The Format War Decided by Rental Companies??

gehenna · #1 (**permalink**) 16th April 2007, 07:18 AM

I have debated whether to post this link here as I've never agreed with self-advertising ones blog, but my latest post just now i think is worth a read and some discussion. Hopefully the readers here can give some insight

http://nothing-safe.blogspot.com/

windeath · #2 (**permalink**) 17th April 2007, 09:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gehenna

I have debated whether to post this link here as I've never agreed with self-advertising ones blog, but my latest post just now i think is worth a read and some discussion. Hopefully the readers here can give some insight

http://nothing-safe.blogspot.com/

Well I have both Blu Ray and HD DVD..............So I don't care at this stage. Actually I'm getting fed up with these experts coming out of the woodwork proclaiming they have the answer to which format will win. Lets wait and see shall we. Time is is best friend at this stage.

supafly · #3 (**permalink**) 17th April 2007, 09:46 AM

Ive actually been thinking lately (and nobody has really brought this up) but what about distribution rights for each movie for each country? For example Terminator 2 is a blu-ray movie in the US but in the next month or so Australia will be getting it on HD as an exclusive also same with True Lies and there was another but i cant think of it at the moment. That is because Universal own the distribution rights for those films in Australia. Its different again for other countries, what could be on HD here or USA might be Blu-Ray for europe, etc.

windeath · #4 (**permalink**) 19th April 2007, 10:22 AM

More stats on this ever boring war of formats.

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/home-ente...%5D-252977.php

ExtremePC · #5 (**permalink**) 19th April 2007, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by supafly

Ive actually been thinking lately (and nobody has really brought this up) but what about distribution rights for each movie for each country? For example Terminator 2 is a blu-ray movie in the US but in the next month or so Australia will be getting it on HD as an exclusive also same with True Lies and there was another but i cant think of it at the moment. That is because Universal own the distribution rights for those films in Australia. Its different again for other countries, what could be on HD here or USA might be Blu-Ray for europe, etc.

I'd say we won't see market forces desciding which format wins for a very long time because of all the artificial factors influencing that very descision. As stated we're going to be seeing releases of movies by studios that "own" an interest in one format but the release is on the other in a particular country because the distributor has interests in the other format. Very confusing!

The only time we could really see which will / should win would be if all or the majority of movies were released in most countires on both formats simultaneously. Then the choice is "fair".

What suprises me though is that if either actually really wanted to be the uncontested number one format overnight all either would have to do is drop the encryption and watch the other wither away to nothing or be relegated to just console use (probably kill the console too in the long run). Ah but that would be competition based on merit and actual competitiveness and no one wants that now do they! Think of all the lawyers that would starve.

It really is such a sad state where lawyers and accountants are the poeple who have final say in the way most things are run these days instead of the creators / artists / inventors. This is not capitalism this is a leecher run society.

supafly · #6 (**permalink**) 19th April 2007, 10:45 AM

some more fluff on the war

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/sh...a_Comeback/580

gehenna · #7 (**permalink**) 23rd April 2007, 07:38 AM

so i was in town yesterday and wandered into one of the retail cd/dvd chain stores in Wellington. I saw they had Casino Royale on Blu-Ray in the shop window, so when I approached the counter and spoke to the staff asking when they would get in some HD DVD titles, I was again met with the response "oh the cd/dvd store is going with Blu-Ray, we won't be getting any HD DVD in, we just think Blu-Ray is the way to go".

what followed was a conversation with my girlfriend in the car on the way home that i'm sure she would rather not have been a part of....including such tidbits as "there's something going on here, there's no way a company can pick one format over the other at this stage unless there is something going on in the background". yes, i had my mulder hat on but i just think it's so strange that 2 major chains over here are going with only one format. ps3 has only just been released, xbox has been out for years. hddvd addon for xbox is $250 so for all those thousands of people who already own the xbox, spending $250 to get hddvd is much more logical than spending $1300 to get a ps3. seeing a dominant format will only happen here by the time ps3 catches up with the xbox's market penetration. it makes NO sense to back one format over the other at this stage UNLESS there are some dodgy dealings going on here.

supafly · #8 (**permalink**) 23rd April 2007, 09:30 AM

Im saying SCREW these companies over here that are not offering them on the shelf, Im quite happy ordering from the US or from the wholesaler of my shop, Its still cheaper to buy them from the US than is is wholesale price here in Australia.

Awesome_Aleks · #9 (**permalink**) 23rd April 2007, 12:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by supafly

Im saying SCREW these companies over here that are not offering them on the shelf, Im quite happy ordering from the US or from the wholesaler of my shop, Its still cheaper to buy them from the US than is is wholesale price here in Australia.

Thats one good thing about HD-DVD's, although the Blu-ray regions are better then the DVD regions

the only place i can import Blu-ray's is Europe

supafly · #10 (**permalink**) 23rd April 2007, 01:35 PM

Quote:

the only place i can import Blu-ray's is Europe

Unfortunate thing about that is the currency conversion i guess

I was in Target today and actually saw thy had a copy of X-Men 3 and something else??? Tears Of The Sun, i think, they were both $29.95 (Blu-Ray), yet when i get home i find a target catalogue in the mail box and they have them on sale for $39.95 . lololol

Astrotoy7 · #11 (**permalink**) 23rd April 2007, 02:02 PM

sorry - movies will not decide a format 'war'

Retail DVD sales have plummeted. Why?

why:
1. Piracy
2. P2P, and the ability to satisfactorily compress a movie to a today 700mb

3. 'day and date'. Movie studios are coming to realise there is a huge demand to release films to home subscribers the same time they hit theatres. I think it is an excellent initiative - alot of families, disabled, isolated and elderly persons havent seen a new release in years.

what is keeping DVD going
*piracy - blank discs sell like hotcakes at every compy market I go ot
*games. thinge like trade in incentives and low cost 'platinum' titles reduce the urge to purchase pirate dcopies or go the P2P route

I like to quiz fellow game system builders at various Lans etc. 90% (out of the good 2 hundred plus Ive queried) have said "blu ray!" Why ? Capacity. With the advent of quad core CPUS, directX 10 gaming devs are simply going to have more canvas to paint on on a blu-ray disc. When you buy a PC game nowdays - do you get the 6 cd set, or the 1 dvd-rom set??

astro

supafly · #12 (**permalink**) 23rd April 2007, 02:13 PM

Quote:

sorry - movies will not decide a format 'war'

Its one of the reasons i chose HD-DVD...... More movies on HD-DVD that unterested me than what was available on Blu-Ray at the time. I really think it should be blu-ray for the PC, HD for the lounge, thats just my opinion on the matter, who knows what the outcome will be, this could be going for another 5 years before there is a winner