Bill Hunt's Two Cents posts about Paramount, Warner, etc.

[Rob Zuber]

Originally Posted by coolmilo

I keep wondering why M$ is so involved in this war.

One factor is clearly Blu-Ray's adoption of Java, which is a mortal enemy to Microsoft.

[bigmf]

Originally Posted by dialog_gvf

That won't play Pirates 3, Spidey 3, The Simpsons Movie, Cars, Ratatouille, etc.

And the above titles will sell a ton of BD players.

And, in both cases, hopefully to people who know what the heck is going on.

Gary

Nope, all those movies and Harry Potter, Transformers etc. will not sell any HD optical machines. They will sell on DVD while the average guy sits around and waits for this format war mess to settle down. Ratchet and Clank, Heavenly Sword etc. will sell Blu-ray players while no games can sell any HDDVD machines.

[What'sHD]

BDA land is fine. Boatload of PS3s to be sold in the hols and great movies coming out.

Look at it this way: This is our hobby and passion and thus we want BD to win. But, for masses of people in Sony, Pioneer, Panasonic, Fox, Disney etc., it is their JOB to get BD to a win. Thus, they are even more motivated to think of counter-strikes and tactics.

Trust them to use their smarts, $ and connections to do what can be done to get BD to a win.

The Para defection and Warner (if it happens) pushes things back a bit but BD is still in the lead and will stay there.


Appreciate the exclusives we have and the hardware support we have. The win will come...

[stockstar1138]

Originally Posted by bigmf

Nope, all those movies and Harry Potter, Transformers etc. will not sell any HD optical machines. They will sell on DVD while the average guy sits around and waits for this format war mess to settle down. Ratchet and Clank, Heavenly Sword etc. will sell Blu-ray players while no games can sell any HDDVD machines.

BINGO! and this is what will win the war. studio support is not going to hinder PS3 sales, but will hinder both HD DVD and BD sales. so in the long run BD will still come out way on top due to ps3. it seriously might be Sonys greatest decsions since the walkman. MS will have to keep shelling out more and more to companies and it really won't matter. If there are 10 million PS3s in US households by 09 its going to be game over.

[ps3andlovinit]

Originally Posted by HiddenDeths

TRUE!! and i tell, if BDA just sit and watch how their format goes down, i will never buy anything else again from sony, **** PS4 or PS5, ill go xbox720 or whatever.

So you'd support a company that f*d you out of what you really wanted instead? I just don't get that thinking myself. Think your just mad right now

That's kind of like blaming a running back that has 200 yards for failing to win because the quarterback was already in cahoots with the referee to throw the game. Doesn't matter what the running back does if things are going on beyong their control.

Few hypotheticals..

1. It's not necessarily about the size of the "incentive" money...maybe other motiviations at play here. Even personal ones.

2. Corporations are people. Who may sell their company down the toilet for personal gain. If the key decision makers are paid or promised future cash it could even be spun that the lower bidder was a better "deal" in the "long" term..as in long after those key decision makers are gone from the company.

[ps3andlovinit]

Originally Posted by stockstar1138

BINGO! and this is what will win the war. studio support is not going to hinder PS3 sales, but will hinder both HD DVD and BD sales. so in the long run BD will still come out way on top due to ps3. it seriously might be Sonys greatest decsions since the walkman. MS will have to keep shelling out more and more to companies and it really won't matter. If there are 10 million PS3s in US households by 09 its going to be game over.

Yep..I seem to remember someone talking about it being a marathon not a sprint. Seems about right to me.

[JohnnyBluRay]

Until something official happens i think this thread should be closed. Too much speculation as well as ammunition for other websites to copy and paste certain quotes from whining posters here. Please mod. Thanks

[damandan05]

Are we forgetting that Turner is a Billionaire, and would know that he would make more money supporting both instead of simply taking a pay-off for Hd-dvd. What could be in it for Warner. Not so much.

[WriteSimply]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

MS wants to become the iTunes of HD video serving to home media servers and over cable, using VC-1 as the codec and iHD as the front end

To do that they need to seriously hurt physical media.

SCEE just announced PlayTV, a USB-device that will enable the PS3 to become a DVR. It uses the PS3s HDD to record; in itself it does not have a HDD.

You know why is this relevant to your point, Woo. For most of cable box systems, Java is the programming language. In Europe, AVC is the codec.

Originally Posted by ps3andlovinit

VC-1 is also at the core of Silverlight - which is their attempt to attack Flash and Apollo from Adobe. If VC-1 is a failure in Hollywood (ie. all that content...) then other areas of their business are compromised/have a tougher road to walk as well...

You guys may have missed this but do a Google News search on H.264 aka AVC.

Now, users of Adobe Flash Player will be able to enjoy HD (high definition) video and audio content.

Adobe has reportedly updated its Flash Player 9 with Moviestar, which includes H.264 standard video support plus high efficiency (HE) AAC audio support.

Basically, AVC and Java have wide industry support. Microsoft is just trying to keep HDi and VC-1 alive. The fact that MS-lovers keep saying that they have no hatred towards Java is just lies. Add AVC to that list.


fuad

[DJeffries]

How does the fact that Warner is a BDA Board Member play into this? Paramount was only a contributor to BDA, not a board member.

[GaS]

Originally Posted by DJeffries

How does the fact that Warner is a BDA Board Member play into this? Paramount was only a contributor to BDA, not a board member.

Hopefully it means we will not be in for another shock in the coming days and months.

