Format Wars: The Saga Continues

Apparently the format war has gotten a little more interesting. Tom's Hardware had this article:

Over 13,000 signatures have endorsed a "save HD DVD" petition less than three weeks after it was first put online.
The petition opened up after Warner Home Video decided to drop HD DVD support and move to Blu-ray exclusively. Warner released a subsequent statement saying that the consumer has chosen Blu-ray as the victor.
"I'm starting this petition in order to support HD-DVD and hopefully save it, and to show Warner Brothers that the consumer has not 'clearly' chosen Blu-Ray," wrote the petition instigator.
Many feel that there is no hope left for HD DVD and that Blu-ray's early immense lead will carry it through to win the format war. Two weeks ago, Blu-ray outsold HD DVD by six to one.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the petition was at over 13,500 signatures. Users can view it here.

Just to let you know, I just signed it on Wednesday at 3:50 PM and it was over 20,000 signers.

Toshiba Drops Price On HD DVD Players

It didn’t very long for the hardware deals on HD DVD to come through, as Toshiba has dropped the prices of the HD-A3 and HD-A30. The HD-A3 and HD-A30 are available on Amazon.com for $134.98 and $174.98, and you still get 2 free movies (Bourne Identity and 300) with them. What’s interesting about the price though, is that often time’s retailers will use the last two digits to reflect the status of the product. Prices ending in 99 cents represent current products and 98 cents represents no new product will replace the item.

So if you’re interested in picking up a high definition format that will not have any new movies for it soon, get ‘em now!

Amazon.com: Toshiba HD DVD via Crunchgear]

Porn Coming To Blu-Ray: PS3 Owners Rejoice

The porn industry, after putting out (no pun intended) titles on HD DVD for over a year, has decided to give Blu-Ray a chance. The adult industry felt that it was "to expensive" to produce on Blu-Ray, has now changed its mind and will send titles to the format. The Blu-Ray camp, who once said that they would never allow porn on their format, finally got over their morality once they realized how much money the industry brings in. And with the format war long from over, this seems to be the best move for Blu-Ray.

Now both camps are able to see Ron Jeremy's harry ass in 1080p.

[CE Pro via Gizmodo]

BusinessWeek And Diffusion Group Take Sides On HD Format War

Are you ready for some more HD format war speculation? BusinessWeek comes in with 3 indicators on why they think Blu-Ray will win the format war.

1. Blu-ray has sold more than twice as many discs as HD DVD this year.
2. While HD DVD has a larger number of dedicated players in the market, 2.3 million PS3s offer an overwhelming advantage.
3. Rumor suggests that Warner Bros. will go Blu-ray only, giving that side 70% of the home-video market.

What is funny is that Diffusion Group released a report on why they think HD DVD will win, stating that "43% prefer HD DVD, 27% prefer Blu-ray, and 30% are undecided." This is the best part:

"The most immediate wave, which is expected to be exhausted by early 2008, is comprised of the remaining early adopters who...show a preference for Blu-ray. The second (and more sizable) wave will consist of early mass-market consumers who, while less enthusiastic about technology per se and very price sensitive, are more likely to favor HD DVD."

This should be interesting, because if Warner Bros. goes exclusive to Blu-Ray, that format will hold 70% of the movie houses. While I think that most people would buy the cheaper HD format, it wouldn't make sense if all the movies turn out to be on Blu-Ray. That would spell doom for the HD DVD camp.

[BusinessWeek and Diffusion Group via Gizmodo]

Samsung BD-P1400 For $298

It was only a matter of time before Blu-Ray responded with a price slash of there own, but with the price cuts of HD DVD it's not surprising. The Samsung BD-P1400 is the first Blu-Ray stand alone player to drop under the $300 mark. The fairly well spec'd player was retailed at $549 and sold for $499, but Amazon has it on sale for the low price of $298.

So you might be wondering if it's lacking where it counts?

No worries. This baby has 1080p24 support, Dolby Digital Plug / True HD, DTS HD, HDMI 1.3, 1080p DVD upconversion, and comes with 5 free movies. I still might be in the HD DVD camp like Fred is, but I have to say that this is a nice player for the money. Now if we can get both format players under $200, I think we might have a war.

[Amazon via Engadget]

The State Of HD DVD

Wilson Rothman of Gizmodo wrote one of the most interesting articles about "The state of HD DVD". In this article he talks about the facts of where both Blu-Ray and HD DVD are at in todays market. Rothman compares the two formats and you can really see the difference between them, and why he feels the 'format war' is long from over. I hope that anyone who is interested in picking up one of these players in the future read this, so as they can understand what they're really buying.

Conspiracy theories aside, this is a great article.

