Quote:
Originally Posted by zipbags
Just curious. If Warner goes blu. How do you think the HD-dvd community will react? Try to be somewhat serious in your responses.  |
If Warner goes Blu... *waves his magical future telling wand*
Major proponents (paid shills) of HD-DVD crowd will begin to retreat into the night, maybe with a statement and a few final cheap shots at Blu or Sony. After a few weeks and it is clear that Warners stance will not change, most simply will dissapear never heard from again. Amir might stick around, pushing for Blu studios to go only VC-1 but I don't think MS is going to be using him as an olive branch anytime soon. Maybe they can use him productively as a blood sacrifice to appease the now unholy wraith of Hollywood upon them.
Those that spoke negatively about Blu in the press spreading Toshiba's fud, will start to back pedal almost immediately and sing a choir of Blu praises. I think they will attempt to save face, and also try to regain credibility with studios that were always Blu. As hinted before by insiders, peoples actions after this is all over will NOT be forgotten. I would suspect those that supported HD-DVD fud machine will be left out of exclusive studio news, or the business all together for a long time to come, if not forever.
Non-paid HD-DVD only supporters that genuinely bought into the hype and lies about Blu spread by the Red, will be left holding the bag. Anger will be directed towards Warner and especially Sony at first. Accusations will fly of course that Sony or the BDA bought off Warner. As time goes on anger will be directed later towards the paid shills as they start to realize the truth. Unfortunately due to point #1 they are no longer around to take the heat. You might even see some grass root movements to send petitions to Warner begging for neutrality again, or to Universal/Paramount begging they remain committed to only HD-DVD. Smarter ones will Ebay their titles and players before the hammer drops, hoping to draw in a sucker. Eventually these folks will slowly realize they've been lied to, and convert to Blu when Players reach the $150 dollar level.
The truly indoctrinated followers that treat HD-DVD like a religion and are not paid shills will never admit that Blu is better quality or have won. These are the ones that are lost forever. They will be the forum goers that will constantly remind people of how they miss low bitrate VC-1 encodes and IME. Expect quotes for years such as "HD-DVD was never like this, it was better!", "Uncompressed sounds the same as DD+ on HD-DVD!", "I will never buy Blu!". They will also be the ones that will constantly say HD-DVD is making a comeback, long after Toshiba has discontinued manufacturing HD-DVD players and movie releases have stopped. They won't realize the war is really over until the internal components start to fail on their 4th and last working standalone, none are available on ebay, and HD-DVD only forums are only digital archives.
Those that are purple will simply shift to buying only Blu. I don't think you will hear much complaining from them. They've already begun the process. If anything they will be happy that the war is drawing to a rapid close.
Universal Studios will crumble and announce format neutrality soon after Warner. The writers strike is killing them, as it was reported today that reimbursements averaging $500000 to each of advertisers have begun because they have failed to make ratings promises. As long as the strike goes on (and it seems to be indefinite now), it will only get worse. Building a new revenue stream to bring in some money is the only thing they can do, with pushing HDM the logical choice. Because they need fast money, they will spew a title wave of current VC-1 encodes on Blu, and eventually set a date for the last HD-DVD more than likely late 2008. It will take them at least until 2009 to get on the same playing field as Sony, Fox, and Disney in terms of quality. Their friendship with M$ will continue, and they will continue to push for DDL hard this year to bring in another revenue stream.
Paramount/Dreamworks will enact legal clauses placed in their contract late 1st QTR, and return format neutral. I suspect this will be shortly after Universal. They will point to the abysmal sales numbers of Shrek 3, and the fact that now they stand to be left behind in HDM on a dying format. I also expect they will attempt to take the money and run, with a subsequent lawsuit to follow by the payees. Paramount employees will rejoice, and dust off copies of Blades of Glory and Transformers with Uncompressed Audio. The only thorn on the side is just how this contract was written, as Paramount maybe prohibited by the court to release Blu until the contract expires, or the case ends in their favor.
Toshiba on the other hand will go through massive internal changes. Heads are going to roll. Those that supported, pushed, or allowed this fiasco to continue as long as it has in the high def media departments will be looking for new jobs. Development related to HD-DVD for the consumer sector will be indefinitely suspended alone with manufacturing mid 2008. They might try using HD-DVD in another product, in attempting to find some use and recoup losses. Biblical firesales will take place.
Consumer outlets like Best Buy, Circuit City, etc will breathe a sigh of release and rejoice. A new profitable revenue stream has opened up, shelf space cleared, and more product sold including those fancy expensive HDMI receivers that people NEED to enjoy their hdm movies fully.
And lastly, MS will continue their own happy way and go on to 'the next big'. They will act oblivious to the hell they caused consumers and companies like a 800 lb gorilla tearing through a forest. HD-DVD related positions have already been all but eliminated, except those that pertain to VC-1. They'll continue to push VC-1 with Warner and Universal to continue a revenue stream. I suspect that Xbox Live will be further pushed and promoted, as the war with the PS3 will continue.
End magical wand.
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We can finally not have so much hostility & get back to talking about all the kick @ss Blu-ray's we love 
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