And the Winner is........Blue Ray

[Trainwreck2100]

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=42144
Toshib announced they are discontinuing production
HDDVD you are FAIL

[DarkReign]

Well, the HDDVD player my wife bought me is now shit.

*sigh*

I told her the day she got it that it wasnt a good idea. Tonight is going to suck...

[E20]

AHF just had his chode bloaded X100000000

[JoeChalupa]

I'm sticking to regular DVD. Works for me.

[E20]

I'm sticking to the internet and downloading everything.

[Viva Las Espuelas]

i wonder if this will effect the price of the xbox360. i know it's an add on, but wasn't that one of the selling points. the hd-dvd player. i wonder if they'll make a BR add-on. lots of harry carays will be carried out tonight.

[E20]

Now if you would have played Mortal Kombat, you would have known the correct spelling.

[BonnerDynasty]

Maybe now I can get an HDDVD player for cheap and upconvert my regular DVDs until Bitchray drops in price.

[T Park]

cool. maybe they will convert all the HD dvds to blue ray, and my HD dvd collection can expand!

[Xolotl]

I wonder if the 360 would've had a HD DVD player included like PS3 does with Blu-Ray if things would've turned out different...probably not since Blu-Ray had the studio backing...but still I wonder

[Viva Las Espuelas]

I wonder if the 360 would've had a HD DVD player included like PS3 does with Blu-Ray if things would've turned out different...probably not since Blu-Ray had the studio backing...but still I wondernever underestimate the nips.

[T Park]

the "nips" ?

[Xolotl]

never underestimate the nips.

yeah thats a good point I thought the same thing when porno went over to blu-ray, but the reports i've seen around (I'll have to find them) are saying that alot of blu-ray pornos arent selling b/c you can see all the cellulite and imperfections...etc, but honestly I thought everybody used the internet for porn i didnt know people buy dvds still

[Viva Las Espuelas]

the "nips" ?http://www.taquitos.net/im/sn/CheeseNips-JalaChed.jpg

[degenerate_gambler]

never underestimate the nips.


i haven't heard that in a coon's age or a blue moon...i forget which one.

[Medvedenko]

Oh well....I've been holding out and wanted HDDVD to win as I'm not a fan of Sony and their proprietory Bullshit. The 360 will be fine, but the only good thing about the PS3 is that it has a bluray player. Sony also positioned the price around the PS3 to be cheaper than most stand alone players. This was a crazy smart move. Hopefully they can reduce the prices now. Still, buying an HDDVD for cheap is a good deal as well. The quality is the same anyways.

[Pistons < Spurs]

i wonder if this will effect the price of the xbox360. i know it's an add on, but wasn't that one of the selling points. the hd-dvd player. i wonder if they'll make a BR add-on. lots of harry carays will be carried out tonight.

Rumours were circulating today that Microsoft is set to dump HD DVD and bring out a Blu ray Xbox 360 by as early as May 2008. The move will allow the Company to go head to head with the Sony PS3 gaming console which has been credited with being one of the main reasons that retailers have preferred Blu-ray over Toshiba’s HD DVD.

Insiders at Microsoft in the USA have told SmartHouse that Microsoft has already configured a standalone Blu-ray player that can be connected into an Xbox 360 and that subject to internal marketing and sales approvals the model could be on sale within 3 months.

The Company has also been working on a built in Blu-ray player however insiders are claiming that Microsoft see the HD format battle moving online with consumers offered 1080p movie and content files as a download as opposed to having to buy a HD DVD or Blu-ray disc.

Both Intel and Microsoft have been supporters of the HD DVD format that is set to be killed off this week.

The Company has also held discussions with several OEM manufacturers of media centres with nearly all of them telling the software Company that they are set to move to Blu-ray configured Media Centres within the next month.

Late last week US Media Centre maker Niveus dumped HD DVD in favour of Blu-ray.

The Company VP of marketing Brian Paper said that Niveus had received support from Microsoft and Intel when implementing HD DVD. The format wasn't pushed on Niveus, he said, adding that the commitment in both Intel and Microsoft "isn't religious for HD DVD".

Michael Ephraim the Managing Director of Sony Computer Entertainment said: "We would welcome Microsoft to the Blu-ray stable. In fact it is quite logical for them as the PS3 has been very succesful in driving consumers to Blu-ray. In fact we believe that it has done more to win the format war than traditional Blu-ray player".

When asked whether Sony would grant Microsoft a Blu-ray licence he said: "That is up to Sony Corporate but I see no reason why they would not do it".

