HD-DVD Titles Announced for 4th Qtr Release- (1 Viewer)

[Colton]

What ever format carries "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" and the 2004 remake of "Dawn of the Dead" will have my business.

- Colton

 

[Nils Luehrmann]

While Microsoft and Toshiba recently announced a collaboration on content, Bill Gates was quick to point out that Microsoft remains neutral in the format war between HD DVD and Blu-ray and that both formats support Microsoft's VC-1.

More importantly, the PC industry has so far almost unanimously chosen to support Blu-ray instead of HD DVD due to the higher capacity, and future expandability. This means most computers will probably not be able to play HD DVD discs. Perhaps a ‘universal’ blue laser drive may eventually become available, but I would expect them to add significantly to the cost of a PC.

BTW: The new Xbox '360' wont include an HD DVD drive - not exactly a vote of confidence for the format. On the other hand, the current specs for the PS3 include a Blu-ray drive.

 

[Rakesh.S]

Are we going to get any updates as far as players and titles go?

I mean, we're just about at the beginning of August and no one knows a thing. This is really strange.

 

[RaymondSteiner]

We need more news about the new Format, your consumers are waiting Warner!!

 

[DaViD Boulet]

This consumer is waiting for Blu-ray or a unified-format.

 

[Shawn Perron]

Assuming HD-DVD really is launching this year, shouldn't we already be seeing hardware announcements from manufacturers? Unless Toshiba is in fact the only campany producing launch players, companies must have this on top secret status. I just don't see the amount of PR necessary to launch this year happening at the moment.

If the launch of HD-DVD does happen this year and it looks too rushed, I'm probably just going to hold off for a 2nd generation player. The list of launch titles, while containing a few I'd buy, just isn't overwhelming me with the need to upgrade right away.

 

[Paul.S]

As long as AACS remains unfinalized, player and street date anouncements are much less likely. -p

 

[Paul_Scott]

VSDA is going on right now.
if these were really intended to make a splash before Christmas, i would think we would be seeing the hype here.

that we aren't says something to me.

 

[PeterTHX]

I believe the term is "pillarboxing".

"Windowboxing" is when you have banded the image on all 4 sides. Some old silent films are presented this way, as well as the credits of many Academy ratio (1.37) films to prevent cropping by overscan.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

You're correct. Pillarboxing is the most appropriate term for L/R masking when full-height is maintainted.

 

[Marc Colella]

XBOX 360 not including a HD DVD drive has nothing to do with a lack of confidence... and more to do with keeping costs down.

No games will need the space that HD DVD disc have - as current DVD9s are more than enough to fit High Definition games.

MS is considering adding HD DVD in the future when the costs are lower.

It's looking more and more likely that Sony will drop Blu-Ray from the PS3 - as the price of the console is much too high.

 

[Paul.S]

Quote: It's looking more and more likely that Sony will drop Blu-Ray from the PS3 - as the price of the console is much too high.

Marc, I'm curious as to the source of your 411 on this or if you're speculating. Although his source(s) is/are not entirely clear either for the info he's relaying, Nils L.'s post 1061 in the Blu-ray thread would appear to controvert whatever source(s) you're relying on.

-p

 

[Jesse Blacklow]

I don't know where you're pulling that info from, Marc, but I think "MS is considering adding HD DVD in the future" is the only statement not directly contradicted by information currently out there.
See Paul's post.

 

[Marc Colella]

I guess we'll see what happens.

By the time the PS3 get's released (2nd half of 2006 at the earliest), Blu-Ray may actually be included - but I'm not going to bet on it as the PS3 is a long way from being released.

 

[Nils Luehrmann]

In addition to what both Paul and Jesse said, not only are several game developers concerned about the limited disc space on Xbox should it only support standard DVD's, but two of the largest game developers, Electronic Arts and Vivendi Universal Games publicly shared their preference for Blu-ray over even HD DVD due to the limited disc space, and other performance features. Therefore, even if MS eventually adds an HD DVD drive to a future version of the Xbox, they may still end up with watered down/crippled versions of some of the more popular games.

In other words, if game developers are concerned about the limited disc space of HD DVD just imagine how they feel about standard DVD's, which have less than one third the storage capacity of a dual-layer HD DVD. Not to mention the significantly lower data transfer speeds.

BTW: CLICK HERE to read Jesse's original post on the announcement by Team Ninja including a link to the original news story: "Team Ninja chief concerned by Xbox 360 DVD media capacity"

 

[Jesse Blacklow]

Actually, the projected launch for the PS3 is in Spring 2006, at least in Japan, where they've also had Blu-Ray players available to consumers for a while. Krazy Kutaragi (the dude is definitely a little off) promised theyll have a bunch of playable PS3 games shown at the Tokyo Game Show in September. Hopefully they'll run better than the beautiful but choppy Gundam gameplay from that alpha at the Playstation Meeting last week.

 

[Jace_A]

So you're buying both Blu-Ray (Fox) and HD-DVD (Universal), then?

 

[Paul.S]

Since no one else has yet linked herein to this story from yesterday's WSJ re likely changes in the Q4 HD DVD launch . . .

-p

 

[RaymondSteiner]

Double

 

[RaymondSteiner]

With no time advantage, and lower technical capabilities, HD-DVD is losing fast is track (unless Universal is very succesfull with the titles they launch)