Login:
Password:
Lost Password?
Print this article  |  E-mail this article  |  Comment on this article

PS3 Effect May Be Boosting Blu-ray Movie Sales

By Scott M. Fulton, III, BetaNews

February 5, 2007, 2:49 PM

Beginning with its first issue in February, Home Video Magazine has been presenting "scale-tipping" graphs depicting the current status of the battle between HD DVD and Blu-ray movie sales worldwide, based on data provided by Nielsen VideoScan.

With only the second installment, readers have noticed a striking trend that bodes well for Blu-ray: In one week's time, the number of Blu-ray movies sold for every 100 HD DVD movies sold since data was first tracked, increased from 85.05 in the first week of January to 92.4 in the second.

Since HD DVD discs have been available for a longer period of time, the prospect of Blu-ray catching up to HD DVD in discs sold appears imminent. And with sales figures for high-def disc players (excluding game consoles) just about dead even for both formats between April and December 2006, with HD DVD holding a very slight lead, according to NPD figures released last week, the sharp rise in Blu-ray movie demand may be attributable to Sony's PlayStation 3.

A Nielsen VideoScan spokesperson confirmed to BetaNews this afternoon that her firm tracks point-of-sale data where the customer makes the exclusive decision to purchase discs. So the firm's data excludes bundle deals, such as copies of the Wil Farrell comedy Talladega Nights bundled with PS3s.

However, it might include separate purchases of Blu-ray movies made using $15 coupons redeemable toward the purchase of one Blu-ray movie.

Nielsen VideoScan's data may be affirmed today by the latest sales ranking data from Amazon, which show the steady rise in Blu-ray movie relative sales rankings taking a sharp incline after Christmas, when PS3s were unwrapped and first plugged in. The Amazon data shows sales rankings for Blu-ray movies eclipsing those of HD DVDs for the first time at about January 21, and pulling away since that time.

Media relations representatives for Blu-ray supporting studios, including 20th Century-Fox, were quick to declare the format war already over, touting their own sales data showing Blu-ray discs starting to surpass HD DVD sales, again after Christmas.

Add a Comment (107 Comments)

BetaNews reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic. Foul language and personal attacks will not be tolerated.

Name (required):

E-mail (required):

Enter Your Comment:

By Austin814

posted Feb 7, 2007 - 12:10 PM

What MS should do is release a $599 360 with built in HD-DVD, HDCP and 120GB HDD and offer a $15 coupon for any HD-DVD movie. That might make the race more interesting.

Score: 0

By Joey Deacon

posted Feb 7, 2007 - 12:29 PM

Microsoft have ways stated there will never be any games on HD-DVD, as it would create a split market for Xbox360 owners.

Although based on recent Microsoft broken promises, I wouldn't put it past them.

Score: 0

By bobthegoat2001

posted Feb 7, 2007 - 6:57 PM

Are you implying Microsoft broke promises? I'd like to know which ones.

Score: 0

By Ray Dorset

edited Feb 9, 2007 - 3:13 AM

Looks like this thread had died, now it's moved off the front page, however I have some broken Microsoft promises. I won't provide all the links, as I am lazy but googling will find them.

"1080p is not possible in games" (Sony then do 1080p, Microsoft update to 1080p)

"Failure Rates on Xbox are about 1%, the industry standard" (other report MUCH higher, as high as 30%, Microsoft eventually concede that it's higher).

"We will release the HDMI cable when there is demand for it" (they knew it was not possible, used delay tactics, whilst working on the proper HDMI Xbox Zephyr V2)

"Blu-Ray is not required for gaming", all the time knowing Blue Dragon is out on triple DVD.

I'd be pretty annoyed at "next gen" system, only lasting a year before the new model comes out.. I suppose Microsoft's fanboys are so dedicated however, they just bend over and take it..

Score: 0

By bobthegoat2001

edited Feb 10, 2007 - 1:44 AM

First of all, none of those are things that Microsoft promised, then broke.

"1080p not possible in games"? I don't recall Microsoft saying that. I know they said 720p is the minimum, but I don't remember them saying 1080p isn’t possible in games; at least not in that context. I'd also like to note that almost all PS3 games are 720p.

Failure rates are always high at system launch. Even the PS3 had high system failures at launch.

And they are releasing HDMI when there is demand for it. There wasn’t any demand until PS3 announced it’ll have HDMI. I don’t really see what’s so special about HDRM, err, HDMI; except for 1080p which though can also be done with the VGA cable for the Xbox 360. Component though still does look pretty good.

Blu-Ray isn't *required* for games. None of the previous system's before the PS3 then wouldn't have worked because no other system uses Blu-Ray. I still don't see what's so hard about changing the disc after playing several hours of gaming anyway. You did that with the PSone, which had a lot more multi-disc games... but you never complained then. I mean really... there's only two planned games so far that are multi-disc out of the whole 360 game catalog, that's not too bad.

Come back with actual things that Microsoft promised, as in they promised it, then later on didn't deliver it.

I can think of a lot that Sony promised with the PS3 then didn't deliver. Duel HDTV support with 2 HDMI's (it probably couldn't handle it), 1080p support in Motorstorm (now it's 720p), 3 Ethernet switch (or router) was removed, promising 2 million PS3’s at launch, the system was delayed a whole year… plus there other things I’m forgetting too.

