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Thoughts from a frustrated HD-DVD supporter (1 Viewer)

KurtEP

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What frustrates me about this whole thing is that it appears that neither side actually wants to win. It's like watching two football teams playing not to lose instead of playing to win.

I looked at Blu Ray players at the end of the summer and was prepared to buy, since the buzz at that time seemed to favor them, but they had only one title I really wanted (Fifth Element), and I wasn't paying early adopter money for one title. If they had more than a few titles I wanted, I would definitely have bought it.

When I heard about the HD attachment for the Xbox 360, I checked the titles for that format and found quite a few I wanted, so I jumped on board. Now, I'm watching that format, which had a great advantage with low priced players and a good selection of titles, sit back and let Blu Ray take the momentum. Where's the advertising? Where are the displays in the Big Boxes?

In a few years, this will make a fascinating case study for a business school seminar.
 

GlennH

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I haven't bought into either format yet, but it's fascinating to watch things unfold. I think that the HD DVD hardware camp has to really be sweating out what Universal does. Let's review. I think this is the current scorecard of the major studios:
  • HD DVD only - Universal
  • Blu-ray only - Sony, MGM, Fox, Disney (Pixar)
  • Supporting both formats - Warners, New Line (via Total HD), Paramount

It isn't hard to see that if Universal went format neutral, perhaps via Total HD, then the logical hardware choice, if price is ignored, would be a Blu-ray player or PS3. Failing that, a combo player is the solution for those preferring not to buy two players.

I just don't see Sony, Fox, or Disney considering HD DVD or even the Total HD hybrid format anytime soon. Didn't Fox and Disney go Blu based on what they perceived as better copy protection? So why would they agree to put out a combo disc? The only thing that would likely make them consider it is a strong consumer demand for HD DVD.

(FYI - I'm neutral in this. I'd like to see good quality combo players by all manufacturers so the studios can make whatever they want and consumers can just buy whatever discs they want. I guess I should be rooting for HD DVD since I work for a company owned by Toshiba, although we have nothing to do with consumer electronics.)
 

DanR

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As far as Spiderman goes, there was/is at list over at AVS that was "leaked" by a Sony field rep (to a member there). It contains information about Spiderman for late April. Now people may say that not everything on that list was announced at CES as it was supposed to be. However, it is important to note that not all of the studios announced for all of the time periods that were on the list. For example, Spiderman would have been announced by Sony, but since they didn't announce anything beyond 1st Quarter, it was not mentioned. But that doesn't mean it's NOT coming. There were some other goodies as well, but just because they weren't announced for specific time periods, doesn't mean they are not coming.

Look what happened with Pirates of the Carribean. Not listed by The Digital Bits days before in their Disney BD catalog title update. But it was announced at CES, snuck in there as a surprise.

More surprises are coming. The companies of BD have to keep the excitement up over a longer period of time.

Good times ahead for BD...more than you know. Trust me on this; go back to some stuff I posted YEARS ago that turned out to be right on re DVD releases (if it's still available here) if you doubt me. :D

Regards,
Dan
 

Tim Glover

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I've been pretty good about not buying any SD movie except for the final season of Alias and the Firefly Series earlier last summer. The HD buying has been rather consistent since I got my player in mid August. When I first got my dvd player back in 1997 I think I bought every title I could whether or not I loved the film or not
htf_images_smilies_blush.gif
....with HD-DVD I have replaced some of my collection for sure but won't replace all of them.

I will say this though, once you start watching HD content (even on a smallish screen) it is hard to watch standard def. I notice flaws and issues that I never seemed to care about.

Spidey 1 doesn't really interest me but Spiderman 2 on Blu Ray will be hard to avoid jealousy issues! :)
 

Mike.P

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It's not, Tim - but it is Warner, and IIRC they said in one of their releases this weekend it will be on the way.

At the very least, it's something I can almost guarentee they will release on HD if they haven't officially announced it - just call it a hunch.
 

Douglas Monce

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It would not surprise me at all if Lucas waited until the dust clears on the whole HD thing before allowing any of his films to be released. Look how long he waited to jump into DVD.

The same is probably true of Spielberg. I wouldn't expect to see either Lucasfilm or Dreamworks products on any HD format in the near future.

Of course I could be wrong.

Doug
 

Douglas Monce

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Back to the Future and Jurassic Park are both controlled by Spielberg. He has the say so as to when and if Universal releases them. So far no HD from the Spielberg camp, either Amblin or Dreamworks.

Doug
 

MarekM

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Apr 11, 2006
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ahh so now it is enough ?
be so kind and DO NOT LABEL ME ok ? you are accusing me that I am saying everything good about BD and everything wrong about HD DVD ? So you read all my post right ?

thank you very much, I don't see such "great" post every day...., and please don't insult with your jumping.......
 

Robert Crawford

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Marek and Thomas,
This type of bickering needs to be taken offline because the rest of us are not interested in this type of activity. If you can't conduct yourself according to our posting guidelines then I suggest you place each other on "ignore", otherwise, the differences you two are having will be settled by the HTF Moderator Staff.



Crawdaddy
 

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