LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you, I love to laugh.

For games, the advantage of Blu-ray over DVD is the same as DVD over CD. Games are already using the extra space (Stranglehold including a Blu-ray version of Hard Boiled being the first great example), just like Baldur's Gate coming on 1 DVD instead of 6 CDs was an early example of the advantage of games on DVD. Do you think the games would be the same if we stayed with CD? No. The space will be a bigger advantage as time goes by.

The movie quality is significantly better. No, it's not DVD over VHS great, but once people see it they are generally impressed enough to care. Perhaps you haven't seen Blu-ray on an HDTV just like you never saw MGS4 despite criticizing it all over the place. The extra space for movies is used for the higher resolution video and audio. Check out torrent sites to see how much space that takes.

Well, Ok. If you want to label BD vs DVD akin to S-VH to VHS, I am ok with that.

So BD is a better DVD. Good, I want a better DVD :).

One thing to consider, that is not conveyed in your post, is BD is a seamless improvement. You don't need to replace your old collection, or even buy the new format if you have the player. Unlike the jump from VHS to DVD, it still plays the old format (very well I might add).

Just like SVHS did.

Just out of curiosity all those of you that are obsessed with Blu Ray, would you feel the same way if the main companies behind Blu Ray were Samsung and Pioneer and Sony was not at all interested?

Of course, I just wouldn't own it yet.

Yes. (well, HD-DVD or BD, I liked them both the same).

I don't care who makes somethign I own. I care what it does. I like what BD does.

Im sorry, HDTV owners are not a niche at all. And concidering that HDTV's only became affordable in the last couple years, this statistic proves Sony was perfectly correct in its gamble.

Just googling for HDTV install base or sales brought this article up. There are 100s to read, all pretty much agree on the numbers.

http://www.audioholics.com/news/industry-news/52-million-hdtv-homes-2008.html

But, thank you, I love to laugh too.

I totally agree with the OP. 

While Blu-ray may (and indeed will) become more and more popular, it will never, ever -EVER- become as big as DVD is. For the simple reason that to benefit from Blu-ray players, you'd need an HD tv. While those are of course getting more and more popular too, especially in America it would seem, there are still far more people who own standard tvs. Tons of people just don't care about HD. We're finally getting to a phase where DVDs have become the standard and most everyone has finally accepted the format and owns one or more DVD players, and they introduce a new format. It's just too soon. It may be hard to understand for some people, and especially the kind of people who visit a site like this, but the whole HD thing isn't as big on most people's minds as it is on theirs. A lot of people don't care about the difference in picture quality, and think the current resolutions are absolutely fine. DVDs can be played on any tv. For Blu-ray discs you'll need an expensive HD tv, something a lot of people don't have and will probably not get for many years. Also, there's the price. Besides the bigass expensive tvs, you'll also need a pricey Blu-ray player and then invest in heavily overpriced movies, compared to the substantially cheaper DVDs. 

I definitely see HD (Blu-ray or whatever) becoming more and more popular and gaining more marketshare in the future, but can and will it ever be as big as DVDs? No. 

@Soleron and Onimusha12

Geez you guys....don't you know any better? Why argue about this? Talking about Blu-Ray not being necessary to a group of technophiles (no offense to you all) is as useless as telling a speed fanatic that horsepower isn't necessary.

I don't mean to insult anybody here in this forum, but you have to think of the bigger picture here. I love technology just like any other guy, but when compared to you guys, I am just your average joe here.

My younger brother has a rigged out computer, but I don't know what the hell does any of the gadgets mean or do. I own a HDTV (after owning a regular Sony TV for about 12 years), yet I still don't know what 1080i stands for. I just think that the bigger the number, the better the picture is.

I want to own a PS3, but me and my family just don't have that much money. And that is just it. Most people in this country just don't have the money. I just saw one of the statistics that said that about 50 million people have a HDTV in their house. That is just great, fantastic for them. Now, how many people are in this country? About 300 million. And how many people in the world? About 6.7 billion people. Yes, that statistic is just for this country (or maybe all of NA) but pretty much the rest of the world just doesn't care right now whether you see a better picture or not.

Yes, I understand that you may care if there was a Blu-Ray or not that exists here, but the rest of the world still needs to get used to the idea of a DVD. I mean, if I am an average poster on this website and JUST recently bought a DVD/VCR player for only about 2 or 3 years ago (which is short in my book), what makes you think everyone else in this world would think like you all?

To us average joes, who are okay with a standard tv's visuals, who are just fine with a vhs tape, Blu-Ray (or is it Blue-Ray? it keeps telling me Blu is misspelled) is not a leap. It is a good product, a great product I should say. But a CD is a giant big step over the cassette tape. And the MP3, in my honest opinion, is even a bigger leap over the CD. A DVD is a big leap over the VHS tape.

But the Blu-Ray over the DVD? Just an improvement for us regular people. If it played a 3D hologram however, that would be kick-ass!! But for now, we have to wait. I don't know if it is going to be a standard or not. But my family and I are not going to be getting a Blu-Ray movie for a long, long time, even after I get my PS3 (if I ever get the money or time to use it).

If you guys still think it is going to be the next standard and it actually does, just know that I will prolly be there in the next 10 years or so (the earliest).

Are the naysayers here the problem, or are the well-wishers the problem?

This is an issue that can be taken as a matter of opinion either way yet no one is willing to say, "Well there may be some validity to that point Onimusha, but I personally don't agree or don't think it really matters in the big picture of Blu-Ray."

Quite simply, you don't want to objectively discuss Blu-Ray, you simply just want to cheerlead it and defend it viewing any comment not wholely in favor of it as an outright assault on reality itself. 

Blu-Ray is not a bad format, I am not saying it will fail, I'm not saying I hate it, however I feel I've made valid points in showing it to be too little too soon in terms of a format change and a questionable step forward this soon after DVD has only established itself as the standard. Yet despite the relatively passive tone of my contributions, I'm attacked immaturely by individuals such as DMeisterJ while the majority of my points and arguments are ignored in favor of adressing things I was never directly adressing or talking about.

The point of my discussion here is not to strong arm you into agreeing with me, but rather incite intellectual discussion which people seem to be doing their best here to avoid like the plague. Certainly there is a middle ground to be reached here or a simple agreement to disagree, but people seem too gravely invested in defending Blu-Ray and the HD movement to realize this is.

Why must my opinion be attacked on a personal level? Why must my motives and predisposed ideals be questioned? Why must my gender be mocked? Can you not just simply say, "I dissagree with you Onimusha12, but you're entitled to think whatever you like."

Did it ever occur to you that maybe there was a way to difuse a conflict rather than enflaming it or making it a bitter exercise in attrition? I've stuck to my guns and been fair with everyone who has responded to me, yet that fairness and respect is not returned. I'm confused, given this you claim I am the problem here? Was the purpose of thread not to beg the question of Blu-Ray's relevancy? How am I out of place? How are my opinions jaded when all others can do is either attack me personally or dodge the points of my argument?

Has this become another game of, "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all?"