" So I think I might be back on to do Transformers 2!"

 Even aside from the blu-ray comment, the Bay haters will commence much wailing and gnashing of teeth.

 As for what this means for blu-ray, I still say this whole format was is for attention. It's a big coincidence that fox and MGM reasserted their blu-ray support on the same day Paramount went back to exclusivity.

Mitsubishi is planning a BD player that will not only play 3-D movies, but is planning to convert 2-D to 3-D at a few clicks of a remote control....and hints that this feature *might* be available on the PS3 soon.


3-D anime on the PS3 anybody? That would be spectacular =)

http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=422

http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9764622-1.html

Wow. 3D. Porn industry's gonna love it.

Heh, yeah everything jumping out at you

But also 3-D gaming might be very cool as well.

Ever since the Paramount announcement, HD-DVD sales have gotten a boost, but this was really short lived. Now, the boost has petered out and dvdempire.com says that Blu Ray is selling 70% of their HD movies right now, which is up from last week, before the Paramount announcement. So, things aren't bad at all for Blu-Ray

An independent Blu-ray disc manufacturer called this move by the HD-DVD group "desperate".

http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=423

Here is most of the article:

Blue Ray Technologies, the first independent Blu-ray manufacturer in the US, has issued a press release regarding the recent exclusivity agreement between Paramount and HD DVD. Commenting on the move, Erick Hansen, founder of Blue Ray Technologies, said, "Toshiba and HD-DVD offered this deal because they are desperate. The public has chosen Blu-ray discs with their pocket books, buying BDs 2-to-1 over HD-DVDs this year."

Regarding why he disagrees with the move, Hansen commented, "For retailers, it's like being forced to stock VHS tapes after the public chose DVDs. For the consumer it creates more confusion that hurts the industry-wide move to hi-def."

Hansen also says he isn't the only person speaking out. "If multi-billion dollar director Steven Spielberg and billion dollar director Michael Bay like Blu-ray, the deal is a double-edged sword." Commenting further, "If these two spoke up so quickly, you can be sure that there are a dozen others who will follow suit if they have the clout on a film.

 And this is credible how? There's been almost nothing but flaming on both sides, so more flaming only proves there is more flaming.

oh i saw that article. that's cuz that blue ray tech dude spent $12M just to set up the manufacturing facility. LOL
ofcourse he's bitter!

ps. interesting how blu-ray.com left out the "cost" part of things:  here's the last sentence of the whole article:

Hansen is founder of Blue Ray Technologies (www.blueraytechnologies.com) which has built the first U.S. indie Blu-ray plant in Spokane, WA. The $12 million plant also has HD-DVD capacity, but Hansen has chosen to support Blu-ray for reasons of quality, capacity, and market penetration.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2007/8/prweb548492.htm

Bitter he is, but hes also right.

Toshibas stubborness is hurting HD in general.

sure...he's right if he wants to think that way. he spent $12M for bluray manufacturing when it only cost current dvd manufacturers $150k to retool their existing line to support HD DVD.

"The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) has long asserted that its Blu-ray (BD) format is superior to the rival HD DVD format, and BD’s "revolutionary" buzz has understandably caught the fancy of certain technologists. But CEOs should be wary, because what the BDA does not sufficiently address is what lies behind those assertions. The numbers are stark: manufacturing BD discs will require an estimated US$1.7 million cost per manufacturing line. Per line!

Then, each major manufacturing facility would require the implementation of a minimum of two mastering systems, at a minimum cost of US$2 million per system. DVD, at the height of its success, resulted in an estimated 600 manufacturing lines globally. Even allowing for a decline in systems costs over time as the manufacturing base expanded, the tab for radically overhauling the media manufacturing industry would approach a billion dollars worldwide or more. Already-beleaguered CFOs will be challenged to raise—and risk—this significant amount of capital.

Compare this to the estimated cost of retooling for the HD DVD format compared to BD. HD DVD is able to utilize virtually the entire existing manufacturing infrastructure. The cost of upgrading an existing DVD line is about US$150,000—less than a tenth the cost of a BD line. A DVD mastering system can be upgraded for US$145,000. Basically, HD DVD is a DVD-9—a version of DVD we have enormous manufacturing experience with already—with a denser pit structure.

Once people realize the hidden costs of the Blu-ray format, they will also realize the extent to which it actually endangers their very industry.

Blu-ray is the Emperor’s New Clothes—it advances the agendas of a few select companies instead of the markets and that of the consumer. No one—the studios, the disc manufacturers, the consumer electronics manufacturers—can afford a format war today.

Rick Marquardt, former GM, Warner Advanced Media Operations,
From Ars Technica"

http://arstechnica.com/articles/paedia/hardware/next-gen-dvd.ars/