he Financial Times is reporting that Paramount is preparing to use a get out clause in its HD DVD exclusivity deal, and go back to Blu-ray, about 4 months after ending its dual-format release schedule. The move would be a result of Warner's switch to Blu-ray, using a "get out" clause in Paramount's promotional agreement with the HD DVD camp.

Src:
http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/07/paramount-following-warner-out-the-hd-dvd-door/

As the article says, it would be very interesting if Paramount does break out of its exclusivity deal and sign with Blu-Ray...

Hopefully by the end of this year the HD format war will be over

also http://www.xbox-scene.com/xbox1data/sep/EEAAZZEAZZnekuCEFv.php

nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
ooo

last edited by boba at 22:13:08 08/Jan/08

Uwe Boll will be so pleased...

/edit.. also michael bay.. what was i thinking

last edited by Boxhead at 22:37:26 08/Jan/08

Blu-Ray does sound much cooler than HD-DVD.

I vote Blu-Ray!

So is that going to be the end of HD DVD, so all those people with HD DVD players have wasted their money?

YAY!

If it does go ahead and HDDVD dies, it will be interesting to see how PS3 sales react.

I remember reading this ages ago so their position may have changed since then so.. Who knows?

Xbox UK head Neil Thompson has stated again that if the Blu-ray format becomes significantly more successful than the HD-DVD format then the company will support it with the Xbox 360.

Speaking to the BBC, Thompson is quoted as saying: “Whatever format wins it is highly likely we will offer a solution. The only debate is if you want to watch Blu-ray movies and pay the extra money for that feature. We prefer to offer the consumer choice."

(As of march 23, 2007).

Link

Most pundits have been calling it in favor of Blu-ray for a little while now. Since Warner has switched (with New Line and now, possibly, Paramount following) they figure it's effectively over.

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/soapbox/soap060107.html

What is interesting is news of a possible "peace offering" to HD-DVD owners from the Blu-ray camp.

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/#gates

One last note this evening: That idea I floated yesterday, that the BDA should offer an olive branch to HD-DVD consumers? I mentioned it to senior BDA executives this evening, and I think you can safely say that they're going to move forward with something along these very lines in the weeks ahead. We'll post more when we can, but the idea was definitely warmly received. In fact, plans are already in the works. We'll post more on this as things develop.

Go Blue-Ray! I don't know why but go!

Well it will be cool if the Xbox gets a blu ray add-on very soon. If it's gonna be ages away I'll prolly buy a PS3.

Boo. I had hoped HD-DVD would win, but ultimately I don't really care as long as there is a clear winner.

Blu-Ray does sound much cooler than HD-DVD.

agreed. blu-ray ftw!

I'd say with these big moves from Warner, Fox and Paramount, and Toshiba's decision to cancel their CES press conference yesterday, and Bill Gates' lackluster keynote aside from his last day at the office video, HDDVD as a movie format will be pretty much dead within a month or two.

Toshiba and Microsoft know it now, though it will probably stick around as a PC data format since HDDVD drives are more readily available for the PC market.

of course sony was going to win this, they invented the cd ffs.

Bloomberg says otherwise

they invented the cd ffs.

They also invented Betamax, the mini disc, and UMDs.

The beta format, even though it has gone through some changes, is still the industry standard tape format.
Mini Disc is the most affordable recording equipment available, much better quality than any solid state device, and much cheaper than DAT

As long as Bluray players come down to sub $100 (like DVD's) I'll be happy.

Till then, Sony can FOAD.

Region coding and more expensive production costs, awesome! That's what i want from my next gen disc format. And they delivered. Thanks Hollywood.

Hopefully the bottom falls out of the HDDVD burner market, we can all snap them up and use them to pirate Blu-ray movies.

I don't think mini disc is as good as mini dv tape. hard to imagine it being cheaper too, when tapes are about $2

I can't believe there are 2 idiots in this thread that think a technology that has regionalisation built in is a good thing.

Do you not understand it could lead to artificially higher prices here ?

Do you not understand it could mean releases here could be significantly delayed or not at all ?

Remember Sony wanted to put a root kit on your PC... They are an evil empire.

Yeah my main desire to see HD DVD win is because i just don't trust sony to do anything

A)With anything other than the same morals satan has
B)For any other purpose than tying and locking in millions to their products, with no outs, ever.
C)With out being dicks.

But i'm not going out of my way to buy any next gen player or media, so i'll just sit idly by and enjoy the show.

of course sony was going to win this, they invented the cd ffs.

Actually, I believe Philips did most of the hard yards

Do you not understand it could lead to artificially higher prices here ?

Do you not understand it could mean releases here could be significantly delayed or not at all ?

