The big news at all the usual places that talk about HD DVD is an article in The Hollywood Reporter suggesting that Toshiba may be closing in on making a decision over their part of the combat in the high-def format war.
The authors of the article are guys who routinely write for a few magazines and sites that cover the home video scene like Home Media Magazine, and obviously Hollywood Reporter. According to their industry sources, financial losses and recent negative news are taking their toll on Toshiba. One of the sources feels that the possible end is coming in just “a matter of weeks.”
That’s what I was able to extract from the article in terms of information directly related to a decision from Toshiba and the HD DVD camp. The rest of the article summarizes news that you’ve already read about here and elsewhere in the past several weeks.
There’s a little bit of conjecture where they’re reading into a quote by Toshiba’s Jodi Sally who said, “Given the market developments in the past month, Toshiba will continue to study the market impact and the value proposition for consumers, particularly in light of our recent price reductions on all HD DVD players.” Their take on this quote is that “something’s in the air.”
There’s also something implied when the authors mention that they weren’t able to get calls returned by Kevin Collins, the HD DVD evangelist at Microsoft, or Ken Graffeo, the VP for Universal Studios Home Entertainment and co-president of the HD DVD North American Promotional Group.
As a whole, it’s really easy to come away from the article and believe that Toshiba is about to call it quits in a few days. But nobody at Toshiba or the HD DVD group actually said so in the article, this is really just talk from some industry sources. Since they don’t name the sources, it’s fair to guess that those sources are Blu-ray aligned people trying to create some bad publicity for HD DVD (although they did say one of them is “close” to the HD DVD camp). This wouldn’t be unheard of, since it’s been people from the Blu-ray camp who have leaked bits and pieces to news outlets in the past and been able to make sure that bad news was definitely getting well distributed.
Let’s step back for a moment and take a deep breath.
From a completely objective perspective, one has to acknowledge the numerous challenges that face the HD DVD camp. HD DVD owners have had to put up with some pretty tough news recently, and it’s quite possible that we might receive word about bigger setbacks in the weeks ahead. And one of those setbacks might be that Toshiba does decide to pull back or withdraw, or that some other major party does.
Or maybe something will happen in a much more positive direction.
We have no control over what goes on in the various corporate boardrooms at all the companies involved with HD DVD either as partners or competitors. All we can do is prepare ourselves for the best as well as the worst.
- “Toshiba to drop HD DVD, sources say” — Hollywood Reporter article
- A much more balanced piece about the format war at USA Today
UPDATE: Showing that business is business, WalMart — who made big news last November by bringing a lot of people into the format — is taking the blue pill by June.
February 15th, 2008 at 1:00 am
Yesterday, I asked how you reacted to companies like Netflix. My question this time is have you thought out what you might do if this Hollywood Reporter article ends up coming true?
Would you sell it all on eBay and then start over? Would you transition slowly to whatever comes next, whether it’s movie downloads or that other blue-laser format? Will you remain “RED” all the way until they have to pry your cold, dead fingers off the remote? Or have you already gone purple? Maybe you don’t give a flying fig.
I’m asking HD DVD owners, and not you detractors who come around to be wise asses. I’d also like to request that people refrain from too much bad-mouthing. Blu-leaners and blu-fans – there’s no guarantee that your voice will get to be heard in this discussion, sorry.
February 15th, 2008 at 1:21 am
Nice article. I’ve read about this too. I think the source is not really trustworthy. But indeed it’s a question that comes to mind with all this buzz. I feel good at the fact that I’ll always be able to enyoy my HD DVD collection via my PC and Xbox 360 and might consider a extra blur add on if needed. But I still feel HD DVD has a future. They say look close at Amazon. When I do that I check this list
http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/electronics/172514/ref=pd_ts_e_nav
3 Toshiba HD players in the top 10… this has been the case for weeks. Players owners buy movies right…
http://charts.highdefdigest.com/history.aspx?TYPE=100&SPAN=14
February 15th, 2008 at 2:51 am
I’m very satisfied with my A30. I still think it’s FAR too early to call this thing. I’ve seen my Walmart sell out of every shipment of A3s it has recieved since the price cut, so I don’t think that Toshiba is going to be dropping the format any time soon.
