January 6th, 2008
Fallout Begins Over Warner Bros. Blu-ray Decision; Is the Party Over (Literally)?
By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews
Friday Warner Bros., the last “on the fence” studio, announced its decision to drop HD-DVD at the of end of May and focus on Blu-ray only. Fallout, as well as some crowing, and even some veiled threats, has begun.
First the HD-DVD Group issued a short, terse press release in response to the announcement. It didn’t really say much, more of a rah-rah one-paragraph statement.
“While Warner’s decision is a setback for HD DVD, the consumer has benefited from HD DVD’s commitment to quality and affordability — a bar that is critical for the mainstream success of any format. We believe widespread adoption of a next generation format will ultimately be determined by the consumer.”
That may be true, but one of the reasons many people have stayed on the sidelines is not wanting to get stuck with another Betamax. This just pushes the decision further along, although as long as big studios continue to support HD-DVD (and Paramount had some big pics this year, such as Transformers) it won’t die easily.
Of course, while that was rah-rah, what happened later was not. I received an email about the HD-DVD group’s CES press conference / party planned for Sunday night. Cancelled. Whoops.
“Based on the timing of the Warner Home Video announcement today, we have decided to postpone our CES 2008 press conference. 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.”
Hmmm. The party’s over, literally, I guess.
Toshiba, the “main man” behind HD-DVD, also issued a press release, expressing “disappointment” at Warner Bros. decision. Check out the “there are contracts in place” statement. Ooops. Also, notice the mirroring of the last paragraph with the email above.
Toshiba is quite surprised by Warner Bros.’ decision to abandon HD DVD in favor of Blu-ray, despite the fact that there are various contracts in place between our companies concerning the support of HD DVD. As central members of the DVD Forum, we have long maintained a close partnership with Warner Bros. We worked closely together to help standardize the first-generation DVD format as well as to define and shape HD DVD as its next-generation successor.
We were particularly disappointed that this decision was made in spite of the significant momentum HD DVD has gained in the US market as well as other regions in 2007. HD DVD players and PCs have outsold Blu-ray in the US market in 2007.
We will assess the potential impact of this announcement with the other HD DVD partner companies and evaluate potential next steps. We remain firm in our belief that HD DVD is the format best suited to the wants and needs of the consumer.
That statement over “contracts” could be a sign of legal action. Certainly not as aggressive as the OLPC Foundation’s statement about Intel yesterday, however.
Meaning the crowing from the other side of the aisle has begun, as the Blu-ray Group announced the “Best Booth of All-Time.” Also known, in that same press release, as the “HOTTEST BOOTH” (caps theirs). Of course, it’s not like their boasting or anything, right?
Obviously more to come, but where’s a consumer look right now for hi-def? I still stay on the sidelines, personally. The Warner Bros. decision actually would make me lean toward Blu-ray, but Transformers alone makes me lean toward HD-DVD and Paramount. And let’s not forget: Paramount has Iron Man this year.
Jason says:
There will be no outright “winner” much like + and - DVD burners in a year you will just go out and get an “HD” DVD player that will have both formats. All of the discs you bought before that be they Bluray or HD DVD will play on it.
This whole Beta VHS comparison forgets the formats can already both be played in one player with the right software and minor hardware additions.
January 8th, 2008 at 6:55 am
HD DVD vs Blu-Ray: the DVD wars may be over says:
[…] Fallout Begins Over Warner Bros. Blu-ray Decision; Is the Party … […]
January 8th, 2008 at 8:38 am
Leroy says:
I think one think that people are not even factoring in is consumer. All this talk about blu-ray yeah its great but its expensive. Not only that you will only see a difference if you have a 1080p tv now granted that the hd-dvd player is half the price of a blu-ray i cant see why i would buy a blu-ray. warner bros. is a big studio but i happen to like Shrek and Transformers and if Iron Man is anything like Transformers was i dont know. Also dont forget that other companies and technologies are trying to come down or make a competitive price for consumers.
January 11th, 2008 at 1:25 am
Isaac Madsen says:
I happen to root for Blu-Ray primarily because I already have a PS3 to watch my films on. I’m probably one of the few people who actually bought a PS3 because it’s was the cheapest option for HD film at the time. Otherwise I might have needed to get an Xbox 360 and HD-DVD addon drive or an even more expensive HD-DVD or Blu-Ray standalone player. Like Kevin Tsujihara said, the WB’s decision was made partly because of “consumer confusion and indifference toward high definition, which has kept the technology from reaching mass adoption and becoming the important revenue stream that it can be for the industry.”
Without a single format clearly identified as (not necessarily superior but) the choice for consumers, HD films will become less expensive faster and, therefore, a more inviting option for the average consumer. I could be happy either way. Owning a PS3 and plenty of Blu-Ray discs is great, but if the primary format should become HD-DVD, I’m absolutely willing to go along with it.
My last word is merely that I think Blu-Ray has more potential simply because of the storage capacity. Fancy options can always be added on later. Even if Blu-Ray doesn’t currently support many of the options available to HD-DVD, I’m convinced that it will do so in the future, especially if it does become the leading format. The only reason I hope the format war ends is simply to stop the endless bickering between fanboys.
As for buying Paramount films, I’m waiting for either the end of their contract or the end of this format war so I can clearly know that I’m getting their films in a format I’ll be able to use later. I don’t want to go out and buy an HD-DVD player if it will cease being useful to me a year or two from now. As I already own a PS3, even if Blu-Ray fails, I’m still able to play my games!
February 2nd, 2008 at 9:58 am