During CES 2006 the then Microsoft's Xbox corporate VP of worldwide marketing and publishing Peter Moore told Japanese site ITmedia that a Blu-ray Xbox 360 peripheral could appear for the system if the need arises. Moore admitted that Microsoft isn't sure of the next-generation format war's outcome, with the worst-case scenario being a repeat of the Beta vs. VHS war of the '80s.

However, he suggested that whatever the outcome of the HD-DVD/Blu-ray war, the Xbox 360 can adopt the dominant format since its uses an external drive.

http://www.smarthouse.com.au/Gaming/Console/J7L7H2R4

[Viva Las Espuelas]

that would be awesome if sony didn't grant bill gates the license. that would be a big blow to the 360. i hope sony makes it interesting.

[Medvedenko]

I would buy a 360 with a bluray built in.

[T Park]

So would i

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

"Blue ray" is such a winner that people like the OP can't even spell it right ;)

In all seriousness though, this was obvious after Warner went BR exclusive. Can't wait to stock up my HD DVD collection on the cheap :hat

Pass the vaseline, Sony is going to rape us all for the almighty dollar.

[smeagol]

Sony was still bleeding from the asshole due to losing the Betamax fight.

[KEDA]

Word on the street is that Sony offered as much as $100 Million each to movie studios and some big box retailers to become Blu-Ray only.


Money talks my friends.

[Pistons < Spurs]

Pass the vaseline, Sony is going to rape us all for the almighty dollar.
Winner.





Blu-ray Player Prices Hit 2008 Highs As Competition Dwindles

Blu-ray Disc players from Samsung, Sony and Sharp are now the most expensive they have been all year, presumably because HD DVD's exit from the high-def disc arena has removed some of Blu-ray's pricing pressure.

Although HD DVD was always seen as a distant second in the HD format war, it constantly received attention because of the lower cost of its players. Because of this, standalone Blu-ray players were not moving off store shelves very steadily.

The majority of Blu-ray Disc movie purchases have to date been for consumers who own a Playstation 3, which has BD playback capabilities.

In a move to expedite HD DVD's downfall, Blu-ray manufacturers and retailers aggressively cut prices earlier this year, to the point where it was possible to buy a standalone BD player for less than $300.

Now, however, according to Pricegrabber.com's most recent information, the average price for Blu-ray hardware is around $400, which is right around where it was last year. The players from Samsung, Sony, Sharp and Panasonic included here are the least expensive on the market and also the most widely available. LG's BH200 is a dual format player with support for Blu-ray and HD DVD.

Within just the last two weeks, te average prices for LG's BH200 player and Sharp's BD-HP20U have climbed significantly. Every standlone Blu-ray-specific player in the chart above is now more expensive than it was at the beginning of the year.

Sony's S300 seems to have settled pretty calmly at the $400 point, despite being closer to $300 at the beginning of the year. With Sony's PS3 at the same price point, it is hard to justify buying the standalone Blu-ray player. That goes for all the devices listed here.

http://images.tomshardware.com/2008/03/12/blu_ray_player_prices_hit_2008_highs_as_competitio n_dwindles/blu-ray-march-2008.jpg

By looking at these prices, it is pretty clear that the PS3 did in fact almost singlehandedly declare the winner of the format war. Another point worth noting is that all of these players will reach a certain level of obsolescence later this year, as soon as the new BD Profile is released.

Later this year, Blu-ray movies will carry a new slate of advanced features, most notable being the ability to connect to the Internet. However, none of the Blu-ray players on the market today (with the exception of the PS3) can connect online. This means that not only will they be unable to access Web-enabled features in the future but they also cannot receive firmware upgrades.

With that reality looming, it surprises me that current players are still price as high as they are, and especially that they continue to rise. Obviously they are rebounding from the HD DVD competition, but if these prices don't come down soon, they will be forced down significantly more when the new wave of players comes out.

Meanwhile, the HD-A3 HD DVD player set a new low today, with the average Pricegrabber price at $98. It is interesting that this and other HD DVD players continue to plummet in price, because they do after all still function as DVD upconverters.

Ironically, although Blu-ray has been declared the winner, it is right now about the worst time to invest in a standalone Blu-ray player, because of the high prices and looming obsolescence. Many of the current Blu-ray manufacturers have announced new players that will support BD Profile 2.0, so my advice would be to buy a PS3 or wait for the next-gen players. In the meantime, buy a dirt cheap HD DVD player and some even cheaper HD DVD movies.


http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/03/12/blu_ray_player_prices_hit_2008_highs_as_competitio n_dwindles/

[resistanze]

Now this is why you burn shit. I haven't bought movies since VHS.