Archived: Ask the Insiders: Judgment Day Edition

[stockstar1138]

to the insiders.

whats going on with target? i was there the other day and they have a wonderful blu-ray endcap, and then another hd shelf its 2:1 blu. The HD DVD had hardly been touched. I heard that they were possibly going to be giving HD DVD the full boot after the holidays. Anything you guys disspell, hint at, or confirm regarding target.

[OokieSpookie]

New rumor of the day says that Toshiba, MS, Warner Bros and Universal had a private meeting yesterday.

[OokieSpookie]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

Which is where MS asked for exclusive rights for Live to be included in any deal that they would be involved in. I think that was when WB clicked that Michael Bay was right.

Yeah that was my reply pretty much, someone here was talking about it this morning I can swear but couldn't find it.

[Esox50]

Originally Posted by OokieSpookie

New rumor of the day says that Toshiba, MS, Warner Bros and Universal had a private meeting yesterday.

What, who, where is the source of this rumor? Can you please post a link? Thanks.

Interesting that Paramount wasn't there (of course, we all know why...they got their $$$ already). Me thinks WB and Universal are in "show me the money" mode.

[WickyWoo]

I think it's prudent to say that the red camp will be doing everything in their power over the next week up to and including CES to keep WB from going Blu, and WB will listen to them, so there's no need to get worried about it at this juncture. Yes, don\t discount it as a threat, but no, don't get all worked up

[JasonR]

Originally Posted by Esox50

What, who, where is the source of this rumor? Can you please post a link? Thanks.

Interesting that Paramount wasn't there (of course, we all know why...they got their $$$ already). Me thinks WB and Universal are in "show me the money" mode.

Dreamworks = Paramount/Universal = HD-DVD Exclusive= They were all there

Oh and Universal got their money in the Paramount deal...

[Steverhcp02]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

Which is where MS asked for exclusive rights for Live to be included in any deal that they would be involved in. I think that was when WB clicked that Michael Bay was right.

im confused. what do you mean, can you elaborate? They wanted all digital distribution for those companies to be through xbox live exclusively, not itunes or any other party?

[Esox50]

Originally Posted by JasonR

Dreamworks = Paramount/Universal = HD-DVD Exclusive= They were all there

Oh and Universal got their money in the Paramount deal...

[OokieSpookie]

Originally Posted by Esox50

What, who, where is the source of this rumor? Can you please post a link? Thanks.

Interesting that Paramount wasn't there (of course, we all know why...they got their $$$ already). Me thinks WB and Universal are in "show me the money" mode.

Trying to get the source but it is not easy because I am currently on...hiatus from the forum where it was mentioned in the middle of the guy bashing on Penton.
If anyone here is on neogaf , ask MechDX to pony up his source in the bd/hdvd thread.

[WickyWoo]

Microsoft has just launched Windows Live, it's only a matter of months I suspect before the movie download aspect is ready to go. For it to work like Live, it'll fingerprint your system, and then tie that fingerprint into the individual file you download. If that fingerprint changes, then you'll have to be logged into your account to use it.

But considering that many enthusiast PCs havea constantly changing upgrade fingerprint, they need to find a way to adapt it easily.

[Steverhcp02]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

Yeah.

Exclusive content = customers...

so was this "exclusivity" deal linked to HDM distribution as well. Basically was MSFT saying "we will give you X moneys to go HDM exclusive...oh and BTW, you can only release digitally through us too"

Or was it strictly digital. also, lol, sorry for the number of ?'s, but was this possibly the last ditch effort by HD DVD get WB......seems like its cutting it close if this is supposed to be getting done by CES.

[JasonR]

Originally Posted by Esox50

I just googled Universal/Paramount and got this from a forum, you could probably get the same here anytime...

In an unexpected move today, Universal Studios and Paramount have announced all of their movies (and subsidiary studio's like Dreamworks), will be coming out exclusively on HD-DVD.

Rumour has it their pockets were lined with about $100 million dollars for this deal.

[Steverhcp02]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

The first one.

