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High Velocity Bowling Trophies![Consumer Electronics Show [CES] 2008](/media/events/consumer-electronics-show-[ces]-2008/ces08no4.jpg)
So yesterday, we reported that Warner Bros will support Blu-ray exclusively effective June. This move grants Blu-ray to obtain 70% of the high definition player market, unofficially making them the winners in this short, but seemingly long race.
It does not stop there, however, this is creating heavy waves throughout the industry, heavy enough to force the HD DVD camp to discontinue their CES 2008 press event.
“Based on the timing of the Warner Home Video announcement today, we have decided to postpone our CES 2008 press conference scheduled for Sunday, January 6th at 8:30 p.m. in the Wynn Hotel. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
We are currently discussing the potential impact of this announcement with the other HD DVD partner companies and evaluating next steps. We believe the consumer continues to benefit from HD DVD’s commitment to quality and affordability – a bar that is critical for the mainstream success of any format.
We’ll continue to keep you updated on new developments around HD DVD.”
Make of that what you want, but it is clear that HD DVD for the first time is reevaluating the situation with the possibility that they might just have to pull out. However, while Warner is shifting towards Blu-ray, this does not mean that their subsidiary companies of New Line, HBO, and BBC will also show 100% love to Blu-ray. President Kevin Tsujihara of Warner Home Entertainment explains, "They'll be making whatever decision they're going to make," said Tsujihara. "I assume they'll let people know very quickly, but they are not covered by this initial announcement."
Finally, rumors that Warner accepted $250 to $500 million in exchange for supporting Blu-ray exclusively, can be laid to rest as Warner comments that their move to back Blu-ray 100% was to ensure that their future growth is intact through smart business decisions.
Again, Warner President Kevin Tsujihara comments, "The packaged media business is a $42 billion dollar business worldwide at the retail level, and we [Warner] have the largest market share of anybody," said Tsujihara. "From our perspective, the most important piece of this whole puzzle is, "How do we get growth back into this category?" That far outweighed anything else."
So there you have it. It is looking pretty clear that by the end of 2008, Blu-ray will be more accepted on a mainstream level.
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awesome
Good Bye HDDVD, It's been a pleasure.......
big jock knew !!!!!
I could have sworn I already said this in another post...
ALSO it would seem that New Line is already embrasing BD exclusively by putting Rush Hour 3 and Hairspray only on Blu-Ray and SD-DVD.
They postponed their press event? In my eyes, this is tantamount to cancelling their entire presence at the show. What could have been so bad to announce after the Warner Bros. announcement?
It's official: New Line is exclusive as well.
Maybe now we´ll see an M$ console with a BD drive? Something I find confusing about HD... Most of the films released were not shot with a HD camera in the first place, so how come they burn it on a HD format, if they upscale before burning isn´t that simular to just upscaling a SD-DVD?
Rest in pieces HD-DVD,it WASN'T nice to know ya.
So happy~
New Line IS NOW BLU RAY EXCLUSIVE TOO!!!
http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/01/05/new-line-confirms-itll-follow-in-warners-blu-footsteps/
blu ray's always been leading this format war anyway but its good to see even more support
Boring...
Well the first year at CES was a joke for HD-DVD, as was the second. Now it look sas if they wont even show there faces there. Anytime a company talks about re-evaluating the situation with its partners, its basically saying they will announce there closure shortly. Not even M$ can dump enough money into this format to give it a win.
psn id: gingo... i think the fact HD DVD cancelled their CES press event really means the end for this format and good riddence i must say because they prolonged this war far too long
new line cinema has jumped to BD only!! no news on when it is effective though
http://news.filefront.com/new-line-follows-suit-abandons-hd-dvd-for-blu-ray/
i wanna ask something, what studio makes The Godfather + Scarface coz i rud really want them on blu ray :)
NICEEEE now its a matter of time before all the other stuidos make the move
psn id J08hawks
@chimmy
If in the future a MS console has a built in blu-ray drive,for every console that gets sold and for every game thats sold for the MS console, Sony would get royalties for every one, he, he.
I don't know anything about it but I reckon the production studios were filming in higher resolution for a while before we all began viewing HD. I swear I saw a film from the 80's on DVD and it was in wide-screen meaning they was filming in this aspect ratio before we had the widescreen TV's. Well I could be wrong but think of the high end equipment? They use cameras worth thousands and they have proffessionals using the best equipment money can buy to upscale the movie to HD. Their methods of upscaling would be huge compared to the results from a PS3.They would do all sorts to improve and clean the picture. I suppose this is why it takes so long to see blu-ray releases of older films.
Its about time HD-DVD camp gave it up. If they don't announce defeat and they come up with some strategy that gets announced at a later date from CES, which is them really saying everything is OK and how confident they are. Then its unfair to the consumer prolonging their defeat. Its unfair to the consumer to sell to them a failing format.
Well, all know that New Line has decide to exclusively support Blu-Ray. Chances are that BBC and HBO will follow. I mean why not?
What really gets me wondering is what Microsoft will do now? People keep talking about digital distribution like it's nothing. Are we really ready to start downloading 40GB files and keeping our entire video collection on a hard drive? Music (iTunes) is one thing. We're only talking 4 to 6MB files that are easily transfered and at only a buck a download if you lose a song it's no big deal. But paying for a movie at (for example) $20 bucks and possibly several hours of downloading is a lot worse.
Also, consider that the internet isn't ready for the bandwidth necessary to support gigs and gigs of data to download? Internet companies are already setting limits on download amounts. For example Cox cable has a limit of 60GB per month. There's always a chance that Cox and other carriers could start to charge more per MB/GB after a certain amount like roaming on a cell phone. Also, consider that carrier has a limit in order to ensure proper service.
Bottomline the internet is not ready for us to go full on DD so if MS thinks the Xbox 720 can be nothing more than a big hard drive then they're sadly mistaken. Chances are that they'll have to bite the bullet and put a Blu-Ray drive in their next system (which if the 4 year cycle stays in place we'll see a new system from MS by late 2009).
Actually, I'm not worried about MS. I just wanted to point out that Warner's decision has more of an impact than just movies.
good weekend for blu-ray
@ mustang750r: Warner goes EXCLUSIVE with Blu-ray in JUNE and continue to release HD-DVD until May!
HD-DVD have to drop their CES conference? Damn it's goin downhill badly for HD-DVD!
And of course... With this anouncement that Warner went Blu-ray exclusive the Xbots next move is to blame Warner for bribery. Haha, classic. 8D
can't wait for them to release the matrix triology on bd
Cheers viper-g1 but i really want them two on blu ray :(