my PS3 is to warm up. Other than that, I much prefer the HD-DVDs.

Not looking forward to the BD prices, however.

TheMovieman

Figures. Guess I'll have to wait until BR prices go down because I'm not getting another machine anytime soon.

chente

Disappointing.

pro-bassoonist

A good reason to come out of retirement and congratulate Warner Brothers for bringing this asinine war to closure.

Pro-B

DVD Josh

The ONLY thing HD-DVD can do is attempt to buy Disney / BV over to the HD-DVD camp or at least neutral. Fox and Sony ain't going anywhere. But I doubt they will.

You will see tons of big sales on HD-DVD media as the spring rolls around. I may keep my player for awhile, just until HD-DVD releases migrate over.

kvrdave

I don't think so. I think you will see a cheaper BD plaer than the PS3 4Q of 2008, and I don't think it translates over to more games selling on the PS3. But I could be wrong.

Yavin

I can't friggin' believe this news, having just bought an A3 within the last month and opened up a bunch of HD-DVDs ...

RockStrongo

So, I guess your saying "Mission Accomplished"?



Sad day for HD-DVD and will probably lead to its demise within the next 1-2 years. BUT, that doesnt make the players obsolete or anything.

I still plan to enjoy my current hd-dvds on my duo player.

Mikael79

Horrible news for HD-DVD supporters. I'd been hoping HD-DVD would win, but now I'm glad that I held off on buying anything.

It looks like I'll be getting a Blu-Ray player sometime in the future. I'm really not looking forward to reading The Digital Bits reaction, because I assume they'll be pretty cold to the HD-DVD crowd.

Jim

In the short term those who chose HD DVD will be out take a hit, but in the long term we'll all come out ahead because I think there will be more movie choices available to us.

RichC2

Poor idea for Warner, but ah well. I prefer Red over Blue but am a dual supporter so it makes no real difference to me. I like how they tout the amazingness of neutrality only to neuter it a couple months later. Does this mean New Line will be Blu only as well?

I'd agree, but still stand by my earlier comments that Blu costs too damn much. It'll be a while before decent improvement in numbers would start to show for it.

DVD Josh

I just read it. All Bill said is that "you can't say we didn't warn you".

stingermck

God Damnit. First Spider-Man, and now this.

DVD Josh

Jim is a wise man.

JayDerek

same here.

I'm format neutral but this announcement still smarts a bit