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Breaking News!! Warner is soon to be Blu-Ray Exclusive!

#181
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1/4/08 at 5:26pm
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Re: BREAKING NEWS!! Warner Brothers is now Blu-ray Exclusive

Well at least the war is coming to a close. I was a supporter of both formats, but just went neutral recently after a year of HD DVD. It's sad to see HD DVD go so soon, especially after buying a player for relatives, but at least we can get back to enjoying movies now rather than discussing sales numbers.
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#182
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1/4/08 at 5:27pm
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Re: BREAKING NEWS!! Warner Brothers is now Blu-ray Exclusive

Well, I couldn't hold out and recently moved into Blu-Ray, so I'm just ecstatic now. I think I'll head on over to Amazon for that BOGO...
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#183
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1/4/08 at 5:28pm
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Re: BREAKING NEWS!! Warner Brothers is now Blu-ray Exclusive

Quote:
Originally Posted by Man-Fai Wong
I'd like to see what Ronald Epstein has to say about this. Personally I don't buy it for a second and Ronald seems to know otherwise.
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#184
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1/4/08 at 5:33pm
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Re: BREAKING NEWS!! Warner Brothers is now Blu-ray Exclusive

Quote:
Originally Posted by Man-Fai Wong

OK, then I ask again...what took so long? Why not before Christmas? Why allow people to buy Christmas paper weights? Deal or no deal?
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#185
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1/4/08 at 5:35pm
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Re: BREAKING NEWS!! Warner Brothers is now Blu-ray Exclusive

Bring on the Criterion Collection!

Aren't they're supposedly waiting in the wings for a winner to be announced. Well, I say now is as good a time as any; even though I'd certainly go broke in the end.
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#186
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1/4/08 at 5:36pm
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Re: BREAKING NEWS!! Warner Brothers is now Blu-ray Exclusive

Quote:
Originally Posted by ErichH
Ah yrp - love this.....the company will "assess the potential impact of this announcement with the other HD DVD partner companies and evaluate potential next steps."

As in step - there's only 1

Based on the first line in the press release...
Quote:
Toshiba is quite surprised by Warner Bros.' decision to abandon HD DVD in favor of Blu-ray, despite the fact that there are various contracts in place between our companies concerning the support of HD DVD.
...my guess is that "step 1" is "Call the lawyers".
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#187
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1/4/08 at 5:38pm
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Re: BREAKING NEWS!! Warner Brothers is now Blu-ray Exclusive

Format neutral here, but I'm happy with the news. My HD collection so far? 26 Blu-Ray, 12 HD-DVD. Most were acquired through Amazon's BOGO sales, so I'm not out too much money (not to mention that my HD-DVD player was dirt cheap). Congrats, Blu-Ray! Here's hoping Criterion dives in now.... I could really use some Kurosawa and Bergman in high-def....

Oh, and here's hoping Universal goes Blu sooner rather than later. 2008 is the 50th anniversary of my favorite film (Vertigo), so I'd love to see it on Blu-Ray.
They're round, they're shiny...
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#188
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1/4/08 at 5:38pm
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Re: BREAKING NEWS!! Warner Brothers is now Blu-ray Exclusive

Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Borges
OK, then I ask again...what took so long? Why not before Christmas? Why allow people to buy Christmas paper weights? Deal or no deal?

Because whether there was a financial payoff or not, or when any deal was struck, Hollywood is a business and cares about one thing: making money. Nobody would want to risk that by making purchase-halting announcements in the middle of their key income period!

We, the consumers, are just lemmings, running about buying and re-buying the same old stuff every time they click their fingers. We really don't matter except to their sales figures.
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#189
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1/4/08 at 5:45pm
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Re: BREAKING NEWS!! Warner Brothers is now Blu-ray Exclusive

Quote:
Originally Posted by John H Ross
Because whether there was a deal or not, Hollywood is a business and cares about one thing: making money. Nobody would want to risk that by making purchase-halting announcements in the middle of their key income period!

We, the consumers, are just lemmings, running about buying and re-buying the same old stuff every time they click their fingers.