I think most of the decisions like Warner and Netflix and BB are driven by fear that the customer will loose interest. Lets face it, HDM hasn’t exactly caught on like wildfire, and even with their commanding PS3 derrived player lead, Blu is still only getting about 60-70% of disc sales, even during weeks with nothing good coming out for HDDVD.
I will say that I have no interest in Downloading HD Movies, I collect DVDs and now HDDVDs, I prefer to have an actual disc in hand. If Toshiba does drop HDDVD I’m not going to loose too much sleep over it. I’ll just wait a year or two for the Blu stand alones to catch up to my A30’s performace and price and then jump in.
But if you ask me, I don’t think either format is going to win, I think it’s going to end up like DVD+/-, where the consumer just doesn’t get it and combo drives rule the market. I’m hoping that when CHDVD hits in China this summer that I will be able to mod my A30 to play CHDVDs, and just get Chinese Imports of all the domestic Blu movies.
February 15th, 2008 at 4:18 am
I love my Toshiba HD DVD player and have no intention of moving to Blu Ray, I have now bought about 30 movies, Universal, Paramount and Warner (for now) satisfy my hunger for most movies.
I am not against blu ray, but wouldn’t think about buying one until way down the track, next year, when prices drop, but only if HD DVD didn’t survive, but for now looking at sales figures from Amazon, HD DVD sales are killing blu ray, I love my HD DVD player all the way, my full support goes to Toshiba and the movie companies that support it!
February 15th, 2008 at 5:06 am
Look, I love HD DVD. A lot. But now, as the market, no matter how nonsensical it may be, shifted a majority support to Blu-Ray. I’d rather havea all my movies on one format, like with my DVD collection, rather than pick, and that is the stance that consumers have taken, and that how Warner, and therefore a whole swarm of others have reacted to. I won’t buy into Blu-Ray until 2.0 comes out, but I don’t have high expectations for HD DVD anymore. The sheer lack of positive publicity has given the format massive wounds that it appears it cannot come out from. The most places where people normally would get these players and movies are shunning the format, and therefore more consumers will not be aware of them, and thus it will not prosper. I am stunned at the turn out of this format war, but I’d rather it come to an end to let everyone adopt into HD at all, and then fight back DVD, and hopefully improve the faults of the format that for no reason won over the stores, studios, and therefore the consumers.
February 15th, 2008 at 5:17 am
Interesting blog on the subject…. Unfortunately the author is making a death pool about when HDDVD will die…. Really sad. What is worse the author thinks it is in March because Tosiba’s Fiscall year endsso they could take the write off…. I was gonna buy another player but feel this is only a fire sale… Maybe I will buy one that plays both HDDVD and Bluray?
February 15th, 2008 at 5:39 am
“IF” this would truly happen, despite all the speculation done in that article; and there was a lot of it. I would probably go on a mad dash to buy any
HDDVD movie that I want before they are gone. I would enjoy my player as an up-convert and would not go Blu until the Blu players drop to
February 15th, 2008 at 6:20 am
I’m presently ‘purple’. I bought HD-DVD first because it was affordable, and most of the titles I was interested in (released or coming) were HD-DVD at the time. Then I bought a Blu-Ray (Panasonic) to be able to see the Pixar releases, and other BD exclusives that I was interested in. I personally don’t care anything about format or “evil Sony” or any other such “fanboy-isms”. I care about content…and I suspect many other people feel the same way. As long as the content comes, I don’t care which format…although admittedly, if given a choice, I will buy Blu-ray before HD-DVD now that the handwriting is on the wall. I also believe that two formats cannot co-exist if HD is to become mainstream.
February 15th, 2008 at 6:50 am
Microsoft needs to flex their muscle and buy up a studio rather than trying to get Yahoo. They could easily pick up Disney/Touchstone. Having Pixar and Dreamworks animation on the same format would be great.
