makingmusic476 said: MikeB said: @ darth HD-DVD camp is just being NAIVE! HD DVD would already be dead without the backing of Microsoft. It's in Microsoft's interest to prolong uncertainty for as long as possible as else PS3 sales would get an additional boost. Microsoft's interest is not to serve consumers, as Blu-Ray is better specced and is supported by many more important companies. I think this IMO fake "war" isn't over soon. They know they are going to loose, so also they are making claims that internet movie delivery is the only good option for the near future (again, hoping to stir up uncertainty as the figures of HD DVD movie sales are going against them). It wouldn't surprise me if Microsoft paid Paramount a good deal of cash to re-ignite the uncertainty (through temperary exclusivity). MS has lot's of reasons to support HD DVD, teh least of which is the ps3. They're mainly supporting HD DVD in the hopes of creating a stalemate. If both formats lose, then MS can come in and take over with it's HD download services.

The PC got popular in people's home due to games like Doom and Quake, the PC has been losing a great deal of gaming market share to the Playstation, it still had its FPS niche, but the PS3 is powerful enough to make a grand assault (Killzone 2, Resistance 2).

With regard to HD download services, global internet penetration is far too low and the bulk of those who have internet don't have fast enough connections to download a full quality 1080p / lossless audio movie from the internet within a reasonable amount of time.

Most people prefer to have the movie stored on media, window shopping and pay in cash, easy to take with you, etc. No watching movies if your ISP or Microsoft is experiencing problems? Etc.

MikeB said: makingmusic476 said: MikeB said: @ darth HD-DVD camp is just being NAIVE! HD DVD would already be dead without the backing of Microsoft. It's in Microsoft's interest to prolong uncertainty for as long as possible as else PS3 sales would get an additional boost. Microsoft's interest is not to serve consumers, as Blu-Ray is better specced and is supported by many more important companies. I think this IMO fake "war" isn't over soon. They know they are going to loose, so also they are making claims that internet movie delivery is the only good option for the near future (again, hoping to stir up uncertainty as the figures of HD DVD movie sales are going against them). It wouldn't surprise me if Microsoft paid Paramount a good deal of cash to re-ignite the uncertainty (through temperary exclusivity). MS has lot's of reasons to support HD DVD, teh least of which is the ps3. They're mainly supporting HD DVD in the hopes of creating a stalemate. If both formats lose, then MS can come in and take over with it's HD download services. The PC got popular in people's home due to games like Doom and Quake, the PC has been losing a great deal of gaming market share to the Playstation, it still had its FPS niche, but the PS3 is powerful enough to make a grand assault (Killzone 2, Resistance 2). With regard to HD download services, global internet penetration is far too low and the bulk of those who have internet don't have fast enough connections to download a full quality 1080p / lossless audio movie from the internet within a reasonable amount of time. Most people prefer to have the movie stored on media, window shopping and pay in cash, easy to take with you, etc. No watching movies if your ISP or Microsoft is experiencing problems? Etc.

 I agree. I will always prefer hard disc media.

 

Whats kind of interesting to note is the animosity towards hd-dvd I feel from some of these Sony fans. Armed with sales figures, e-product wars graphs, and pro-Sony news you would think their lives depended on blu-ray winning.

"Why dont they just give up"

"Why does Toshiba continue to try, they are just bleeding money"

"There wouldnt be a format war if Toshiba wasnt so greedy"

And of course

"Its all over for hd-dvd, look at the NUMBERS" yadda yadda.

Can you imagine if the same attitude was applied to their gaming console? Alot of the same things could be said about the up-until-recently poorly performing PS3.

People shouldnt lose sleep over this shit. Cmon guys.

 

makingmusic476 said: I agree. I will always prefer hard disc media.

 I agree too...for now. But I can see a future where huge storage capacities (Terabytes) are available for *cheap* and can fit into something as small as an ipod. With the next generation of high speed connections, downloading a 30 gb hd video wont take nearly as long. 

  Im imagining it the way music (mp3's) are today. Im not sure people care much to have original cd's and whatnot. And songs are downloaded in seconds.

  We will get there eventually right?

Microsoft is only trying to keep this battle raging to avoid the PS3 having another selling point that to counter they would definitely lose their price advantage .