And so many are 'happy' about this kind of treatment! Well I'm 'mad as hell and i'm not going to take it anymore'. (i had to stick a new quote) But seriously, can this constant flip flopping really lead to wide adoption? Like now everything is ok, and now the war is over? I don't think its so simple. Consumer trust has eroded. The war has just begun, the war of gaining consumer trust.
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#190
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1/4/08 at 5:48pm
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Re: BREAKING NEWS!! Warner Brothers is now Blu-ray Exclusive

Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil Menard
I'll take that number in good faith, Jason, but I'd rather have 100%. With my luck, the titles that I'd want to import, the niche titles, would fall into the unhappy 32%.
You can check out Blu-ray Disc Statistics which lists which Region A released titles are region free. There are still a few unknowns in that list. There is another site out there that lists the region B/C titles and whether they are region free or not which would probably contain most of your niche type titles. I just don't have that link off hand.

I realize that region coding or lack there of is a big deal to some people, but on the flipside no region coding is a deal breaker for some Studios from releasing titles at all.
The End.
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#191
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1/4/08 at 5:49pm
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Re: BREAKING NEWS!! Warner Brothers is now Blu-ray Exclusive

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Wagner
Bring on the Criterion Collection!

Aren't they're supposedly waiting in the wings for a winner to be announced. Well, I say now is as good a time as any; even though I'd certainly go broke in the end.

They better be gearing up for Blu-Ray now, if not - I'm gonna be pissed. There's barely anything I would own in Blu-Ray (or HD-DVD) right now as everything is so mainstream Hollywood. The Hollywood-ish films I do like aren't available. I'm assuming There Will Be Blood (Miramax) will have a day/date release with the DVD - so that's something.

The Criterion Collection does have it's fair share of films that I don't consider very good, but with the amount of masterpieces that are in the collection - the odds are very good of seeing some of those releases. We just need Criterion to get off their asses.

There was an article or something in early December mentioning that Criterion did some tests with HD (using Blu-Ray) and came away impressed. Hopefully that means something.
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#192
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1/4/08 at 5:52pm
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Re: BREAKING NEWS!! Warner Brothers is now Blu-ray Exclusive

Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Borges
OK, then I ask again...what took so long? Why not before Christmas? Why allow people to buy Christmas paper weights? Deal or no deal?

Actually, if WB really did not take a payoff, then that actually should make more sense for your concerns me thinks.

_Man_

Just another amateur learning to paint w/ "the light of the world".

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#193
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1/4/08 at 5:59pm
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Re: BREAKING NEWS!! Warner Brothers is now Blu-ray Exclusive

Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Borges
And so many are 'happy' about this kind of treatment! Well I'm 'mad as hell and i'm not going to take it anymore'. (i had to stick a new quote) But seriously, can this constant flip flopping really lead to wide adoption? Like now everything is ok, and now the war is over? I don't think its so simple. Consumer trust has eroded. The war has just begun, the war of gaining consumer trust.

But they only lost the trust of a few enthusiasts, not the general public. The average consumer has still been satisfied w/ SD DVD so far -- and most of them haven't even seen upconverted SD DVD yet(!). As someone else pointed out in another thread, the format *battle" (between HD formats) is ending, but the real format *war* is still ahead vs SD DVD, if we want widespread adoption...

_Man_

Just another amateur learning to paint w/ "the light of the world".

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#194
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1/4/08 at 6:05pm
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Re: BREAKING NEWS!! Warner Brothers is now Blu-ray Exclusive

Quote:
Originally Posted by Marc Colella
They better be gearing up for Blu-Ray now, if not - I'm gonna be pissed. There's barely anything I would own in Blu-Ray (or HD-DVD) right now as everything is so mainstream Hollywood. The Hollywood-ish films I do like aren't available. I'm assuming There Will Be Blood (Miramax) will have a day/date release with the DVD - so that's something.

I'm pretty sure There Will Be Blood is a Paramount Vantage/Miramax co-production that Paramount holds the US media rights to. It will most likely be HD DVD unless Paramount holds off HDM releases until their contract is up.
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#195
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1/4/08 at 6:09pm
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Re: BREAKING NEWS!! Warner Brothers is now Blu-ray Exclusive

Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil Menard
I'll take that number in good faith, Jason, but I'd rather have 100%. With my luck, the titles that I'd want to import, the niche titles, would fall into the unhappy 32%.

For now, also having an HD DVD player, I can pick up the extended version of RESIDENT EVIL from Japan, or the extended version of CRANK from Germany (see what I mean by "niche"). Not too sure about these versions becoming available on Blu at the moment.

Now if the forthcoming Samsung BD5000 combo player was also a multi-region DVD player with PAL to NTSC capabilities, I could get rid of a lot of hardware!