What’s wrong with a new enhanced Xbox 360 coming out? I don’t mind them adding new features to the 360. How is that a negative thing?

Score: 0

By Ray Dorset

posted Feb 11, 2007 - 3:46 PM

Xbox exec on PS3: "1080p... will be basically impossible"

http://www.joystiq.com/2...be-basically-impossible/

"and we will provide an HDMI for our customers when it makes sense."

http://interviews.teamxb...erview-Todd-Holmdahl/p1/

"Even the PS3 had high system failures at launch." Please back this up, PS3 failure rates are extremely low.

"I don’t really see what’s so special about HDRM, err, HDMI;"

Wait until they switch on ICT....

Blu-Ray is required, Xbox games are on multiple discs, or feature cut and lower quality textures.

Score: 0

By bobthegoat2001

edited Feb 12, 2007 - 4:43 AM

Well, they were 'basically' right. Most PS3 games are 720p.

And like I said before, they will be providing an HDMI, when the new Xbox revision on the way.

No, Blu-Ray is not required. It might be a nice feature, but it's not required. Who cares if two Xbox games are going to be on multiple discs? So you just get up and change discs. It's not worth $200 more just to have it on Blu-Ray. And do you have any proof of features being cut, or games using lower quality textures because of space constraints?

And once again you still haven't provided anything that Microsoft promised and then didn't deliver, like what my original post was about. Are you having a hard time finding anything?

Score: 0

By Joey Deacon

posted Feb 12, 2007 - 8:30 AM

As an outsider in this argument, it seems more like you don't know when to give up the argument as lost.

I think those are reasonably legitimate links, that show Microsoft being less than honest in their business practices.

I don't personally trust Microsoft, much like I don't trust fanboy speak or forum gossip...

Score: 0

By bobthegoat2001

posted Feb 13, 2007 - 1:14 AM

To be honest, I do tend to want to have the last word... looks up at previous post....

But, it seemed like he would just post nagative things about the Xbox 360 rather than posting broken promises from Microsoft. That's what I was mostly trying to get at, even though it may not have looked like it.

Score: 0

By plague201

posted Feb 6, 2007 - 11:52 AM

LOL

http://www.army.mil/-ima...l-2007-02-02-091945.jpg

Score: 0

By Mark GiIIespie

posted Feb 7, 2007 - 1:57 AM

Nice, looks like Sony Grainview(TM) now works with the XBOX360.

Score: 0

By plague201

posted Feb 7, 2007 - 1:23 PM

Um, look at the source. It's an authentic picture.

Score: 0

By AMANDAJEAN

posted Feb 6, 2007 - 10:50 AM

I can't believe how much people will pay for a PS3! I saw one on ebay go for 200,000 dollars!

Score: 0

By TomeOne

posted Feb 6, 2007 - 10:11 AM

I wonder what the fanboys get from touting their preferred format? A cheque from Sony or Toshiba?

No? I thought so.

Keep shoveling your money into their products and keep bandwagoning them. You guys are real winners.

Score: 0

By brynjolf98

edited Feb 6, 2007 - 4:36 AM

Years ago, Sony had a superior BetaMax tape but the porn industry went with VHS and therefore we all have VCRs that use VHS tapes. Now, Sony has PROHIBITED porn on Blu-Ray so the porn industry is going with HD-DVD. Therefore, no matter what impact the PS3 is having on Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD, HD-DVD is destined to win because Sony has not learned the mistakes of history.

Score: 0

By Meth

posted Feb 6, 2007 - 1:53 PM

Did you look into this at all before posting? Sony refuses to master pornographic Blu-Ray disks but they are not the only game in town and there is no ban on the format in general. In fact Vivid (one of the largest porn producers) is already making Blu-Ray movies. Furthermore while porn had a HUGE effect in the Beta/VHS war at that time it was the main (only) way to get porn video. Now that porn is extremely easy to come by on the internet (even if you aren't looking for it) the influnce of the porn industry in media formats is GREATLY diminished.

Score: 0

By Joey Deacon

edited Feb 6, 2007 - 5:51 AM

Isn't this just more mis-information passed around by the HD-DVD industry and those that have been suckered in by their lies??

The truth this this BS rumour..

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=37021

Score: 0

By Desides

posted Feb 6, 2007 - 6:27 AM

It is indeed misinformation, but citing The Inquirer to debunk misinformation is a little self-defeating.

Score: 0

By Joey Deacon

posted Feb 6, 2007 - 7:28 AM

Granted, The Inquirer are less than reliable source, but in this rare instance, they are correct, and the story quite nicely sums up the situation.

Sony themselves are anti-porn, but that does not mean porn will be prevented from appearing on Blu-Ray, as there are many manufacturing plants with no commitment or control by Sony (don't forget Blu-Ray is not a Sony only format, it's got many varied industry backers).

Score: 0

By dwaterman

posted Feb 6, 2007 - 11:09 AM

Bluray costs more to produce so most HD porn will likely be on HD DVD. With that being said, there are many more ways to receive porn verses the days of Beta/VHS so it probably won't have as big an impact this time around.

Score: 0

By HoIIywood__

edited Feb 6, 2007 - 3:25 AM

http://www.engadgethd.co...es-on-february-6th-2007/

http://hd-dvd.justgotowned.com

Score: 0

By bobthegoat2001

posted Feb 6, 2007 - 2:02 AM

You mean people are actually buying PS3's?