[The State Of HD DVD via Gizmodo]

Conspiracy Theories By Michael Bay: Microsoft Wants Both Formats To Fail

I've heard many "Evil Empire" stories about Microsoft, but I think this one is the best (or the most out there one). Michael Bay the director of 'Pearl Harbor', 'The Island', and 'Transformers' hasn't made it a secrete that he's more of a fan of Blu-Ray than HD DVD. So much so that he said that he wasn't going to make 'Transformers 2' because Paramount went exclusively to HD DVD (he's recently changed his mind on that one). But he hasn't stopped his campaign for Blu-Ray, and for conspiracy theories. Check the quote:

"Microsoft wants both formats to fail so they can be heroes and make the world move to digital downloads…. That is the dirty secret no one is talking about. That is why Microsoft is handing out $100 million dollar checks to studios just [to] embrace the HD DVD and not the leading, and superior Blu Ray. They want confusion in the market until they perfect the digital downloads. Time will tell and you will see the truth."

Now digital downloads may be the future of HD formats, but I just don't see Microsoft dumping $100 of millions to a format with a hope that they'll both fail. That makes no sense!

With this kind of imagination, this guy should be making movies..... Oh, wait....

DVD Formats [The Official Michael Bay Forums via Crunchgear]

CowBell Deals: Xbox 360 HD DVD $129

If you have an Xbox 360 and are looking to pick up an HD DVD attachment player, you are in luck my friend. Toys R Us is having a very nice sale on the HD DVD that normally retails for $179 for only $129. It comes with "King Kong" and it also qualifies for the five free HD DVD movies when you purchase a new HD DVD player.

I tell you my friends, if you're still on the fence about which next gen console to buy, Xbox is doing their best to push you over to their side this week.

[ToysRUs via Gizmodo]

Sony CEO Says HD Format War Is A "Stalemate", Doesn't "Mean Much"

Head of Sony Corp. and head honcho Howard Stringer spoke to an audience in NYC, and said that the HD format war between Blu-Ray and HD DVD is a stalemate. This is a big turnaround considering they were claiming victory less than 11 months ago. Stringer stated that the tide turned when Paramount went exclusive to HD DVD. Check the quote:

"We were trying to win on the merits, which we were doing for a while, until Paramount changed sides,"

But the AP report went on to say this:

At the same time, he played down the importance of the battle, saying it was mostly a matter of prestige whose format wins out in the end. "It doesn't mean as much as all that," Stringer said.

Whenever I hear Sony make a statement about how well they're doing I alway take it with a block of salt. If they say they're doing good, they're not doing so good. If they say they're doing mediocre, they're doing very bad!!!

Photo courtesy of Gizmodo
[AP via Gizmodo]

Over 90,000 HD DVD Sold Last Weekend

Well I didn't know that the bloodbath war between Wal-Mart and Best Buy would yield such results for HD DVD, but the numbers don't lie. Over 90,000 HD DVD were sold this past weekend, most likely due to the $99 price war that both stores had for the above Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD player.

I'm sure that both stores were just trying to move the older models to make room for the newer ones, most likely taking a loss on it. But never the less, it is 90,000 more HD DVD customers that are out there that Blu-Ray will not get this year.

This can only strengthen HD DVD's position in the format war.

[Video Business via Gizmodo]

This Weekend Only, Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD For $99

I don't know any other way to say it, but get your ass to Wal-Mart this weekend. The super store giant that was set to sell the Toshiba HD-A2 for $198 starting mid November, will have the HD DVD player for $99 this weekend only.

That's right kids, $99 for an HD DVD player!!!

Not to say that this means that HD DVD will win the format war, but it sure does help push it in that direction. Wal-Mart is said to have a Blu-Ray deal or two in the works, but no word on what it might be. If you're looking to jump in the HD format pool, this is the cheapest that I've ever seen it kids.

[[Wal-Mart via Gizmodo]

$198 Wal-Mart Toshiba HD DVD Player Confirmed

Wal-Mart and Toshiba are making it very hard to stay on the fence with this HD format war.

The rumor about a sub-$200 HD DVD player seems to have some legs to it. The HD-A2 HD DVD player from Toshiba, (which you can hardly make out in this blurry ass picture) is not set to be sold until 11/03/07. The guy who posted it said that each store will get 18 units, and that it is a "non-replenishable item", so once they're gone, they're gone. This might be the reason to run out a pick up an HD DVD player (and Transformers), and cut away at Blu-Ray's bottom line.

It might be a good idea for Blu-Ray to respond to something like this, and soon.

[Gizmodo]

Blu-Ray Only Titles Available On Region-Free HD DVD

Interesting story coming from the WSJ today about the HD format war that I thought should be known.

• Many titles from Sony, Fox and Disney which are Blu-Ray only here in the U.S. are available in HD DVD in other countries.
• Since HD DVD is region-free you can order those movies from sites like Xploited Cinema and don't need to worry about them playing on your system.

