Which Format War was more heated?

[EvolutionCherry]

1. VHS vs Beta
2. Blu-Ray Disc vs HD-DVD

[PeechCobblerPie]

I'm gonna go with the Hi-def war.

1. I don't even know if I was around for the other
2. Entertainment media has sky-rocketed since then in sales and simply in importance to people. And people get way more pissed off now a days when they're told that they're wrong about something they want to happen for themselves

[Marcusarilius]

HD for sure. Back in the day there was no intranet for voices to be heard either way.

[Mr. Al]

Blu-Ray Disc vs HD-DVD for sure. I remember the VHS Beta days. My dad made the decision to get the VHS format. Back then rentals were 8 bucks. Rental prices sure haven't changed much.

[sean10mm]

VHS vs. Beta wasn't a war in the public, just between the companies. People just picked a format and hoped for the best. Thanks to the internet, the HD format war got very personal for individual consumers.

There was really no equivalent to fanboys back then, you just bought the format you thought was the best bet and crossed your fingers. Internet arguments make people act fanatical.

[Shaman]

My brother had BETA and I had VHS, there was never a heated discussion it was all in fun. So now I have picked two winners in a row!

[Memnoch71]

HD is more heated, but I believe the No.2 would have been DVD vs. DIVX back in 1997-98. It was just a sampling of the all-out mean-spitited, vile-filled, emotionally-damaging train-wreck that the Blu vs. HD-DUD has been!

(I ran out of hyphenated sayings in the middle there. Darn, have to work on that....)

[BluRayExplosion]

Phonograph vs. Grammaphone? Seriously... I'm not near old enough to know anything about Beta/VHS. I just use that to poke fun at my dad. HD was my first format war... I feel old now.

[stockstar1138]

no doubt this format war was the most heated ever.

im not sure if we will every see anything like all the "drama" that happened in this war ever again.

i know there wasn't the backroom payoffs to studios to drop vhs to keep betamax alive.

it seemed like sony's biggest talking point was that betamax was of higher quality that is why you should get it, there wasn't nearly the amount of fud spinning like what the hd dvd camp has done. i wasn't alive back then, but somebody correct me if im wrong.

also i think that this is more or less two wars wrapped up into one, which may never happen again.

1. HD DVD vs. Blu-ray

2. PS3 vs. Xbox 360

All the gaming fanboy sites have covered this war well and fanboys of each console have taken sides for sure on the formats, while fanboys of each format seem to have taken sides in the game console wars too.

for example my brother has an xbox 360 and a ps3, he has 50 360 games and 3 ps3 games, he has 2 blu-ray movies and a sdtv. he supports blu-ray and when he goes and posts in 360 sites (about gaming and movies), which he is def. a 360 fan more than a ps3 just by looking at what he owns, about how these hd dvd fanboys should really throw in the towel and stop wasting their money that hd dvd is a dead format, they yell and curse and say he is a sony troll in disguise. its pathetic.

he has admitted to me that he believes the ps3 is the better built console and that it is future proof, but he buys 360 games over ps3 because he feels more comfortable with the controller and most 360 games to this point have run better on the 360. which is fair i feel.

[DrinkMore]

The HD wars. Never knew the Beta/VHS war so I can't tell you on that one.

[Shaman]

Beta vs. VHS was all about price, Sony's Beta had much better picture quality
but they did not Licence the technology, so when JVC allowed other manufacturers to produce less expensive players (eg: RCA had one with a wired remote for $800) the general public bought into it. The first real studio release that was affordable came out around 1982;Startrek: The Wraith of Khan at around $40, before that it was rental industry with movies selling for over $100.Studios just like Warner looked at the overall installed base of players which was in VHS's favor by a large margin and with the cost of production just started to release more movies on VHS which then sold more players and became a studio cash cow.

[sj001]

The HD war, by a mile, plus, back then there wasn't the internet for all of this hype and FUD and BS to spread around.

[PeteS]

At the birth of DVD there were very heated debates between the LD (LaserDisc) and VHS fans and those who saw DVD's potential. Many home theater folks were extremely dubious of DVD. So I suggest adding a new category LD & VHS vs. DVD

[CptGreedle]

Honestly, I think the HD format was is best compared to a soap opera.

All bodes well in the Blu-ray camp when suddenly... Paramount walks into the room. "I've been sleeping with another format! And I can never go back!"
Stabbed in the back, BD rises from the ashes like a phoenix... courting WB and making deals. Meanwhile HD DVD spreads slanderous filth about BD despite the sleeping around of other studios. Universal storms in the room "I will never join you!" *Slap*
Despite all.. WB leaves HD DVD and marries BD, bringing along her two kids, New Line and HBO.. and BD adopts them as his own.
Suddenly Paramount feels lonely and desperate, and HD is smirking in the corner... will the marriage last? Will HD DVD get the last laugh? Will BD have a happily ever after?
Find out all this and more, next week, on "Guiding Blu-Light"

[mystiksuicide]

Well I wasn't around when the beta vs vhs was around so i picked this one. Also because this war had fools like Amir and Lee making the most idiotic statements that sadly did convince others to join the dead format.

[Lord_Stewie]

i am thinking hi def war, cause it feels like a boxing match with HDDVD is getting the beating of a lifetime.

[ezcobar411]

I definitely believe this war was worse. The Internet and media coverage has given this a lot attention. I also agree that the PS3 and CrapBox360 played a part in it as well. Lol as you can see in my comment, PS3 FTW

[ZMan]

Well I was around when VHS vs. Beta was going on. I even owned one of each. That war was nothing compared to the HD war. Now with the Internet and commercial overload for every movie released we are bombarded with the factors in this war.

[Bourne1]

All these can't really compare in terms of which one was more heated. You have to look at the means and medium each side was able to communicate. We are in the age right now where blogs are king and almost every news paper can be read on line with each article having its own forum. With this war, we had a larger medium to use for our arguments and there is nothing more heated than an argument on the internet.

By the way here is another article on the Detroit Freepress. I just want everyone to check out the last three paragraphs. Best of all, check out the last sentence. Should be a slogan! But the guy also touts about HD-downloads.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...LOG01/80110036

[EvolutionCherry]

Originally Posted by CptGreedle

Honestly, I think the HD format was is best compared to a soap opera.

All bodes well in the Blu-ray camp when suddenly... Paramount walks into the room. "I've been sleeping with another format! And I can never go back!"
Stabbed in the back, BD rises from the ashes like a phoenix... courting WB and making deals. Meanwhile HD DVD spreads slanderous filth about BD despite the sleeping around of other studios. Universal storms in the room "I will never join you!" *Slap*
Despite all.. WB leaves HD DVD and marries BD, bringing along her two kids, New Line and HBO.. and BD adopts them as his own.
Suddenly Paramount feels lonely and desperate, and HD is smirking in the corner... will the marriage last? Will HD DVD get the last laugh? Will BD have a happily ever after?
Find out all this and more, next week, on "Guiding Blu-Light"

ROFL!! I'm sure that HD-DVD will die alone come the end of the soap.