Score: 0

By Joey Deacon

edited Feb 6, 2007 - 5:47 AM

Yep, 1.8 million sales gloablly to date, with another 1 million consoles headed to Europe in 6 weeks time...

That will be 3 million by then. A nice lump out of Microsoft's 10 million Xbox360 lead. I wouldn't be suprised if they were pretty much neck and neck by Dec 2007.

Score: 0

By steve17

posted Feb 7, 2007 - 2:03 AM

ur an idiot. try 1.4 million to date. and another million headed to europe will not save u. they will be sitting on the shelves in europe just like they are here.

Score: 0

By plague201

edited Feb 6, 2007 - 11:10 AM

http://www.eproductwars.com/vg/

Why even mention the xbox360? The real problem for sony is Nintendo, being that they came out at the same time and Nintendo has just about caught up to the 360.

Better sight
http://nexgenwars.com/

Score: 0

By AaronDobbins

posted Feb 6, 2007 - 12:23 PM

Problem is that the Wii, XBox 360, and PS3 are really very different systems. Hard core gaming really is a choice between the 360 and PS3, with Wii coming in as a more family fun entertainment type console.

The people I know that have had both say they would still get a 360 first for the games like Gears of War, but that the Wii is a great system to play. The other advantage is that the Wii is only $250 so it is significantly cheaper than the others. Here it makes sense that it would outsell the other systems.

Score: 0

By Joey Deacon

posted Feb 6, 2007 - 1:19 PM

Indeed, a large percentage of those buying the WII would have not bought the PS3 anyway.

The WII does not even compete. It's a family/kiddie system, with cute Gamecube graphics, and a novelty controller. I think the novelty will soon wear off.

Microsoft have burnt all their bridges in the gaming community by releasing the new model Xbox360 with the silent DVD drive, 65nm processor, HDMI port, IPTV services within 14 months of launch, with none of these options as upgrades (only the 120GB drive). They lied about DVD's being suffient storage, then release triple DVD games (Blue Dragon) Would anyone trust them again???

PS3 is really the only way to go, it's quiet, it got Blu-Ray backing, and it's got the studios (not as many exclusives this time around however). if you want quality however, you gotta pay for it...

Score: 0

By bobthegoat2001

edited Feb 7, 2007 - 12:47 AM

Who cares if everything except the 120gb HD isn't upgradable? So what? Sony did the same thing with the two PS3's. Your not complaining about that.

They still didn't lie about DVD's being suffient games. They never said that none of the games wouldn't be multiple disc's. Who cares if it's 3 DVD's. The PSone had games that are 4 CD's. No one compained about that. It's not that hard to switch disc's.

Your forgiting though too that the 360 is
- $200 cheaper than the PS3.
- It has a lot more games out now. I can think of a few good games out for the 360 off the top of my head that I enjoy(ed) (Gears of War, Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, Saints Row, Dead Rising, F.E.A.R., Call of Duty 2, Condemned: Criminal Origins, Prey, Splinter Cell: Double Agent, Rainbow Six Vegas, to name a few). I can only think of one game that maybe I'd like on the PS3, which is Residence: FOM... and that's it.
- Plus both systems will have basically the same games and same graphics.
- And the 360 has better Online.

The only thing the PS3 has is Blu-Ray and that comes at a cost. I don't really care about movies. I don't even have one DVD. At least I have a choice to get the HD-DVD for my 360, unlike Sony trying to push there Blu-Ray upon me for a gaming machine. Another minor thing though too is that Sony decided to put a 2x BD-Rom in the PS3, so loading times will take longer. Game Informer already said that Oblivion has noticable longer loading times on the PS3.

Right now I don't see the point in getting a PS3.

Score: 0

By Joey Deacon

edited Feb 7, 2007 - 4:02 AM

"Who cares if everything except the 120gb HD isn't upgradable?

10 Million Xbox360 owners, who can't get IPTV services, or can't watch HD-DVD movies when ICT flag is enabled, or see their mates new console that's quiet and does not dim the lights in the house when it's switched on.....

"So what? Sony did the same thing with the two PS3's. Your not complaining about that."

Wanna explain this? I can't figure out what you mean, there have only been the initial revision of PS3.

If you are referring to PS2, then this is different, as nothing was added to the PS2 line during it's lifespan (aside from the network/HDD adapter, which was available as a $30 upgrade).

I assume by "better online", you mean costs money. No thanks, i'd rather have 90% of the functionaility for $0.

As for Oblvion, the PS3 version is still in development dumba**, if when it's released come back and use that argument again, I somehow doubt it would be slower, with all PS3's having a HDD, caching is easy.

Score: 0

By bobthegoat2001

posted Feb 7, 2007 - 6:13 AM

If someone who has an old 360 and wanted the new revision really wanted the new one that bad, they could just sell there old one and get the new one. I look at the new additions to the revised 360 as a positive thing, not a negative.

"Wanna explain this? I can't figure out what you mean, there have only been the initial revision of PS3."

What I meant was the Core PS3 and the Premium PS3. Most of the stuff taken out of the lower PS3 can't be upgraded to the new PS3.

