Report: Universal No Longer Backing HD DVD Exclusively

[blackdelsol94]

Report: Universal No Longer Backing HD DVD Exclusively
Variety has learned that Universal, once exclusive to HD DVD, will begin supporting Blu-ray as well. It doesn't seem like much of a format "war" at this point.
Posted by James Brightman on Friday, January 11, 2008


Following the big news that Warner Bros. has thrown its weight behind the Blu-ray format, it appears the "death spiral" for rival HD DVD could be accelerating. The only two studios supporting HD DVD exclusively were Paramount and Universal. Now, however, according to Variety, Universal has already confirmed that it's starting to back away from HD DVD.

Universal let the publication know that although it will continue to release movies on HD DVD, it will also now support Blu-ray. Furthermore, Variety said Paramount has an "escape clause" in its contract that would allow it to support Blu-ray as well.

For the time being Toshiba remains committed to HD DVD and Microsoft will apparently back Toshiba and HD DVD until the very end. That end may not be far off, however. As Variety points out, "... retailers may force the HD DVD camp's hand: They're unlikely to keep devoting premium shelf space to a dying format."

[tha_con]

Universal already countered this statement a few days ago.

Basically, they said it's "not true" but they also said this: "Our current plan is to support HD DVD".

The key word there is 'current'. I think they are basically trying to work out the odds and ends of everything until they 'jump ship'. I don't think it'll happen until May or so. Probably around the same time Paramount announces they'll jump ship.

I think right now, all 3 camps (HD DVD, Paramount, and Universal) are all in discussions about where they are, and what they are going to do. Paramount and Universal are probably putting pressure on Toshiba to either bail out and release them from their contracts, or throw down some serious money to bring other studios aboard. Afterall, it's unlikely that retailers will continue to heavily stock HD DVD products if the public perception is that the format is 'dying' (and since early adopters are the only ones really into this 'format war' it won't take long).

[blackdelsol94]

Originally Posted by tha_con

Universal already countered this statement a few days ago.

Basically, they said it's "not true" but they also said this: "Our current plan is to support HD DVD".

The key word there is 'current'. I think they are basically trying to work out the odds and ends of everything until they 'jump ship'. I don't think it'll happen until May or so. Probably around the same time Paramount announces they'll jump ship.

I think right now, all 3 camps (HD DVD, Paramount, and Universal) are all in discussions about where they are, and what they are going to do. Paramount and Universal are probably putting pressure on Toshiba to either bail out and release them from their contracts, or throw down some serious money to bring other studios aboard. Afterall, it's unlikely that retailers will continue to heavily stock HD DVD products if the public perception is that the format is 'dying' (and since early adopters are the only ones really into this 'format war' it won't take long).

Isn't there some type of escape clause available to Universal and Paramount though?

As far as stocking HD DVD players goes, I know the store I work at (Best Buy), has no plans of taking them off shelves until it is truly 'dead.'

[tha_con]

Originally Posted by blackdelsol94

Isn't there some type of escape clause available to Universal and Paramount though?

As far as stocking HD DVD players goes, I know the store I work at (Best Buy), has no plans of taking them off shelves until it is truly 'dead.'

I didn't mean taking off shelves, I meant restocking. My friend works at BestBuy (so this is only he said she said, not to be taken with anything more than a grain of salt) and he said they hadn't recieved a shipment of HD DVD's in 2 weeks.

I just don't see retailers keeping their stock up, maybe selling what they have, but not ordering how they used to.

[blackdelsol94]

Originally Posted by tha_con

I didn't mean taking off shelves, I meant restocking. My friend works at BestBuy (so this is only he said she said, not to be taken with anything more than a grain of salt) and he said they hadn't recieved a shipment of HD DVD's in 2 weeks.

I just don't see retailers keeping their stock up, maybe selling what they have, but not ordering how they used to.

Perhaps that is true. I talked to my manager today though and it seems nothing at this point has changed (at least at our location, but I was assuming it would be the same for all Best Buy locations across the board).

In any case, things are not looking good for HD DVD at this point.

[dmb]

Which Best Buy do you work at? I WORKED at 899 but due to the faggot CEM only handing out JOSs to his drinking buddies I jumped ship.


If you have time, check RSS to see if there is any Deleted items for HD-DVD hardware...or if there is a white PS3 on the rise

[blackdelsol94]

Originally Posted by dmb

Which Best Buy do you work at? I WORKED at 899 but due to the faggot CEM only handing out JOSs to his drinking buddies I jumped ship.


If you have time, check RSS to see if there is any Deleted items for HD-DVD hardware...or if there is a white PS3 on the rise

I started at store 0008 (I live in MN where the chain started) but now I'm at 1450 (new location really close to my house).

How was management at your store? Some of our supervisors are kinda crappy...

But I can check RSS tomorrow morning, I have to open at 8:45... Speaking of PS3's we have stacks of the 40GB model but are consistently very low on the 80GB model... Sony isn't shipping us anything...

[dmb]

Originally Posted by blackdelsol94

I started at store 0008 (I live in MN where the chain started) but now I'm at 1450 (new location really close to my house).

How was management at your store? Some of our supervisors are kinda crappy...

But I can check RSS tomorrow morning, I have to open at 8:45... Speaking of PS3's we have stacks of the 40GB model but are consistently very low on the 80GB model... Sony isn't shipping us anything...

They were all suckups and within a friend circle, I guess that's what happens when you work in the south, all caucasian and have never promoted any minorities, so fuck them.

The odd part is that I would still enjoy working at Best Buy either way and have no problem when they leave the store.


I won't be surprised if HD-DVD titles are sent back around Q2 08

[blackdelsol94]

Originally Posted by dmb

They were all suckups and within a friend circle, I guess that's what happens when you work in the south, all caucasian and have never promoted any minorities, so fuck them.

The odd part is that I would still enjoy working at Best Buy either way and have no problem when they leave the store.


I won't be surprised if HD-DVD titles are sent back around Q2 08

So I checked RSS today, we have a bunch of HD DVD players in store as well as a couple coming on the truck tonight. Our warehouse still has a shit load as well... I was browsing the home theater section today and there is one selling for $149.

I couldn't find anything about the white PS3 though.

Also, I was looking around our video game section today, and was surprised at the results. We have 0 Wii's (obviously), 0 80GB PS3's (as I mentioned earlier), but also 0 360's (that includes Arcade, Pro and Elite), which struck me as odd. So really, if you go into our Best Buy and want a next gen system, your ONLY option is a 40GB PS3. WTF is that all about?

[dmb]

Originally Posted by blackdelsol94

So I checked RSS today, we have a bunch of HD DVD players in store as well as a couple coming on the truck tonight. Our warehouse still has a shit load as well... I was browsing the home theater section today and there is one selling for $149.

I couldn't find anything about the white PS3 though.

Also, I was looking around our video game section today, and was surprised at the results. We have 0 Wii's (obviously), 0 80GB PS3's (as I mentioned earlier), but also 0 360's (that includes Arcade, Pro and Elite), which struck me as odd. So really, if you go into our Best Buy and want a next gen system, your ONLY option is a 40GB PS3. WTF is that all about?

80 GB SKU is deleted actually

[blackdelsol94]

Originally Posted by dmb

80 GB SKU is deleted actually

Yes indeed. I found that out last Thursday, although I'm still not sure of the reasoning.

[tha_con]

I think the 80GB SKU as a bundle was deleted.

We'll either see a regular 80GB SKU w/out a game introduced (or with a new game) or we'll see a new SKU entirely.