Call us crazy, but the
response time between camps seems to be growing
increasingly shorter with each and every blow. Merely hours after Paramount and Dreamworks
chose HD DVD (or were they "persuaded?") as their one true love, Fox and MGM (Blu-ray backers from the start, mind you) have struck back with a few fightin' words of their own. Most notably, Mike Dunn, President Worldwide, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, proclaimed: "Given that Blu-ray has consistently
outsold HD DVD all year, we believe that the time is right for us to accelerate our activities and help convert the nearly 60 million high-definition
households worldwide into Blu-ray households." In order to do so, the release also lays out details for a whopping 29 titles that are slated to hit BD in the not-too-distant future. Of course, the timing here is especially noteworthy considering Fox's
unexplained absence of late, and the two made quite clear that
BD-J /
BD-Live components won't be skimped on in the upcoming releases. Though not confirmed, you can also likely count on facing
BD+ when picking up any of these forthcoming discs, but with choices like Ronin, Master & Commander, and A Bridge Too Far, Blu-ray fans should have plenty to keep them occupied in the coming months.
Read - Fox, MGM Blu-ray plans
Read - Were Paramount / DreamWorks paid to commit?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Liqwid @ Aug 20th 2007 5:42PM
Fox did this before. They ended up retracting the video releases.
On a side note: You can already buy "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" and both "Fantastic 4" films on HD DVD, the three films being Fox owned.
Steve @ Aug 20th 2007 5:42PM
Wow, that was fast.
Nfinity @ Aug 20th 2007 5:45PM
It's called an attempt of damage control LOL.
This is Sony's offical response:
http://www.users.qwest.net/~ktodd4/sony/sonystatement.mp3
Steve @ Aug 20th 2007 5:49PM
Just a tiny bit inappropriate?
Man I have a PS3 but no HDDVD and I just don't care anymore. WATCH A MOVIE ON WHATEVER YOU LIKE AND STOP ARGUING!
mike @ Aug 20th 2007 5:46PM
This format war is retarded! I have HD DVD and well i'm sorry to say, I wish I would have waited. Just knowing that one is going to die later than sooner is a crappy feeling. Sony and Toshiba should merge (Blu-DVD before they released! Yeah I understand that the war caused the price to go down really fast, but I could have waited 3 years or so for an affordable player! Something should happen, this gay war is going to be around for a long time IMO and it sucks! When I went from VHS to DVD it was a no brainer! Sure I had to wait a while seeing how I wasn't even old enough to drive, but the price took awhile to go down... I think.
Format wars suck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
jb @ Aug 20th 2007 5:47PM
I wonder what player they are using to test all of these new interactive features as there are no consumer players, with the exception of the Denon, that are certified to take advantage of them.
Nfinity @ Aug 20th 2007 5:52PM
- Latest Blu-Ray campaign - $100 million
- Purchasing MGM studio in attempt to control studios - $5 billion
- Sony paying Speilberg to release Close Encounters on Blu-Ray - $50 million
- Paramount and Dreamworks going HD DVD neutral - PRICELESS
The1 @ Aug 20th 2007 5:52PM
Isn't MGM owned by SONY? So isn't obvious that they support Blu-Ray?
SimbaDogg @ Aug 20th 2007 5:52PM
This is kinda predictable, this is one of the things that i said that Fox and MGM needed to do no more than an hour ago.
http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/08/20/paramount-dreamworks-dropping-blu-ray-in-favor-of-hd-dvd-exclus/2#comments
Nfinity @ Aug 20th 2007 5:55PM
RING RING. RING RING.
Phone: "Hi, you've reached 20th Century Fox. We're not here right now, please leave a message and we promise we'll get back to you soon and when the time is right"
BEEP
Sony: "Hello? Fox!!! WE HAD A DEAL! WE NEED YOU RIGHT NOW! PLEASE GIVE US ANYTHING, HELL, WE'LL EVEN TAKE 'EVER AFTER'. WE NEED SOMETHING!!! PPLLLLEEEAASEE!!!.... this is Sony by the way.... call me back... please... okay, I'll go now" CLICK.
