[Patrick Sun]

With Warners going totally blu by May of this year, will BD player manufacturers have the incentive to drive prices down if HD DVD players won't present a long-term viable alternative for prospective buyers of HDM players?

The format war was good for driving down the prices of the hardware (and the software in terms of sales via retail/online sources), but if the handwriting is now on the wall, will Sony's projections of sustaining high prices on BD player for the CEs that produce BD players come to fruition as the competition is diminished on the HDM landscape.

If the prices stay high (hardware and software), will it lead to slower buy-in from the general public?

[Shane Martin]

They'll go lower because the real war is with DVD. The cash cow DVD is running dry.

Also there is a good rumor going around about a $200 panasonic player.

[Patrick Sun]

I understand what a tough mountain SD DVD is to climb for HDM, but I also can't expect these manufacturers to just give away the store if they have to recoup their R&D and remain a viable player in being a BR player manufacturer.

It would be interesting if the manufacturers do put out "basic" 1.0 players, and if you wanted the extras, you'd have to pony up for the 1.1 and 2.0 players (kind of what Toshiba did in segmenting the video/audio capabilities for the 3 model levels they offered). I could see the pricing going lower for the no-frills models, while the other pricing tiers focusing on other BD playable capabilities. Unfortunately, this approach would be sort of confusing to the general public, but that's the situation BDA has left us in for the meanwhile.

[Jarod M]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick Sun

I understand what a tough mountain SD DVD is to climb for HDM, but I also can't expect these manufacturers to just give away the store if they have to recoup their R&D and remain a viable player in being a BR player manufacturer.

It would be interesting if the manufacturers do put out "basic" 1.0 players, and if you wanted the extras, you'd have to pony up for the 1.1 and 2.0 players (kind of what Toshiba did in segmenting the video/audio capabilities for the 3 model levels they offered). I could see the pricing going lower for the no-frills models, while the other pricing tiers focusing on other BD playable capabilities. Unfortunately, this approach would be sort of confusing to the general public, but that's the situation BDA has left us in for the meanwhile.

Basic 1.0 players? I thought 1.1 was required for all player models introduced in 2008. What is so complicated about 2.0 players that they couldn't be basic models? Other people can help these companies recoup R&D-I'll wait for a $199 profile 2.0 player.

[Patrick Sun]

Well, if that's the case with new BD players (just read that 1.0 was for players made before Nov. 1, 2007), then at least 2 model levels for the near future (1.1 and 2.0). Or it depends on how easy the firmware update process is for regular folks (burning CD or requesting them, as ethernet capability is not always a given).

[Zack Gibbs]

The differences between the 1.1 and 2.0 spec are so minimal I can't see manufactures maintaining 1.1 production.

I expect Sony to play up the "PS3 as a movie player" to consumers as Blu-Ray takes more hold. You hear a lot of naive "I don't game so why would I want a PS3" comments right now. If a Blu-ray player were announced at CES with the quality and media functionalities of the PS3, came with a remote instead of a controller, and was priced at $400--most consumers would shit themselves. I'm sure Sony wants to capitalize on this but may have been fearful of pissing off other hardware manufacturers while the format was on shaky ground.

And as long as you can use the $400 PS3 as an example, I think Blu-ray hardware in general will continue to favor the consumer.

[Patrick Sun]

But can Sony continue to keep subsidizing the movement by losing money on each PS3 they sell?

[Zack Gibbs]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick Sun

But can Sony continue to keep subsidizing the movement by losing money on each PS3 they sell?

I don't keep close track of the gaming market, but I think with the failure of the system's launch it would be an exasperatingly poor move on Sony's part to once again raise prices to that which caused the failure in the first place. Unless Sony goes belly up I'd say the $400 PS3 will be a remain staple Blu-ray player for consumers. They've painted themselves into a corner and don't have much choice in the matter.

[Patrick Sun]

I will not underestimate Sony's boldness when it comes to pricing and cornering the market format-wise. Their long history tells me to not to hold my breath in expecting dramatic price reductions in light of today's news. Perhaps they will hold the line, but it'll take continual re-design of the PS3 to keep removing gamer-friendly capabilities (like backwards compatibility for older PS2 games with the recently stripped down 40GB PS3 model, and partial backwards compatibility with their 80GB model).