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Forums - Microsoft - Would HD-DVD have won the format war if...

Alby_da_Wolf on 22 July 2008
SpartanFX said:
I just have one question,,,,

why on earth MS would make its console 200 dollar more expensive (and almost kill xbox brand)to help Toshiba???

HD dvd is a technology owned by Toshiba not MS.So all the losses absorbed by MS is just helping Toshiba and not MS.

bluray one the other hand is owned by Sony,,so it would be justified for sony to suffer the beginning losses in hope of big royalties in future.

I agree that including HD-DVD, one year before than BD in PS3, too, would have made XB360 unbelievably expensive, more than PS3.

But it's not true tha MS hadn't huge interest in HD-DVD: MS owned a vast part of the technology most used for interactivity in HD-DVD, while interactivity in BD uses java, so BD victory hits MS at least twice, no royalties from interactivity implementation, and a huge victory for java, that MS sees as a fearsome enemy.

 



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alpha_dk on 22 July 2008
Darc Requiem said:
colonelstubbs said:

HD DVD was never going to win the war, purely on the back of Sony being experts in the high definition market (see the bravia)

You do realize that Sony had to license LCD tech from Samsung right....

They're actually rebranded Sharps now, as of earlier this year: http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/02/26/business/26sony.php



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vizunary on 22 July 2008
Sansui said:
dbot said:
Sansui said:
Hard to say.... Back when Fox and Warner were just about ready to side with HD DVD, Sony paid off Fox with 120 million to go blu ray. Warner followed suit and got 400 million in payouts.

If MS's console had been vested in HDDVD, maybe there would have been significant counteroffers, or maybe with the year headstart of the xbox, the install base would have tipped the other companies earlier.

I think you need to provide a link to the above statement. 

Maybe you are confused by the 150 million that Microsoft paid to Paramount for exclusive HDDVD support.  My link -> http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/21/technology/21disney.html?fta=y 

 

 

Whoah, wasn't expecting to get these defensive replies from people... thought it was common knowledge, just like the Paramount deal you so kindly linked :P  http://gizmodo.com/344680/the-real-reason-warner-went-blu+ray 

Warner Home Entertainment President Kevin Tsujihara says the studio took no pay-offs to exclusively back Blu-ray.

In a post-announcement conference call, Tsujihara flatly denied rumors that studio had accepted anywhere from 250M to $500M in exchange for dropping its HD DVD format support.

According to the exec, Warner's sole motivation in dropping its HD DVD format support was to ensure growth of the "category" and the long-term health of the industry.

"The packaged media business is a $42 billion dollar business worldwide at the retail level, and we [Warner] have the largest market share of anybody," said Tsujihara. "From our perspective, the most important piece of this whole puzzle is, "How do we get growth back into this category?" That far outweighed anything else."

This [decision] was one hundred percent around what makes the most sense for the consumer, the retailer and the industry. This was not a bidding war. This was all about what was best, strategically, for us."

Stay tuned for more news from the Tsujihara conference call shortly...

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Warner/Warner:_No_Payoff_for_Move_to_Blu-ray/1327

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Common knowledge? More like media fodder, I've never even heard of this allegation of payoffs. The PRESIDENT of Warner wouldn't lie about this, he would spin it. Viacom(parent of Paramount and Dreamworks) didn't even deny HDDVDs desperation attempt to stay afloat.

@aquietguy, sorry you are wrong, they absolutely did NOT count PS3's in official sales counts of BD players sold.

@tuoyo, no we do not agree, it certainly helped, but there were quiet a few poles done of PS3 owners that neither used or even understood the BD capabilities of their systems, let alone had HD setups to take advantage of it. By now more of those owners most likely utilizing that capability than in the 1st year of release though.

OT: Essentially the only place there was a "format war" was the US, Blu-ray was the format of choice in nearly all other regions, especially Japan. Plus, the 360 would have crashed and burned just lie many others have said.



reptile168 on 22 July 2008
vizunary said:
Sansui said:
dbot said:
Sansui said:
Hard to say.... Back when Fox and Warner were just about ready to side with HD DVD, Sony paid off Fox with 120 million to go blu ray. Warner followed suit and got 400 million in payouts.

If MS's console had been vested in HDDVD, maybe there would have been significant counteroffers, or maybe with the year headstart of the xbox, the install base would have tipped the other companies earlier.

I think you need to provide a link to the above statement.

Maybe you are confused by the 150 million that Microsoft paid to Paramount for exclusive HDDVD support. My link -> http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/21/technology/21disney.html?fta=y

 

 

Whoah, wasn't expecting to get these defensive replies from people... thought it was common knowledge, just like the Paramount deal you so kindly linked :P http://gizmodo.com/344680/the-real-reason-warner-went-blu+ray

Warner Home Entertainment President Kevin Tsujihara says the studio took no pay-offs to exclusively back Blu-ray.

In a post-announcement conference call, Tsujihara flatly denied rumors that studio had accepted anywhere from 250M to $500M in exchange for dropping its HD DVD format support.

According to the exec, Warner's sole motivation in dropping its HD DVD format support was to ensure growth of the "category" and the long-term health of the industry.