February 15th, 2008 at 7:18 am
I see what you are saying, however remember in the weeks before Warner Bros. made their decision to drop HD-DVD, a similar story was posted saying how industry insiders were saying that Warner was about to go Blu-Ray exclusive. This was a few weeks before the announcment was made and Warner responded by giving a similar statement that the HD_DVD group has given about this matter.
Time will tell but my guess is that the war will soon be over.
February 15th, 2008 at 7:18 am
I’ve gone purple in the last month and must admit that there are stunning offerings on BOTH formats (in particular The Bourne Trilogy on HD-DVD and Sunshine on Blu-Ray) and I look forward to using both for many years to come. With that said, ENOUGH. I feel like I’ve been quadruple-dipped (and I have, between VHS, DVD, Hi-Def Discs of both stripes, with a heaping helping of Laserdisc between VHS and DVD). No mas, as Roberto Duran said. I’m not going to pay for downloads, holograms, etc. After this latest iteration I’m done.
February 15th, 2008 at 7:48 am
It would be hard to blame Toshiba for calling it quits if, at this point, they are still losing money on HD-DVD. However, I would expect Toshiba to make dual-format players for the forseeable future as the equipment specs are almost the same. So nobody who bought HD-DVD movies is likely to lose that investment. Small consolation, I know.
February 15th, 2008 at 8:22 am
It wasn’t until recently that I went hi-def by buying a Toshiba A30 player the same day they dropped the price to $200. I knew about Warner leaving camp since I’ve been monitoring the situation for several months.
I do not rent movies, and I download movies neither… I don’t even use the “On Demand†feature of my cable company. I like to own my movies. I like to have a DVD case/disc (and now HD DVD) on display and be able to hold the item in my hands… besides, there are no *special features* in downloaded movies as far as I know.
If Toshiba drops HD DVD, I’ll just keep buying HD DVD movies until there are no more; after that I’ll go back to DVDs (up-converting with my A30) until Blu-Ray Disc players (profile 2.0+) get to same level of quality, performance and price than my A30.
I see that (if) with HD DVD gone, the battle will move to SD vs HD (or DVD vs Blu-Ray Disc) and I won’t be helping the hi-def side by buying DVDs, but to me, price does matter.
February 15th, 2008 at 8:33 am
If the article comes true, I will continue to watch and buy any HD-DVD movies I still want. I don’t believe I will buy into Blu-Ray. I will seriously consider on-demand HD movies but again, the sound and video will not be crisp. Xbox Live offers HD movies but only at 720p and not DD5.1 audio. Maybe HVD will be adopted in the next 10-15 years and we can laugh at this later.
I am upset that Toshiba has a terrible communication problem. There are so many rumors but nothing from Toshiba. When WB made their anouncement…nothing from Toshiba. This would have lessened the impact, in my opinion. If WB is thinking about publishing HD-DVD movies past the May deadline, and player sales are going strong…a strong ad campaign and constant press releases would be helpful.
February 15th, 2008 at 8:45 am
Well… the best thing I can do is go purple and buy the best titles both formats can offer
February 15th, 2008 at 8:54 am
you better prepare for the worst guys
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9873029-7.html
February 15th, 2008 at 8:57 am
I own an A30, two HD DVD add-ons, and a Toshiba equipped HD DVD laptop. If this were true I would understand Toshiba’s position and I would go on an HD buying spree (Heroes Season 1). Then I would go back to DVD. I will never buy into Blu-Ray even if I have to go to downloads. I feel this war is a pure example of consumers losing and big corporations winning. Why do you think BR had so much CE support? Because you can make more money off of a $500 incomplete player than a $200 complete player. Also Sony bought out Columbia Tri Star (89). and MGM a year before Blu-Ray’s launch. So if HD DVD loses, its DVD and downloads for me. If anyone else needs another good reason why not to trust Sony, here it is http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=sony_bullshit
February 15th, 2008 at 9:02 am
I really am attached to HD DVD. If you could ask my wife, she could verify it.
I will continue to buy and support HD DVDs and use my A2. I will buy another HD player if need be. I find the lack of solid information, either way, from the HD group irritating sometimes. I do play video games. I am going to buy a PS3. I was thinking about this back in 2007. But couldn’t really afford another money pit at the time. I won money from the Super Bowl. So thats how I will pay for it. Otherwise I would wait.
