I'd Say this is the Nail in the Coffin for HD-DVD!

[dk]

http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/new...al-Mart/Wal-Mart_to_Go_Blu-ray_Exclusive/1469

Americas Top chain of stores to get rid of HD-DVD before June!

What with this, the blockbuster thing and then Warner i'd say its time to stop buying HD-DVD as its looking like its only a matter of time.

Its kind of nice for a format created by Sony to win for a change, they are such great innovators and normally lose out to inferior products, they deserve to win this one and finally we get a product that is superior and also can soon look forward to only having to worry about one format for high def movies.

 

[dk]

and it doesn't end there, Americas version of Dixons/Currys, Best Buy are favouring Bluray too

http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/news/show/1455

and Americas version of Lovefilm also recently went Bluray exclusive dropping HD-DVD.

http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/news/show/1451

and finally, the biggest name of HD-DVD drive support has been rumoured to be dropping HD-DVD also, this is only rumour but theres a good chance I reckon

http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Toshiba/Report:_Toshiba_to_Drop_HD_DVD/1468

and Michael Bay is now gloating that he told people so when he was very vocal about not wanting transformers to come out on HD-DVD because it was going to fail.

http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Michael_Bay/Michael_Bay_on_Blu-ray:_Told_You_So/1460

 

[Andi-B]

Mmmmm, come back betamax .. All is forgiven

I've niether format atm, I've no plans to upgrade just yet as it was unclear which format would end up being scrapped. I think I'll just sit on the fence and laugh a bit more before buying

 

[David]

looks like you're right, although do you have any sources aside from that one website?

 

[brisa4984]

lol betamax.

 

[McBunny]

tosh has pulled the plug on hd-dvd anyway
format war is over

 

[dk]

looks like you're right, although do you have any sources aside from that one website?

don't really think I need any, they are only reporting news and linking to the official sources (except the Tosh thing), this is the announcement on the WalMart official Blogg

http://checkoutblog.com/entries/2008/2/15/wal_mart_chooses_a_hi_def_platform.aspx

High Def Digest is format agnostic, they cover both formats and have the same news in both formats sections on the website.

 

[dk]

and it looks like reuters is reporting the tosh thing (taken from the other thread)

http://www.reuters.com/article/companyNewsAndPR/idUSL1627196120080216

 

[Lagerlout]

I might consider buying a high def player now this looks finally sorted!

 

[dk]

i'd say for people without a Bluray player looking to get one the obvious choice is the PS3, especially as its futureproof, what with being able to update the firmware, which is something most bluray players suffer from not having the capability to do.

And especially as the bluray capabilities keep changing, its an important consideration.

 

[Dafthead]

Glad I offloaded my HD-DVD player last week hehe

 

[172.com]

Mmmmm, come back betamax .. All is forgiven

I've niether format atm, I've no plans to upgrade just yet as it was unclear which format would end up being scrapped. I think I'll just sit on the fence and laugh a bit more before buying

+1.

...also might as well wait till I have an HDTV too lol.

 

[word_easy]

neither will "win" in the long term, downloads are the future!

 

[dk]

neither will "win" in the long term, downloads are the future!

downloads have been around for ages though, people can downlaod a full dvd if they so wished but people still buy discs.

A lot of people actually want something physical for their money, they like to feel like they own something rather than only having it for a few days before it deletes itself.

Bluray will win the war now and will go on to do easily as well as DVD IMO.

 

[Revels]

Ive been dithering about buying the HD-DVD add on.

but tbh, im happy downloading now. I used to spend stupid amounts on DVD's, the same would happen again, films that look good and cost me £20+ to sit on the shelf and gather dust.

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

Its kind of nice for a format created by Sony to win for a change, they are such great innovators and normally lose out to inferior products.

I agree, they've taken a battering when you look over the timeline with all the media they've come up with and lost. I think if this was just Sony again they would have lost again.

But because they've got a few manufacturers on board it's a lot more supported, plus with integration in the PS3 they've managed to get the players into a lot more homes.

 

[word_easy]

neither will "win" in the long term, downloads are the future!

downloads have been around for ages though, people can downlaod a full dvd if they so wished but people still buy discs.

A lot of people actually want something physical for their money, they like to feel like they own something rather than only having it for a few days before it deletes itself.

Bluray will win the war now and will go on to do easily as well as DVD IMO.

Gotta disagree bud, just look how itunes has taken off over the last couple of years, CD's are nearly obsolete now.

As internet connections get faster, legal movie downloads will come into their own. Those who still want something physical will stick with DVD. They will be around for years to come, think about it, Currys only stopped selling tapes last year!

 

[jongsr4]

Films will probably be on little memory cards in the nearish future id expect anway?

 

[Tom]

Do normal people really care?

REAL consumers (Not geeks or people with stupid disposable incomes) have just got used to DVD, so by the time the format war is over (Sometime next week at this rate) its an easy choice. Personally there is little need for me to buy a BD player and change all my DVDs to BDs, the expense would be immense for minimal gain.

As for downloads being the future, thats b****cks.
HD downloads are compressed to buggery and look crap compared to real HD.

SD DVD's FTW.

 

[dk]

Do normal people really care?

REAL consumers (Not geeks or people with stupid disposable incomes) have just got used to DVD, so by the time the format war is over (Sometime next week at this rate) its an easy choice. Personally there is little need for me to buy a BD player and change all my DVDs to BDs, the expense would be immense for minimal gain.

As for downloads being the future, thats b****cks.
HD downloads are compressed to buggery and look crap compared to real HD.

SD DVD's FTW.

so people haven't gone mad and all gone out and started to buy HD TV's then?

People will buy what places like Comet and Dixons Stock. They all stock big HD tv's and so thats what people buy. Dixons made the DVD player and DVD recorder/PVR the standard by discontinuing VHS players.

