Message from michaelbay.com

[webmaster@michaelbay]

Hello,

My name is Nelson and I'm the webmaster for the official Michael Bay site (Michaelbay.com) and the admin for Michael Bay's Shoot for the Edit (SFTE) forums.

I am here to extend an invitation to a civil debate on the SFTE forums on the subject of Blu-ray vs HD-DVD. An invitation has also gone out to members of AVS forum. The debate will be moderated by me and will be amongst one person representing this forum and one person representing the AVS forum.

Please choose ONE person among you to represent your forum. Let that person contact me at nelson@michaelbay.com so I can set up the debate.

Also, when you do select that one person to represent you, that person should have 3 to 5 question they are willing to ask the other side.

[SS316SRV]

Where is Penton or Paidgeek when we need them.

[andyparhelia]

Aye, either of the above or possibly Josh?

[Bigdog]

Isnt Michael Bay the guy who backed blu-ray untill the hd-dvd executives came knocking at his door with a blank check?

Really whats to discuss, if you want the absolute best format availible with top end sound and picture qualitys you purchase blu-ray, if you want to be able to spend 200 dollars less for entry level players then you buy hd-dvd.

[RobertB]

I sure wouldnt mind seeing either Penton, Paid or Max take the challenge.

But also I wouldnt mind seeing Richard J. Casey of R&BFilms stepping up. Being a guy who has really seen both sides of the fence he sure knows the differences and strenghts of the formats. Very respectable man in my book.

[WickyWoo]

None of those 3 people could do it. Their employers wouldn't allow it

[Maximus]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

None of those 3 people could do it. Their employers wouldn't allow it

Too right.

I can't even engage in format war style posts on this forum let alone on a more hostile one where the moderation will be set up against common sense.

It would also mean that legal will have to sign up and watch another forum to make sure I don't break confidence (atm they watch Blu-ray.com and ArsTechnica), I doubt they would appreciate another, especially if I get clearance for AVS.

[SS316SRV]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

None of those 3 people could do it. Their employers wouldn't allow it

I wont tell if they wont...

[tron3]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

None of those 3 people could do it. Their employers wouldn't allow it

Josh just said that being press may disqualify him.

Wicky, I vote for you. I'd say Bill Hunt if we could get him, but you are top dog around here as far as many are concerned.

[L or S of Perfect?]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

None of those 3 people could do it. Their employers wouldn't allow it

I'd vote for Richard Casey, but he's mentioned that he doesn't have a personal interest in either hd dvd or blu-ray as a format.

Edit: Darinp, although not a insider, would be a fair representative who is more interested in the truth than in spreading crap.

[bhampton]

I can't imagine the point of this.

I go to AVS everyday and debate Blu Ray vs. HD DVD. It's all most members do there anymore. Memebership here and there is not exclusive. I've been a member there since Jun 2000.

Hey, Mr. Bay left a lot of money on the table when he backed off his statements about Blu Ray and now he regrets it but I have no interest in helping him. If he can't make up his mind he needs to do some research on his own. He need not worry though Paramount will back on Blu soon and he'll get his Blu Ray transformers money soon enough.

-Brian

[webmaster@michaelbay]

Originally Posted by bhampton

I can't imagine the point of this.

I go to AVS everyday and debate Blu Ray vs. HD DVD. It's all most members do there anymore. Memebership here and there is not exclusive. I've been a member there since Jun 2000.

Hey, Mr. Bay left a lot of money on the table when he backed off his statements about Blu Ray and now he regrets it but I have no interest in helping him. If he can't make up his mind he needs to do some research on his own. He need not worry though Paramount will back on Blu soon and he'll get his Blu Ray transformers money soon enough.

-Brian

I assume you know that if a director doesn't have a clause in his contract, he can't force the studio to bow down to his will.

[BillCable]

Originally Posted by bhampton

I can't imagine the point of this.

-Brian

It's a (possibly) high-profile venue where one among us could disseminate the truth about the HD format war, and possibly sway a lot of potential customers and creators towards Blu. We should embrace any opportunity offered us to that end.

[webmaster@michaelbay]

Originally Posted by Bigdog

Isnt Michael Bay the guy who backed blu-ray untill the hd-dvd executives came knocking at his door with a blank check?

Really whats to discuss, if you want the absolute best format availible with top end sound and picture qualitys you purchase blu-ray, if you want to be able to spend 200 dollars less for entry level players then you buy hd-dvd.

Actually, a lot of non-tech people are on the fence about this. It's pretty hard to convince people to upgrade to HD much less asking them to pick between either formats.

It's just an honest request...the same I asked of the PC vs Mac community.

[glenn22]

I would say Josh should take up this challenge... I mean, who could better represent this forum?

[alain turgeon]

Originally Posted by glenn22

I would say Josh should take up this challenge... I mean, who could better represent this forum?

I agree with that.

[Bullseye]

Does Michael have a BD player to enjoy all his films already released on BD or does he just watch Transformer?

[gamer4eva]

Originally Posted by glenn22

I would say Josh should take up this challenge... I mean, who could better represent this forum?

totally agreed josh is the guy for the job and he'll know how to shut the fanbois up at AVS

[Bigdog]

Originally Posted by webmaster@michaelbay

Actually, a lot of non-tech people are on the fence about this. It's pretty hard to convince people to upgrade to HD much less asking them to pick between either formats.

It's just an honest request...the same I asked of the PC vs Mac community.

Actually every tech artical out there proves without question that blu-ray is the better format between the two, it's pretty obvious when we start seeing all of these hd-dvd titles being released with features being cut out because of space limitations on the disk, the better of the two is pretty easy to see.

The main reason why these players are not selling well is because 9 out of ten homes are still using a older anolog tv setup, and the ones who do have a newer hd tv's are not running 1080p screens which is really what you need to enjoy the benifets from hd formats. Untill everyone out in the real world owns a 1080p screen, sales of these players will always be weak at best.

[kamiller42]

Originally Posted by Bigdog

The main reason why these players are not selling well is because 9 out of ten homes are still using a older anolog tv setup, and the ones who do have a newer hd tv's are not running 1080p screens which is really what you need to enjoy the benifets from hd formats. Untill everyone out in the real world owns a 1080p screen, sales of these players will always be weak at best.

I think Michael Bay touched on why the players aren't selling: uncertainty. Most consumers are playing the waiting game. This shows the importance of there being a victor in the format war asap if either is to reach mass market levels.

I can't say I agree with Michael's advice of playing it smart and waiting. I think the mass market should make the decision for the industry and support the winning format, Blu-ray, which happens to be the format that can technically meet and beat its competitor. Blu-ray can do anything HD DVD can do, but never vice versa.

I think sports in high def has moved a lot of HDTVs. The studios and CE companies can show the consumer what they love about sports in high def carries over to movies too.