And do you not remember the bulls*** that has happened with DVDs? There are so many titles you can't get in Australia because they simply don't print region 4 versions of them.

Of course, Sony are such f***ing hypocrites that they sell easily region-unlockable DVD drives, because they realise its the only way to make money in consumer DVDs now - because consumers finally figured out that getting screwed for retarded reasons like that is a waste of their money.

Yeah, I can't really see regions being a problem if multi-region players become available just like with DVDs. It'll be exactly what it's like now.

Whatever happened to the Fair Trade examination of region-locking in Australia? I remember ages ago they were looking at whether region locking was an illegal barrier to competition under australian laws or something similar.

I assume it went no-where...

Yeh, exactly like it is now - where it's cheaper and easier to just download s*** you want because buying it physically is too much of a PITA

I don't think mini disc is as good as mini dv tape. hard to imagine it being cheaper too, when tapes are about $2

MD has a higher bitrate, longer record time, smaller device, and no dv tapes aren't $2, and if you bought a non-sony one for less than $16 you are asking for trouble.

MD has a higher bitrate, longer record time, smaller device, and no dv tapes aren't $2, and if you bought a non-sony one for less than $16 you are asking for trouble.

Right, great - the point is, MD is f***ing dead because it was Yet Another proprietary Sony format that in the end, proved useless for consumers.

I have an MD player, and its neat - but I got mine just before mp3s, at which point it was utterly utterly useless as a media player. Sony in their wisdom decided mp3 wasn't the way to go for portable media, which proved to be a massive mistake, and now Apple owns that market completely.

While I think Bluray is different to MD (the sheer logistics of the situation are surely going to preclude Sony from maintaining a stranglehold on the hardware and media), I just wanted them to lose because it seems Sony still haven't learned their lesson of playing nice with others and consumer rights. Region-locked media is a stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid idea.

Anyway, internet delivery I think is a bigger deal than this (although I am really looking forward to bluray/HD writers for backup purposes).

i agree with giririririssssss

i choose to define my individuality with the purchace of mass produced product(a) while i scoff at the merest mention of product(b)... hahah product(b) asif!

I vote for the one that doesn't have region locking! (which one is that again?)

HD-DVD aka 'the not sony one'

damn, cause I kinda wanted it to be blu-ray

fyi HD-DVD is basically Toshiba.

They own DVD too :P

MD has a higher bitrate, longer record time, smaller device, and no dv tapes aren't $2, and if you bought a non-sony one for less than $16 you are asking for trouble.

I only paid $10 per 5 pack of sony tapes at audio pro when I bought my camera. Haven't tried any other brand of tape, but what trouble exactly are you referring to?

The video is uncompressed unlike minidisc, and changing media due to reaching it's capacity is inevitable - and with dv tape it's not like it's even close to being less-enough of a capacity to make it notably different in terms of how often you have to change out the media. longer record time is probably only due to what, 5:1 compression?

There's definitely some advantages to using minidisc over tape, but I don't reckon it's anywhere near as clear cut as you make out. Even now over two years later I'd still prefer a tape cam

sony's idea of drm-free music, you walk in to a store, buy a scratchie and the code lets you download the song. great work sony.

ut what trouble exactly are you referring to

Drop outs. Those 'digital' sounding blips and 'blocky' looking sections of picture. Every tape has an 'error' rate, but generally the better quality the material in the tape the less chance of it happening. To avoid this you need to buy Mini DV tapes that are made out of metal, not vinyl or whatever those 5-packs from coles are made of...

Also it is unusual to walk around with a camera hanging off you just to record audio - and there is all that space on the tape for the video that just doesn't get used. The camera probably also costs more than the minidiscman.

Pretty sure you can get cheap MD blanks from JB anyways

I've worked on many MiniDV video productions, and if there was ever a MD recorder available that always was the prefered way of recording the audio. I think also the cameras tend to make a bit of noise as the tape turns which can be heard in the background sometimes, and the MD player allows you to get further away from the Camera doing the video recording.


last edited by Idol at 14:41:30 09/Jan/08

re audio: http://www.yorku.ca/earmstro/res/mdvsdat.html

http://www.kotaku.com.au/games/2007/11/sony_boss_says_blurayhddvd_war.html

^^ if you look at the date that story was posted it kinda makes it irrelevant now

damnit

he's right .. but it only just showed up on google news :(

pretty sure porn sells 4x more dvd's and produce HD DVD then any other retailer in the world.. so until they switch u aint gonna see HD go byebye L:d

They've already switched haven't they? Someone posted a link in one of the many blu-ray vs HD DVD threads about how theres adult films coming out on blu-ray now.

dont know if it's been mentioned..but microsoft has said if the consumers want it they'll build a blu-ray player for the 360..

i love it how alot of people think that hd disc impace greatly on consoles when the xbox360 was pwning the ps3 long before blu-ray came out.

im not going to draw any posts specificly but i had a number of noobs come up to me at work and go on about how the xbox 360 is going to fail in its ass now that blu-ray has won the format wars.

i had to point out the fact that the format wars were not technically over, then they could me a hddvd fan boy.

honestly i dont give a s*** who wins, i just want it to be over so i can buy an affordable blu-ray player if i need too.

when the xbox360 was pwning the ps3 long before blu-ray came out.