February 15th, 2008 at 9:04 am
I’m a bit purple, but mostly red. I will continue to buy every movie I want on HD DVD as long as I can. I for one wouldn’t mind living in a world with both formats if the studios would just all go neutral. I would hate to see Toshiba bow out, but can’t blame them. They have other business interests and can’t continue to survive with the seemingly non-stop stream of bad news (whether it is true or not). Although, a Sony without competition in this market does not give me too many warm, fuzzy feelings. Just think about what the prices would still be for both movies and players right now without HD DVD’s presence.[Hint: Prices would NOT be lower] I also have a difficult time believing that the physical media regardless of color, will die all together in favor of downloads. I have downloaded a few movies and shows from XBox Live Marketplace, but I still want the physical media and the packaging. Maybe it’s a generational thing, but I ‘need’ to have something tangible for my movie and music collection.
What I don’t understand, is why people would or are selling all of their collection because of Warner’s announcement, the movies still work and should continue to for years. I would think that with well over a million HD DVD players in customer’s hands that there would be some market, however small, to justify at least one company releasing players or dual format players for the foreseeable future. Though I plan to buy 2 or 3 more A35’s just in case. Maybe Congress will get bored with baseball hearings and come up with some subsidies and protections for HD DVD owners and manufacturers and force studios to release both formats. –Just kidding – I would rather both formats die than have Congress involved in any way.
February 15th, 2008 at 9:08 am
If HD-DVD does finally succumb to market pressure, there is NO WAY IN HELL that I am going to just get rid of all my HD-DVD stuff and all of a sudden go out and buy BLU! Why the heck would I? Standard DVD’s are still a viable and inexpensive format. I have a hell of a great HD-DVD upconverter in the form of an A30. You think I am going to drop tons of cash to buy into the so called “successor to DVD”? BLU has not even finalized and worked out the bugs in their technology! Where will the BLU revisions end? Version 20.1? They are still playing catch up to HD-DVD!
In any case, I will continue to buy whatever great HD-DVD titles are made available. I am hoping that I can at least get Beowulf. And if they do stop producing HD-DVD’s, I will just go back to buying standard DVD’s and sit idly by until a more consumer friendly and cost-effective HiDef solution (NOT BLU) is developed, such as HD-VMD. By the way, I will never buy anything Sony ever again. They have tried to screw consumers many times over in the past, and this is the last straw.
As far as BLU goes, I don’t foresee this technology being a viable replacement for DVD’s. Are you frickin’ kidding me? Their technology will remain too expensive for the average consumer. What incentive do they have now to drop their player prices even close to the $100 magic mark? NONE! So if you’re an HD-DVD support deciding to go BLU, I would wait until their prices come to close to $100. But don’t wait too long, because it may not happen in your lifetime.
February 15th, 2008 at 9:13 am
Wal-Mart just announced today that they’re going Blu-Ray only starting in June. Many websites are reporting this, including CNN Money.
It’s over guys.
Buy a Blu-Ray player and enjoy high def movies.
February 15th, 2008 at 9:22 am
I’ve let the last couple of WalMart related comments come through because of the information in them. It’s not to be taken as an invitation for the conversation to be hijacked. There’s a lot of good dicussion going on here which is quite helpful for many HD DVD owners.
February 15th, 2008 at 9:29 am
Hey Pravin, just saw in something in cnet news today http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9873029-7.html and I wanted you to comment on this and get your prospective the matter.
February 15th, 2008 at 9:58 am
I have actually provided a link to that same article in the main piece above, SilentJ, as did irrisorium.
Plenty of readers are already offering their perspectives right now on the general topic, so let’s have their reactions to everything.
By the way, it’s on big news days like this that the detractors feel especially compelled to come by. If you’re amongst that particular group, then I’m sorry but you’ll need to have your fun back at your own venue. This is clearly not a format-neutral site, and there’s no obligation here to serve any interest other than that of HD DVD owners.
February 15th, 2008 at 10:22 am
WOW! So someone writes a blog and that is supposed to be NEWS?!?!?!?