There is actually a free version (called Silver) that lets you do everything, except multiplayer (which is free also on the weekends, or special events). But for the Gold version, it’s only $50 a year, which covers just about all games. The way the PS Network is set up, publishers *could* charge for there online if they wanted. Xbox Live has been out for years with over 4 million subscribers so there’s almost always someone to play with (I’ve never had a time when there wasn’t anybody to play with, with any of the games that I played). Plus Sony made it so that any publisher *could* charge a monthly fee if they wanted. Most Xbox Live games are free. And now there you can ‘rent’ (both HD and standard) movies and buy quite a bit of TV shows on Live too. Here's a good non-biased comparison of them both, and Xbox Live ended up getting the author’s vote. I think it’ll take Sony a long while to catch up to Microsoft’s Xbox Live service.

As for Oblivion, I read it in a Game Informer magazine. Therefore it can’t be too far off. I took a picture of it (sorry my scanners not working, so sorry for the crappyness) but you can look at the entire article here . Here’s the quote from the magazine that explains the speeds (it’s the last paragraph), “[…] the biggest differences between the two console versions may be the very discs they’re printed on. According to Howard, the 360 pulls information off the disc about twice as fast as the PS3’s Blu-ray drive, which means the PS3’s in-game loading won’t be reduced, even though each unit will have a hard drive.”

Score: 0

By Joey Deacon

posted Feb 7, 2007 - 9:46 AM

"What I meant was the Core PS3 and the Premium PS3. Most of the stuff taken out of the lower PS3 can't be upgraded to the new PS3."

BS. The differences between core PS3 and premium PS3

20GB HDD vs 60GB HDD (upgradable as it uses standard 2.5in SATA drives, and Sony allow upgrading.)

No Wifi (USB Wifi is coming as an addon)

No Card readers. (USB card readers work today without any other messing around).

There you have it.

As for the PS3 Blu-Ray speed, I suggest you read up on CAV and CLV. Blu-Ray uses CLV and the same data transfer speed across the entire disc, Xbox360 has varying speed between the inner and outer edges of the disk, as an average, they are almost indentical. (within 20Kb/sec)

Score: 0

By bobthegoat2001

posted Feb 7, 2007 - 7:25 PM

Yeah, so the PS3 reads game data at a consistently slower rate the the 360. What's your point? that doesn't make it any faster than a 12x DVD rom.

Score: 0

By HoIIywood__

edited Feb 7, 2007 - 1:57 PM

LOL. PS3 Version of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion faster loading times and better looking than xbox360 version.

http://uk.gamespot.com/p...vert&om_clk=topslot

Seems someone has been feeding the Xbox fanboys duff information...

"The real enhancement is in the visuals and, to some extent, the loading times. The game seemed to have a slightly smoother and more consistent frame rate than it did on the Xbox, though the difference wasn't enormous, and it seemed to us that the textures looked just a tad bit sharper. More obvious (and confirmed by Bethesda) was an improvement to the game's texturing over large distances. "

"Oblivion will make extensive use of the PS3's hard drive by caching multiple gigabytes of data, which seemed to help with load times from what we saw. Bethesda's Pete Hines also commented that recent reports of data duplication on the PS3 Oblivion disc have been exaggerated, and this technique isn't different from the similar strategy that was employed in the creation of the Xbox 360 game last year."

http://uk.ps3.ign.com/ar...170800&RSSid=762108

"The PS3 version of Oblivion isn't a simple port of the game either, although players who have picked up the 360 version will be very familiar with the control scheme. For one thing, the PS3 version has been optimized to take advantage of the Cell processor and hardware that the system offers. As a result, the game runs a lot faster than the 360 build. Entering dungeons or buildings results in a load of 3-5 seconds, compared to the 7-10 seconds or longer for the 360 version of the game. Similarly, the amount of framerate drops or hitches that cropped up in the wilderness as you accessed a new area on the 360 have been substantially reduced on the PS3 version. There is a plan to completely eradicate these issues as the game nears release, as well as fixing a number of bugs that were present in the other builds. Kiss the item duplication glitch goodbye."

"The visual presentation of Oblivion has also been significantly enhanced. While it was a beautiful title on the 360, far off environmental details often displayed low resolution textures. This has been fixed with new shaders dedicated to rendering the foreground cleanly with sharper details, so rocky landscapes now have craggy appearances instead of smooth, non-distinct surfaces. While there is still a fair amount of pop-in that occurs (which can't be helped due to the size of the world), the draw distance is farther than the 360 version. As a result, screens from the PS3 version should approach those from high end PCs running Oblivion, which is an impressive feat."

Score: 0

By bobthegoat2001

posted Feb 7, 2007 - 7:12 PM

Ok, so it looks like they did get it to load faster after the initial install (although it would probably take a while to cache the several gigs, the transfer rate is about half of the 360’s DVD drive). But like I said before, this is just a minor thing. This also doesn't really help the other points that I stated above.

Score: 0

By plague201

posted Feb 7, 2007 - 6:29 PM

"Oblivion faster loading times and better looking than xbox360 version.
"

I would hope so after 1 year EXTRA of developement. The real test will be with the expansion later this year.