Resident Evil and Crank are both available on BD in the US right now.

Also, Japan is the same region as the US for BD.
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Criterion DVD/BDs Owned: 55, Total DVDs Owned: 525, Blu-ray Discs Owned: 227
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#196
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1/4/08 at 6:12pm
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Re: BREAKING NEWS!! Warner Brothers is now Blu-ray Exclusive

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ryan Petrich
I'm pretty sure There Will Be Blood is a Paramount Vantage/Miramax co-production that Paramount holds the US media rights to. It will most likely be HD DVD unless Paramount holds off HDM releases until their contract is up.

I assumed it would be Blu-Ray because No Country For Old Men is also a Paramount Vantage/Miramax co-production - and that's being released on Blu-Ray in North America.
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#197
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1/4/08 at 6:12pm
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Re: BREAKING NEWS!! Warner Brothers is now Blu-ray Exclusive

Quote:
Originally Posted by Brandon Conway
Also, Japan is the same region as the US for BD.

Yeah, seems that Region A actually covers a lot of ground -- certainly far more than region 1 on SD DVD.

_Man_

Just another amateur learning to paint w/ "the light of the world".

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#198
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1/4/08 at 6:13pm
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Re: BREAKING NEWS!! Warner Brothers is now Blu-ray Exclusive

Quote:
Originally Posted by Man-Fai Wong
But they only lost the trust of a few enthusiasts, not the general public. The average consumer has still been satisfied w/ SD DVD so far -- and most of them haven't even seen upconverted SD DVD yet(!). As someone else pointed out in another thread, the format *battle" (between HD formats) is ending, but the real format *war* is still ahead vs SD DVD, if we want widespread adoption...

_Man_
The speed of that "widespread adoption" is possibly severely hampered though with continual shifts in the HD format war. The format war and its fickle nature is why many have held off on adoption. Those holding off are likely to hold off longer after a move like Warner's (as it proves once again anything can happen at anytime). The only thing that is certain right now is continual uncertainty.
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#199
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1/4/08 at 6:16pm
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Re: BREAKING NEWS!! Warner Brothers is now Blu-ray Exclusive

Quote:
Originally Posted by Brandon Conway
Resident Evil and Crank are both available on BD in the US right now.

Ahhh, yes, but they are the US theatrical versions. The import HD DVD variants I was describing are extended unrated versions (international?). But that may not be important to you like it is to me. In any event, I'd always like to have more options. Maybe Poland uses a different codec. Perhaps France will have the complete TRANSPORTER 2 with the effects finished. I guess you see what I mean.

Edit: Austrailia actually has a region-free extended cut of CASINO ROYALE on Blu-Ray. Highly recommended, if I may borrow the phrase.
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#200
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1/4/08 at 6:17pm
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Re: BREAKING NEWS!! Warner Brothers is now Blu-ray Exclusive

As another person who has sat out the format war so far I must say this is great news. I really do want to get into HD and was leaning slightly toward Blu but didn't want to jump in until an end to the war was in sight. Now that looks like it might be here and sooner than I had hoped for. I feel sorry for those that went exclusive HD but you knew the risks from the beginning. I just hope that player prices continue to drop. $300 doesn't sound too bad but $200 sounds better.
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#201
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1/4/08 at 6:18pm
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Re: BREAKING NEWS!! Warner Brothers is now Blu-ray Exclusive

Quote:
Originally Posted by Marc Colella
I assumed it would be Blu-Ray because No Country For Old Men is also a Paramount Vantage/Miramax co-production - and that's being released on Blu-Ray in North America.

Yes that's true, they must have split the domestic media rights between the two films.
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#202
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1/4/08 at 6:18pm
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Re: BREAKING NEWS!! Warner Brothers is now Blu-ray Exclusive

Shocking news, I chose HD DVD as my format of choice
only a couple of months ago!

If this all means that ultimately Blu-Ray WILL win the does
anyone really believe that Toshiba will stop manufacturing
HD DVD players? I mean, even if they start to develop Blu-Ray
machines then surely they'd be compatible with HD DVD?

There will still be a demand for HD DVD players by those
who have bought HD DVD media.