Can someone show me a formal statement made by Wal-Mart regarding the end of their HD-DVD support?
By the way, I am totally confused. We thought that Warner was done with HD-DVD after May 2008. But recently they made a statement that they would continue to manufacture HD-DVD’s even after the May 2008 cut-off, but only if there is demand for it. What the heck does this mean? I may be wrong, but I think that from Warner’s perspective, there is no reason for them to get rid of their manufacturing/production lines for HD-DVD. Warner knows that if there are tons HD-DVD players out there, it is still a viable market to make money. We know that it did not cost Warner much to adopt the HD-DVD manufacturing process (not as much as BLU), so why not keep it around just in case…. I’m hoping that there will be enough player sales to show the HD content providers that HD-DVD can be delivered to the consumer at a price that they can afford and that it is a viable replacement as the next-gen standard for DVD’s.
February 15th, 2008 at 11:17 am
here is the article…… It is over……
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080215/ap_on_hi_te/wal_mart_blu_ray_1
February 15th, 2008 at 11:21 am
Mel,
Warner merely said that they would restock any current titles that they have, if a demand calls for it. There won’t be any new titles coming to the HD-DVD camp. Not to be a pessimist….but I highly doubt they will need to restock. Warner killed HD-DVD, and netflix, Best Buy and Wal-mart have all stomped on its grave. Pravin, I think we need to admit defeat. People think were in denial. I’ll admit it. HD-DVD LOST.
February 15th, 2008 at 11:32 am
Iam not trying to pull or imply anything, Pravin. I honestly, just want to know what is going through mind when you read or see news like this, that’s all.
February 15th, 2008 at 11:40 am
Well, I have been a supporter of HD-DVD since the start. I bought the movies and I didn’t have a player. Then someone bought me a player and I was all over HD-DVD even more. I’m still gonna hang with HD-DVD and DVD so I won’t be giving up my 100+ movie collection. I always felt that HD-DVD was the better one. I just wished Toshiba would have done some optical drives with burning capabilities for the PC and made the blank media avalible for a decent price. That move would have got the PC crowd behind them.
It just seems like the big business and the media is killing HD-DVD not consumer support.
February 15th, 2008 at 11:53 am
To be honest Guys…. I almost bought a HD DVD but as I explained earlier bought a PS3 knowing about the Format War…. The worst case scenario was that i would have a PS3. I admire the loyalty that the followers of HD DVD display. Sorry for the way this thing is turning out but maybe the prices on Blu stuff will drop now….
Pravin good Job on keeping the site fair… Here is another site if people want to check it out…
Thanks!
http://www.blu-ray.com/
February 15th, 2008 at 11:54 am
I already sold my HD DVD player. I got almost what I paid for it. In addition I have already sold all 10 of the HD DVD movies that I had collected. All told I am down about $40.
Right after I sold the HD DVD player, I bit the bullet and bought a Sharp Blu Ray. I am not as fond of it as I was the HD DVD player, but what can I say. The picture looks about the same.
February 15th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Fuck blu-ray!!! It is inferior, and overpriced! What is wrong with people?! Why did Toshiba not market HD-DVD better?! Like American Gangster, it should be a huge release, but I don’t even see a mention on the commercial for HD-DVD support like Blu-Ray always mentions. I’m pissed now, because I really like my HD-DVD player, but shit, our format was never even really supported by its makers!
February 15th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
I love my hd dvd player and my hd dvd but now walmart has just went blu ray exclusive so i guess now i will be buying a Duo HD DVD player this summer.
February 15th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
I can’t stand the comments about how the consumer has chosen Blu-ray. When did the consumer have any part of the decision when Sony clearly put the burden of Blu-ray success on the backs on gamers by forcing them to buy a Blu-player. Did the consumer get offered a choice to by PS3 with out Blu-ray?
Secondly the Studios immediately took sides without any input from the consumer, again forcing the consumer to their preference for whatever reason.
This would have been a better fight if the studios had all released in both formats and then let the movie buyer decide. I think the outcome would have been much different!
For me, I will keep my A-20 and enjoy it as an upconverting player and continue to buy HD-DVD as long as I can.
