you are so wrong.

Microsoft chose the HD player they wanted to supprt and it fell flat on its face, so by them going to blu ray with the 360 after saying that blu ray isnt important is just copying.

Sony is not copying with movie downloads as they have always said they will impliment it in the 10 year plan

No i dont believe so, right now i find their service to be more of a rental service if anything. Once they start offering HD movies to download (Which wont happen anytime soon due to size issues imo) then Sony may have bowed thier head to Microsoft. Then again think of it this way, Sony wants more ways to cash in, more money they make more money goes into the gaming divison making us, the gamers ultimately much more happy.

The PSN video store does offer HD movie downloads (1280x720, same as the XBL store), even going so far as to provide multi-tiered pricing with a premium for HD rentals.

File size alone shows that the HD files are compressed appropriately for DL purposes over standard broadband networks. They are not Blu-Ray quality, nor are they being advertised as such.

The only video purchases currently offered are SD movies and TV shows. All 1280x720 content is rental only, presumably to keep the Blu-Ray format relevant despite the difference in quality.

It's another source of revenue for Sony, same as MS, and many consumers will appreciate and make use of the additional service the video store provides. It's a win-win situation.

It's not about giving in, it's more of pleasing their customers, keeping with demands. Microsoft was right, if it's about movie downloads maybe. Btw Sony did a smart move with there video store so it won't hamper Blu ray sales. The only HD content that i have seen were a few rentals, ONLY. Everything else, is purchaseable in SD, but then pesky DRM limits where you can have them ( ONLY PSP ) It's nice feature, but if the consumer wants to watch special features, not worrying about DRM policies, want a physical Disc instead, want to make full use of their HD home theater setup, they'll have to buy the blu ray. Everyone else that just wants to see the movie, with an SDTV ( like me ) can just buy the movie off the PSN, without having to drive to a local Blockbuster

 i agree

a bluray disk has far better visuals, far better sound, and by far better collectability.

digital distribution is a good idea, rentals or purchases

but a bluray disk to keep is better.

i fully 1000% back bluray, its one of the best concepts this gen.

i don't think that digital distribution will replace optical media for films in the next few years.
for rental its a nice option as you can stream the data, but for buying you would need a lot disk space if you want to store your whole movie library in hd with full 7.1 sound. (with good compressions you are still speaking about 15-20gb for the movie only without any special features).
also another problem at least here in europe are still the data limits on nearly all internet access contracts which are usually set in the 10-20gb per month range which would just allow one hd movie per month.

so while i think that over time digital download has a chance as a distribution medium for movies too (but it will depend on drm and such things too), i don't think it will be the dominant movie distribution in the next 5 years at least not here in europe.
So it will depend on how fast people move on to hd movies if blu ray will reach such a big status like dvd did, if it reaches a big standard status then it might slow down success of downloads.
But i also think that blu ray is the last optical media based standard that has a chance for movie distribution. (quality cannot increase that much anymore, and with 10-15 years between optical media standard downloads will be big enough to take over after a more or less successfull bluray period)

First of all, MS isn't the pioneer of digital distribution.
Secondly almost all movie studios are against it.
Third of all Sony owns major stake in each possibility, so I really think it's up to them, either them or apple. whatever apple says, goes.

No - digital was always part of Sony's plans so far as I can see. They want a finger in all entertainment/content pies, which is why they own film/music studios and content as well.

They know there is probably one last big physical generation tied to HD TVs hence BR

They know there is a very profitable smaller market for digital - hence downloads / rentals

They know there is a rapidly growing market for digital content beyond music - hence PSP more likely to be a portable content player that also plays games


MS isn't the pioneer of digital. I don't want to sound like I'm hating on them but MS has rarely been the pioneer of anything. MS is very good at taking emerging ideas / approaches and rapidly maturing them.

Just as it released 360 before PS3 MS wanted to get to digital before Sony for competitive reasons, not because the time was perfect in the market.

So no they're not admitting MS was right and no they're not implying BR will fail. Both formats will most likely succeed and if Sony plays it right it should be in a much better position than MS to dominate in both due to its experience and strong content knowledge / ownership.

Both will no doubt be worrying about Apple a lot...

No arguments with any of those points.

But I think Apple might be a bit concerned (if they are wise rather than overconfident) about Sony and MS due to their availability of "set top" boxes in the living room that provide instant access to DD content, squarely overlapping with the iTV.

As much as I've enjoyed various Apple products over the years, I was one of the many Apple consumers who took a rather ho-hum take at its first iteration. Video quality was the most blaring offense.

The Gen 2 makes it a more viable purchase (much improved), but only if the consumer already has a major investment in iTunes purchases.

But as someone who already has a digital media hub with access to DD content (technically four between the PS3, Mac, PC Media Center and 360), I don't really have any place for another video box.

The PSN video store more or less killed any need I might have for any other DD service barring selection (far more on iTunes currently).

To repeat myself :

IF BR becomes mainstream in 2 years

Digital distribution will be mainstream in 7 years !!!

Also, PS3, ALL SKU, have HDD AND BR

On the Xbox360, NO SKU has BR

and only 2 sku on 3, has HDD

So which console offer is the more "coherent" offer at the end ???