So... Microsoft is trying to buy out the war!

[blublublu]

Originally Posted by Blu-Light

Call me paranoid but I am beginning to think that Fox released their fall release lineup not to counter what Paramount just did but to try to head off what we are about to get in the next week with a defection by Warner to go HD-DUD exclusive.

Here is another thought:

This was all planned out by Warner and Paramount well before we got to this point. They were both HD-DUD exclusive in the beginning. Why not put on a facade for a year to have the most impact of going back to HD-DUD exclusive when it mattered most to the war. And as a bonus they get these big money kick backs from MS and crew in the process. At this point I would not put it past either.

If Warner does go exclusive, they will be the largest bunch of hyprocrites the format was has seen. They've boasted again and again about the benefits of being neutral.

So I don't see that happening.

I suspect the next punch is on the hardware side, such as the past rumoured Walmart cheap-HD DVD player announcement. Previously I thought that would not fly due to the studio inbalance (why would Walmart back a loser?). But with the Paramount buy out the HD DVD camp has not given them an in to enter with a more neutral studio landscape.