"The packaged media business is a $42 billion dollar business worldwide at the retail level, and we [Warner] have the largest market share of anybody," said Tsujihara. "From our perspective, the most important piece of this whole puzzle is, "How do we get growth back into this category?" That far outweighed anything else."

This [decision] was one hundred percent around what makes the most sense for the consumer, the retailer and the industry. This was not a bidding war. This was all about what was best, strategically, for us."

Stay tuned for more news from the Tsujihara conference call shortly...

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Warner/Warner:_No_Payoff_for_Move_to_Blu-ray/1327

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Common knowledge? More like media fodder, I've never even heard of this allegation of payoffs, which would have legal ramifications if kept secret from their shareholders at the least. The PRESIDENT of Warner would have no reason to lie about this, Paramount certainly did not deny HDDVDs desperation attempt to stay afloat.

@aquietguy, sorry you are wrong, they absolutely did NOT count PS3's in official sales counts of BD players sold.

@tuoyo, no we do not agree, it certainly helped, but there were quiet a few poles done of PS3 owners that neither used or even understood the BD capabilities of their systems, let alone had HD setups to take advantage of it. By now more of those owners most likely utilizing that capability than in the 1st year of release though.

OT: Essentially the only place there was a "format war" was the US, Blu-ray was the format of choice in nearly all other regions, especially Japan. Plus, the 360 would have crashed and burned just lie many others have said.

 

Nobody will admit of getting bribe. Nobody. That's a complete suicide to the credibility of the studio



Millennium on 22 July 2008

Honestly, I don't think it would have caused HD-DVD to win. What it WOULD have done is drag out the conflict for a lot longer, causing more and more people to lose faith in and ultimately reject both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD, and DVD would have won the format wars.

To be perfectly honest, I still think DVD will ultimately beat Blu-Ray. But with HD-DVD out of the way so soon it's a little less certain now.



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vizunary on 22 July 2008
reptile168 said:
vizunary said:

Warner Home Entertainment President Kevin Tsujihara says the studio took no pay-offs to exclusively back Blu-ray.

In a post-announcement conference call, Tsujihara flatly denied rumors that studio had accepted anywhere from 250M to $500M in exchange for dropping its HD DVD format support.

According to the exec, Warner's sole motivation in dropping its HD DVD format support was to ensure growth of the "category" and the long-term health of the industry.

"The packaged media business is a $42 billion dollar business worldwide at the retail level, and we [Warner] have the largest market share of anybody," said Tsujihara. "From our perspective, the most important piece of this whole puzzle is, "How do we get growth back into this category?" That far outweighed anything else."

This [decision] was one hundred percent around what makes the most sense for the consumer, the retailer and the industry. This was not a bidding war. This was all about what was best, strategically, for us."

Stay tuned for more news from the Tsujihara conference call shortly...

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Warner/Warner:_No_Payoff_for_Move_to_Blu-ray/1327

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Common knowledge? More like media fodder, I've never even heard of this allegation of payoffs, which would have legal ramifications if kept secret from their shareholders at the least. The PRESIDENT of Warner would have no reason to lie about this, Paramount certainly did not deny HDDVDs desperation attempt to stay afloat.

@aquietguy, sorry you are wrong, they absolutely did NOT count PS3's in official sales counts of BD players sold.

@tuoyo, no we do not agree, it certainly helped, but there were quiet a few poles done of PS3 owners that neither used or even understood the BD capabilities of their systems, let alone had HD setups to take advantage of it. By now more of those owners most likely utilizing that capability than in the 1st year of release though.

OT: Essentially the only place there was a "format war" was the US, Blu-ray was the format of choice in nearly all other regions, especially Japan. Plus, the 360 would have crashed and burned just lie many others have said.

 

Nobody will admit of getting bribe. Nobody. That's a complete suicide to the credibility of the studio

 

It's not a bribe, it's an "exclusivity deal" :p



Dgc1808 on 22 July 2008

I think so. Or SONY would have alot more work cut out for it anyway... but the odds would definatly pitch in MS's favor if that was the case. However Bluray Had more studio support. So I think it would all be considered as to who had the better marketting, and we all saw how SONY pushed Bluray crazy.



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endimion on 22 July 2008

hum just like that BD is far to have won anything yet..... having players out on the market doesn't mean the format is picking up..... DVD is the king and will be for a while... and hopefully after that we are done with those shitty versatile disc..... flash memory flash memory FLASH MEMORY for god sake.....



LOL MATURE on 22 July 2008

It would have made the 360 go extinct in less than 3 years being at the same price or more than the Ps3 and comming out at the same time as it and having the RRoD.

with that 360 would have never gained 3rd part support.

and more people who bought 360 early would have bought a ps3.



Darc Requiem on 22 July 2008
alpha_dk said:
Darc Requiem said:
colonelstubbs said:

HD DVD was never going to win the war, purely on the back of Sony being experts in the high definition market (see the bravia)

You do realize that Sony had to license LCD tech from Samsung right....

They're actually rebranded Sharps now, as of earlier this year: http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/02/26/business/26sony.php

 

That is even more hilarious. I have a 1080p Sharp Aquos and the Sony equivalent was $500 more. I thought the pictures looked the same. I guess they were the same after all.