Not really. They seem pretty evenly matched if you sync the sales of their launch dates. I think that it will barely effect the 360. Personally i think that microsoft will probably release a blu-ray drive. I do commend them on focusing on the whole digital download thing, whether it ultimately works out is anyones guess but it's great to see them push forward with it and it would be interesting to see the results.

i love it how alot of people think that hd disc impace greatly on consoles when the xbox360 was pwning the ps3 long before blu-ray came out.

I'm not saying I agree with them, but isn't that largely those people's point? the fact that bluray wasn't out meant that that particular feature of the ps3 was less important, along with the fact that less time had passed since the release of the ps3 compared to the release of the 360 meaning the ps3 had s***loads less titles.

but as more time passes since the release of the ps3 and it becomes more competitive in terms of titles and price, and bluray becomes more important to people, the arrogant foolishness of your snooty disdain for those people becomes more apparent

i had a number of noobs come up to me at work and go on about how the xbox 360 is going to fail in its ass now that blu-ray has won the format wars.

Stupid people are everywhere. Even at work. What will they do when MS release a Blu-ray addon if Blu-ray wins

but as more time passes since the release of the ps3 and it becomes more competitive in terms of titles and price, and bluray becomes more important to people, the arrogant foolishness of your snooty disdain for those people becomes more apparent

if blu-ray does become the victor in the format wars (and as day goes on it looks like it will) then yes in the long run the fact a ps3 has a blu-ray drive will certainly make the console more appealing, especially when the ps3 gets some solid games under its belt aswell. but really the amount of consumers that will go out to buy a ps3 because of both features will be quite small short of middle class parents going out at x-mas time and getting a hard sell by the harvey norman store person that uses the classic line "sure its a console for the kids, but it has a blu-ray player so you can watch a walk to remember with your wife".

at the end of format wars though you will find that most consumers will have a console and a standalone disc player much like they do now.

the only people i meet these days that rely on a console itself as a dvd player are either students or dole bludgers, because anyone with money will know how s*** the playback is with a ps2.

Correct me if I am wrong, but:

a LOT of people bought the ps2 when it came out because it was a fairly good + fairly cheap DVD player (at the time), even though there weren't many decent launch title games, and even though the Dreamcast was out, everybody loved it, and it had fantastic games (which looked better than the PS2 launch titles)

Sounds kinda familiar?

But there are a few differences, Microsoft are actually pushing the 360 (where as Sega didn't really bother marketing the DC). Microsoft doesn't like to loose. The HD war may be over too late for the PS3 to really benefit (if other blu-ray players get cheaper).

This also seems to be the power of the console, the xbox started off more powerful than the PS2, but the PS2 got more and more powerful as programmers began to learn it. I would assume this will be even more prominent with the Cell processors, when programmers start saying things like games currently are using 10% of its potential and stuff.

There is one other thing I can see, is that M$ dropped the xbox like a brick as soon as the 360 was released. Where as Sony are still pushing the PS2.

/rant

the ps2 was out quite awhile before the xbox came out.
and when the xbox came out it was the better system, the ps2 has never looked as good as the xbox did as far as graphics go
a prime example is ninja gaiden, the ps2 couldnt even handle it, sony had to wait till the ps3 came out to be able to offer it to there supporters.


the dreamcast failed for alot of reason, yes bad marketing was one of the reasons but it also competed against the ps2 which was far more anticipated as the playstation was a beast of a console for its time, where as sega hadnt offered anything in the playstations gernation as far as a decent console was concerned, you could almost say that consumers forgot about sega.


microsoft didnt really drop the xbox, a few games still come out for it, nothing fantastic just your typical ea sport titles and s*** like that. you can sitll use and xbox on live and you can still send them in for repair. you just cant buy them new anymore cause they dont get made, and rightly so, they have a far superior product to offer to consumers and its smart business to move on from the old generations, especially when they are selling the "next generation".

im not saying there isnt a market of consumers that buy consoles to use as dvd players, im just saying that that market isnt large enough to decide what format will be the next big thing.
sony only put its blu-ray player in the ps3 so it could push the blu-ray player. microsoft have always opted for the consumer choice option (that and they new it would be too expensive to support HD content when the console originally launcher) they stated long before blu-ray was starting to become the victor in the HD war that if the consumers wanted a blu-ray player then they would support it.

