DigitalBits: Universal needs to end this format war

[-Damien-]

A lot of tech medias such as CNET, DigitalBits call for end of this format war...

http://www.digitalbits.com/#mytwocents...

Well... as expected, I've received a flood of e-mails over the last day or so in response to my high-def format war comments of yesterday. And as expected, those who have firmly attached themselves to HD-DVD weren't terribly pleased with my arguments. The interesting thing, however, is that none of these people could logically refute my reasoning, and very few even attempted to do so. In fact, while some of the responses from HD-DVD supporters were polite and thoughtful, most were defensive, overly emotional or even downright hostile. A couple e-mails were so nasty that I can only wonder at the mental stability of their authors. All of this suggests to me that even these people are starting to suspect that the writing is on the wall for HD-DVD.

I was pleasantly surprised, however, at how many readers responded to say that they generally agreed with my assessment of the situation. And it wasn't just Blu-ray supporters who reacted positively. A surprising number of retailers and industry insiders expressed relief that we had finally said what they WANTED to say, but weren't in a position to do so. I was also struck by how many people that agreed with my comments said they hadn't yet adopted either format, instead having decided to remain neutral until a choice was more clear. But many of those folks told us that they were now close to jumping into the high-def arena, and Blu-ray was where they were headed. The responses as a whole were certainly fascinating, and they have done nothing but convince me further that this format war needs to end now, before the early adopter market gets even more fractious and divisive.

So what, or who, could end this format war? Simple: Universal. If Universal were to suddenly announce support for Blu-ray Disc in addition to HD-DVD, or if they were to adopt Warner's TotalHD combo disc, that would be the end of it. You would suddenly have every major studio in town releasing Blu-ray titles (except for DreamWorks, and our sources tell us that the studio is simply waiting for one of these formats to start selling serious numbers before getting involved). By the end of the year, cheaper second generation Blu-ray hardware will available, and that's the ballgame. That's not to say that Microsoft and Toshiba would stop pushing HD-DVD anytime soon. And I'm sure some of the HD-DVD supporting studios would continue releasing titles, at least for a while. But why would any average consumer want to buy an HD-DVD player, even a very cheap one, when you can't get Disney movies, you can't get Pixar films, you can't get the Bond films, you can't get the Spider-Man films, etc, etc, etc. Universal has the power to end this format war tomorrow. We certainly hope a lot of people, both inside the industry and film fans as a whole, are making efforts to POLITELY convince them to do so. Here's how:

Universal Studios Home Video
70 Universal City Plaza
Universal City, CA 91608
818-777-4400
Studio website - E-mail form on website

While we're on the subject, here's more evidence of Blu-ray's advantage: Blu-ray almost completely dominates the Japanese market now (click here for more on that), and has a clear edge in the Australian market as well (click here). In fact, one of Australia's leading consumer electronics retailers, JB Hi-Fi, has announced that they won't even carry HD-DVD in their stores (click here). Why? Because they, like many others, simply don't see how HD-DVD can overcome the overwhelming studio support behind Blu-ray Disc. JB's marketing director, Scott Browning, put his company's position this way: "We don't want to be selling $1000 clocks." Ouch. Any way you slice it, this whole format war situation is just getting silly.

By the way, for you HD-DVD fans out there who are running around online today claiming that I'm somehow getting paid to endorse Blu-ray (rather than coming to the rather obvious logical conclusion all on my own), I'll bet you this: If, in the next few months, the HD-DVD camp suddenly gets all those Blu-ray exclusive studios to start releasing titles on their format, and if all those electronics manufacturers who have released Blu-ray players start releasing HD-DVD or combo players too, I'll will happily and publicly revise my opinion. I'll even exclude Sony on both counts. But I'm betting it isn't going to happen.

[Stoffinator]

That they do by the looks of it.

[Carbuncle]

They do and I think they will by the end of this year.

[Delta]

I like this.Putting pressure on Universal from the public can go along way in making a one format game so we can finally end all the FUD that get thrown out there.

