Warner Goes Blu
January 4th, 2008I know you’ve already heard or read about it, but I figured I might as well make a post, too. :)
Up until this announcement, Warner Brothers has supported both HD DVD and Blu-Ray. They also represent a huge percentage of home movie sales. Anybody hear a resounding ”DUH!”?
The HD world has been very odd since the announcement and release of HD DVD and Blu-Ray. Search the net for comparisons between the 2 and most likely you’ll find a lot of advice not to go either way yet. Just sit tight until the format war is over and then you can safely step in without gambling your wallet away Betamax style. Some studios have backed both formats, some have decided to choose one and abstain from the other. Sony is behind Blu-Ray and offers support for it in their current “next-gen” console, while Toshiba is behind HD DVD and has benefitted from Microsoft backing (but is it hairy?). The rumor is that Microsoft’s desire is to eventually move to digital downloads of movies and disregard physical discs altogether, but for the here and now, they tossed their weight in behind Toshiba.
From what I understand, Blu-Ray enjoys exclusive releases from Disney, Fox, Sony (of course), MGM, and Lionsgate while the HD DVD exclusive studios are Universal and Paramount. My understanding is that Universal and Paramount are locked into an 18-month deal to remain this way, although I have read that the contract leaves an option out if disc sales dip below a certain level.
So, while this is not as big of a news story as it would be if one of the exclusive HD DVD studios switched over, it does seem to be a major development for Blu-Ray. As a studio which was neutral, they would seem to be turning from a practice which wears financially on them and after considering both options have tossed their hat in with Sony.
Do we want Microsoft to get their way or do we want Sony to get theirs? When it’s worded that way, I don’t know. I’m not a big fan of either company. Sony/BMG ticked me off with their stupid stealth DRM software and Microsoft ticks me off with..MOST of their software.
As far as movies go, in my mind Paramount = Star Trek. But also Paramount = ridiculously greedy company. Remember when Star Trek season DVD sets first hit? $100+ for one season?? And every other show besides X-Files was $40-50 per season. Yeah, nice. Oh and how about $200+ for TOS season 1 in HD DVD? Plus, how many times have they made poor, poor decisions with their creative content, ignoring fans. I got all my Star Trek movies up-converting. As well as the Indiana Jones trilogy. So Pilf on Paramount. Disney = Pixar in my mind as well as all of the classic cell animated Disney movies, so that weighs positively for Blu-Ray. Warner Brothers = Batman, Matrix and TONS that aren’t coming to mind right away. Universal = Back to the Future, Jurassic Park… Fox obviously = Star Wars. Also, from what I’ve seen out there for sale, it seems Blu-Ray is getting more attention from the concert movie market (just my impression) which is a big deal to me. I’m thinking there’s more here in Sony’s favor. Especially now that WB has shifted strategy.
Who knows, maybe this fiasco will actually be figured out sooner than later. And maybe it’s waaay too soon to say that.
What do you guys think? Anybody like Blu-Ray? Anybody like HD-DVD? Is it even a concern?
January 7th, 2008 at 10:53 am
You know honestly, this decision has 2 courses it can take.
Competition always alows for a better deal. You will always have one company try to out do the other. If we see one go to the wayside then what is the motivation of the company to expand and offer consumers something new and exciting. Also what is to keep them from price gouging the consumer.
Plasma and projection TVs are coming down into price ranges where the average Joe can actually afford them. So naturally everyone will be upgrading their entertainment centers with the newest craze. So I guess I am rooting for both systems to continue their contest. With a situation like that the consumer will get a better deal. Where if one wins then the consumer will end up paying the price for their battle.
January 7th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
I agree with you 100%. Competition is always good for the consumer. I was reading up on the Blu-Ray forum on Amazon.com and someone made the statement that once the format war is over and (in that person’s opinion) Blu-Ray is the standard, THEN the prices would start to go down. If I wasn’t such a shy individual I would have posted and told him that flies in the face of common knowledge and experience in the marketplace.
However, I do think it will be good to finally decide on one format for Hi-Def movies. There was no competitor for DVD when it made its stride to replace VHS. I remember getting a DVD drive for my computer early enough that when I went to Fred Meyer to look at movies there was a very small pool available to buy on DVD. I find history repeating itself kind of soon in this regard. But, DVD movies did, over time, become more and more affordable. So I don’t think we need to worry about that. People will not be paying $30 in droves for “Good Luck Chuck” on Blu-Ray this month. So consumer buying habits will drive those prices down. BUT, the Blu-Ray players are slightly different story. I don’t know how soon Sony will figure out that they need to provide a solution affordable for the average joe. Because they haven’t done that yet. They have come very close this past holiday season with the S300 going to $299, but now that the studios are shifting, Blu-Ray players are beginning to go back UP in price…. Just like the movie prices, I think consumer spending habits will drive this down also, but I don’t know how long it will take.
HOWEVER the very best news in all of this HD mayhem is this: DVD’s are getting DIRT CHEAP. This past fall I began to wonder why I was seeing so many TV season box sets get down below the $20 range. Then I remembered HD. Prices of regular DVDs are getting driven WAY down due to all of this and if you own an HD TV with an upconverting HDMI DVD player, then odds are you are perfectly happy buying your movies in DVD cuz dang it looks awesome. So for a little while, maybe even a long while, the great news is that watching movies in fantastic quality at home has become very affordable.
January 9th, 2008 at 7:01 am
Garrr, this reminds me of the dilemma I was in last week when I discovered “Blade Runner - The Final Cut” had finally released. Do I think long term, wait who knows how long until I buy an HD player and TV to play one of my all-time favorite movies on that would benefit tremendously from high-def, or do I act as the average American consumer and buy-it-now? You can guess which way I went. It should be delivered here today or tomorrow