When they decide to do the same and sell mainly HD players (bluray) as these will play and upscale SD DVD's (onto these lovely new big HD screens everyone is buying) then this will also become the standard.

It doesn't really matter what the public want, its what the likes of Comet and Dixons decide to start selling that will make their minds up as most people go into a tv store and ask the salesperson which tv they should buy, the majority aren't like us geeks and know what they want.

I know, ive been there and done it, as a comet salesman I could pretty much decide what models I was going to sell each day and thats what people would buy.

There is a misconception that people need to change all their SD DVD's for high def ones and thats just not the case, the players will upscale them as standard and give them a new lease of life and then you just buy HD from then on. Give it a couple of years and bluray players will be as cheap as mid range DVD players so the choice will be easy.

 

[MarkCup]

I'm happy waiting too.

I've got plenty of HD movies on Sky until market forces ultimately decide.

You seem a bit passionate about it dk?

 

[Tom]

Its nice that we agree DK.

 

[dk]

I'm happy waiting too.

I've got plenty of HD movies on Sky until market forces ultimately decide.

You seem a bit passionate about it dk?

i do tend to get very passionate about things I believe in, and i've wanted Bluray to win from the off and it seemed like it wasn't going to but now seems to be well on the way so I am happy.

 

[McBunny]

its not like we havent known they have been looking at it even if they didnt admit it as it was only logical.

Rumours were circulating today that Microsoft is set to dump HD DVD and bring out a Blu ray Xbox 360 by as early as May 2008.

Insiders at Microsoft in the USA have told SmartHouse that Microsoft have already configured a standalone Blu ray player that can be connected into an Xbox 360 and that subject to internal marketing and sales approvals the model could be on sale within 3 months.

The Company has also been working on a built in Blu ray player however insiders are claiming that Microsoft see the HD format battle moving online with consumers offered 1080p movie and content files as a download as opposed to having to buy a HD or Blu ray DVD.

 

[Nigel]

^^ how pissed are the people that have bought xbox hd-dvd players only for microsoft to switch to bluray.

 

[McBunny]

id imagine very but they didnt pay much for them and they can just chuck it in their pc as tbh you can use it to just play dvd's

im not sure if tosh are dropping teh format altogether or going to still use it for pc media and storage

 

[Mark J]

^^ how pissed are the people that have bought xbox hd-dvd players only for microsoft to switch to bluray.

I bought one and got the 5 free films with it about 4 or 5 months ago. I sold the lot in January because of what was happening with HD-DVD.

Made all my money back, only because i was able to sell the HD-DVDs i got for free on ebay.

Bit lucky really lol.

 

[Nigel]

You have been lucky Mark. Mcbunny i'd be annoyed to lose even £50 just because Microsoft have decided to back a different horse, which forces me to spend again.

There was always going to be a loser.

 

[McBunny]

You have been lucky Mark. Mcbunny i'd be annoyed to lose even £50 just because Microsoft have decided to back a different horse, which forces me to spend again.

There was always going to be a loser.

thats why format wars are bad and dont benefit anyone!

 

[Longy]

You have been lucky Mark. Mcbunny i'd be annoyed to lose even £50 just because Microsoft have decided to back a different horse, which forces me to spend again.

There was always going to be a loser.

Better than sticking with a dead horse

This is why Microsoft didn't build in the HD-DVD drive. Which is a good thing as we are free to choose.

I have the HD-DVD add-on and I'm happy with it. Yeah it might be gone soon but the movies I own on it will still be in my collection.

 

[David]

wow i'm happy about this for a lot of reasons, now i just have to wait till some good movies are out on blu-ray.

 

[Andi-B]

^^ how pissed are the people that have bought xbox hd-dvd players only for microsoft to switch to bluray.

Same could be said about the 40Gb PS3 and it's non-backwards compatability, as I know at least one person who has about 140 PS2 Games and 200 PSX games and can't play any of them. But your right, it's going to annoy a lot of people through it and it will also annoy all those people with HD-DVD standalone players too in the hope of that format staying.

Like I said, I'll sit and laugh a bit more before buying

 

[Tom]

^^ how pissed are the people that have bought xbox hd-dvd players only for microsoft to switch to bluray.

Same could be said about the 40Gb PS3 and it's non-backwards compatability, as I know at least one person who has about 140 PS2 Games and 200 PSX games and can't play any of them. But your right, it's going to annoy a lot of people through it and it will also annoy all those people with HD-DVD standalone players too in the hope of that format staying.

Like I said, I'll sit and laugh a bit more before buying

Really? do they not have a ps2?

 

[Nigel]

I agree, I'm going to wait before purchasing to see exactly how it pans out. I was leaning towards the HD-dvd drive for the xbox though.

 

[Stevo_172]

neither will "win" in the long term, downloads are the future!

Absolutely. Cable and DSL providers are working round the clock to roll out faster internet connectivity.

Technology is about innovation and as soon as this media can be sent across the net at a speed that is acceptable to your average consumer, it will happen.

A Media Centre PC/XBox360 combined with ADSL2+ and a well presented online service will bring this to peoples homes.

Bluray will probably end up being a media for backup and burning.

 

[Lagerlout]

Have to say I downloaded an HD version of the matrix from Xbox live just to try it out. Was 6gb, but it wasn't long before I could start watching. Now that is the future I tell thee!!

 

[McBunny]

but saying that its not great quality

 

[Tom]

How can it be! its 6GB!

Which is...

Oh the same as SD DVD!

 

[sneeks]

Yeah downloads are crap quality in comparison to shop bought media.

 

[Chris n nic]

I dl a divx shrek3 which was 4.4 gb and it was superb...was litterally just the fim with no extras or even menus but still looked amazing imo

Chris