ust when many observers are beginning to believe that Blu-ray has the next-gen HD format wars all wrapped up, Paramount throws us a major curveball. The studio has announced that it is abandoning Blu-ray in favor of HD DVD. Is a shake-up in the works?
Both Paramount and DreamWorks Animation SKG today announced their backing of HD DVD, which will entail exclusive use of the HD DVD format. The decision will see movies from Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Nickelodeon Movies and MTV Films available in standard definition DVD and HD DVD, exclusively.
What makes this decision so remarkable is the fact that Paramount was a fence straddler: the company has issued movies in both HD DVD and Blu-ray over the past several months, choosing to evaluate the market. Paramount says that its evaluation uncovered two benefits to HD DVD. First, the format is less expensive to produce, as we have touched on before. Second, Paramount described HD DVD as being superior owing to "market-ready technology."
In a statement, Brad Grey, Chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures said, "Part of our vision is to aggressively extend our movies beyond the theater, and deliver the quality and features that appeal to our audience. I believe HD DVD is not only the affordable high quality choice for consumers, but also the smart choice for Paramount."
How smart of a choice it is remains to be seen, but it is noteworthy that Paramount-owned DreamWorks SKG will make an exception for Spielberg films. Paramount indicated that his works could be made available in either format, or both.
For the first half of 2007, Blu-ray discs have outsold their HD DVD counterparts by a two-to-one margin, according to figures released last week. Since the beginning of the year, consumers have snapped up 1.6 million Blu-ray discs, compared to 795,000 HD DVD discs. Since their launch last year, 1.5 million HD DVD discs and 2.2 million Blu-ray discs have been sold.
The neck-and-neck race also extends to the player market, where Blu-ray has a slight lead over HD DVD players, largely thanks to the popularity of the PlayStation 3.
Paramount came out in the early days as an exclusive HD DVD backer, but announced in late 2005 that they would swing both ways. At the time, the company cited the broad support enjoyed by Blu-ray, which continues to have the widest support from Hollywood. Minus Paramount, of course.
A copy of Paramount's press has been posted online.
Paramount, Dreamworks dropping Blu-ray in favor of HD DVD exclusivity
Affiliations in the HD DVD vs. Blu-ray format war have been pretty clearly defined for nearly two years now -- despite a hybrid player here and some international releases there, most of the players involved have not switched support since the early days. Well that's all about to change, as Paramount Pictures and Dreamworks Animation -- which started off HD DVD only before deciding to go both ways -- have officially announced plans to release movies exclusively on HD DVD, dropping Blu-ray support entirely. This means that hits like Transformers, Shrek the Third and Blades of Glory won't follow Mission: Impossible III as cross-format releases when they debut this holiday season. Paramount has released about 30 movies on Blu-ray so far, but those days have come to an end: apparently cheaper HD players trump a 2:1 sales advantage. We can't wait to see how the Blu-ray camp responds to this.
Mods: JDM H22a Swap, Greddy SS Header, Greddy SP Cat Back, Car Sound highflow Cat, Skunk2 Cam gears (tuned), Light weight Flywheel, AEM CAI and Short Ram (I switch for different things). ON THE WAY: JUN Valve Train, Jun High Comp Pistons and JUN Flywheel
Like I said in the other thread. All this does is hurt the HD industry and keep it from growing, as it's literally going to be quite some time before Disney or Fox (and Sony for sure) even consider going HD DVD.
Stupid move.
Oh, and the search button is your friend (or even reading, for that matter). This shit was posted yesterday.
Mods: i/h/e/ si tails/02 si wheels/high flow cat/type r headlights/mp3/wma player/
Quote:
Originally Posted by tha_con
Like I said in the other thread. All this does is hurt the HD industry and keep it from growing, as it's literally going to be quite some time before Disney or Fox (and Sony for sure) even consider going HD DVD.
Stupid move.
Oh, and the search button is your friend (or even reading, for that matter). This shit was posted yesterday.
Like I said in the other thread. All this does is hurt the HD industry and keep it from growing, as it's literally going to be quite some time before Disney or Fox (and Sony for sure) even consider going HD DVD.
Stupid move.
Oh, and the search button is your friend (or even reading, for that matter). This shit was posted yesterday.
IMO, after the 'war' dies down, both sides will come together and will create a new format. Of course, neither side will want to alienate their supporters, so these new players will also play HD DVD and BR disks.
