We've been tipped off by a number of GameStop employees that, commencing tomorrow, the company will no longer be accepting HD-DVD gear for trade-in. That means you won't be able to trade in your HD-DVD movies, and more importantly, you won't be able to get anything for that soon-to-be-useless 360 HD-DVD player, either. Sorry.
HD-DVD Deathwatch: GameStop Edition
8:15 PM on Mon Feb 18 2008
By Luke Plunkett
6,380 views
156 comments







Comments
When the hell is Toshiba finally going to announce their dropping of HDDVD? I'd like to have some Paramount flicks on Blu Ray.
It's true, soon your HD-DVD won't even play your current HD-DVDs. >.>
Novelty items usually sell high in the future.
Why is Kotaku being so mean to my HD-DVD!?
Just kidding I don't have it.
the sooner the better, blu ray movie prices have already started to go down in best buy and circuit city in NYC
give toshiba time, they need to liquidate.
yup, i was there when they got the e-mail. they were like ok we're no longer blah blah blah.
BUT that does mean the 360 add on will probably be dirt cheap pretty soon. I don't care if it it's in a different format. a cheap movie in HD is still a cheap movie in HD,
Yes, Luke. As of tomorrow all HD-DVD 360 add-on will stop working. It won't play HD-DVDs or regular DVDs anymore.
@InEffectMode: Wierd, you'd think the prices would go down when there is more competition.
@InEffectMode:
Not in my god awful Circuit Shitty. Their prices have risen in my area. Blu Ray is $30-$40 where as Walmart next door is $20-$30.
I wonder what made everyone to side with Bluray instead of HD? I would have though HD DVD would have won just by progression. You know..DVD...HD DVD. It made sense to me.
Blu Ray sounds newfangled and futuristic.
I prefer the sound of Blueray.. But then, I imagine most have no idea what it is. So HD-DVD did have that advantage. But MS didn't back it up properly I suppose. As a gamer, I don't give a fuck either way though.
@ArmyofJuan:
Blu Ray just sounds cooler I guess
Word around the water cooler is that in around 4 hours or so Toshiba will be holding a press conference.
[www.thedigitalbits.com]
I never got the whole significance of Microsoft backing HDDVD. What, were they going to put their next operating system on it? Because they didn't use it for the 360 and they aren't a movie studio so who gives a shit about Microsofts stance on a movie format? At least Sony has the excuses of that they have a movie studio and use it for their console.
@godrifle: lmao
@Sollus:
I know. I'm fucking bitter at Toshiba. It was plain as day obvious from the get go that Blu Ray would win. If not, then certainly from the time Casino Royal came out and sold like hotcakes. All Toshiba did was waste everyone's time for 2 years.
@y2julio:
Wont have much use for it anymore... Yea it will work, but in about a years time, you'd be starting to wish you didnt even have one...
Waiting for the Bourne Ultimatum and Batman Begins on Bluray.
But I can wait. Not too worried about Bluray dying anymore.
so, how many HD-DVD movie releases are out now? i mean, is it even worth keeping if you have one if there aren't that many movies out? i'm asking for real. any numbers?
@TheCleaningGuy:
I'm buying the Matrix Collection as soon as it hits on Blu Ray. I cannot friggin wait.
@InEffectMode: thats great news i gotta go into the city and check out what deals there are. i've been on the fence to buy blu-ray movies due to this pointless format war MS dragged on buy paying off Paramount for exclusives. now that this war is clearly coming to and end, its time to start building my collection!
Oh man that sucks. I was really hoping gamestop could rape more people with trade ins.
Oh you bought that a day ago for $100? Eh...We'll give you $5 for it +10% off your next used game purchase.
sucks to be an xbox 360 owner right now!
ps3 4 life dude lol
"Deathwatch" LOL So mean :P
Well, I guess this is it, don't they usually say retailers knows first? Or something like that. Bye Hd-dvd, I never saw or cared to see you. But I bet you were something, yeah... bye.
I almost feel bad for HD-DVD. It's like the girl with the headgear no one would take to Prom.
@108:
No it doesn't suck to be a 360 owner right now.
@Sollus: same here :D
The whole "not worth owning anymore" thing kinda reinforces my view of buying movies. Sounds like you won't watch em' more than once, so wtf buy one.
Guess I can't really speak though.. When I was in college I maxed out my first credit card on anime dvd's. They're all in a box in storage now though, can't beat digital copies.
