Why gamers won this format war

[NARMAK]

Now, i know what you may think, but this is the single biggest truth of this format war, the simple fact is that it was the PS3 that kicked the ball into motion, now i know you may think that quite a few bought the PS3 to play JUST blu-ray movies but if you remember around a year ago, a campaign was launched by many online game sites that have dedicated PS3 info to make all gamers aware of the Blu-ray drive as a movie device & encourage them to buy Blu-ray movies

In all truth, THIS is where the snowball effect for blu-ray started, had PS3 gamers not been made aware & encouraged to buy at least one movie at that time, HD-DVD would have beaten us in numbers & we would have LOST

Sony's decision to include the Blu-ray was good but it was people like us that helped others realise what it could do for them besides hold their games & educated some of our J6P friends

Warner virtually helped end the war but it was Gamers on the blu-ray side that helped things get to that point & the BDA that also helped seal Warner with a rumoured 11th hour deal

I don't expect a prize for writing this little speech but how i feel Gamers on the Blu-ray side simply helped this war, like how in the previous format war of VHS vs Betamax, it was Adult films

The simple fact that many had to go to a dedicated cinema for such movies instead of the individuality of their house until VHS & Betamax arrived was enough to force people's adoption BUT a crucial point last time was that the Sony backed Betamax would not allow Adult films on the format, essentially sealing it's fate BUT this time we have the internet & with more tech savvy average joes, they understand MORE is BETTER & this helped most make the right choice & side with the right format from the start

To people like Bill Hunt of the Digital Bits, he did a great job advising MANY of his regular site visitors many a time on formats, one such is the DivX vs DVD battle but as Bill himself stated, THIS format war was much CLEARER from the start

People from the HD-DVD side such as 'Amir' & 'rdjam', the fought furiously for the format but in the end it was simply not enough & the BETTER format won out, i like to give credit where it's due so i acknowledge how furiously they fought despite the tactics they used to spread FUD, 'rdjam' though recently accepted the defeat of HD-DVD & clearly wishes to embrace the now single standing Blu-ray format BUT he did make a good point that to stem any further consumer confusion, we not must standardise profile 2.0 for ALL players & discontinue the sale of 1.1 players

I'd like to say a big thanks to ALL people who helped us with whether you bought 1 movie or a 1000, we WON

[Kayne314]

I'm not sure I'd give the praise to gamers, but to the PS3 in general.

I started my Blu-ray journey, as most did... with the PS3.

I still haven't played any games on it. Until recently, I didn't even try going online with it. It was just the best Blu-ray player I could buy within my budget... and a damn fine piece of electronics it is!

If anything, Sony owes the success of the PS3 to Blu-ray. I know it is still lagging as a gaming console (lagging less every second), but I know so very many people like me, who bought the PS3 without ever having any intention of playing a game on it.

[NARMAK]

Originally Posted by Kayne314

I'm not sure I'd give the praise to gamers, but to the PS3 in general.

I started my Blu-ray journey, as most did... with the PS3.

I still haven't played any games on it. Until recently, I didn't even try going online with it. It was just the best Blu-ray player I could buy within my budget... and a damn fine piece of electronics it is!

If anything, Sony owes the success of the PS3 to Blu-ray. I know it is still lagging as a gaming console (lagging less every second), but I know so very many people like me, who bought the PS3 without ever having any intention of playing a game on it.

I can understand your point, HOWEVER, the majority of PS3 owners were still gamers & as such, it was important that they were informed & got involved, in essence they became the MAIN people to help this format war

[Stephie_is_a_dork]

LOL...Are you done patting yourself on the back? Most PS3 users are smart enough to realize their game console plays BDs, and a lot of us wouldn't have paid $599 otherwise! Can't there be people that like movies AND video games without being pigeon-holed?

[Blu-Beard]

Originally Posted by Stephie_is_a_dork

LOL...Are you done patting yourself on the back? Most PS3 users are smart enough to realize their game console plays BDs, and a lot of us wouldn't have paid $599 otherwise! Can't there be people that like movies AND video games without being pigeon-holed?

Whu? My PS3 plays Blu's? Do all PS3's or just certain SKU's?

[NARMAK]

To stop any confusion people may be getting here, Yes, your right, Gamers did know about the movie capabilities but it was a campaign launched more specifically to enourage PS3 owners to purchase at least 1 Blu-ray

I don't need to personally pat myself on the back, i beleive Gamers helped mainly as we were more in number i guess despite a lot of people buying the PS3 as a dedicated Blu-ray player

I'm not in any way trying to say that those people who bought it as a dedicated player didn't help but simply having gamers buy at least 1 Blu-ray movie helped a lot more than just the dedicated player people

[Blu-Beard]

Well I will take a pat on the back just to make all sides happy

[Kayne314]

Originally Posted by NARMAK

I can understand your point, HOWEVER, the majority of PS3 owners were still gamers & as such, it was important that they were informed & got involved, in essence they became the MAIN people to help this format war

You are probably correct.

But a less than stellar set of great game titles at launch made the PS3 more appealing as a movie player than a game console in my opinion. That and the price tag.

At launch Stand-alone BD players were $1000 or more.

PS3 was $600 or less.

At the store where I work, we had an overnight lineup for the launch of the PS3. When we asked them what was their reason for buying the PS3, it was mostly the addition of a Blu-ray player that put them over the top.

There were some hardcore gamers in that line-up, yes. But mostly everyone already knew and were excited about it as a Blu-ray Player.

As a store we also underestimated the demand for the blu-ray remote add-on. We had lots of second controllers, but only 6 remotes. All the remotes sold day one. The second controllers weren't in such high demand.

