From SMH.

Viacom's Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Animation SKG will release their next-generation DVD titles exclusively on HD DVD ahead of what they say could be the biggest holiday season ever for DVDs.

Paramount had sold titles in both the new high-definition formats - HD DVD and Blu-Ray - but settled exclusively on HD DVD after deciding that it offered better quality, lower-priced players and lower manufacturing costs, Kelley Avery, president of Paramount Home Entertainment, told Reuters.

For all you bandana wearing Sony haters.

this is great news.

Michael Bay also said that he wont do Transformers 2 because of this.

http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/7138/michaelbluraybayal6.jpg

This isn't good news. It's taking the choice away from the consumer. Apparently they were paid $150M for 18 months exclusivity to HD DVD.

LAME!

Cool. Now the HD add-on for the 360 doesn't seem like a waste of money. This whole thing needs to be sorted out damn quick because I'm not gonna be buying two different players to watch stuff.

blu-ray is regionalised.

Regionalisation is dumb.
Its dumb for consumers, we pay more and get staggered releases, and sometimes no releases at all.
Its dumb for companys, region 5 DVD are ripped and on dodgy sites sometimes (frequently) before they are in our cinemas.

Michael Bay also said that he wont do Transformers 2 because of this.

that is also great news

Michael Bay also said that he wont do Transformers 2 because of this.

oh boo hoo.

transformers was just another 80's asset hollywood cashed in on.

the movie was weak as the only thing that carried it was the overuse of special effects and the fact that it had transformers.

the story and acting were both weak as.

This isn't a thread about how Transformers is good or crap. It's about how Paramount is crap. This is a stupid move. Now I guess everyone will have to buy dual HD/Blu Ray players....Ugh.

As opposed to the other movie studios who are blu-ray exclusive? I don't see anyone complaining about those studios ..

I agree with Rev though, this two format thing is just stupid. Maybe we'll see dual players? Or have Sony disallowed those or something stupid?

Maybe we'll see dual players?

LG have already released one, Samsungs is coming in Q4.

This is good news if you want HDDVD to win. I do, but I do (unfortunately) honestly believe BluRay to be the superior format in terms of technology, all except for the goddanm region coding.
But it's Sony. And we need to hate Sony. Don't ask why. We just do. That's how QGL bandwagons work! (ref: Facebook QGL thread :)

haha

people actually think this is about "consumer choice"?

it is but it's also about which one delivers the greater profit margin to those making them

at the end of the day, either blu-ray or hd-dvd will die in the arse just like beta and everyone will be better for it

i thought they also could make double sided discs, like 1 side blu-ray and the other hd-dvd... or am i imagining things?

BluRay region coding is only optional, not all movies studios enforce it on their discs.

Michael Bay also said that he wont do Transformers 2 because of this.
that is also great news

haha werd. biggups to paramount... anything that means less micheal bay cheese is gotta be a good thing. ;]

Transformers was cool.

fact that it had transformers

ummmmm i thought that was the point of the transformers movie lol

Michael Bay also said that he wont do Transformers 2 because of this.
that is also great news


haha werd. biggups to paramount... anything that means less micheal bay cheese is gotta be a good thing. ;]

nah, don't celebrate too soon, looks like he retracted his statement and is back on Transformers 2.

last edited by Nailbomb at 10:06:05 22/Aug/07

nah, don't celebrate too soon, looks like he retracted his statement and is back on Transformers 2.

Damn it!

hopefully the accc smacks sony around for price fixing rather than hoping technical solutions come along. it is blatant monopolist price fixing and sony australia execs should do jail time for facilitating this criminal act in australia.

i thought they also could make double sided discs, like 1 side blu-ray and the other hd-dvd... or am i imagining things?

Warner Bros is working on that format.

As for hybrid players - be warned - the best looking one so far is the Samsung BDUP-5000. Unfortunately it'll be carrying Blu-Ray Profile 1.0, and not 1.1 which is mandatory after October 31st. Profile 1.1 includes a need for 256 of storage for features like PiP-based content, etc.

It is unknown if Samsung will be able to update the player with a firmware patch - but they sure don't sound optimistic at the moment...particularly when they say that they'll have a 1.1 compliant model no earlier than 2008.

Shame really. The BDUP-5000 really looked a winnar.

oh, whilst on the topic of Transformers, I came across this little piece of orsm the other day, it's a replica of Bumblebee made out of paper

Damn all you Transformers haters, damn you to hell!

transformers owned. sif hate on it.

hahaha at those michael bay posts, classic forum overreacting

Overreacting? Like if someone said all Bruce Willis movies are the same (i.e. he just blows stuff up). Would that cause an overreaction?

I do, but I do (unfortunately) honestly believe BluRay to be the superior format in terms of technology

how so? simply because it has larger storage capacity on the few discs they actually choose to use both layers?

HDdvd is region free,
it's got a wider selection of titles (600 by the end of the year),
it's got cheaper players,
it's got hd-dvd/dvd combo discs,
it's got internet connections as mandatory for all players which allows for online features
it's got more features such as picture in picture commentary
nearly all HD titles are using VC-1, whereas about half of bluray titles are using MPEG, which results in lower quality

the only thing that bluray truely has over HD is higher capacity if they need it, 50gb, instead of 30gb.

which basically means instead of 5 hours of high definition video, you can fit 8 hours. whoopy!

One big thing blue-ray has going for it, that I'd like to see in HD-DVD, is that blue-ray requires a JVM in the player, and that *really* opens up options for interactive content.

I'd count that as another thing not going for it ;)

Michael "The King of Cheesedick" Bay = Bad

Smothering teh screen with Top Shelf Pussy and Transformers CGI = Good.

hahaha at those michael bay posts, classic forum overreacting

What! How dare you accuse Micheal Bay of overreacting!!! Because you said that, I'm going to explode the MOON!

What! How dare you accuse Micheal Bay of overreacting!!! Because you said that, I'm going to explode the MOON!

Sigh. Already been done.