Score: 0

By Type-E

edited Feb 6, 2007 - 5:24 PM

I totally agree with you. A long of Wii buyer haven't had a console before and their hype will soon wear off. While I enjoy Zelda a lot but the swinging to attach is really necessary. You will see more and more next gen (or you can call current gen) games that are cross platformed and will only support ps3 and xbox3 and pc as the wii's hardware really can't cut it. As much as you say graphics is not important, yet history has proven many times that people do buy into the better graphics. Wii has a very good party game set so far, but we will have to see if the list can grow proportionally with time. I had bad experience w/ the N64 and gamecube, they both only have several really good games, and that's it.

I never like the xbox/xbox360 games as they are mostly madden franchise and FPS/Third person shooters.

PS3 will win for sure if they play the price right. Also They seems to be winning the bluray/hddvd war already http://www.betanews.com/..._Movie_Sales/1170704837

Score: 0

By plague201

edited Feb 6, 2007 - 2:11 PM

"The WII does not even compete"
Let me run that website by you again.
http://nexgenwars.com/

"They lied about DVD's being suffient storage"

Um, Oblivion and Gears all on 1 DVD.

I just downloaded Virtual Fighter 5 for the PS3(no PS3 here, but maybe in the future). Guess what, it was 4 gigs worth, so who is really lying?

Score: 0

By HoIIywood__

posted Feb 6, 2007 - 3:47 PM

I also heard that Blue Dragon on Xbox360 is on 3 DVD disks. If this is true, it makes Sony's decision to go with Blu-Ray for games a worthy one.

Anyone know if it's true?

Score: 0

By steve17

posted Feb 7, 2007 - 2:14 AM

unless this nex gen is turning u into a couch potato that cant get off their a$$ to change a disk it really shouldnt matter. see us normal people wont simply not buy a system because they made a game too big for one disc. r u THAT lazy?

Score: 0

By plague201

edited Feb 6, 2007 - 6:07 PM

Yeah its true,

1 game out of over 200+, I'd like to think there are always exceptions. I mean I still remember 4 DISKS for FF7 on the PS-X. So go fig.

Score: 0

By Joey Deacon

edited Feb 7, 2007 - 6:35 AM

It's not a big deal to change the disks, granted. But it does prove that DVD is insufficient TODAY. How worse will it get in 1 years time for the 360? PS3 has the storage sufficient for the consoles lifespan.

There are also rumours that the Xbox360 version of Unreal Tournament 2007 has had it's levels and textures seriously cut back to fit on 1 DVD, but the PS3 version has no such restrictions.

Blu-Ray is required on PS3, and I am glad Sony decided to stick to the plan, and use it exclusively, not bail out and release a DVD version like Microsoft did, thus screwing up the console for it's entire lifespan.

Score: 0

By plague201

posted Feb 7, 2007 - 12:25 PM

I'm not going to say that there wont be limitations. But I still look at games like Oblivion, and thing hmmm. All this on 1 DVD, are 30 gigs really necessary?

Score: 0

By bobthegoat2001

posted Feb 7, 2007 - 6:16 AM

"There are also rumours that the Xbox360 version of Unreal Tournament 2007 has had it's levels and textures seriously cut back to fit on 1 DVD,"

And where are you getting these rumers from?

Score: 0

By Joey Deacon

posted Feb 7, 2007 - 9:50 AM

http://boards.gamefaqs.c...8371&topic=33385709

Just because the biased reporting on Betanews does not report it, does not mean it's not true..

Score: 0

By HoIIywood__

posted Feb 7, 2007 - 1:25 PM

http://www.computerandvi...m/article.php?id=156415

"How are you finding fitting the massive wads of game data onto the Xbox 360's DVDs, as opposed to larger PC HDD and PS3 Blu-ray discs?"

Morris: "Blue-ray is certainly appealing for guys coming from a hard drive background to have a much larger footprint to store that sort of data, but because we want the game to be the same on all platforms the chances are it'll be the same sort of size that will fit on all of them.

But while we want all of the versions to be the same that's not to say we won't do exclusive patches for each platform and that would enable us to do some pretty spectacular exclusive content.

I can tell you we have 30GB versions here today and we copied two versions to each of those PCs, so by the end of it we had about a terabyte of copies over there. So we've got to get smaller - big is cool, it lets you have more environment diversity and stuff like that but at the same time you have to deal with the actual load times. We don't know the exact number of maps we'll ship with but we want it to be between 30 and 40 - that's substantially more than other games in the genre."

Oh dear, bad news for Xbox gamers, I expect this to be the tip of the iceberg....

Score: 0

By DaveBG

posted Feb 5, 2007 - 11:38 PM

The porn industry has chosen HD-DVD because Blu-Ray wont put smut on their format. I don't know if it will make any difference.

Score: 0

By Mark GiIIespie

posted Feb 6, 2007 - 3:21 AM

Hmmm yees, it is unfortunate that the Blu-Ray is pornless... but with the PS3 being such a sexy machine, porn is not really required for you to get your thrills... trust me I've had quite a few sessions with a couple of PS3s at my local electronic retailer's display unit... suffice to say the machines no longer work and I've developed a nasty callous where one usually does not develop such an injury. I'm considering a class action suit against Sony with regards to not only the lack of robustness with the actual unit but with injuries’ one can sustain in practices not explicitly detailed in the manual.

Score: 0

By Joey Deacon

posted Feb 6, 2007 - 7:29 AM

Hmm, the lame fake Mark Gillespie is back. I preferred the real one..