Interesting stuff. I hope Blu-Ray machines are soon released
region free (for both HD and SD) out of the box, then I'll definitely
buy one later this year!
Click here to view my DVD Collection
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#203
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1/4/08 at 6:22pm
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Re: BREAKING NEWS!! Warner Brothers is now Blu-ray Exclusive

Official HD DVD PRG statement:

HD DVD Promotional Group Statement on Home Video Decision to Back Blu-ray
LAS VEGAS (January 4, 2008) – The companies of the HD DVD Promotional Group today issued a statement in response to the decision by Warner Home Video to exclusively back the Blu-ray format:

[FONT=[/IMG]
. For more information and a complete listing of HD DVD titles please visit “While Warner's decision is a setback for HD DVD, the consumer has benefited from HD DVD's commitment to quality and affordability – a bar that is critical for the mainstream success of any format. We believe widespread adoption of a next generation format will ultimately be determined by the consumer.”

About HD DVD
HD DVD is the next generation, post-DVD standard for high capacity, high definition optical discs, approved by the DVD Forum, which develops and defines DVD formats. The North American HD DVD Promotional Group, Inc. is an organization established to promote the HD DVD format and educate consumers in North America. For more information and a complete listing of HD DVD titles please visit http://www.TheLookAndSoundOfPerfect.com.

HTF Rules 
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#204
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1/4/08 at 6:23pm
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Re: BREAKING NEWS!! Warner Brothers is now Blu-ray Exclusive

I wonder how long Best Buy, Wal*Mart, and so on will keep HD DVD on the shelf now? THAT will be the final nail.
Of course i am happy about the WB decision. But i am mostly happy i got Blade Runner on Blu for $28! I am easy to please.
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#205
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1/4/08 at 6:27pm
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Re: BREAKING NEWS!! Warner Brothers is now Blu-ray Exclusive

What are the odds of Weinstein/Genius announcing they are supporting Blu-ray at CES now? I'd say probably 2:1.
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Criterion DVD/BDs Owned: 55, Total DVDs Owned: 525, Blu-ray Discs Owned: 227
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#206
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1/4/08 at 6:34pm
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Re: BREAKING NEWS!! Warner Brothers is now Blu-ray Exclusive

I'm still hoping things will turn around and Betamax will finally kick VHS's ass. Oh wait: that was my position in the last format war...
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#207
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1/4/08 at 6:37pm
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Re: BREAKING NEWS!! Warner Brothers is now Blu-ray Exclusive

Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg-ST
The format war and its fickle nature is why many have held off on adoption.

If you are only talking about those people that are interested in HDM and have held off then I would agree with you.

However, I believe that the majority of people at large have held off because they just don't care about it (yet..hopefully).
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#208
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1/4/08 at 6:40pm
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Re: BREAKING NEWS!! Warner Brothers is now Blu-ray Exclusive

As someone who has an Xbox 360 add-on and about 25 movies (with Zodiac on the way), what I want -- and have wanted -- is a good combo player that can do both. My fear is that this will go the way of the dinosaur. If I could find a 1080p combo player for $400, I'd be there right now. Companies should court HD-DVD proponents to migrate to combo players, but there doesn't seem to be much incentive to do this.
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#209
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1/4/08 at 6:41pm
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Re: BREAKING NEWS!! Warner Brothers is now Blu-ray Exclusive

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ensign Eddie
If you are only talking about those people that are interested in HDM and have held off then I would agree with you.
Yes, that's who I was referring to.
Quote:
However, I believe that the majority of people at large have held off because they just don't care about it (yet..hopefully).
This I agree with. It's likely going to be the even larger obstacle in the very long term.
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#210
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1/4/08 at 6:46pm
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Re: BREAKING NEWS!! Warner Brothers is now Blu-ray Exclusive

Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg-ST
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ensign Eddie
If you are only talking about those people that are interested in HDM and have held off then I would agree with you.

Yes, that's who I was referring to.

Quote:
However, I believe that the majority of people at large have held off because they just don't care about it (yet..hopefully).

This I agree with. It's likely going to be the even larger obstacle in the very long term.

Hmmm... Well, isn't that what I was basically saying before??

Anyway, while they've (temporarily?) lost the trust of few enthusiasts who did jump in on the HDD side, most will now feel safe to jump in me thinks, especially if Universal and Paramount (and possibly Toshiba) announces something in the near future as some are speculating. In the grand scheme of things, I don't think this will matter one bit since it all basically happened during HDM's infancy and most average folks aren't even aware of any of this at all...

_Man_

Just another amateur learning to paint w/ "the light of the world".

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