February 15th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
JD777 Sony didnt force anyting…Games now require more space that is why bluray is there.
February 15th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Let’s not get into PS3 talk.
Games do not need more disc space. That’s a lie. Debate that elsewhere.
February 15th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
@SilentJ – I usually wait to absorb the information that’s coming at me. For example, I don’t always write about stuff at this site the moment it happens, but will usually wait a few hours or longer to make sure I understand what’s happening.
Speaking without/before thinking can get people into trouble, and I’m not immune to that.
@Frostyxx: the only thing that extra disc space goes towards is more data for movies or audio. A game console only has a fixed amount of RAM. It doesn’t matter if your disc has petabytes of space, you’re only going to be able to fit a few hundred megs of that data into the console’s memory at a time.
PC games don’t even need to come on high-def discs, and system RAM is generally not even a problem there.
Anyway, I digress. This isn’t the place for a proper game system discussion, but I did fire off a response quickly and should at least explain myself. You’re not necessarily a liar, but it’s not completely truthful to say that games need the disc space. If that was completely true, then we’d see very few games on the 360.
February 15th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Pravin, I agree that most games don’t need more than a DVD’s worth of space. That said (and I doubt this is going to be a trend), but the 360 just had a major release (Lost Odyssey) that came on 4 DVDs. The game probably could have fit on just 1 HD-DVD disc (and would have fit on that other type of disc).
The game hasn’t been given the greatest reviews, so I doubt I’ll play it, and I’m sure you won’t have to change discs too often, but it is annoying to have to switch discs in the middle of a session. Especially if they code it stupidly like the 5 CD version of Riven on the PC. Near the end of the game trying to find that one clue I missed (OK, the MANY clues I missed), I must have been switching out discs every 5 min.
Just food for thought.
February 15th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
Well I will buy hd dvd’s untill they are gone. I have hundreds of normal dvd’s like others that look great on my player. Worst case scenario I think that we will be able to buy remaining stock very cheap. I will buy all that I can, and wait and see what the next format is.
February 15th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
Lost Odyssey is an RPG game done on a grand scale, and it features many hours of cinematics. If cinematics are integral to a particular game’s design, then that game will definitely need as much disc space as it can get. I’m sure it will be a great audio/visual experience (it better be!).
My point (which I think you agree with, Wolfeman) is that not ALL games need the extra disc space. Many couldn’t even use it if it was available because it’s not relevant to the game’s design. Most games take place within some finite world, whether it’s a sports stadium or track, or some part of a town.
There will be games that are specifically designed to eat up disc space. But they’re going to be rare because of the cost and complexity that goes along with developing that kind of product.
February 15th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
I don’t agree with that pravin, as the games evolve into something more complex, they will need more space for high resolution textures and better audio streams, if you don’t believe me, the compare the PS1 games with the actual games.
February 15th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
This news was disappointing but not totally unexpected. The Warners defection really did start a snowball running downhill. I do have BluRay in the form of my PS3 but I still prefer HDDVD and will continue to buy in that format as long as there is content. I suspect that we will see the price of discs fall drastically in the short term so there should be a lot of good bargains out there. One thing to keep in mind though. MOST movies are still SD only and that is not likely to change any time soon. Your HDDVD is an excellent unconverting SD player. So pop in a copy of Raiders Of The Lost Ark and enjoy!
February 15th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
@biby – each new gen of consoles is able to support higher resolution, however their amount of VRAM is fixed. You can only put so many textures into that VRAM. Your disc may have space for a bazillion levels, but your VRAM size is fixed.
You’re right about the audio streams. They’re like the cinematics, though. Streamed data never has to fit into available RAM. Games that rely on streaming
are the only kind thatcan benefit from extra disc space.February 15th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
KlownMaster: HD DVD is not spec wise superior to BD, BD holds more and reads faster. It does cost more but not by that much per disc.