The oddity that is the PS3 is a hard nut to crack. I have a feeling we'll be trying to define the term "gamer" before long.

If because I bought a PS3 that makes me a gamer, then yes... Gamers won this war for Blu-ray.

[FallenAngel78]

I am suddenly reminded of Ken Graffeo's statement that gamers don't buy movies and how 70% don't even know that they have that capability. Look where Universal is now... scrambling to develop their movies on Blu-ray. I think that the PS3 in general had a lot to do with Blu-ray being so succesful and that comes from the people that are gamers... or just bought it for the Blu-ray capabilities.

As for me I have 2 PS 3 games (including 1 that came with the system) and about 5 PS2 games.... So I primarily bought it for the Blu-ray player and the games are secondary.

Just a thought but... where would we be if Microsoft had INCLUDED the HD-DVD player in the console instead of as an add-on?

[NARMAK]

Originally Posted by Kayne314

You are probably correct.

But a less than stellar set of great game titles at launch made the PS3 more appealing as a movie player than a game console in my opinion. That and the price tag.

At launch Stand-alone BD players were $1000 or more.

PS3 was $600 or less.

At the store where I work, we had an overnight lineup for the launch of the PS3. When we asked them what was their reason for buying the PS3, it was mostly the addition of a Blu-ray player that put them over the top.

There were some hardcore gamers in that line-up, yes. But mostly everyone already knew and were excited about it as a Blu-ray Player.

As a store we also underestimated the demand for the blu-ray remote add-on. We had lots of second controllers, but only 6 remotes. All the remotes sold day one. The second controllers weren't in such high demand.

The oddity that is the PS3 is a hard nut to crack. I have a feeling we'll be trying to define the term "gamer" before long.

If because I bought a PS3 that makes me a gamer, then yes... Gamers won this war for Blu-ray.

Your right, in the start it was the case & for most of the first year that those people wanting it as a dedicated player brought it first but in 2007 Q3 & Q4, it was mainly being used by gamers & thus, it was now important i guess to start making them buy at least 1 movie

[NARMAK]

Originally Posted by FallenAngel78

I am suddenly reminded of Ken Graffeo's statement that gamers don't buy movies and how 70% don't even know that they have that capability. Look where Universal is now... scrambling to develop their movies on Blu-ray. I think that the PS3 in general had a lot to do with Blu-ray being so succesful and that comes from the people that are gamers... or just bought it for the Blu-ray capabilities.

As for me I have 2 PS 3 games (including 1 that came with the system) and about 5 PS2 games.... So I primarily bought it for the Blu-ray player and the games are secondary.

Just a thought but... where would we be if Microsoft had INCLUDED the HD-DVD player in the console instead of as an add-on?

A point well taken but they weren't interested in this business decision as we all know that Microsoft did not truly want to embrace either format as they wish for downloadable content & hoped backing HD-DVD would have prolonged the format war long enough for them to do that, guess that didn't happen

If they did include it within the Xbox 360, they would have cost as the PS3 & they didn't want to be seen as 'expensive'

[L or S of Perfect?]

Originally Posted by Stephie_is_a_dork

LOL...Are you done patting yourself on the back? Most PS3 users are smart enough to realize their game console plays BDs, and a lot of us wouldn't have paid $599 otherwise! Can't there be people that like movies AND video games without being pigeon-holed?

Thank you!

[Beefbowl]

I'm more interested in the future than the past. Don't care how we won or why we won. The fact is we won and I'm looking forward to all the future titles.

[cajun1975]

I bought my PS3 as a game console and a Blu ray Player. Its still the only one I own and its great. Sony was genius putting Blu into the PS3. It help win the format war and may help them when the console war as well.

[hayzink]

i done the oposite i bought my ps3 as a blu ray player and then after about 6 months got some games.

i am a gamer i just used my 360 at the begining for my games as the ps3 games were pish.

[hayzink]

Originally Posted by cajun1975

I bought my PS3 as a game console and a Blu ray Player. Its still the only one I own and its great. Sony was genius putting Blu into the PS3. It help win the format war and may help them when the console war as well.

i think thats a dead sert now.

a very hig % of people will continue to buy ps3 as a blu ray player and at some point down the line there going to buy some games for it(why wouldnt you take advantage of what you have sitting under your tv) and that will win the console war for sony.

and when ps3 adds film downloads to ps store there isnt much left that the 360 can do that the ps3 cant

[Grisle]

Originally Posted by Blu-Beard

Whu? My PS3 plays Blu's? Do all PS3's or just certain SKU's?

37 posts per day now...Blu this is well beyond ridiculous.

[HDBluIt]

Well, maybe I fit into what this guy is saying. I have ps3 with like 4 games but over 20 blu-ray movies. I bought it mostly for the high def. movies knowing there was not much in the way of games available that appealed to me and there still isn't. Hopefully that changes soon as a guy can only play so much COD4

[camper]

The PS3 itself was a huge factor for certain, but movie sales are what determined the outcome of the 'war'. Gamers, film buffs, or the casual viewer it doesn't matter - no single 'group' played a larger role than any other.

~Camper

[webmaster@michaelbay]

Originally Posted by NARMAK

I can understand your point, HOWEVER, the majority of PS3 owners were still gamers & as such, it was important that they were informed & got involved, in essence they became the MAIN people to help this format war

Considering that ONLY 40 percent of PS3 owners surveyed knew that the system even had Blu-ray built-in, I think their contribution is minor.

I know plenty of people who purchased PS3s as cheap BluRay players and have yet to buy a video game.