Alex @ Aug 20th 2007 5:56PM
28 titles vs. a huge catalog from 2 studios. Try again BluRay.
domerdel @ Aug 20th 2007 6:02PM
@Alex:
I'm sure Fox and MGM have a "catalog" on their own (larger than 28 titles). Try again, to you as well.
SimbaDogg @ Aug 20th 2007 5:56PM
i wanna see what famous titties they're going to be releasing....
=)
sim @ Aug 20th 2007 6:25PM
the evidently forced PR is making FOX look stupid by the second. Touting features that cannot be access by 100% of the currently (and for the indefinite future) available set top players is an act of 'pure desperation'. And so so called exclusive Fantastic 4 and Mr. n Mrs Smith titles had been released in HD DVD.
and you know what the real blow of the paramount announcement is: BD is dropping out of support. Samsung, then LG and then Paramount and Dreamworks. Well the announcement meeans chit if paramount pulls a FOX or Disney :)
Segarsj @ Aug 20th 2007 6:33PM
Guy 1: "Yay, Fox and MGM support Blu-ray exclusively!"
Guy 2: "Uhhhh, they have been... since the start."
Guy 1: "Oh, I know it's just good to know they still care."
Guy 2: "Good, because for a second there I thought you were treating this like some sort of victory or something."
Jnas @ Aug 20th 2007 6:57PM
Everyone say it with me:
"DIE HAAAAARD!!!!"
Paul Fernandez @ Aug 20th 2007 7:45PM
Okay, okay, I get it. Fox/MGM are Blu-ray exclusive! Hooray!! Now, could someone please explain to me why the HD DVD disc I just popped in my player, "Harsh Times," has a roaring Leo (his real name) the MGM Lion smack in the middle of "The Weinstein Company," "Bauer/Martinez," and "Crave" production logos? Is there something I missed, or is the the only HD DVD title out there that has anything to do with MGM (which I highly doubt)?
Someone please educate me in this matter. Next thing you know, I'll pop in one that has a Fox or Columbia Pictures logo or something, resulting in a time/space fanboy continuum rift!
ATM94 @ Aug 20th 2007 7:55PM
And we should believe this new release date (one year after the original) for "From Hell" as opposed to the three previous ones because...?
ATM94 @ Aug 20th 2007 7:59PM
Let's see. Transformers or Fantastic Four? I'll take giant robots for $1000, Alex. Plus, if I really wanted Fantastic Four on HD-DVD (and does anybody need Fantastic Four in their permanent library?), I could just import the HD-DVD for the same price as Fox's overpriced Blu-ray release.
Kevin Murphy @ Aug 20th 2007 8:17PM
These numbers being tossed around are moronic. For that kind of money, Toshiba could GIVE AWAY a million HD DVD players. The people who know aren't talking, and the people who are talking don't know.
Kevin Murphy @ Aug 20th 2007 8:33PM
As I said on the Paramount thread, cartels suck. I hope the Europeans ream both groups and fine them bunches for forcing consumers to make a choice that is only in the studio's interest.
dman @ Aug 20th 2007 9:12PM
Out of curiosity, who out there cares about the interactive content? Personally, I want movies. Movies broadcast in HD. I don't care about the interactive stuff. Am I the only one? When I go to watch a movie, I want to watch a movie not play a game. I mean if, I'm watching a Blu-Ray movie, I'm probably watching it on a PS3... so why would I want to play the Cars, "find the cars" game or whatever it is called when I could play a real PS3 game?
I'm just curious. If I told you, right now, pick HD DVD or Blu-Ray, and you have to buy it today, which would you choose and why? Is it price? features? available movies? Sony loyalty/hatred? What makes up your mind. Maybe it will help me make up my mind!
Kevin Murphy @ Aug 20th 2007 9:40PM
If you read between the lines, it says that Paramount thinks it makes money on HD DVD and not so much on BD. According to what they said, they like the incentives, but the core matter for them is that HD DVD is available and cheap, today, while BD is still a work in progress and costs more. Not to mention that they see the trend of later adopters, their main customers, going to the cheaper platform.