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by DJeffries

How does the fact that Warner is a BDA Board Member play into this? Paramount was only a contributor to BDA, not a board member.

Good question. Presumably that means a lot of contacts who are calling the key Warner people and encouraging their continued support.

Gary

[shug7272]

You guys better believe that Sony wants Blu Ray to win more than anything and I doubt they will let MS just buy the format war. IF warner goes HD DVD it would make sense that Sony let it happen (didnt throw tons MORE money at warner) and probably has a plan. I think Sony has seen that PS3 is going to help the cause more than anything. Why spend money buying studios when you can subsidize the PS3 and get millions of players out the door?

[stockstar1138]

Originally Posted by shug7272

You guys better believe that Sony wants Blu Ray to win more than anything and I doubt they will let MS just buy the format war. IF warner goes HD DVD it would make sense that Sony let it happen (didnt throw tons MORE money at warner) and probably has a plan. I think Sony has seen that PS3 is going to help the cause more than anything. Why spend money buying studios when you can subsidize the PS3 and get millions of players out the door?

well they need to compete directly with the xbox premium then. id rather see Sony shave off another 100 bucks of ps3 and have warner go hd dvd exclusive for 18 months. it would def. be worth it in the long haul. i don't think warner will go exclsive, but if sony did this not only would it be the death of hd dvd, but the death of the xbox freefixme. it would be a direct and painful blow to MS. in fact it would probably be big enouch to destroy any hope of their XBOX series on DL content.

[The Bus]

Originally Posted by dialog_gvf

If it is a matter of big gobs of free money versus customer service and corporate ethics.

Is that also what's keeping Universal, Fox, Disney, Columbia, Lions Gate, and Weinstein on the sidelines?

Or is it possible that you may have over-simplified the matter a bit?

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by The Bus

Is that also what's keeping Universal, Fox, Disney, Columbia, Lions Gate, and Weinstein on the sidelines?

Or is it possible that you may have over-simplified the matter a bit?

Saying you're neutral, and then yanking support is a completely different thing to never promising that support to begin with.

The exclusive studios never made public comments that implied they were ever anything other than exclusive. Consumers never made choices based on any promise of neutrality from those exclusive studios.

We'll see if HD DVD has a flip at some point, and then see how those people react.

I will certainly expect Blu-ray people to be elated, but you can be sure I won't be going around trolling forums trying to shoot down the anger that HD DVD people would be definitely entitled to express.

Gary

[ps3andlovinit]

Originally Posted by WriteSimply

You guys may have missed this but do a Google News search on H.264 aka AVC.

Saw it ..forgot to add that Adobe is doing the H.264 with their hi-def stuff. Thanks. It's good for everyone to be aware of that as well..given the prevalence of Flash etc..the rest of the world seems able to get along..except MS.

[Esox50]

Originally Posted by dialog_gvf

Saying you're neutral, and then yanking support is a completely different thing to never promising that support to begin with.

That is exactly right. And it's what's so funny about these HD DVDers claiming Blu-Ray fans are hypocritical about exclusive studio support.

Lining up on one side (for any reason, be it money, copy protection, etc) before either format launches is one thing. But going from HD DVD exclusive, to neutral before launch...then back to HD DVD exclusive 12+ months after launch is totally different, especially in light of the market trends we are seeing in favor of BD.

But let's face it, most HD DVDers don't "get it" and never will. Let them have their fun. They still have a loooong way to go.

[aristotles]

Originally Posted by WriteSimply

SCEE just announced PlayTV, a USB-device that will enable the PS3 to become a DVR. It uses the PS3s HDD to record; in itself it does not have a HDD.

You know why is this relevant to your point, Woo. For most of cable box systems, Java is the programming language. In Europe, AVC is the codec.

You guys may have missed this but do a Google News search on H.264 aka AVC.

Basically, AVC and Java have wide industry support. Microsoft is just trying to keep HDi and VC-1 alive. The fact that MS-lovers keep saying that they have no hatred towards Java is just lies. Add AVC to that list.


fuad

You hit the nail on the head. This is not about the disc formats for MSFT but rather about royaties from codecs in the content creation industry. While both formats do include VC-1 in their standard, most HD DVD titles are VC-1 encoded while Blu-ray exclusive studios tend use AVC.

MSFT is afraid of losing marketshare to OS X and linux if most media goes towards AVC because AVC is not controlled by MSFT while VC-1 is only supported in windows authoring/editing tools.

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by aristotles

You hit the nail on the head. This is not about the disc formats for MSFT but rather about royaties from codecs in the content creation industry. While both formats do include VC-1 in their standard, most HD DVD titles are VC-1 encoded while Blu-ray exclusive studios tend use AVC.

MSFT is afraid of losing marketshare to OS X and linux if most media goes towards AVC because AVC is not controlled by MSFT while VC-1 is only supported in windows authoring/editing tools.

More than that, it's back to Microsoft vs. Apple (and Quicktime, and Flash and Java, and H.264) for the future of All Downloading.
If Blu wins, Apple supports it, cross-markets hard disk and soft download...And already has the machinery in place to upgrade AppleTV to a downloadable widescreen-Blu format, thus crushing X-Box Live's last marketplace advantage with home-download demographics, while old grudge-enemy Sun cleans up on the Java patents.

Allegory: Pearl Harbor wasn't about "attacking the US", it was about preserving south Pacific oil rights to fuel the war machinery.
Fact: MS's bribes weren't about Optimus Prime, they were about Microsoft protecting their own source dominances they were in danger of losing.