MS have informed relevant parties that they will not be investing anymore in HD DVD unless digital distribution is included in any future deals.

damn, max. Thats some large freaking news, if confirmed

[Balian]

I am really hoping the BDA is preparing to counter any offer the red side is throwing at WB in the next week or so. I am hoping the BDA is preparing for an armageddon fund ...or least line up willing financiers(Apple/Google) just in case Microsoft wants to join the party. Steve Jobs after all, is the largest shareholder of Disney and Google is arch enemy of Microsoft. This is the final battle and the BDA should be prepare to go ALL IN.

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

The first one.

MS have informed relevant parties that they will not be investing anymore in HD DVD unless digital distribution is included in any future deals.

Exclusive digital distribution rights?

Am I right to think how stupid it would be for any studio to lock themselves into exclusivity of a platform that really doesn't exist yet?

[Steverhcp02]

Originally Posted by dialog_gvf

Exclusive digital distribution rights?

Am I right to think how stupid it would be for any studio to lock themselves into exclusivity of a platform that really doesn't exist yet?

Or how arrogant is of MSFT to demand such things with the state of HD DVD. Is it me or shouldn't they be a bit less demanding having the second place format out of two.

I trust max, love him and his info, but surely, MSFT cant be this stupid can they?

I mean, theyre basically asking these companies to tie themselves not only into a format with inferior sales, but into a medium that isnt even REALITY yet let alone prosperous or functional.......im sorry for doubting this, but it seems so asinine it cannot be true.

[JasonR]

It has been said they want both formats to fail, so they can push digital...

[Elandyll]

That is pretty much where MS reveals what everyone knew, aka they want to catch up to Itunes and try to strangle it with exclusive content.
I wouldn't be surprised if MS was behind the tantrum that Universal had with Itunes a few months aggo.

In the billion $$ war that M$ wants to win vs Ipod/Itunes, HD DVD is a mere pawn for them, as they consider that physical medias are already obsolete.
It's good to see them having to come clean with it at this point though, at least everyone knows where it's going for sure.

[JadedRaverLA]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

Which is where MS asked for exclusive rights for Live to be included in any deal that they would be involved in. I think that was when WB clicked that Michael Bay was right.

Hopefully true. The problem would be if they see serious potential in downloads, and decide that since MS is likely to dominate that anyway, they might as well get on board.

They already encode their discs at the lowest possible bitrate, and using M$'s codec. It really wouldn't be that much of a stretch to decide to work with Microsoft on a download platform. After all, even if they have to share revenue with M$, they won't be sharing them with stores, and won't have any costs once the encode is done. M$ will handle everything for them. That could be tempting.

It really all comes down to whether they want a disc-based future or a download future. Hopefully, they realize that commercializing movie downloads is going to present some huge challenges and won't help ease the more immediate concern on declining DVD sales. Personally, I think Warner won't take M$'s bait... but they CAN be very convincing.

Originally Posted by Balian

I am really hoping the BDA is preparing to counter any offer the red side is throwing at WB in the next week or so. I am hoping the BDA is preparing for an armageddon fund ...or least line up willing financiers(Apple/Google) just in case Microsoft wants to join the party. This is the final battle and the BDA should be prepare to go ALL IN.

I couldn't agree more. There are some very deep pockets on the Blu-ray side, and if a matching check needs to be cut, it should be cut. This war has gone on longer than it ever should have, and we were all blindsided by the Paramount deal. Given that we're all familiar with M$'s business practices, a play like that should have been assumed, and assurances made to the neutral studios that certain big BDA partners (Sony Corp., Matsushita, etc) would be willing to match any offer for exclusivity from the other side.

At this point, if Sony or Panasonic need to offer well below cost disc pressing for the next year or two, or some other promotional offer to get Warner's exclusivity, then so be it. Everything needs to be on the table. I certainly hope that the TRUE big wigs from Japan are involved in the negotiations. We need people who can offer whatever it takes.

Anyway... my $.02.

[Slapper]

Originally Posted by dialog_gvf

Exclusive digital distribution rights?

Am I right to think how stupid it would be for any studio to lock themselves into exclusivity of a platform that really doesn't exist yet?

I think you just read my mind. This would be a good time for all HD-DVD studios to hit the "eject" button.

Edit: Thanks for the info Max. Things are starting to look all the more clear. Hopefully, this will be a wake-up call for Universal/Paramount/Warner/Dreamworks and they get out before they tie their own hands together.