Score: 0

By bobthegoat2001

posted Feb 7, 2007 - 12:28 AM

I miss him too. I enjoyed getting in arguments with him. Those were the day's.

Score: 0

By plague201

posted Feb 6, 2007 - 11:12 AM

The real Marky took his own life after 2 months of consistent and accurate bad press for the PS3.

Score: 0

By Mark GiIIespie

posted Feb 6, 2007 - 7:52 AM

Pleased to make your acquaintance, Joey. Don't worry the "real" Mark is still here somewhere... just look out for an extremely long comment with pointless dribble and you will find him. He surprisingly types quite a bit, using nothing more than his left hand.

Score: 0

By Desides

posted Feb 6, 2007 - 2:49 AM

Nope. The porn industry chose Blu-Ray. The issue is that Sony refuses to manufacture porn on their production lines. That isn't stopping the porn industry from having Blu-Ray discs pressed by other manufacturers.

Also, doesn't everyone download porn these days? If so, porn has no bearing on the format war.

Score: 0

By The-One

posted Feb 5, 2007 - 11:14 PM

But where's the porn!! :-)

Seriously, this nonissue will die when there are more dual players in the next few years, just like dvd +- R, an old issue.

Score: 0

By Type-E

posted Feb 6, 2007 - 5:29 PM

And DVD+/- drives are like $30 now. Eventually, walmart will have hd-dvd/bluray player for $50

Score: 0

By CarLox

posted Feb 5, 2007 - 6:17 PM

i dont care which format cuz both are great and now both are like the DVD format, now there are several movies in Torrent sites which you can download and watch :)

Score: 0

By plague201

posted Feb 5, 2007 - 6:53 PM

"now there are several movies in Torrent sites which you can download and watch :)
"

True that. Tee hee

Score: 0

By Dev3lop3

posted Feb 5, 2007 - 5:33 PM

Why overpay for somthing that is completely undedelivered?

Answer: Dont.

Score: 0

By Steve Austin

edited Feb 5, 2007 - 5:08 PM

GAME OVER...

Universal (the only exclusive HD-DVD studio), must be hurting by missing out on those 2 million Blu-Ray hardware owners...

The inevitable is only a matter of time...

Score: 0

By HoIIywood__

edited Feb 5, 2007 - 5:00 PM

Remember these comments from the "experts" here?

http://www.betanews.com/...e_Early_Edge/1160625534

By mshulman posted Oct 13, 2006 - 11:52 AM

I think you and many others are giving way to much credit to the effect PS3 will have on bluray sales.

While it will impact it some, I don't think it will have any more of an impact than the HD-DVD add on will for 360. I'd maybe give a slight edge to bluray due to PS3, but HD-DVD already has a significant edge right now, so it only pulls bluray slightly closer.

By Skyfrog posted Oct 12, 2006 - 3:13 PM

The Videoscape report on home movie sales shows HD-DVD outselling Blu-Ray titles by 11 to 1 in September. For the previous month is was 8 to 1. HD-DVD sales are steadily climbing and with figures like that there is no way that studios are not going to take notice. If the PS3 does not boost Blu-Ray sales dramatically it's dead as a movie format. Personally I don't think the PS3 is going to amount to a hill of beans.

By PC_Tool posted Oct 12, 2006 - 9:43 AM

Why does everyone think the PS3 is going to have so much bloody impact?

It's a console for God's sake. How many people play DVD's on their PS2? I've done it *once*, just to see if it worked.

By plague201 edited Oct 12, 2006 - 11:38 AM

I think what PC tool is saying is that Sony is marketing the PS3 as a movie player, when its just a gaming console. It does play blu-ray movies, but thats doesnt mean it going to make people buy it for movie purposes.

http://www.thedvdwars.com

Score: 0

By Type-E

posted Feb 6, 2007 - 5:32 PM

The thing is there are not much demand in buying HD-dvd or blu-ray player. PS3 is delivering blu-ray out whether or not the buyer wanted it.

Score: 0

By DaveBG

posted Feb 5, 2007 - 11:41 PM

Dave / wannabe Hollywood,

You are such a loser, don't you have anything better to do than scroll through old posts just so you can re-post them here because the format you don't own is now winning on Amazon. You remeber, the site you said was a liar and got all crazy over a few months ago?

You have joined about a dozen BD forums and posted about 900 times from what I've found, you sir have no life and no money.

Score: 0

By TomeOne

posted Feb 5, 2007 - 10:12 PM

We don't care?

Score: 0

By plague201

posted Feb 5, 2007 - 5:15 PM

Ahem,

"http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/multimedia/display/20070202090024.html

The only thing that troubles me hear is this
"voucher to purchase a Blu-ray movie for free""

If a movie is free, I'd take it too.

Score: 0

By SMFulton3

posted Feb 5, 2007 - 5:19 PM

From what I've seen, plague201, the "voucher" is actually a $15 off coupon, which does encourage Blu-ray movie sales, but which doesn't count as a free movie. If it did - and this is important - the transaction wouldn't count on the Nielsen VideoScan register, since they only count intentional purchases, not free promotions and not bundling.

-SF3

Score: 0

By plague201

posted Feb 5, 2007 - 6:12 PM

So 5-10$ for a blu-ray movie? Again, free or dirt cheap, I'm there. And evidently everyone else.

