Universal Poised to Hop On BD Bandwagon?

[hyperdine]

We're not the only ones who think this is a very real possibility. Check it out...

http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/02/07...ray-bandwagon/

Of course, hmurch had to put in his two cents...

[Deciazulado]

Don't tell me one of his cents is named B and the other cent is named S

I dare not to look

[hyperdine]

Originally Posted by Deciazulado

Don't tell me one of his cents is named B and the other cent is named S

I dare not to look

LOL! I think his two cents are in Monopoly money Here's an excerpt so that you don't have to bother with seeing Mr. Murch in action...

"Let me spell it out for you, Burnstein. Universal gets to enjoy some sweet market share without Sony and Disney playing in their high-definition home video pool... at least for a while. But over time its going to become increasingly difficult to ignore all those PlayStation 3s stacking the deck for Blu-ray. Sure, the attach rates on the game consoles for movies may be lower than those for the dedicated players, but it's still going to move a lot of discs. Universal is the weakest link among the HD DVD backers. Unlike Toshiba, it has no hardware R&D investment to lose. And unlike Microsoft, it has no axe to grind with Sony or Java."

"So, you're saying that as soon as Universal has milked HD DVD hard enough to attract a PETA protest, they'll abandon their customers and flip to the Blu-ray side?"

"Like a TotalHD disc."

"Bloat, you can't just go around accusing content companies of consumer-hostile behavior. I know one guy who did that and they sued him, three generations of his dead ancestors, his five year-old daughter and her future kids. Universal is the only major studio exclusively supporting HD DVD. If your theory comes true, the format could be as dead as Elvis."

"We really need to have a long talk."

Couldn't have said it better myself... and this is not some random guy on the street, either. This is the director of industry analysis at NPD.

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by hmurchison

Guess the analysyst forgot to mention Universal re-iterated no plans to support Blu-ray this year. They specifically mentioned 100 "Exclusive" titles. The speculation is just that...speculation. Let is not forget that neither format amounts to more than a micro fraction of numbers compared to DVD. The PS3 is a game console that doesn't have enough games yet and is a capable movie player. Let us get real here. A million PS3 and Standalone BD players plus better current release schedule should equal a BD whitewash and that really isn't happening.

So, if Universal were to release all of 2006 on BD, and 50 titles on BD and HD DVD and 100 only on HD DVD, that would mean....

100 "Exclusive" titles. Imagine that.

The point: Universal can release "exclusive" titles and still put a heck of a lot out on BD. They are WAY behind.

Let us get real here indeed. Do you really think Universal is going to manage to get 100 titles out in North America starting in May?

Is it my imagination, or do we see the moment Amir questions the strength of HD discs, all his little generals march out and question the strength of HD discs?

Do these guys have a conference call or somethin'?


Gary

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by hyperdine

Couldn't have said it better myself... and this is not some random guy on the street, either. This is the director of industry analysis at NPD.

This will merely convince the desperate that NPD has been bought by Sony.

[Deane Johnson]

Originally Posted by Dave Mack

hmurchison's real name is "harrison"...?!?!?

Doesn't he work for Toshiba?

[Alex Pallas]

we know what side he's really on

[ra1024]

Reading the comments to that article was really interesting. Is it just me or do these fanboys not know what monopoly means?

"Well if they do that then Universal will lose out on the monopoly it has and lose a crap load of money!"

It's funny that they think being the only company exclusive means being the only company selling .

I like this comment with the emphasis being on "few".

"If you own an HD-DVD player, you will most likely have a few Universal titles"

I think this was one of the better comments about Universal saying they had no plans this year to support BR.

"Hilariously, Warner and Paramount were saying the very same thing in mid-2005. In fact, Warner spokespeople were sometimes the mouthpiece for HD DVD, and their support was described as "hard-line" and "unwavering". Funny how short some people's memory is."

[ProvenFlipper]

I think its funny that they comment on Universal having to compete with Fox, Disney, etc for sales if they release on BD, when the fact of the matter is, they are already competing for sales on HD-DVD, because most of their owners went out and bought BD players when the drought started.

[Zvi]

I'm no expert in all this, but IMHO it will be very hard to justify ignoring BD market even if it's only 3:1 advantage in sales on BD side. That is unless the whole hidef media is sold @ a loss, which I seriously doubt.

[JTK]

Originally Posted by Deciazulado

Don't tell me one of his cents is named B and the other cent is named S

I dare not to look

You know it.

I think MS and Toshiba must be paying some of their employees outright to basically live on the Internet and post their FUD and lies in as many places as possible.

Hmurchision being another case in point. I'm glad a lot more people know that he is indeed affiliated with Toshiba. I see someone even called him out on it even in that engadget comment chat lineup.

[Longshot]

Universal is floundering in all divisons. They need revenue stream. BD sales are impossible to ignore and are only going to get stronger starting with Casino Royale on March 13th. I agree with others here who think the time frame for nuetrality will be 4th quarter this year at the latest.

[JTK]

Originally Posted by Longshot

Universal is floundering in all divisons. They need revenue stream. BD sales are impossible to ignore and are only going to get stronger starting with Casino Royale on March 13th. I agree with others here who think the time frame for nuetrality will be 4th quarter this year at the latest.

The way this is shaping up, in terms of exclusive content, March-May really could finish this thing off and turn that tide once and for all.

Like you said: Starting with Casino Royale, the rocket busters just start getting cranked out left and right. It's a very noticeable increase in terms of exclusive titles and quality titles, for the most part vs. where we are even now.

Can you imagine if the rumors come true and those two Spiderman films make it out in May to finish it off? To say nothing about Disney Pirates films and the rest of it?

[theknub]

i think the may releases will be like getting rid of that noisy cricket in the kitchen. unfortuanately, he had some kids and will make a bit of noise for a bit. however, there is no indication warner and paramount will be releasing anything that is a lifesaver and universal has been an utter joke year to date. i think hd-doa will be done or just about there till the end of the year, but no one will pay any notice and blu-ray should basically drown out the competition. after all, shock and awe started. we're just rolling out the nukes and pointing them at the competitions major cities.

[JTK]

March-May is definitely starting to shape up as a true shock and awe campaign after a nice, incremental, steady build up that we've already been enjoying.

[funnymanbing]

Yeah, and let's not forget that the PS3 gets released in Europe in March.

[JTK]

Originally Posted by funnymanbing

Yeah, and let's not forget that the PS3 gets released in Europe in March.

^^ You got it. That's when the rest of the world finally gets in this ballgame.

Notice how that's when some of the big games start to roll out as well, like MotorSport?

Clearly it's the other foot dropping on the PS3 launch.

[Spankey]

I wouldn't be surprised if Universal comes onboard when Vivendi starts releasing games for the PS3. Whisper campaigns tend to start with leaks. Didn't Universal even say that if there was money to be made they would consider Blu-ray? I'm sure department heads from various studios talked at CES. The communication is ongoing. It will happen.

[Damon Payne]

It starts even before then with Virtua Fighter 5 on Feb 20th.

[Longshot]

Originally Posted by theknub

i think the may releases will be like getting rid of that noisy cricket in the kitchen. unfortuanately, he had some kids and will make a bit of noise for a bit. however, there is no indication warner and paramount will be releasing anything that is a lifesaver and universal has been an utter joke year to date. i think hd-doa will be done or just about there till the end of the year, but no one will pay any notice and blu-ray should basically drown out the competition. after all, shock and awe started. we're just rolling out the nukes and pointing them at the competitions major cities.

HD-DOA! LOL!