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

[Coltboy]

i have said it before and i will say it again, i'd rather have it in my hand in disk form than to download it, to many things can happen in the downloding process for me to fully trust downloading

[ReduxInflux]

first excellent commentary. i share your thoughts. the PS3 is blu-ray's anchor. blu-ray's house is built on a rock. hd-dvd's is built on sand.

now about MS and downloading - i for one am a fan of the "idea" of downloading. no need for dvd storage. easy access. convenient...but there aren't too many other pros out there. the cons: viruses. crashing hardware. glitches. hard disk storage space. potential sluggish bandwidth issues. no hard copy backups. and finally, not really a deal breaker - but no art work. even if it were to ever come out, i would still opt for the disc. i still enjoy the process of shopping for my movies and i like having a hard copy in my hand. because its tangible and its subject to my control. and that's the word.

[Robmx]

Once again MS is trying to copy Apple..... Apple already offers movies for downloads on iTunes in the U.S. ...... Has yet to come here in Canada, but I would rather buy a Blu-ray disc anyways !

[shug7272]

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.

I hope you are using the word "strange" above with some sarcasm. Who wants to spend money on something that can be lost because of a power outage at the wrong time? Not me.

[statikcat]

I would not have ever spent 500$ for a BD player. But I sure as hell paid 500$ for a PS3 and a BD player. Many people would love to buy BD but will wait until they can afford a PS3 to do so. And this Xmas many of those people will get just that!

[CAB]

Originally Posted by blujacket

Not to mention download bandwidth problems for isp's.

Microsoft intends to combat that by attempting to head off any attempts to show the mean-level consumer the huge difference between current DVD and BD. People get streamed content from their cable provider or sat provider that's called HD and they seem content. Microsoft has a vested interest in keeping the average consumer as ignorant of options as possible so they can serve up 5 GB HD content through downloads and maybe even let the consumer burn the crappy content to a optical disc for later consumption. Do I want to see the same quality on my iPhone as I get on my 70" HDTV? Hell no!

I don't rip anything unless it's lossless (thanks apple for the lossess encoder). I also don't steal content from rentals or online downloads. I bought DVDs then replaced with super-bit versions whenever they came available. If I can't get it in the best quality possible, I won't buy it. This is why I support Blu-ray.

-CB

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by shug7272

I hope you are using the word "strange" above with some sarcasm. Who wants to spend money on something that can be lost because of a power outage at the wrong time? Not me.

It is, and for that very reason.

A home-theater fan's hard-disk videoshelf is his castle--Just borrow a fellow fan's disk sometime, if you don't believe me.

[Horhay]

That damn video downloading bs from M$ is so horrible and with a 20GB hdd no way am I going to waste my time downloading 4 or 5GB movie and to top it all off the 120GB is priced off the roof! like if its some magical piece of hardware.

[BigB88]

Originally Posted by Mr.Neutral

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.

I would agree with "early stages", but we also see "early trends" and the early trends tell us where most consumers may end up. Remember as we get closer to 2009 where analog signals turn to digital, a great deal of the viewing population will more then likely purchase HDTV's instead of shelling out $$ for a analog to digital converter box. Once this happens, they will be looking for HD quality players, recorders and content. The vendor who has critical mass at this point in time and is seen as the leader (aka BluRay most likely) will be the big winner and we will still be years away from high quality digital download.

[JonD7]

Hahaha! I love this forum.

anyways... yeah I plan to not buy any games till next year, going to be a pain to hold off but I may just buy Heavenly Sword and the rest will go to Blu-Ray films.

Underworld
Bram Stokers Dracula
Dawn Of The Dead
Edward Scissorhands
From Hell
The Fly
Cast Away
The Shining
Spider-Man Trilogy
Mr. and Mrs Smith
Robocop
I, Robot
POTC
Ratatoulie
Die Hard Trilogy

that will pretty much be what i'll be buying, am I missing anything seriously kick ass? haha

[marzetta7]

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.

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.

Wow. You must be reading my mind today. I was seriously thinking just this--that an attempt to derail Blu-ray momentum from a studio perspective would simply make consumers balk on either format, thus making the PS3 and even more prevalent factor. Especially if Sony can wise up and give us a bombshell price point of $399. They'll easily double the number of units this way, and they'd be really smart to couple this with marketing that drives home the message of high-def movie playback in the stores using the PS3.

I can't agree more with your logical reasoning here.

[DJeffries]

This deal was done to a) try force MS owned standards on everyone in the short term and b) ensure the failure of HD optical media in the long term to force downloading preferably off the Xbox live service with exclusive deals. Think about it, if you don’t own an Xbox 360 you would have to buy one. And when the 720 comes out support for the 360 will be phased out at an accelerated pace. Forced upgrade!

I never downloaded music and I have no interest in ever downloading movies. I want my physical media. I want to be able to play my content on any compatible player without having to beg some provider. I don’t want to have my machine online for hours on end to acquire my content. Can’t imagine what 720P compressed to 5GB would look like.

I do know two people who have tried the Xbox live rentals and the consensus is that it was slow (even with a 4Mbs cable connection), expensive, and a generally bad experience. Both also own a PS3 and know it plays BD movies. Between them they have bought a total of 3 movies in about a year’s time.