Xbox 360 wont fail if HD DVD fails, because unlike the PS3, its not an intrinsic part of the console. Sony had a lot more to lose if blu-ray failed than MS have to lose if HD DVD failed (with respect to both company's game consoles).

http://www.t3.com/news/blu-ray-porn?=35064

Hustler and Playboy are to release movies on Blu-Ray this year. Interesting considering that the porn industry has decided to go with HDDVD.

Last couple of weeks have been pretty crazy with all this HD stuff.

the ps2 was out quite awhile before the xbox came out.
and when the xbox came out it was the better system, the ps2 has never looked as good as the xbox did as far as graphics go
a prime example is ninja gaiden, the ps2 couldnt even handle it, sony had to wait till the ps3 came out to be able to offer it to there supporters.

I would argue here that because the PS2 was a lot harder to program for, and used a very wierd architecture, the PS2 was a lot trickier to develop for, and that Ninja Gaiden would have just been too much effort to port effectively. I would possibly also argue that Okami and God of War 2 had better graphics, but I may be deluded.

the dreamcast failed for alot of reason, yes bad marketing was one of the reasons but it also competed against the ps2 which was far more anticipated as the playstation was a beast of a console for its time, where as sega hadnt offered anything in the playstations gernation as far as a decent console was concerned, you could almost say that consumers forgot about sega.

I agree mostly. Although the Dreamhost had a few things going for it, it was released about 16 months before the PS2, and that pretty much all the arcade games at the time were coming out on DC, so there was a lot of hype in a sense.

microsoft didnt really drop the xbox, a few games still come out for it, nothing fantastic just your typical ea sport titles and s*** like that. you can sitll use and xbox on live and you can still send them in for repair. you just cant buy them new anymore cause they dont get made, and rightly so, they have a far superior product to offer to consumers and its smart business to move on from the old generations, especially when they are selling the "next generation".

According to gamerankings, there were 8 games released in 2007 (game rankings, search by released in 2007 for xbox, at least 1 review). Alternatively there were 182 games released for PS2 during that year. Also Dreamcast still had some Japanese games released for it in 2007. I love the xbox, and probably played it more than my PS2, but still I feel like they did in fact drop it like a piece of lead.

im not saying there isnt a market of consumers that buy consoles to use as dvd players, im just saying that that market isnt large enough to decide what format will be the next big thing.
sony only put its blu-ray player in the ps3 so it could push the blu-ray player. microsoft have always opted for the consumer choice option (that and they new it would be too expensive to support HD content when the console originally launcher) they stated long before blu-ray was starting to become the victor in the HD war that if the consumers wanted a blu-ray player then they would support it.

Totally agree, the 360 shouldn't get affected at all if HD-DVD dies. Its more the impact it will put on PS3 actually being worthwhile, and being a proper competitive.

First porn movies have already started to be released on Blu-ray (Jan 4th?). It was in the other BR vs. HDDVD thread.

People still buy pr0n in hard copies? (LOL pun intended LOL). I would have thought people just pay to download it online.

I would have thought people just pay to download it online.

pay?
lolz

my local adult store is wall to wall with latest release dvds (and dildos and bongs), someone must be paying for them... and I guess they'll be stocking next gen too. I didn't get a look to see if they had HDDVDs but I know that one of the other stores in town sold quite a few copies of Pirates on HDDVD, but I think that was a combo hddvd/dvd.

Cheap (US$15) HDDVD and Blu-Ray at Amazon at the moment.

http://news.smh.com.au/toshiba-cuts-prices-on-hd-dvd-players/20080115-1lz5.html

Toshiba should just admit defeat and start making blu-ray. What's the point in trying to flog off machines dirt cheap if there's gonna be nothing new coming out for them in the next year. Unless they know it's over and they're getting rid of stock before they end up with a warehouse full of the the things.

Or they're trying to sell a lot of HDDVD machines to dumb consumers who don't know the difference, so they'll have a larger install base and maybe coax some studios back?

They should have done this months ago ...

does this mean all div-x rips will be 'blu ray' compat now or something??


seriously - who gives a s***?


come the next version of MS media centre peeps will be licensed to legally rip their collection/tv eps/home vids to the hdd and really disliking all this crap/hoops/red tape/blah blah blah. Of course we'll be going the 'MS Way" unless a better/free one comes along

last edited by koopz at 23:26:16 15/Jan/08