02-15-2008, 07:22 PM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 1,350
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Well... a good thing that I waited until war is over.
About those videotapes: we had the choice out of three, Betamax, VHS and Video 2000. Chances of picking the wrong one were pretty high in those days. Happily, at that time I couldn't afford a videorecorder. 
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02-16-2008, 08:14 AM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 61
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And with the Wal-Mart announcement, that is the final nail in the coffin, and it's an enormous one. First and foremost, I feel sorry for the HD-DVD purchasers. On the Blu camp, there was irritation at seeing announced titles yanked away from us (Transformers, anyone?), but that sort of thing pales in comparison to having a dead-end library, and I know there are probably some people out there staring at hundreds of HD-DVDs on their shelf with a thousand yard stare.
However, I'm definitely not surprised. I personally chose Blu-ray when choices were to be made, based simply on studio support, and at the end of the day, that's what I think was the deciding factor. For example, in any home video battle, Disney is a big gorilla when it's time to pick sides, and I just couldn't see HD-DVD coming out ahead, based on which studios were siding where. Personally, I have to respectfully disagree with the idea that HD-DVD was superior in nearly every way, but even if that were true, it still wouldn't have mattered if the studios didn't back it, and the right ones didn't, which is why the numbers were so lopsided once Blu-ray hit the market.
Hopefully, the lesson learned by the industry (and I'm speaking as a working member of that industry) will be that consumers don't like format wars, rather than a look at Blu-ray and Betamax with the thought "Hey, may as well roll the dice... Sony batted .500!"
Can you imagine the hassles when VOD starts to become a significant market and all you need to have your own "standard" is do a codec which may not work on your competitor's box? Ugh...
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02-16-2008, 05:23 PM
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Philosopher
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 540
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why do you say superior in every way? Blueray easily atleast had the disc space thing nailed down. ^^
IMO either format gets what they deserve. If HDDVD started out at $119 a drive, i'm sure it would be number one now. Both are sides are greedy, and so I won't have an HD disc player until final fantasy 13 comes out and I'm forced to buy one. ^^
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02-16-2008, 07:21 PM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 2,291
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On the bright side, I'll probably be able to pick up some HD movies dirt cheap in the near future. The ST-TOS ones are dual disk, so I can probably get those cheap and then sell my other set.
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02-16-2008, 11:47 PM
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Oracle
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 853
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You can change the title now:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/2008...pcworld/142579
It's not "dropped", but they've stopped developing players for it. They are expected to take losses in the tens of billions of dollars. That's gotta smart!
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02-17-2008, 03:38 AM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 217
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And to think that if Warner had gone into the HD DVD camp instead of Blu-Ray we might be starting up a Blu-Ray death watch about now...
This is a sad day for consumers. Consumers get more expensive players, half-baked interactive/special features, poorly thought out non-standardized hardware specs, and the sickening feeling looking back that they let the better format die.
The studios get their wish... bigger and badder DRM.
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02-17-2008, 08:48 AM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 61
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Not to get into a protracted debate, but Warner on its own couldn't have killed Blu-ray, and definitely not in anything approaching this time frame. Paramount/Dreamworks left Blu-ray and the impact on sales splits was negligible, despite it being an immediate cancellation, including pulling titles that were about to be released. Warner, on the other hand, left HD-DVD, and planned to release HD-DVD until the end of May, and yet that killed HD-DVD at an unbelievable speed. The sales splits immediately after were 93% Blu-ray. If Warner had gone HD-DVD only, it just would have drawn this all out even longer, and the outcome would still have been uncertain. The fact that a single studio's defection killed HD-DVD almost instantly, from a corporate point of view, makes it pretty plain that HD-DVD was on life-support already.
As to the rest of your post, mar2k, I disagree with it on just about every point, but hey, there's not much point in debating it now, I suppose. People look for different things in their media standards, and in this case, whatever the reasons are, Blu-ray did a better job of targeting (or creating a perception of) those needs, whether it was better studio support, the PS3 factor, more advertising, a preference amongst consumers for the colour blue, who the heck knows?
The only things that I think everyone can agree on is that 1) the format war needed to end and 2) it's a ridiculous shame we had one in the first place, for precisely this reason; there's always going to be people who feel betrayed.
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02-18-2008, 01:49 AM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Gohlke
On the bright side, I'll probably be able to pick up some HD movies dirt cheap in the near future.
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Indeed, that's quite true! I'll be watching for them...
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02-18-2008, 01:48 AM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jeffd
why do you say superior in every way? Blueray easily atleast had the disc space thing nailed down. ^^
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Blu-ray had more space, yes. HD-DVD had the better name/brand, cheaper disc manufacturing, better technology for interactive features (it was quick and easy to program for, unlike Blu-ray which required Java programming), the players didn't seem to have the firmware/compatibility problems that Blu-ray had, less expensive players (less complicated to make), the quality was better on first generation discs...take your pick.
Blu-ray had better studio support - that's really the main advantage it had, but in the end, that's the advantage that mattered the most...
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02-18-2008, 01:39 AM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Marlof Bregonje
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Wow. I've never even heard of that one! 
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