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

[red_5ive]

Ummm... is it just me, or does a $150 million price tag explain everything?

[joeorc]

Originally Posted by nomad2010

does anyone find it odd that Blu-Ray has superior specs, superior sales, and who knows how many PS3's out there but yet even though Blu-Ray is outselling HD-DVD at rates of 3 to 1 now, why would any company side with HD-DVD?

Anyone with common sense would side with the one that is selling better and the one with the better specs. So why is there even a war?

its simple:

MICROSOFT:
ALL BECAUSE the BDA went ahead and is useing JAVA and not...drum roll please

IHD.

SONY and the BDA are not going to pay Microsoft for interactive features they can get for free with JAVA.

the culprit is Microsoft..the BDA side is saying no to Microsoft's IHD

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by nomad2010

does anyone find it odd that Blu-Ray has superior specs, superior sales, and who knows how many PS3's out there but yet even though Blu-Ray is outselling HD-DVD at rates of 3 to 1 now, why would any company side with HD-DVD?

Anyone with common sense would side with the one that is selling better and the one with the better specs. So why is there even a war?

Because wars are not fought for principle, they are fought for land, oil, gold, water, minerals, drug trade, political influence, and other physical resources that one side wants to own without dispute from another.

...Like, Microsoft VC-1 coding, for example.

[Gremal]

Originally Posted by red_5ive

Ummm... is it just me, or does a $150 million price tag explain everything?

Makes sense to me. Predatory business practices. MS in a nutshell.

[Blu-Ray Buckeye]

I'm not an insider by any means, but hear me out on this. This is why I believe the M$/Paramount deal will blow up in their faces.

The deal was done not to benefit HD-DVD, who already had Paramount movies, but to hurt blu-ray. We all know this already. The net result will be more confusion for the average consumer who will now be more likely to forego purchasing a player of either format... so the adoption of HD stalls for awhile, which as we also know is exactly what M$ wants.

OK, but wait! Here comes X-Mas and lower prices on PS3. As we all know too well, the average consumer is oblivious that the PS3 is a great BD player. So they keep buying PS3s as gifts with the intent of playing games. The point is that the Paramount deal has ZERO impact on sales of PS3, which will still be great for the holidays. Now suddenly we have an ever-ballooning installed base of PS3s. And like many of us, these people will become blu-ray collectors AFTER the fact specifically because of their PS3.

Does anyone who isn't an HD-DVD fanboy really believe this deal now gives the average person strong incentive to buy an HD-DVD standalone? Doubt it. It just keeps more people on the sidelines. Meanwhile PS3 sales roll on unabated later spilling over into new blu-ray adopters.

As far as Microsoft's world of HD downloads... I think we all know that pipedream is a decade away from being ready for prime time.

Let me summarize it this way... if the HD train were charging down the tracks and everyone was buying standalones of both formats, then the PS3 wouldn't be as critical a factor in the war. But if people are scared and stay on the sidelines... the PS3 is the war.

[cartier]

Originally Posted by Blu-Ray Buckeye

As far as Microsoft's world of HD downloads... I think we all know that pipedream is a decade away from being ready for prime time.

Not to mention that consumers have a strange desire to possess an actual hard copy of most of their entertainment material, especially movies.

[Glow007]

I can answer that question with one word...Micro$oft.

Micro$oft came out and stated that they dont think either will win. And they dont want either to win...they want both to fail. If both fail, then the door is open for the download services they are trying to push.

Bottom line is that M$ is driving this format war because if BD wins then they lose out for probably another 10 years.

They dont care about HD-DVD or want HD-DVD to win...they just support HD because it hurts BD

[BigB88]

Originally Posted by Blu-Ray Buckeye

I'm not an insider by any means, but hear me out on this. This is why I believe the M$/Paramount deal will blow up in their faces.

The deal was done not to benefit HD-DVD, who already had Paramount movies, but to hurt blu-ray. We all know this already. The net result will be more confusion for the average consumer who will now be more likely to forego purchasing a player of either format... so the adoption of HD stalls for awhile, which as we also know is exactly what M$ wants.