Blu-Ray also can get HD DVD only titles, but there is a little catch:

"Some titles that come out exclusively on HD DVD in the U.S. come out on Blu-ray overseas, such as Universal Pictures' "Bruce Almighty" and "Hollywoodland," but consumers must be sure they are buying from a region that works with U.S. players. For Blu-ray, the U.S. is in the same region as almost all of the Americas and Southeast Asia." And the statement that really got my attention was "Still, most major high-definition titles available overseas seem to reflect a switch to HD DVD, rather than the reverse."

It's looking more and more like I might be picking up an HD DVD player!

[WSJ via Gizmodo]

HD DVD Isn't Done: So Says Crunchgear

Peter Ha from Crunchgear has a very interesting take on the HD format war. Although Blu-Ray was said to have wrapped this thing up, he doesn't think so. The funny thing about it is that we've looked at this war as HD DVD vs Blu-Ray, when as Peter puts it, it should be HD DVD vs DVD and Blu-Ray vs DVD.

With some of the features that HD DVD offer, it's no wonder why he feels that HD DVD might be the one to beat. If you're thinking about which one to buy, or which one will come out ahead, this might be a good read for you.

[Crunchgear]

Forrester Research: HD Format War To Last 18 Months

Well I guess this thing is going to get dragged out longer than I expected. As the experts at Forrester Research think that the HD DVD and Blu-Ray war will continue for the next 18 months. The Forrester Research analysts feel that Blu-Ray will eventually win the battle, but says that Paramount’s HD DVD exclusivity was a bigger blow to Blu-Ray than first thought. They feel the Blu-Ray camp must cut prices, considering that the HD DVD players are $100 cheaper than Blu-Ray's players. Check the quote:

"Weakened by these developments, Blu-ray needs to offer a viable hardware model at the $250 price point by Christmas 2007,” he said in the report. “The Blu-ray camp must also stave off further studio defections, and employ more aggressive promotional tactics to counter HD DVD’s recent momentum."

Forrester Research analysts believe that most HD TV owners will not spend more than $200 for a next generation HD player, which I would agree with. If there is hardly any difference in the picture quality, then it would make sense that the cheaper player would win out. This is getting interesting.

Blu-ray/HD DVD war to run another 18 months: report [Reuters via Crunchgear]

BJ's Drops HD-DVD

Well this doesn't look good for HD-DVD.

BJ's Wholesale, which is a major Eastern chain store is dropping HD-DVD from their stores. This is a big hit for HD-DVD, and if Wal-Mart and Sams follow suit, that could be 'all she wrote' for HD-DVD. BJ's Wholesale will continue to sell HD-DVD from their on-line stores, but will not carry it in-store.

Not even the price drop for Microsofts HD-DVD add-on will be enough to save it. And as Joystiq has pointed out, Microsoft always could make a Blu-Ray add-on.

Don't look good HD-DVD!!!

Hit the jump to read the article. [Joystiq via G4TV]

HD-DVD Strikes Back

In an effort to combat the big move that Blockbuster made by going exclusively with Blu-Ray. Toshiba has come up with a unique way of staying ahead of the game. The HD-DVD players have come with built in internet connections, which are now going to be put to good use.

With the release of '300' later this month, users not only will get a fantastic movie. But they will have the ability to change and edit the movie however they see fit. The best part is that users can upload their 'remake' of the movie to Warner Bros. servers, and will be accessible to download with other HD-DVD users.

I can only imagine what ideas people will come up with for this movie.

Read more after the jump. [Yahoo news via Crunchgear]

HD-DVD Finished By 2007?

Peter Ha of Crunchgear got a chance to have a sit down with Ken Lowe of Sigma Designs. And some interesting information was discussed about the HD format war. His feeling is that HD-DVD is against the ropes and might be knocked out by the end of this year by Blu-Ray.

So who is Ken Lowe? Why should we care about what he has to say? If you're interested in the HD format war, you might want to listen.

Find out after the jump. [Crunchgear]

Blockbluster Bravely Backs Blu-ray

Looks like Blu-ray is beginning to honestly win the format war. Now Blockbuster is choosing sides and the company seems to favor Blu-ray over HD DVD.

Blockbuster just announced it would begin carrying more high-def discs in 1700 stores by mid-July. According to reports, Blockbuster is saying that Blu-ray is “significantly outpacing HD DVD rentals”, which could possibly lead to the pulling of HD DVDs off its shelves. For now though, Blockbuster online rental subscribers can still get their fix of both Blu-ray and HD DVD.

HD-DVD seriously needs to pull out some big guns!!!

Of course all of this war stuff could hit a snag if the market turns to downloaded media. Which really is the future of movies.

Read the article after the jump. [Yahoo! News]