Sad, so sad.
OK maybe not that sad, now consumers won't have to waste money on both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray.
So for the cunsumers: happy, so happy!
@Sollus: tonight at midnight PST apparently.
here: [www.highdefdigest.com]
Consumers; don't be fooled. HD-DVD may be dead, but that doesn't mean Blu Ray "wins".
For that, Sony's pet format would have to beat DVD.
@jfx316: I think it's close to 500 total.
@108: Care to explain why? After all, HD-DVD wasn't forced on the 360's buyers, and the lack of said drive doesn't hurt my game-playing in any way.
@almattitude_v1: Sell it on eBay to collectors :)
@Insomnia Bob:
Blu Ray doesn't necessarily have to beat DVD. They can coexist as two choices. Not everyone owns a HDTV so there is a still a place for DVD. I expect a slow drop of DVD sales over the years as HDTV sales continue to grow and maybe eventually DVD will finally die off.
@Insomnia Bob: BY INSOMNIA BOB AT 08:41 PM
Consumers; don't be fooled. HD-DVD may be dead, but that doesn't mean Blu Ray "wins".
For that, Sony's pet format would have to beat DVD.
Ya that is the definition of a win. DVD is now outdated tech that is going to be replaced by blue ray bitches
@Insomnia Bob: BD was not about "beating" DVD. It was about "replacing" it. One gen is about to die. Another one is going to replace it. What you are saying would equate to PS3 not only having to outsell 360 but also PS2. That's not how it works. Once HD sales (both TVs and players) pass a certain benchmark, they will stop putting movies to DVDs, and DVD players won't be as easy to find. Think VHS/DVD.
@Sollus: im not a 360 owner, but i agree it doesnt suck to be a 360 owner right now. 360 has the most compelling games, which should hold them down. MS treated HD-DVD like an ejection seat. when they realize they were going to nose dive, the pulled the lever, leaving the add-on drive in the ocean..lol
GameStop: Please, suck my -- uh... Damn you. I'm pissed that you ever stopped accepting and selling NES, SNES, N64, Dreamcast, and particularly Playstation games. There are a ton of PSone games I want to buy & play, and GameStop decided they weren't were their efforts anymore. Blast that! It's so hard to find PSone games anymore unless you go online. It sucks.
@Insomnia Bob: Thats just a matter of time, and DD can't become the standard for atleast another 5years, it won't happen. And Blu Ray is a consortium so there won't be a new format before they made enough profit of Blu Ray. If another format tries it will be frozen.
Can it beat dvd all time? Most likely not. As long as it drives down prices for my dvd bargains I'm happy :)
But I don't think anyone will beat the ps2 lifetime for a very, very long time. DS has the best chance though, but they will need a revision to make it I think.
Pretty bad, format is dying and Gamestop is not going to take any of the returns people are going to throw at them.
@y2julio: No but your 360 has a high chance of not working tomorrow
First: why do people keep saying "HD-DVD"? It's "HD DVD." Without the hyphen. Not that it really matters at this point, though.
Second: Screw you, GameStop.
I still believe downloading is the way to go. I can't stand discs anymore, especially now that I have kids. Going to open up a dvd case to find the dvd is missing, scratched, or both gets old pretty quick. Makes more sense to just have a list on your screen to sort out what to watch.
Well from a business standpoint it makes sense, sucks to be an hddvd owner right now though. I'm glad I stopped myself from buying the 360 add-on..it was so tempting.
@SolidOni_ds: Well, it turns out that HD-DvD only died because they were one 360 add-on below the numbers they needed to stay alive and be financially viable.
Now how do you feel?
@Kyle81: my 360 stays quiet and cool whenever it plays HD-DVDs.
@Kirbytheslayer: Hot Tears of Shame for Life!:
Still have a ps3 =D
I actually like this. It would suck for me to say:
"HD DVD" instead of "Blu-ray."
As some including me say:
"HD lost when it came up with that name of theirs."
@J-Fro: i guess it's not so bad for early adopters. still sucks for people that got the 360 drive. maybe MS can figure someway to use it for something else.
otherwise, it sounds like a doorstop to me. who would have thought that the PS3 being "the cheapest blu-ray player on the market" would end up being a good thing.
Tick, tock. Waiting for them to throw in the towel. This isn't looking too good...
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