Fox, on the other hand is MUCH more concerned with copy protection, and that keeps them in the BD camp (at least until the next code crack).
Alex @ Aug 20th 2007 10:46PM
i think the real reason is because they don't see mass marketing to an audience comprised of mainly PS3 owners. Who wants to buy a game console for their 5 year old to watch Disney movies?
Beefshala @ Aug 21st 2007 4:51PM
http://www.bls.gov/cpi/cpidvd.htm
Right on, Michael. I keep seeing posts that say that the war isn't reducing prices and that DVD came down just as quickly. Complete Hooey!
The link is an article that looks at DVD's in the late 90's. It says that DVD players were priced at $735 in 1st Half of '97 and $470 by the 2nd Half of '98 (36% reduction). When HD DVD launched it was $500 at the low end and Blu Ray was $800-1000; HD DVD can now be purchased for $250 (50% redux) and Blu for $500 (80% redux). And the HD reductions happened in a shorter period of time.
My guess is that the price war caused these reductions and by the way, you weren't getting 5 free DVD's with a new purchase in 1998.
HDMike @ Aug 21st 2007 12:24AM
*yawn* Fox is all talk, no disc. Wake me up when they actually release something.
Gil @ Aug 21st 2007 1:18AM
"Merely hours after Paramount and Dreamworks chose HD DVD (or were they "persuaded?")"
lol I love how this site has to throw their BD lovin two cents into everything.. Like the BD camp didn't throw any money to Blockbuster or Target for their "support" It's also funny that Fox hasn't released jack for movies in quite a while and it took a major announcement like this to wake them up.
Mark @ Aug 21st 2007 2:12AM
Actually, that blog that is commented is pretty reliable in "the biz". Plus, doesn't it make sense? Why would they change all of a sudden?? HD is a great format for family entertainment Jeffrey Katzenberg is suddenly convinced (why?).
I'm not surprised Microsoft didn't do it sooner and I'm surprised that the Blu-Ray camp didn't think of preventing it. It's a low blow, but all's fair in war.... If you are a studio doing both Blu-Ray & HD, you're up for the highest bidder right now! Nice position to be in!
Smee @ Aug 21st 2007 2:45AM
It's simple. HD DVD is far cheaper to produce=more profit, end of story.
So get off the fence everyone, go out and buy hd dvd because it is GAME OVER, the end is only a matter of time. The war is over, so the more we all support HD DVD the sooner this final skirmish will end. :)
hemmy @ Aug 21st 2007 6:12AM
Saying the war is over is borderline delusional. Paramount going HDDVD exclusive isnt that big a deal, Shrek and Transformers are are pretty much the only blows to the BD side, and the Blu-ray side still has the great majority of movie blockbusters. The exclusivity agreement is 18 months, afterwhich, Paramount can flip again. They did this before, they were HDDVD exclusive to begin with, then went neutral. This is a moneyhat cashgrab, nothing more. It doesn't win any war, it merely keeps HDDVD alive. Even Michael Bay is pissed off at this news, so much so that he's refusing to do Transformers 2:
"I want people to see my movies in the best formats possible. For them to deny people who have Blu-ray sucks! They were progressive by having two formats. No Transformers 2 for me!
Bay"
This is a prime example of corporate dysfunction, because Viacom owns both Paramount and Blockbuster, and each have two opposing exclusivities (retail anyway, BB does HDDVD online still, and Paramount hasnt locked up the Spielberg titles). There's probably going to be some internal fallout at Viacom when they wake the hell up and see what's happening in their divisions.
hemmy @ Aug 21st 2007 6:18AM
Saying the war is over is borderline delusional. Paramount going HDDVD exclusive isnt that big a deal, Shrek and Transformers are are pretty much the only blows to the BD side, and the Blu-ray side still has the great majority of movie blockbusters. The exclusivity agreement is 18 months, afterwhich, Paramount can flip again. They did this before, they were HDDVD exclusive to begin with, then went neutral. This is a moneyhat cashgrab, nothing more. It doesn't win any war, it merely keeps HDDVD alive. Even Michael Bay is pissed off at this news, so much so that he's refusing to do Transformers 2:
"I want people to see my movies in the best formats possible. For them to deny people who have Blu-ray sucks! They were progressive by having two formats. No Transformers 2 for me!