OK, but wait! Here comes X-Mas and lower prices on PS3. As we all know too well, the average consumer is oblivious that the PS3 is a great BD player. So they keep buying PS3s as gifts with the intent of playing games. The point is that the Paramount deal has ZERO impact on sales of PS3, which will still be great for the holidays. Now suddenly we have an ever-ballooning installed base of PS3s. And like many of us, these people will become blu-ray collectors AFTER the fact specifically because of their PS3.

Does anyone who isn't an HD-DVD fanboy really believe this deal now gives the average person strong incentive to buy an HD-DVD standalone? Doubt it. It just keeps more people on the sidelines. Meanwhile PS3 sales roll on unabated later spilling over into new blu-ray adopters.

As far as Microsoft's world of HD downloads... I think we all know that pipedream is a decade away from being ready for prime time.

I would agree with most of your points, but you need to remember a couple of things; 1.) Microsoft did this to indeed slow down BluRay and give hope to their HD download, which IMHO is years off, so the question is why now, why this announcement at this point? (Only reasonable answer: A preemptive strike to some sort of major BluRay announcement of some kind) 2.) Microsoft is not only competing for HD download, but they are competing for the actual gaming console as well (XBOX360 vs Playstation3). So Microsoft doesn't want PS3's sold, my guess is that they will lower their XBOX 360 Elite and XBOX360 price for the holiday's as well - Stalemate to delay HD media for even longer.

[Blu-Ray Buckeye]

Originally Posted by BigB88

I would agree with most of your points, but you need to remember a couple of things; 1.) Microsoft did this to indeed slow down BluRay and give hope to their HD download, which IMHO is years off, so the question is why now, why this announcement at this point? (Only reasonable answer: A preemptive strike to some sort of major BluRay announcement of some kind) 2.) Microsoft is not only competing for HD download, but they are competing for the actual gaming console as well (XBOX360 vs Playstation3). So Microsoft doesn't want PS3's sold, my guess is that they will lower their XBOX 360 Elite and XBOX360 price for the holiday's as well - Stalemate to delay HD media for even longer.

I think that I did address #1 except without your conjecture about the preemptive strike... it isn't necessary to make my point.

As for #2, the average consumer is not buying either PS3 or the 360 Elite for the HD viewing experience. The few that do always choose PS3 as the X-Box add-on is not being viewed as a viable option and the sales bear that out. I think the Paramount deal is a moot point re X-Mas console sales.

[blujacket]

Not to mention download bandwidth problems for isp's.

[Paladin]

(Announcer One) The players are in their formations, the ball is snapped, hand-off is to Blu Ray. Blu Ray surges through a hole in the line and he’s streaking towards the end zone.

(Announcer Two) Wow, even with an early jump on the ball, HD DVD is really starting to lag behind Blu Ray, I don’t think he’ll ever be able to catch him.

(Announcer One) Wait a minute folks, Microsoft has jumped in from the sidelines and has blind sided Blu Ray.

(Announcer Two) Can they really do that?

(Announcer One) With their money they can pretty much do anything they want as long as they grease the right palms.

(Announcer Two) Wow, look at that, Microsoft is clinging onto Blu Ray, slowing him down; will HD DVD ever catch up?

(Announcer One) I don’t think so, he looks kind of winded.

There we have it; the format war has taken an unexpected turn. While HD DVD fans are cheering and Blu Ray supporters scratch their heads in amazement that Sony couldn’t stop this, one wonders what it all means.

Another analogy might make it clearer. The HD DVD bunny was being chased though the woods by the Blu Ray coyote, when all of a sudden; the Microsoft Bear jumps out of the bushes and starts chasing the Blu Ray coyote. Soon, the HD DVD bunny is jumping alongside the Microsoft bear saying “The enemy of my enemy is my friend!” What the HD DVD bunny didn’t realize is, he’ll become a nice snack after the Blu Ray coyote is gone.

