Paramount/DreamWorks fallout... a primal scream therapy thread for Blu-ray fans

[Lepton]

This is Paramounts strategy. They know they don't have much to offer for Q4 other than TF. So why not grab the $150 million on alleged bribes now?

It is pretty brilliant... grab the money now, and wait to see how the market performs. You can always switch sides later. But this might be like selling your soul to Satan... it will last forever and Paramount stays in the toilet for eternity.

[Croweyes1121]

You know, one thing that really surprises me that gets consistently overlooked with Paramount is the Star Trek FILMS. I would REALLY love to have those on Blu-Ray. I'd be far more interested in the films than any of the TV series, for that matter. Now, granted, they never so much as whispered on any plans to release them when they were in the BD camp, either, but when they went to the HD DVD side, the ST movies were the first thing I thought of. Of course, I hope the speculation about their just doing this through the end of THIS year proves true so it won't matter...I'd hate to have to pass up on the trek films. If those start coming out on HD DVD, I'll be truly sad.

[krinkle]

Originally Posted by blitz6speed

More i think about it, more i am ok with it. HD DVD is cracked for the life of the format, so i will just rent/rip the discs and burn them onto BD-R discs for ~8 bux a peice. Cheaper then buying retail paramount blu-ray discs anyway. So in a way, im saving money by not supporting paramount anymore.

Is there a FAQ anywhere that explains how this works?

[blitz6speed]

Originally Posted by statikcat

Is their quality loss when going from HD DVD to BD? Dont you have to re-encode the video causing the loss?

There is 0 quality loss in audio or video. Video is untouched. The audio is re-encoded from DD+/TrueHD to either PCM, TrueHD or DTS 1.5M.

[Avatar72]

Seriously, if Wal-Mart goes Blu-Ray only, GAME OVER. anyone think its possible?

How much money will it take?

[LeoneFan]

I know some of you are really angry and discouraged by today's news but listen up, this format war is still ours and the Paramount deal isn't going to change that one bit. Blu-ray has been kicking HDDVD around all this year and now that FOX and MGM have returned it's time to show M$ and Paramount that they can't change what's in store for HDDVD... total annihilation. Don't let your support for Blu-ray dwindle because that's exactly what M$ wants so they can push their garbage mediocre downloads and format down the consumer's throat. Keep fighting the good fight and keep buying Blu-ray discs.

Say NO to HDDVD... say NO to M$!!!

[Icemage]

Not money. Support. Sony needs to get one of the Chinese manufacturers off the sidelines and into the hardware war like now. I know they're coming; they need to get here faster.

Give Wal-Mart a SoC Chinese Blu-ray player that they can price to move and you'd see HD DVD's standalone advantage vanish overnight.

[Lepton]

Originally Posted by Icemage

Give Wal-Mart a SoC Chinese Blu-ray player that they can price to move and you'd see HD DVD's standalone advantage vanish overnight.

As much as I hope the cheap players will come. It is only a dream. The BD companies want the players to remain expensive to attain high profit margins. Unfortunately you cannot do that in the face of competition that is willing to lose money.

If you split open a BDP-300 and take inventory... it is no where NEAR $500 in parts. It is closer to $200. Greed will lose this format war.

[Anthony P]

I know some of you are really angry and discouraged by today's news but listen up, this format war is still ours and the Paramount deal isn't going to change that one bit.

angry, a bit
disapointed in Paramounts total disregard of their consumers, a lot
discouraged, not at all

Blu-ray has been kicking HDDVD around all this year and now that FOX and MGM have returned it's time to show M$ and Paramount that they can't change what's in store for HDDVD... total annihilation. Don't let your support for Blu-ray dwindle because that's exactly what M$ wants so they can push their garbage mediocre downloads and format down the consumer's throat. Keep fighting the good fight and keep buying Blu-ray discs.

agree, will also say to others don't let this make you go neutral and add an HD DVD player. That is letting MS, HD DVD and anti-consumer/anti-competitive interests win. Something that neither helps the individual nor HDOM

[gand41f]

Originally Posted by shadblz

Hey guys,

I implore you not to switch from a bluray supporter to a format Neutral. this is exactly what HD DUD group want, and it explains why paramount is in their pocket now. what i think we should do is:

1) first completely ignore the announcement made by paramount.
2) boycott paramount and that includes NOT PURCHASING their DVD releases, and theatrical releases.
3) continue sending them letters of objections.
4) purchase Sony's, Fox's, and Disney's releases because they are exclusive first, then Warner's releases comes second. (IN OTHER WORDS CONTINUE YOUR SUPPORT TO BD.)

This is all but a dirty strategy by MS, and Toshiba to cause an episode of divide and conquer to Beat BD. meaning if you become a format neutral, and purchase an HD DVD player, then you took the bait, and possibly could contribute to hurting bluray's sales.

IF THEY WANT WAR, THEN THEY SHOULD GET IT.

Quoted for total agreement. The war is far from over -- DUD threw a desperation punch and BD got a bloody nose, nothing more. BD is still leading in disc and player sales (count whatever %age of PS3 as makes sense) as well as studio support.