All that money spent in the Paramount temporary deal ,all those offers ,price cuts etc .....for what ?

Having a 27% market share in US ,a 23% in PAL and a meager 5% in Japan and Asia .

Even if they somehow managed to keep their own in North America the rest of the world is going Blu Ray and the companies should create Br versions of their movies for the overseas market (thus having to support BR ) if they dont want to cut their increases radically limiting themselves to NA inner market .

And as for PS3 owners buying movies I think many of those arent .I for example didnt buy a single BR movie until this week .I just bought 300 in BR .

I have just received my FUll HD 40 inches HDTV and had to buy a BR movie to see what it truly can do .Prior to that it was no use buying BR movies that I wouldnt see better in my SD TV .

But ,from now on ,its pretty clear that what it is stupid is continuing to buy DVD movies if there is a BR version out there .The difference in quality is awesome .

friedtofu said: makingmusic476 said: I agree. I will always prefer hard disc media.   I agree too...for now. But I can see a future where huge storage capacities (Terabytes) are available for *cheap* and can fit into something as small as an ipod. With the next generation of high speed connections, downloading a 30 gb hd video wont take nearly as long. Im imagining it the way music (mp3's) are today. Im not sure people care much to have original cd's and whatnot. And songs are downloaded in seconds. We will get there eventually right?

 I still prefer CDs.  I just like having a hard copy of a disc, in case my HDD fries or something else happens.  Also, I like being able to loan the disc to a friend, or doing any number of other things with it.  It's always there,a nice back-up.

 

@ friedtofu

People are asking themselves what can they do to turn things around now that even lower pricing doesn't seem to offer significant effect, the PS3 situation with exclusives like MGS4, FF XIII, GT5 is far from hopeless and actually very promising for the grand perspective. The PS3 compared to other solutions provides unique features and benefits from a user experience and technical perspective.

All HD DVD movies can be made to work on Blu-Ray media with no sacrifices, actually at a greater bitrate and more storage space available they can easily be improved on. IMO it's a very different situation.

MikeB said: @ friedtofu Can you imagine if the same attitude was applied to their gaming console? Alot of the same things could be said about the up-until-recently poorly performing PS3. People are asking themselves what can they do to turn things around now that even lower pricing doesn't seem to offer significant effect, the PS3 situation with exclusives like MGS4, FF XIII, GT5 is far from hopeless and actually very promising for the grand perspective. The PS3 compared to other solutions provides unique features and benefits from a user experience and technical perspective. All HD DVD movies can be made to work on Blu-Ray media with no sacrifices, actually at a greater bitrate and more storage space available they can easily be improved on. IMO it's a very different situation.

Yah I know. The situation isnt the same, but there are some things that can be paralleled. Like the cries of bleeding money, "bribing" other companies for support, things like that.  

Either way, people get really fired up over this stuff (like avsforum). People need to chill. 

Diomedes1976 said: Microsoft is only trying to keep this battle raging to avoid the PS3 having another selling point that to counter they would definitely lose their price advantage . All that money spent in the Paramount temporary deal ,all those offers ,price cuts etc .....for what ? Having a 27% market share in US ,a 23% in PAL and a meager 5% in Japan and Asia . Even if they somehow managed to keep their own in North America the rest of the world is going Blu Ray and the companies should create Br versions of their movies for the overseas market (thus having to support BR ) if they dont want to cut their increases radically limiting themselves to NA inner market . And as for PS3 owners buying movies I think many of those arent .I for example didnt buy a single BR movie until this week .I just bought 300 in BR . I have just received my FUll HD 40 inches HDTV and had to buy a BR movie to see what it truly can do .Prior to that it was no use buying BR movies that I wouldnt see better in my SD TV . But ,from now on ,its pretty clear that what it is stupid is continuing to buy DVD movies if there is a BR version out there .The difference in quality is awesome .

Just so you know, 300 isn't the best BR demo disc. The style of the film involves a lot of grain. It still looks loads better than SD, but it doesn't give you quite the clarity that a film like PotC 1/2 would.

Well ,thanks makingmusic476 ...it still looks awesome.I just wanted the movie and thought it was a good one to start my BR collection ,outside of Casino Royale that Sony offered the first european buyers of the PS3 ,so I bought it .

Wich movie do you think would show off the HDTV and BR player +