I really liked the fact that HD DVD had no region code when the format war began and I hoped it would win the format war. I watch a lot of forign movies, mostly anime, and regionless was a great feature that BD did not share with HD DVD. I also hate Sony because they seem to always try to screw their consumers at every turn, they have a long history of doing so. But ultimately, when I saw the the scale tip balance towards BD, I bought a PS3. I would much rather have a quick end to this format war instead of having a long drawn out battle. The sooner this format war is over, the sooner I can start watching the movies I want in HD. Early adopters / fanboys will be angry as hell but that’s why I didn’t adopt early, and since things seems so stacked the way they are, theres no point in dragging things out.
February 15th, 2008 at 7:29 pm
not only textures pravin, more string codes, more information about the geometry codes, more routines, more cinematic routines, motion capture routines etc. those are huge amounts of info and the actual disks are not enough to contain the info of more complex games, if the gaming devs use a limited storage like the dvds they are forced to reduce the quantity and the quality of the games and use a low streaming methods. The new games needs more space just like the transition of the PS1 cd and the PS2 dvd and force the devs to program new streaming codes or even the use of new multi processors for stream dedicated information methods.
February 15th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
The Media is killing off HD DVD by putting tremendous doubt in the average consumers mind with their uneducated guesses on the date of it’s demise. I’ll believe it when I see it, but for now I’m reluctant to but anymore HD movies myself. I just think its kind of sad because I’m a “best bang for your buck” kind of person and HD DVD is/was exactly that. The only BD player I’d consider getting is a PS3 because I am a gamer, but even that is very expensive. I might wait for a new model with better BD specs before I dive into another pricey media format.
February 15th, 2008 at 9:14 pm
@biby – I can tell you’re not a programmer. Let’s just leave this particular topic with the following:
* We can never say that games won’t need tons of disc space. They eventually will.
* The majority of games made today, and probably for quite a while will fit just fine on DVDs
February 15th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
HD-DVD had its pros but as a big audiophile Blu-ray had a lot more to offer and same with video quality. I’m just glad this is finally over and the better format won
February 15th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
Toshiba and partners should definitely hang in there. Once the public sees that Universal and Paramount are not going anywhere for a long time, they’ll regain confidence in the format and dismiss all the rumors generated from the blu-ray fanboys as scare tactics. Get some good solid releases out (starting with American Gangster) and people will begin to take notice that HD still has some great exclusive titles.
February 15th, 2008 at 10:15 pm
well… in fact biby is not that wrong, if the 360 had the HDDVD integrated for gaming and video, the developers could use more of the potential of the 360, but they are confined to one limited space disk, and rockstar already told that.
February 16th, 2008 at 6:47 am
If price is the only issue, I have to think that one or the other (sorry looks to be BD) winning the war and a single format immerging will end-user lower cost. I believe so for this reason:
There are many second-tier electronics manufactuers out that have yet to get on the hi-def disk band wagon because they can absorb the R&D costs if they pick the wrong side. I’m not saying that their players will be the best of the best, but if BD carries the day, I would expect their to be reasonably affordable players in the market by the holiday season ‘08.
I really don’t care who wins. I just think the consumer is better served with all the studios releasing hi-def disks in the same format.
If Toshiba really wants to win hearts and minds, they’ll release a hybrid that plays HD-DVD and BD that is cost competitive with the current BD players.
February 16th, 2008 at 6:49 am
someone confirm this please:
http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssConsumerGoodsAndRetailNews/idUSL1627196120080216
February 16th, 2008 at 7:40 am
Personally, I am surprised that the industry as a whole believes that there has to be only one format. Just look at the gaming industry. Take the EA sports title Madden 08, this has been a workhorse of EA for years and EA produces this title for all of the four major formats not to mention the two handheld units. If the industry can support a xbox 360, wii, ps3, ps2, psp and ds. Why can’t it support only two high def formats? Just because there is only one standard for sdvd then why does there have to be only one standard for high def dvd. I think with such heavy players (microsoft and toshiba) that there needs to be a rethinking in marketing. Sony lost the (beta vs vhs war) because of price tied to the patent rights to produce their beta format even though the beta format was better, and because of a failure in marketing. If toshiba throws in the towel, it will be because of a failure in marketing, because toshiba clearly has the price and many believe the quality advantage. Just something to think about.