Score: 0

By bourgeoisdude

posted Feb 5, 2007 - 4:53 PM

"Media relations representatives for Blu-ray supporting studios, including 20th Century-Fox, were quick to declare the format war already over"

Those who are quick to proclaim victory are usually the quickest to lose it. At least Toshiba and them weren't touting victory yet. Quite frankly nobody knows for sure which will win yet--in addition, who says one has to win? Can't they both co-exist?

Score: 0

By HoIIywood__

edited Feb 6, 2007 - 3:07 AM

No, dual formats are bad for customers, bad for the industry in general. Toshiaba must be regretting not making that deal with Sony 18 months back...

Score: 0

By Paul Skinner

posted Feb 5, 2007 - 7:36 PM

DVD+/- R/RW RAM seem to be reasonably ok with customers.

Score: 0

By HoIIywood__

edited Feb 6, 2007 - 3:12 AM

Your lack of understanding astounds me.

DVD +/- R/RW is totally different. It's a recordable disc format. The store has to stock a couple of tubs of either, and the consumer can choose whichever suits them.

BD and HD-DVD is different. Stores have to chose one or the other, or stock duplicate movies in both formats, totalling 100's of titles now, 1000's of titles next year.

This results in higher costs for the retailer (this higher costs for the consumer), and with a finite amount of floor space, less choice of titles.

a Dual Format situation is not sustainable.

Score: 0

By Type-E

posted Feb 6, 2007 - 5:35 PM

You don't need to keep duplicated movies. Usually one studio will stick w/ one format. When dual player are widely adopted, it really isn't a matter. It's just a matter of which one the studio choose to use.

Score: 0

By Natrunner

edited Feb 5, 2007 - 4:45 PM

Four letters. HDCP (High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection). The technolgy will never really take off until a happy medium is found between the user and the company.

Score: 0

By plague201

edited Feb 5, 2007 - 4:49 PM

http://www.xbitlabs.com/...lay/20070202090024.html

The only thing that troubles me hear is this
"voucher to purchase a Blu-ray movie for free"

Either way, between Casino Royal and I, Robot I'm sold. Now I just need atleast 3 killer apps for the PS3, and I'll go buy one off the warmed up racks.

Also if Lucas puts up Star Wars I'll be a happy camper.

Score: 0

By Zackajaweea

posted Feb 6, 2007 - 10:03 AM

You know.. I bought a Toshiba HD-DVD last year because I had to have it. What's worse is that I actually bought a XBOX 360 one later. And then bought a few movies. The problem is, I stopped caring about buying these things. A regular DVD is not that bad.

People forget that even old Twilight Zones are watchable in Black and White. You get into the story and they could be a b/w cartoon. It really doesn't matter.

So, yes.. there are going to be sales in the 1st few months of PS3 launch. But, it's really not worth buying a ton of these after that.

Score: 0

By plague201

edited Feb 6, 2007 - 11:18 AM

"The problem is, I stopped caring about buying these things. A regular DVD is not that bad.
"

Yeah me too, last movie i bought was Superman Returns. Other than that its all been regular DVD's for me. But that may change soon for me because of torrent available movies, I just need a conviniant way to play them.

I think I'll still buy HD-DVD movies and 'backup' blu-ray movies. Unless the PS3 gets some killer apps, then I might consider purchasing it and some movies.

Score: 0

By HoIIywood__

edited Feb 5, 2007 - 4:28 PM

HD-DVD getting desperate?

"E.T the Extra-Terrestrial and Jurrasic Park coming to HD-DVD"..

http://sony.engadgethd.c...ig-name-spielberg-films/

Whoops... Perhaps not..

http://www.avsforum.com/...showthread.php?t=800559

Meanwhile, the increasing list of decent Blu-Ray exclusive titles continues to grow..

Casino Royale
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Cars
Master & Commander
Independence Day
Cast Away
I, Robot
Con Air
Crimson Tide
The Rock
Night at the Museum
Rocky Balboa
Pursuit of Happyness
Silence of the Lambs
Dances With Wolves

I'm glad I wasn't one of those 175,000 early HD-DVD adopters who are slowly but surely getting left out in the cold...

Score: 0

By DaveBG

posted Feb 5, 2007 - 11:32 PM

Hey jackass,

You don't even own a Blu_Ray player so **** off. You cheap bas****s come in here and spout crap and don't even have or spend the money to support the format you are yammering about.

Until you actually buy one or the other, go play some WoW on your PC. I hate cheap asses that are fanboys for products they cant afford.

I bought a BD before I bought HD-DVD, if you truly have the money, the format war means nothing.

Score: 0

By Mark GiIIespie

posted Feb 6, 2007 - 6:22 AM

"go play some WoW on your PC" -

Don't think so:

1) His PC is most likely a SONY VAIO ie its broken or not working properly.

2) WoW subscription out of his price range so he's using the single player hack with all creatures frozen and set to 1 hit point. Still finding it difficult to win though, he fell off a pony as a teen and hurt his right hand pretty bad. It was replaced by a wooden hook which worked quite well for a couple of years. Termites eventually set in and all he has now is nothing more than a gnawed stump. He was hired by Sony on their "Hire cheap labor, save billions campaign" based in Cambodia. Sony having found his English ability as "slightly better than a Cambodian sheep herder" picked him up and the rest is history.