Anyway, that's my 0.02
__________________
Don't take life too seriously; no one gets out alive!
Mods: JDM H22a Swap, Greddy SS Header, Greddy SP Cat Back, Car Sound highflow Cat, Skunk2 Cam gears (tuned), Light weight Flywheel, AEM CAI and Short Ram (I switch for different things). ON THE WAY: JUN Valve Train, Jun High Comp Pistons and JUN Flywheel
Quote:
Originally Posted by 05 tC
IMO, after the 'war' dies down, both sides will come together and will create a new format. Of course, neither side will want to alienate their supporters, so these new players will also play HD DVD and BR disks.
Anyway, that's my 0.02
IMO? I think whoever has the deepest pockets and best 'deals' is going to win out this format war. It's obvious that Toshiba has been cutting manufacturing deals with Universal, and giving them a very generous cut off of their licensing fee's, which most certainly aren't there with the Blu-Ray Disc Association.
I think they've simply done the same with Paramount and Dreamworks. Shame too, as Paramount was making better sales on Blu-Ray. I wonder what paramount will do when their deal is up and they're back to making the same amount of money? Short term business goals FTL.
who cares, anyone who buys EITHER bluray or hd dvd is retarded... wait till one wins the other out, and becomes standard, AND wait until the fucking players don't cost $1000 lol and don't say ps3, i dont' want a dvd player that catches on fire and eats more electricity than my fridge
Mods: JDM H22a Swap, Greddy SS Header, Greddy SP Cat Back, Car Sound highflow Cat, Skunk2 Cam gears (tuned), Light weight Flywheel, AEM CAI and Short Ram (I switch for different things). ON THE WAY: JUN Valve Train, Jun High Comp Pistons and JUN Flywheel
Quote:
Originally Posted by 05 tC
In my opinion.
rofl. Sorry, writing "IMO?" doesn'rt really come across like "In my opinion? blah blah blah". It was a rhetorical question, lol. Sorry for that confusion.
Anyway, I still don't think this will do much since Spielberg still considers Blu-Ray to be the top format, and Michael Bay is pissed, and Lucas Film won't release any films on any format until there's a winner.
So, in short, I think this is probably the shittiest thing that's going to happen in this HD war, but it probably won't do much.
It still puzzles me why Paramount would abandon the format that gave them the most sales. I can't imagine they're getting a pay off that large from Toshiba.
rofl. Sorry, writing "IMO?" doesn'rt really come across like "In my opinion? blah blah blah". It was a rhetorical question, lol. Sorry for that confusion.
Anyway, I still don't think this will do much since Spielberg still considers Blu-Ray to be the top format, and Michael Bay is pissed, and Lucas Film won't release any films on any format until there's a winner.
So, in short, I think this is probably the shittiest thing that's going to happen in this HD war, but it probably won't do much.
It still puzzles me why Paramount would abandon the format that gave them the most sales. I can't imagine they're getting a pay off that large from Toshiba.
Manhattan huh, you a wildcat? i've got a few friends who goto school at kstate
Mods: JDM H22a Swap, Greddy SS Header, Greddy SP Cat Back, Car Sound highflow Cat, Skunk2 Cam gears (tuned), Light weight Flywheel, AEM CAI and Short Ram (I switch for different things). ON THE WAY: JUN Valve Train, Jun High Comp Pistons and JUN Flywheel
Quote:
Originally Posted by 05 tC
$150 mil if the rumors are correct.
Yea, but 150Mil is what, a drop in the bucket?
I can't imagine paramount would just jump ship and draw out a format war, which isn't beneficial for production studios, for a mere 150mil.
I think that, if they did get that, they most certainly got production cuts and deals on royalties. If they're paying less to use HD DVD as a format, and get some added bonus on top of that, I can imagine that would possibly make them jump ship.
Still, I think it's a stupid move. They're losing potential sales, and Disney, Fox, Lionsgate, and Sony aren't going to let Universal Paramount and Dreamworks just 'go out sleeping'.
I expect 2008 to be a really big year for Blu-Ray, and a potentially big year for HD DVD. All it will take is a few dollars to get some Spielberg films and some LucasFilms out on Blu-Ray, and I'd consider the war close to being 'over'. Still, this changes a lot, and will certainly draw things out, for better or for worse.
Edit: Krazykloudz - Yea, wildcat here, lol, actually I'm in the army, taking classes online / night for KSU.
you'd imagine almost everyone would know simple internet acronyms by now 