[GregBlu5]

I wonder if Universal announces neutrality for only a 6-month period and then goes Blu exclusive well before the year is out. What would be the point of neutrality at this stage for an essentially dead format--except only as a brief transition period?

I mean, unless you're a real diehard Dud supporter, you know the game is effectively over. New buyers coming to the format are going to decline dramatically, no matter how cheap the machines. Early adopters are abandoning the format by selling off or going purple. Retail stores are going to start announcing that they aren't carrying HD titles after their stocks deplete. It's going to be a fast domino effect. Faster than most of us can imagine.

If this war told the studios anything, it was that consumers want the best Hi Def format; otherwise, why bother to make the transition to Hi Def? Sites like this will be significant in letting everyone know which studios are doing the best transfer jobs and which aren't. I won't be surprised if the studios that go Blu will be trying hard to out-Blu the Blu studios, to establish a beach-head in the new format--as much to save face as well as to sell disks. We here, especially, are going to carefully watch what they produce.

-Greg