Bay"
This is a prime example of corporate dysfunction, because Viacom owns both Paramount and Blockbuster, and each have two opposing exclusivities (retail anyway, BB does HDDVD online still, and Paramount hasnt locked up the Spielberg titles). There's probably going to be some internal fallout at Viacom when they wake the hell up and see what's happening in their divisions.
hemmy @ Aug 21st 2007 6:19AM
Sorry for the double. Site slowed to a crawl.
nigel @ Aug 21st 2007 6:58AM
$99 Chinese HD Dvd players=War over.
C'mon Walmart, let's hear from you !
The Aggie CEO™ @ Aug 26th 2007 11:40AM
inflation maybe?? lol
joe @ Aug 22nd 2007 1:48PM
Eh this is all pretty crappy. This stupid format war is keeping movies expensive. Dvd player and film prices were lower at the same point in life.
I'm starting to believe that the studios WANT a format war to keep prices high and create artificial separations.
Both formats are the damn same at this point. Except if I want to SEE the director commentary in a pip window. I guess it has application for showing shots before and after FX or whatever but that is IT!.
The disks cost the same on both sides ~$25, with bluray the more 'expensive' format costing a few$$ less per disk.
The cost of making the features is the SAME. The mastering process costs the same on either side since the film is scanned the same, remastered the same and encoded into the same format. They even use the same DRM.
So now the DVD-alliance is wising up and gave a $150 million dollar discount to Paramount. It's not technically a sale since no money changed hands, they just get a lot of very discounted services. I guess that kind of infusion can make the HD disks profitable for the 2 next years.
Eh we all loose. The disks will continue to be expensive. The players will continue to have shifting features and quality but get marginally cheaper. HD-DVD having already broken the magic $200 price point.
Michael @ Aug 20th 2007 10:51PM
"Eh this is all pretty crappy. This stupid format war is keeping movies expensive. Dvd player and film prices were lower at the same point in life."
Actually, I would disagree with you on this one. Given that I purchased a first gen Toshiba DVD player (a steal at $600) on closeout when the second gen players came out in 1997. Given that the list price of the model I purchased was $700 and the "new" second gen players were only slightly less than what I paid for the closeout model, I would hardly compare today's second and third gen HD player prices to what actually occurred only a decade ago. Toshiba is already on the verge of their third gen models and they will be about half the price of their first gen units. In addition, NONE of these players is nearly as stripped down as the $700 player I bought (and still own, though I've retired it from active duty!) and they are far more streamlined and great looking machines.
As far as the software goes, well it took quite a while for those prices to come down to acceptable levels too. I remember buying quite a number of discs for upwards of $20-25 each the first several years and I was fortunate when they included anything more than a few deleted scenes or the original trailer. Hell, if you were lucky, you MIGHT even get an anamorphic version of some of the newer titles. At least this was better than buying prerecorded video cassettes when THAT format was young. I remember paying $50-90 per movie - without stereo/HiFi audio to boot! Give it about another year or so and things will settle into a nice groove. Just wait, by 2012 or so we'll be seeing 2/$11 dump bins in WalMart on either BD or HD-DVD.
http://www.myspace.com/scoobarama
Jason @ Aug 23rd 2007 10:53AM
If MGM is listening, please release Stargate SG-1 on Blu-ray already!
I own seasons 1-7 on DVD but will not touch seasons 8 through 10 until they're on Blu-ray.
If I'm not mistaken, wasn't SG-1 shot in HD since season 8?
Furthermore, Sony, where is Stargate Atlantis? It was announced back in early '06 that you'd be making it the first TV series on Blu-ray.
http://www.gateworld.net/news/2006/01/iatlantisi_among_sonys_first_blu.shtml