I fully expect BD to strike back with so much fury that some people in Paramount will, well, feel they wish they were never born.

enjoy
gandalf

[w_tanoto]

how about The Hours?? It is owned by Paramount in USA, and Miramax/Disney internationally. I want it on BD (I'm in UK)

[joeorc]

Originally Posted by Incog

Titles like Aeon Flux, The Italian Job. Mission Impossible 1,2,3?

Are these going to vanish on Blu-ray now that Paramount decided to take some cash under the table to axe Blu titles?

buy them in DVD only do not boy cot them show them by not buying their
HD DVD copy. mean while as long as the blu-ray support is still 2 to 1 it will not matter. with OUT DISNEY HD DVD is sunk. they cannot win without DISNEY. the reason being is most people who purchased the VHS and DVD player mainly did for Disney releases. DISNEY sell players. this choice by PARAMOUNT is going to bite them right in the @ss.

[Slackr89]

Heres mine...i hope they actually read these emails. I know they will get alot of them


I am writing in regards to your companies recent buyout to go HD DVD exclusive. I'd like to say that I am extremely disappointed with this news. The numbers on official Blu-ray and HD DVD charts do not lie. Fact is, you WILL lose money by going HD DVD exclusive, no matter how much Paramount was paid to be exclusive the economic don't lie. Therefore I, as well with mass amount of Blu-ray supporters, will hereby; NOT buy any future Paramount DVD/HD DVD/Blu-ray movies; NOT see Paramount's theatre releases; and will NOT actively support, or recommend Paramount and DreamWorks to family, friends and all other BD supporters. I'd like to thank-you for reading this email.

[AlphaKev]

Hey guys, off the bat, I own an xbox360 with hd-dvd add-on and a ps3 so I buy movies in both formats. I also own 2 mac laptops and 2 PC desktops.
As much as I hate to say but to everyone who says boycott microsoft, the fan base for HDM right now is so small and Microsoft is an enormous international business that will not, in any near future, be put down.
It sucks that Paramount changed sides, is that enough to sway people....well, it shouldn't be, but in the large scheme of things the mass population doesn't care about this format war and that's what people fail to get. Not buying Paramount dvds will send a message, but the millions of other people in the world who continue to buy them will drown it out.
Vice-versa for any hd-dvd crap, they talk about boycotting blu-ray exclusive companies but there's not logic in it. Yes, it'll make you feel better but the rest of the world will keep those companies doing what they want.
I've always been neutral and I think both formats are great (i have no intentions on purchasing a stand alone player) so I can't really say anything on that subject.
Switching sides for any company only hurts the format war because it's going to discourage people who were thinking on jumping in to wait.
To be honest with you I could care less who wins the format war because in the end I still have my movies that will play on my devices (so will everyone who joined to losing side of the war, hd tvs will be widespread, put that player in your bonus room to watch when you want.)

[crackinhedz]

my message:

"...I would have paid $50 for a Blu-ray version of Transformers. Now I think I'll just bootleg it off the internet."

[Petra_Kalbrain]

Originally Posted by crackinhedz

my message:

"...I would have paid $50 for a Blu-ray version of Transformers. Now I think I'll just bootleg it off the internet."

ZING!!! I hope they read this one!

[Existentialist]

Originally Posted by bluflu

Brenda Ciccone
Paramount Home Entertainment
Phone: (323) 956-5000
Phone: (323) 956-8091
Email: brenda_ciccone@paramount.com

5555 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90038-3197

http://www.blu-raydisc.com/top/About...cle-14864.html

I posted these in another thread, but by following the formula of brenda's e-mail address, it is a likely assumption that some of the other higher-ups at paramount may have similar addresses, i sent e-mail's to all these: brad_grey@paramount.com, Thomas_Lesinski@paramount.com, kelley_avery@paramount.com, mark_baddagliacca@paramount.com, andrew_cripps@paramount.com, frederick_huntsberry@paramount.com, john lesher@paramount.com, rob_moore@paramount.com, hal_richardson@paramount.com, brad_weston@paramount.com, stacy_snider@paramount.com

[chinewalker]

Originally Posted by AlphaKev

To be honest with you I could care less who wins the format war because in the end I still have my movies that will play on my devices (so will everyone who joined to losing side of the war, hd tvs will be widespread, put that player in your bonus room to watch when you want.)

This is forum.blu-ray.com We don't swing both ways

[w_tanoto]

Originally Posted by Banjo

Yes, it will. People will just rip the movie out of the HD DVD and burn it onto a Blu-ray disc.

exactly what I'm gonna do!!

Another idea....... Buy the pirated version (DVD) of Paramount movies you want. The money won't definitely go to them. In Indonesia, it is very popular trend. (I own original DVDs, though, while my parents love pirated DVD)

[coolmilo]

At this point Blu-ray is OK as long as Warner remains format neutral. If I were on the BDA, I would focus my attention to ensure (guarantee) that Warner remains neutral. Also, I would work out a marketing deal (bribe) with Warner to ensure that Batman Begins, V for Vendetta, and the Matrix trilogy are released this holiday season. This would help take away some of the pain from today's announcement (yeah, the Fox announcement was not too shabby too).