I'll be happy to post my Apple TV HD feedback along with the rest soon.

I'm more than willing to bet Paramount wants to keep Lucas/Spielberg happy.

He sure does. Lock stock and barrel.

Shit.

So Paramount and universal are now backing bluray, how soon will it be before they start releasing movies?

We don't know. Next week? Month? Year? We will know as soon as they announce plans and titles. Right now they are only releasing and announcing HD DVDs.

Considering every day that passes is a lost opportunity to rack in the cash sooner than we think probably.

Fixed.

"rack in cash"? Catalog titles on both formats have not been flying off the shelves unless they are big releases (or BOGO). Universal and Paramount will probably release the bigger titles first, and the lesser known ones later (Cat People, Time Cop etc.) With the limited availability of Blu-ray plants right now, there is no way Universal can prep and ready 200 Blu-ray releases while still making new catalog and day and date releases available.

Also consider both studios, and even the format, do not want to flood the market just yet. Cat People may have sold 1,500 copies on release week because it was only 1 of 3 releases on HD DVD. When you put Cat People against 5-10 releases people are less inclined to purchase it vs. a different, better title.

So they'll make more with no product available?

Who's talkin 200 titles. Obviously Cat People aint coming any time soon. Where did I state entire catalog or flood the market?

All we care about having quickly are the Transformers/Shrek big seller titles.

Yea, rack in cash...a hell of alot more cash then most of us could rack in on our 9-5s.

Not "rack" - "rake".

tomato tomato

Again, I don't think they will, nor is it possible, to press and release close to 200 movies in the next 6-9 months from Universal alone. Remember, some of those titles have HDi, something that Blu-ray will not be able to understand. Those will have to be re-worked or tweaked. Downloadable features may have to be dropped/reworked, as will a few other minor things. Universal MAY have been doing some of this behind the scenes just in case HD DVD died, but I don't think they thought it would happen this fast. No other Blu-ray studios has released even half of what Universal has done. Hell I think Universal released more titles then Fox, MGM, Disney and Lionsgate combined.

I'd love to be proved wrong, but I think it will be a good 1.5/2 years before we see ALL of Universals current HD DVD releases to hit Blu-ray. I would much rather have them work on new catalog releases like Back to the Future and Jaws not available on HD DVD first then pushing crap like Cat People, Time Cop and such out first.

I can almost guarantee you that there are more M&Ms in a $1.99 bag then some Universal HD DVD titles have sold. Some are in the hundreds...the low hundreds. Thats a big reason why Weinstein dropped out in June. Wolf Creek sold somewhere around 350 titles...total.


...and yes, I own all the shitty Universal titles above. I lose.

Exactly, new n hot, the money makers. Where did ya get 200 titles? And how did Cat People get dragged into this? Heh...s'all good man. None of us know.

+1 count me in as another really proud owner of Cat People
the transfer was breath-taking!

Universal did not release 200 titles on HDDVD and there is absolutely nothing preventing them from matching their current volume during the next two years. Granted that some less desired titles could be replaced with more attractive product.
How could one argue and prove you wrong when you keep reducing the time frame? You open up your statement with 6-9 months, then you go on to tell us that it will be a good 1.5/2 years before we see ALL of Universals current HDDVD releases to hit Blu-Ray after you warned us only a few days ago that:
So, to sum it all up: in two years I believe that there is absolutely nothing that prevents Universal from matching their current HDDVD output on BR, perhaps only replacing some of the truly poor titles with better sellers. And, they did not release 200 titles.

Ciao,
Pro-B

My prediction for Universal is that they will focus on new releases while peppering the off weeks with a few token catalogue titles.

That is my feeling as well. The big sellers will get more attention and they will gradually transfer the catalog titles they released on HDDVD on BR (likely based on how they performed and/or adding up more catalog product).

Pro-B

A quick search on Universal's website turns up 150 titles, which is shy of 200 but still a pretty daunting number. (By comparison, since the inception of the format, Sony has released 110 Blu-ray titles and Warner's released 104.)

I wonder if 150 was some sort of contractual magic number and that's why their release slate has dropped down to near-nothing.

Not to mention the fact that retailers won't accept a flood of titles all at once, especially in light of the fact that one of the HDM formats just failed.

If you want the Paramount/Uni titles that have already been released, then grab em on HD DVD , the software and player prices are bottoming out.
Otherwise, you'll need to be patient. It will take time for these two to get up to speed on BD.

I'd like to see Uni start with replacing most or all of their day and date combos from the past two years plus any big catalog releases.

I realize I may have to wait a while to get stuff like Being John Malkovich on Blu, but if I could at least get some of the combos replaced that would be great.

Although these won't technically be day & date, I would think they'd treat titles like Bourne Ultimatum, American Gangster, and a few others as new releases on BD.

I, too, couldn't believe how good that transfer was while I was watching it. It is one of the best-looking discs I own, catalog or not.

Cinram is adding 15 more BD lines. With the war officially over, I expect the BDA to ramp up production as quickly as possible.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=996975

I was so not going to add up every title they made, but figured 200 was a safe bet. Plus they are still announcing a few titles here and there.