Then there are people like me who bought the PS3 for its BD movie player capability only. My reasoning for the PS3 was two fold.
1) It was highly rated and the most affordable player at the time.
2) If Blu-ray does not succeed it will still have value as a game console and will still play whatever movies I had bought. HD-DVD was in the lead at the time.

Guess my point is that the PS3 is going to be a tough bird to figure.

I sure hope this blowsup in their face.

[monkyman]

Originally Posted by AustinSTI

I agree - even with Transformers and Bourne on the HD-DVD side you just won't outsell POTC 3 and Spidey 3. Typically the BO on movies is a good indicator as to how well home video will sell and both POTC and Spidey out did Transformers and Bourne at the box.

Actually The Bourne movie is shedualed for Jan 08 release at this time. It could change though.

[TorpedoShockwave]

I have preordered theses titles this morning.

Nature's Journey
Royal Space Force: Wings of Honneamise
A Few Good Men
Alexander Revisted: The Final Cut
The Condemned
House of 1000 Corpses
Troy: Director's Cut
Gothika
Tekkonkinkreet
Underworld: Extended Cut
Bram Stoker's Dracula
Dawn of the Dead
Day of the Dead
Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn
Galapagos
Halloween

[darkblueme]

All Paramount has done is put a small dent in Blu-Ray. Nothing else. Sure, a lot of us are feeling defeated and down because we know the deal makes little sense. But we also know that Blu-Ray will continue to outsell HD-DUDs through the holiday season.

Don't give up hope!

We still have Disney on our side, which counts for a lot!! And when those Starz (Anchor Bay) titles begin showing up, more people will join the blu-side.

No worries at all!

[blukrank]

Originally Posted by red_5ive

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

Like the old saying goes Money Talks and Bulls**T walks!

[The Don]

Originally Posted by skyfire1973

Paramount pissed me off so much...
I ordered 18 Blu ray movies over the past 24 hours....

Smallville Season 6
Planet Earth
A Few Good Men
Cars
Troy
We Are Marshall
Memoirs Of A Geisha
Underworld
Day After Tomorrow
Galapagos
Robocop
Spiderman Trilogy
Ratatouille
I,Robot
Cast Away
ID:4
POTC 3
Master & Commander

I want Blu Ray to win in a landslide.....

Also I can't wait for more titles to come......
Love to spend my money on BLU!!!!!!!!!!

Skyfire1973


P.S. I got a great idea from another TRU BLU FAN......
Everyone go to amazon.com and order Transformers on Blu-ray......
Amazon might go to Paramount and show how many people pre-ordered it and show how much money
they are losing......

they aren't losing anything when they get 150 mil to jump ship...

Paramount sees it like this..

150 mil to jump ship > anything they would make off every BD for the next 18 months.....

plus production costs etc..

[Teazle]

Originally Posted by DJeffries

This deal was done to a) try force MS owned standards on everyone in the short term and b) ensure the failure of HD optical media in the long term to force downloading preferably off the Xbox live service with exclusive deals. Think about it, if you don’t own an Xbox 360 you would have to buy one. And when the 720 comes out support for the 360 will be phased out at an accelerated pace. Forced upgrade!

I never downloaded music and I have no interest in ever downloading movies. I want my physical media. I want to be able to play my content on any compatible player without having to beg some provider. I don’t want to have my machine online for hours on end to acquire my content. Can’t imagine what 720P compressed to 5GB would look like.

I do know two people who have tried the Xbox live rentals and the consensus is that it was slow (even with a 4Mbs cable connection), expensive, and a generally bad experience. Both also own a PS3 and know it plays BD movies. Between them they have bought a total of 3 movies in about a year’s time.

Then there are people like me who bought the PS3 for its BD movie player capability only. My reasoning for the PS3 was two fold.
1) It was highly rated and the most affordable player at the time.
2) If Blu-ray does not succeed it will still have value as a game console and will still play whatever movies I had bought. HD-DVD was in the lead at the time.

Guess my point is that the PS3 is going to be a tough bird to figure.

I sure hope this blowsup in their face.

Not only will we be able to play our movies for the lifetime of the PS3, given backwards compatibility of past PS generations odds seem pretty good that the PS4 will support BD as well. So even if HDM ultimately flops entirely we will very probably be able to get good quality, brand new BD players at retail in say 2015 or 2020. Whatever happens the discs will be watchable for a good long time.

Can't say the same for the prospects of HD-DVD future hardware support at this point.

[Lord_Stewie]

Originally Posted by ReduxInflux

first excellent commentary. i share your thoughts. the PS3 is blu-ray's anchor. blu-ray's house is built on a rock. hd-dvd's is built on sand.

now about MS and downloading - i for one am a fan of the "idea" of downloading. no need for dvd storage. easy access. convenient...but there aren't too many other pros out there. the cons: viruses. crashing hardware. glitches. hard disk storage space. potential sluggish bandwidth issues. no hard copy backups. and finally, not really a deal breaker - but no art work. even if it were to ever come out, i would still opt for the disc. i still enjoy the process of shopping for my movies and i like having a hard copy in my hand. because its tangible and its subject to my control. and that's the word.

i hear what you are saying. I too like to have the sense of control when i go out and purchase a copy of a movie.

[zombieking]

I love blu-ray! Even the name is sexy...