Did Blu-ray make a serious mistake?

[Longshot]

Originally Posted by Deane Johnson

Now that we're several days into CES, and nothing profound has happened with Blu-ray, was this a tactical error on Blu-ray's part?

I was thinking we'd see some major Blu-ray movie announcements, at least. True, we got a few, but to my thinking, less than I would have wanted if I were running Blu-ray and trying to win a war.

Players? We got a 2nd Gen Samsung for a $200 price drop. Typical for a new format, not a knockout punch. We needed a $499 player. Maybe that's not possible just yet.

LG's combi player doesn't count for anything at $1200. Besides, even if it were priced right, it would be pretty much format neutral.

The only good news for Blu-ray is that HD-DVD has shown nothing but wishful thinking and truth stretching at CES. Perhaps that's a net win for Blu-ray.

What am I missing?

You're missing a lot.

The reason all of us are here is movies. Plain and simple. The Bd studios have announced an impressive slate of movies through the 1st and 2nd quarters. Rest assured there is more to come. The avalanche will start with Casino Royale on March 13th and continue to gain momentum.

By declaring victory the BDA has now put the HD DVD camp on defense. A brilliant PR move. Hence I say they stole a page right out of MS playbook

In contrast what has HD DVD done? Announced a player at $599 that does tru 1080P. I'm sure it will sell like hotcakes to Joe six pack; their annointed savior. A rumored 51GB disc that is clearly a PR stunt and/or desperation move to woo Disney. My guess is it will never see the light of day. And finally every HD DVD zealot was sure that Disney would go nuetral along with Lionsgate and maybe Fox. Well it's a big 0 for 3! To many people (even BD supporters) are overlooking this.

Again this is all about content and for that reason alone HD DVD is a huge loser.