[MERCCLASS]

I sent an email to Universal asking them to consider backing Blu-Ray so I can enjoy their films on my PS3 that I haven't bought yet.

[Terikan]

You know, while I like bluray, this guy comes off as a jackass.

[NuSoardGraphite]

You know, while I like bluray, this guy comes off as a jackass.

I don't think he comes off as a jackass (though, you might too if you got the kind of hate-mail he's recieved) but he's definately SMUG.

[Exenter]

All Universal movies suck!(seriously go to http://www.universalpictures.com and check them out. Only seen 30 of them and they sucked, except for King Kong) and I'm not going to buy or watch any Universal Studios movies before they support Blu-Ray.

[Lefein]

"We don't want to sell $1000 clocks"....

Oh my god, that was freaking PRECIOUS!

[rederic]

how much do you think peter moore is going to cry when the xbox360 blu ray drive gets released

[goshikisen]

You know, while I like bluray, this guy comes off as a jackass.

How so? I read it as a fairly reasonable outline of the quickest and least painful way to get this ridiculous "war" over and done with.

[mrnagy88]

All Universal movies suck!(seriously go to http://www.universalpictures.com and check them out. Only seen 30 of them and they sucked, except for King Kong) and I'm not going to buy or watch any Universal Studios movies before they support Blu-Ray.

Well not ALL movies suck...
I asked them to make 12 Monkeys on blu-ray
I agree though, the current releases look like crappola... It could be the time of year though.

[michaelangelo]

man blu-ray won. Universal is just dragging this out.

1 question is New Line Cinema backing blu-ray? or are they universal?

sorry i just love the TMNT, lol

[cljvag]

i said it before i feel sorry for those people who got that xbots add-on stop supporting something that's already dead. listen you xbots out there in the world let me tell you something ok. if for some dumb reason you don't like the ps3 thats your buisness and love your xboT THATS FINE WITH us but what ever you do stay away from that hd-dvd cause sony and the blu-ray are killing it. and now australia is not supporting hd-dvd

[mcav]

I sent an email to universal - there is no email address to post, or I would.

You just need to follow the contact us link.

To be honest, if they got inundated with e-mail, from people who genuinely want their content on Blu ray, they would know that it's not just some mail-bomb campaign and realise there is a financial reason for going dual format.

What's the betting they are financially tied into a deal with HD DVD and would cost money to break the deal...?

I noticed on the blu ray website that they site both the weinstein company ajnd universal as the studios releasing content, but both have 0 titles.

So perhaps they both WILL release content, but not until they are out of certain contractual obligations.

[GameSpawn]

man blu-ray won. Universal is just dragging this out.

1 question is New Line Cinema backing blu-ray? or are they universal?

sorry i just love the TMNT, lol

I believe New Line is part of Warner Bros. and Warner is putting out both Blu-ray and HD-DVD, lately I think a lot of the dual backers have been cutting back on HD-DVD and only releasing on Blu-ray.

HD-DVD is dead in so many ways:
1] Severe lack of industry support for manufacturing drives and players
2] Smaller capacity for relatively the same price (the idea HD-DVD was cheaper to make was debunked by Sony and many others)
3] Wanning studio support, and lack of BIG studios such as Disney and others
4] Recently hacked HD-DVDs (This is one of the final nails)

Yeah Universal is the only thing keeping HD-DVD from going completely under. Microsoft hasn't shown much support or enthusiasm for it, which is why they made their drive external so if it looses they don't loose money off every 360 and are stuck with a format. If you ask me Universal needs to jump ship before this hurt really starts coming their way and cutting into their profits and movie sales. Even Toshiba hasn't shown much interest in HD-DVD winning any more (It has been a while since they've come out and defended themselves since they get shot down and debunked every time) and I think they're already moving on to other things.

[rein22]

how can universal be that stupid and not see the black and white on this issue.....

They just need to save some face and start releasing blu-ray movies so everyone can start making some money.....

the wars are just stoping people from buying the movies they want!