Microsoft should have no interest in the fight between Blu Ray and HD DVD, but they do. This is just speculation, but MS’s interest is that neither format wins. If HD DVD was making the sprint to the end zone, they’d be propping up Blu Ray. Why?

Xbox live offers HD content for sale. MS makes money off of this. If more and more HD content was offered up online though MS marketplaces, they’ll be making more and more money. They have little interest in either HD DVD or Blu Ray as sales of those disks don’t make them money. The longer the war goes on, the more people will sit on the sidelines waiting for a winner before deciding on what to buy. Soon, MS will jump in with online HD content delivery and the masses will flock to them for salvation from the HD wars. MS wins, everyone else looses.

The biggest looser will be the consumer. Right now Online HD movie offerings on Xbox live are not equal to their disk counterparts, all that I saw were 720p, and I am not aware of any that are 1080P. All the special features that we get on disks will most likely become additional sources of revenue (Buy the movie for $15.99 and you can download the cast commentary for only $1.99 extra!) Also gone will be the extra soundtracks as each download will be tailored to downloader.

With Paramount dropping Blu Ray support, the biggest winner for now is companies that make dual format players. They become more necessary, and if one format ever wins the war, the people on the loosing side will be forced to buy the dual format players so they can watch their old format movies and gain access to all the new format movies without having two players.

Right now, the biggest losers are the talent whose lively hood depends on sales of those movies. While the studio received a nice fat infusion of cash to drop Blu Ray support, the talent that made the movies won’t see a dime of it. The talent will miss out on their royalties from the sales of their movies for Blu Ray. As the movie 300 has shown, Blu Ray sales are much greater then HD DVD and it will take HD DVD years to match the Blu Ray numbers.

Paladin

[Mr.Neutral]

Originally Posted by Blu-Ray Buckeye

As for #2, the average consumer is not buying either PS3 or the 360 Elite for the HD viewing experience. The few that do always choose PS3 as the X-Box add-on is not being viewed as a viable option and the sales bear that out. I think the Paramount deal is a moot point re X-Mas console sales.

I think the "average consumer" isn't buying much of either. We're still in the early stages of this. Price has dropped us below the typical EA market, but we're sort of still in it.

[Blu Tiger]

Originally Posted by Blu-Ray Buckeye

As far as Microsoft's world of HD downloads... I think we all know that pipedream is a decade away from being ready for prime time.

Originally Posted by cartier

Not to mention that consumers have a strange desire to possess an actual hard copy of most of their entertainment material, especially movies.

Good points in your post Buckeye. And I, along with many of my friends, will never be into downloading. I like owning something tangible too cuz I like collecting things.

Another point is not everyone has the access to the internet (many of my friends do not). These people that don't obviously can't download movies. They will need a physical media format.

[GCW2216]

$150,000,000 should cover Paramount's losses for dropping Blu-ray. Who is running these companies?

[Paladin]

Originally Posted by GCW2216

$150,000,000 should cover Paramount's losses for dropping Blu-ray. Who is running these companies?

Yes, but that does squat for the talent who won't see a dime of it.

Paladin

[GCW2216]

Apparently they don't care about them. Hopefully more directors will step up like Spielberg and Bay. Blu-ray is the far superior format, I don't know why this war hasn't ended already.

[BigB88]

Originally Posted by GCW2216

$150,000,000 should cover Paramount's losses for dropping Blu-ray. Who is running these companies?

The "bad will" this has created with consumers cannot be measured. In the short run, Paramount/Viacom make out like bandits, in the long run, they are in deep deep trouble.

[dobyblue]

From the last issue of Home Media Magazine.

Sorry MS, you just threw away $150 million.

Ha, ha.

[theknub]

Originally Posted by dobyblue

From the last issue of Home Media Magazine.

Sorry MS, you just threw away $150 million.

Ha, ha.

great article

[dobyblue]

Less than 20% would do it again!!
That sucks....for MS!