Score: 0

By Mark Gillespie

posted Feb 6, 2007 - 10:04 AM

Actually I don't own a Vaio, I build my PC's myself using only the best ingredients. But then I can afford the best, as I just inherited $1Million from a long lost relative.

Even with all that money, however, I wouldn't waste 1 cent of it on HD-DVD or XBox360....

Score: 0

By bobthegoat2001

posted Feb 7, 2007 - 12:35 AM

/Sarcasm???

Score: 0

By plague201

posted Feb 6, 2007 - 2:28 PM

" I just inherited $1Million from a long lost relative."

LMAO

Score: 0

By Joey Deacon

posted Feb 6, 2007 - 7:31 AM

My Vaio works perfectly.

Implying that all Vaios are broken simply enforces the fact that the sad fake Mark Gillespie is desperate to get any point across he can muster..

Score: 0

By bobthegoat2001

posted Feb 7, 2007 - 12:37 AM

It was a joke. It was supposed to be funny. Just like it's funny that you actually have a Vaio.

Score: 0

By Mark GiIIespie

posted Feb 6, 2007 - 7:45 AM

"My Vaio works perfectly."

Is it an authentic model? You'd be surprised what can be done with a bit of paint and some crafty handy work. You should see my XBOX 360!

Score: 0

By plague201

posted Feb 6, 2007 - 12:48 AM

"if you truly have the money, the format war means nothing."

Couldnt agree with you more, Shadow Davey

Score: 0

By DaveBG

posted Feb 6, 2007 - 11:08 PM

Thanks plague,

We tended to agree a lot when I was the real Hollywood. I honestly don't give a rats a** one way or the other. What I do care about is the constraints HDMI puts on the movies. Not right now, but you will see movies only play 1080i/p through HDMI in the future.

These new formats are only about copy control, which should be no problem shortly. I predict a great free backup program by the end of the year. Granted, the movies take up a s***load of room and cost just as much to make a copy as it would be to buy the original.

Once blank HD-DVD-R and BD-R become as cheap as DVD-R, you will see the hackers come out of the woodwork.

For me, I only spend the money on a movie that will absolutely blow me away with sound and eye candy. Meanwhile shadow Hollywood/the real DaveBG can't scrape enough money together to buy Yentl on VHS.

Score: 0

By plague201

edited Feb 7, 2007 - 1:49 AM

"Once blank HD-DVD-R and BD-R become as cheap as DVD-R, you will see the hackers come out of the woodwork."

Yeah, thats my problem right now. But for the PS3 I'm just waiting on the loader from paradox. You will be able to hook in an external hard drive and load the games from it. The best option without having to spend 700+ for a BD burner and $20 for each blank.

So once, I see that this method is perfected I'll pick up a Ps3. (althought a few killer apps will help persuade me a lot more.)

For anyone interested check out the cyclowiz for the wii.

Score: 0

By Type-E

posted Feb 6, 2007 - 5:38 PM

I couldn't agree more too. The format war means nothing. I won't spend big money to watch old movies. I still think the next format war will be between downloadable content vs physical media. (just like mp3 vs CD)

Score: 0

By Grazer

posted Feb 5, 2007 - 8:06 PM

You mean Cars, Night at the Museum, and ConAir are coming out on BluRay, I better run out and get a player for them ASAP.

/sarcasm

Score: 0

By dwaterman

posted Feb 5, 2007 - 4:49 PM

If this is the real Hollywood, you have certainly jumped the fence. If not, the joke is over, get a life. It wouldn't take much to turn the tide back.

Score: 0

By DaveBG

edited Feb 5, 2007 - 11:36 PM

This a****** has been posting in my name for months, I could care less. He still can't figure out how I cloned his account without using fake characters like him changing the double L's to capital I's.

He's a broke loser with no money. It's DaveBG in disguise, he's a troll and probably makes 5 dollars an hour.

Score: 0

By plague201

posted Feb 6, 2007 - 12:49 AM

"and probably makes 5 dollars an hour."

LMAO, fear not they are raising the minimum wage soon.

Score: 0

By DaveBG

edited Feb 6, 2007 - 11:12 PM

This is true.

I'm posting from San Diego right now and I'm driving to Hollywood on Friday. It's only fitting th real Hollywood__ should post from Hollywood. So I will do just that.

Real DaveBG, if you need some money, I think I have a few Best Buy gift cards with fifty cents or so left on them. Let me know if you need them. You'll get that BD player one day.

Score: 0

By HoIIywood__

edited Feb 7, 2007 - 3:22 AM

I had heard there is great demand on Sunset Bvld. Don't forget to wipe your chin and a bit of mouthwash afterwards, before your next customer, as it can be offputting...

Score: 0

By plague201

posted Feb 7, 2007 - 1:50 AM

I about $35 in gift cards, count me in into the 'help Davey get blu-ray' pool.

Score: 0

By bourgeoisdude

posted Feb 5, 2007 - 4:48 PM

Hello hollywood. Enjoy your spotlight and bask in Sony's glory--I fear it may be a short one.

I expect Blu-Ray to officially overtake HD-DVD by next month in total sales, but I do not expect it to last--certainly not here in the states anyway.