Universal drops HD DVD exclusivity

Banger

Me > | | < You ..Wanna Line dance?
OP
Member
Joined
Oct 31, 2007
Messages
1,781
Trophies
0
Age
36
Website
Visit site
XP
184
Country
United States
QUOTE said:
Universal has ended its HD DVD exclusivity arrangement and Paramount’s HD DVD contract has an escape clause. Should Paramount exercise that clause, and there’s no reason not to at this point, Blu-ray would have thoroughly won this silly “format war.” Now we can get back to the important business of arguing over more important things, like which gaming system is the best or why the Zune (or iPod) sucks so much.

HD DVD’s fate more or less lies in Best Buy, Circuit City, Wal-Mart and other retailers’ hands now. If the retailers see momentum in the Blu-ray direction, they may opt to limit the amount of shelf space they give to HD DVD. That would only accelerate Universal and Paramount’s production of Blu-ray titles.

Source:
http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/01/11/unive...hd-dvd-support/

Note:
Not the original source but the original one I found it on needed people to log in to read.
 

raulpica

With your drill, thrust to the sky!
Former Staff
Joined
Oct 23, 2007
Messages
11,056
Trophies
0
Location
PowerLevel: 9001
XP
5,716
Country
Italy
Damned interests
ph34r.gif
Go HD-DVD!
 

Banger

Me > | | < You ..Wanna Line dance?
OP
Member
Joined
Oct 31, 2007
Messages
1,781
Trophies
0
Age
36
Website
Visit site
XP
184
Country
United States
DVD's are fine but I still get some HD video for some action packed movies. But other then that. DVD all the way.
 

Opium

PogoShell it to me ™
Former Staff
Joined
Dec 22, 2002
Messages
8,202
Trophies
0
Age
36
Location
Australia
Website
www.gbatemp.net
XP
1,163
Country
Australia
I've seen a few blu-ray movies. They're pretty neat but not such a huge leap to warrent getting too excited about.

"oh my god, I don't have to rewind my movies anymore!"
 

BlueStar

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Jan 10, 2006
Messages
4,092
Trophies
0
Location
UK
XP
691
Country
HD-DVD has 70% of the standalone market in Europe. But yeah, can't see me going hi-def for a loooong time yet.
 

Taras

I'm Not Hating, I'm Just Sayin'
Member
Joined
Dec 10, 2005
Messages
676
Trophies
0
Location
Boxcar #142, Santa Fe rail
Website
Visit site
XP
108
Country
United States
Indeed.. with DVDs you didn't have to rewind your movies, the image quality was a lot better, you had interactive menus, different languages and subtitles in the same disc.. the difference between it and tapes were huge!
Now.. with blueray, you have only a better image.. and you can only notice if you have an expensive HDTV :/

Excellent points. But also Blu-Ray has so much DRM that it is causing problems for legitmate owners. Current BR profiles won't be able to play 2.0 profile discs apparently:

http://www.betanews.com/article/Bluray_Ear...into/1199841379

And people are paying money to support the screwing of consumers by mega-corporations. Plus, from what I've seen the picture isn't even that much better unless your TV is over than 37". Definitely not worth the money to me.
 

dsbomb

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Feb 12, 2007
Messages
487
Trophies
0
Age
49
Location
Illinois, USA
Website
dsbomb.blogspot.com
XP
342
Country
United States
Can someone perhaps explain to me how one makes the leap from dropping exclusivity to the product being dead? Have these studios signed new exclusivity contracts with Sony for Bluray? Have they said they will never produce HDDVD discs again? I can understand that they signed these contracts (and were given money for it) in the beginning of the format wars. In the beginning, rather few people have the players, anyhow. Now that it's been a couple years, I see it as the studios wanting to sell to people in both markets.

I looked at a Best Buy ad recently, and there was a stand-alone bluray player for $399. Then they had a page of movies in both formats. With prices for players that high still, they are not going to attract the general masses to convert away from the old fashioned DVDs (or pirating). The studios want whatever small pieces they can muster from both sides of HD disc camps rather than going exclusively with one.

I know the Interwebs don't like such non-conspiracy theories like I've proposed, but could it be possible, even a teensy-weensy bit??
 

IBNobody

I try to keep myself amused.
Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2006
Messages
1,151
Trophies
1
Location
Texas, Hang 'Em High
Website
Visit site
XP
954
Country
United States
Neither Paramount nor Universal have announced that they are releasing ANY Blu-Ray content.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR111797876...egoryid=20&cs=1

QUOTE said:
The two remaining studios backing HD DVD could switch sides soon, ending the high-def format war instantly.

Daily Variety has confirmed that Universal's commitment to backing HD DVD exclusively has ended. And Paramount has an escape clause in its HD DVD contract allowing it to release pics on Blu-ray after Warner Bros.' decision to back that format exclusively.
More than one option

  * (Co) Daily Variety
   Filmography, Year, Role
  * (Co) Daily Variety

Neither studio is ready to throw in the towel immediately, however. On Thursday, Universal broke its silence about the matter to say that it plans to keep supporting the format for the time being, a pledge Par made earlier in the week. And in any case, U is committed to a series of HD DVD promotions in coming months.

The blogger at CrunchGear should be shot for rumormongering.
 

Site & Scene News

Popular threads in this forum

General chit-chat
Help Users
    The Real Jdbye @ The Real Jdbye: i always pee in the water