Holy shit, when did I say it wouldn't have made it without the PS2?! All I've said is that was a lot of help. Am I wrong in saying that it helped the format? Of course it was selling, otherwise they wouldn't have taken the time to include it. There was a demand for such a thing.

Now, with that in mind, they will include Blu-ray knowing that it will help them in their war against HD-DVD.

I agree sdcrym. Blu-ray this gen won't be near the selling point DVD was for the PS2 for just that reason. But it's still an added bonus over the 360 for people with HDTVs (who won't be the college demographic).

But of course the difference this time is that pretty much no one will have a Blu-ray player when the PS3 launches, where as a lot of older, out of school people already had DVD players at the PS2 launch. So blu-ray playback will still be a big plus for some, just not to as many people in the target young adult demographic as the DVD playback was on the PS2.

Here's a question for some of you. You have an hdtv and you like games. You buy a 360 and a PS3 and you go to Best Buy and notice your favorite movie was just released in HD on both HD-DVD and Blu-ray formats. Are you gonna buy the Blu-ray version or will you spend the extra cash to buy a standalone HD-DVD player?

I seriously doubt that there will be many movies release on both formats.

I'd buy the blueray version, but then I would have bought the blueray player anyway :p. It's generally not a factor as someone who likes quality components I would never consider playing playing my dvds on my xbox or ps2 over my pioneer. I think the same will apply for ps3 (of course the ps3 might review fantastically as a blue ray player, we will see - I still think actual movie playback will be a patch down the line).

Also I would suggest that premium pricing of HD movie discs (whether blueray or HDDVD it doesnt matter) over DVD discs will mean that people who who buy a PS3 might still choose to purchase DVD versions (particularly if they only have a SD set). Also being able to play movies that cost $10 more but otherwise look basically the same (on SD sets) might not be much of a selling factor for the PS3 either.

Look up "hypothetical".

Wow. From the responses around here you'd think that Blu-ray being included in the PS3 was a total non-factor.

Now, most people here are arguing that the mass market won't take advantage of BR because they can't afford it. So I then ask the people that might have an hdtv (or thinking about it) what they would do, and the response is that you have so much money you'd also have a BR standalone player. I give up.

It's more if you have an HDTV and a PS3 that plays Blu-ray movies, are you going to just by movies on Blu-ray and ignore HD-DVD or will you buy an HD-DVD player to play both?

Obviously, most people (i.e. non home theater enthusiasts) who have a PS3 will just get the Blu-ray movies and get the HD-DVD only movies on plain DVD. At least that's what Sony is banking on and it seems likely to me.

Dude, most people don't buy two systems for totally exclusive games they can't play anywhere else. What makes you think they'd buy two movie players?

Dude, that was my point. People who have a PS3 and HD-TV likely won't buy an HD-DVD player, and thus will pick up plain DVD's of movies available only in HD-DVD. Or, again, that is what sony is counting on.

Read before quoting, Dude! ;)

My point is that a early adopter (someone who bought their dvd player in 1998/99) is never going to settle for a multiple purpose blue ray player such as the PS3 unless it can be absolutely proven without doubt that the PS3 is equal in all respects. Similarly, a casual dvd buyer won't be convinced to make the switch to blueray until discs are the same price as current DVD prices, which they won't be for at least 2 years. Hell, they probably would still buy a PS3, but they'll just be playing dvds on it.

I'm a big supporter of the blue ray format itself, and I can't see it failing with the level of support it already has. The arguments for HDDVD are just not convincing.

Please spare me. The "hypothetical" situation you described is based on the "hypothesis" that it will be commonplace for movies to be released on both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. My post that you quoted debunked that hypothesis. You can look into which movie studios have signed up to which format if you'd like.

A hypothetical situation is useless if it has no basis in reality.

True, for early adopters, it will have no impact.

It's the casual gamer that happens to have an HD-TV that might start buying Blu-ray discs because of having a PS3 that will play them.

You'd still have to convince them to pay $10+ extra per movie. Also I would argue that anyone who owns a HD-TV currently is either a high end movie enthusiast or an xbox owner :). In the first case they're probably the type who would pay premium for a highend player, in the second case they're already planning to buy a 360 (although if they're an early HD adopter they can probably afford a PS3 as well ;) ).

Sdcrym, how is there no basis in reality? Is it impossible that two versions of the same movie might be released?! Yep, you're right that would never happen.:rolleyes:

You guys are also talking about purchasing movies exclusively. What about rentals?

I agree, the PS3 won't be a huge factor in the adoption of Blu-ray right away.

But more and more people will pick up an HD-TV throughout the PS3's 5 or 6 year lifespan. Sony is banking on them then buying Blu-ray movies and passing on an HD-DVD player since they already have a Blu-ray player in the PS3.

Price is kind of moot to argue, as we have no idea what Blu-ray movies will cost yet. If studies are smart they will price them within $5 of DVDs. Of course they won't get marked down as loss leaders like DVDs though as they wont' be as hot of items for a good, long while so the actual cost will still be more than $5 above DVDs. But hopefully retail will be within $5.

To this point studios are signing on to exclusive deals, and I believe Sony with Blu-Ray and the companies behind HD-DVD are not currently planning to allow studios to use their format unless they sign exclusivity agreements not to put their movies on the competing format.

So as of right now, Sdcrym is right. It has no basis in reality unless things change drastically.

It will be a LONG time before any HD-DVD or Blu-ray rentals are widely available.

I wouldn't expect it until one format is the clear winner.

Smart? Early adopters are happy to $10-20 extra for a HD movie on a disc, why would you pass up that extra profit? Compare the prices of DVD vs VHS 4-5 years ago.

Also the PS3 won't sell in enough numbers in it's first year (even if it does really well) to create a large enough market of casual Blueray buyers to make it worthwhile for studios to price to the casual market. Once Blueray is well established prices will drop, but not till then.

I'm buying a PS3 to play PS3 games...
I'm buying a Xbox360 to play Xbox 360 games...
and then...
I'm buying a HD-DVD or Blu-ray DVD player when this new standard is excepted by the masses.

I jumped on the laserdisc band wagon late in the game and I still regret it. DVD's are going to be around for a long time. Just as long or longer than CD's I think. These new HD formats are years away from being adopted by the masses. And, these new game systems are not going to change that.

You have too much time on your hands, Hinkle... -ohbfrank-

But it's fun, it's like the neverending post with you.

With DVD there was only one format. A big factor in who wins (HD-DVD or Blu-ray) will be in which format is cheaper. So it would be smart of Sony to encourage studios to sell Blu-rays as cheap as possible if they want it not to go the way of betamax and mini-discs.

Especially when you even argue with me when I was agreeing with you in the one post above. ;)

But seriously, you're fighting a losing battle here. While agree with some of your sentiments, sdcrym and the others clearly no more about the current state of HD-DVD and Blu-ray than you.

The cost of the actual media will not be significant in the pricing of the movies themselves, they will be priced at whatever the consumer will bear, which is very high in this case. Also everything I've read suggests that the cost of Blueray is generally overstated, and will be in line with DVD in a few years (if anything the PS3 will ensure this). I did read somewhere that dual layer HD-DVDs would require the same level of production line enhancements as Blueray anyway and most movies won't fit on a single layer HD-DVD disc.

I don't see how HD-DVD has a chance in hell really. Blue ray has more support, is a technically superior format, and I think the cost of production has been made out to be a far bigger issue than it really is.