Jest

cynopt

C'mere and gimme a hug, Langis, you obviously need one.

I'm glad they're finally coming to a resolution on this DVD thing, cos having 2 formats fragments the DVD userbase.

Billkwando

Akanubon

hddvd is essentially just as good of quality, but really... i do think bluray has won the format war...

joelface

The problem is....with that kind of ridiculous resolution, you're probably going to need a 300" Super Hi-Def TV to fully output that kind of quality. Most people are still unwilling to dish out $1000 for a nice HDTV. And technology has been available for several years now. How many years would it take for the general public to accept Super Hi-Def? The article says the technology may be available by 2015, so at the earliest we're talking beyond 2020.

valkyriex

Spliner

Langis-Langley

verazula

gaming_otaku

Masume

orionzdrm

[avzombie.com]
[avzombie.com]

Fistynuts

I payed 150,00 Euro and git Hulk, Password Swordfish, Riddick, Black Rain and another movie that I can not remember at the moment for free.

Keeping in mind that most likely the whole HD-DVD library will be available for maybe under 10,00 Euro a movie I am more than happy to get around 30-50 movies in my collection in a quality similar to Blau Ray.

Why not buying the device and benefit from the cheap offers stores will trigger once HD-DVD is dead?

Lathan

Cyborgmatt

Not addressing whatever original comment of chenry's you responded to or trying to suppress your opinion myself, just pointing out that item 3 on your list is slightly invalid around these parts ;)

DaiMacculate

midnightz

der-Karl

I personally think that $99 (or cheaper!) for the add-on plus free HD-DVD movies makes it worth the price, even if most of the studios are backing Blu-ray. The cheap SA Blu-ray players are out of the question since most of them can never be upgraded to 2.0 firmware, and $400 or more is just not worth it for a hi-def player.

"But the PS3 plays games too!" Too bad they're still working on that function...

pikaboy259

2. Take a look at what burners are being bought, again Blu-Ray wins.

3. Even if HD-DVD fails (which I believe the author that it has) Toshiba will still make out as they have a stake in PS3 technology (think about Cell). What's the best BluRay player? Yes, Toshiba loses lots of money they COULD have earned with HD-DVD, but they did a good job in diversifying their investments and will still make money on Cell.

I saw the Toshiba conflict of interest (at least to the consumer) a long time ago between Cell and HD-DVD, Why didn't any of the so called analysts?... HD-DVD owners have been duped and that's where the backlash will reside...

tankerkevo

kryo

I wouldn't say that you shouldn't buy an HDDVD player though. They are going to be pretty cheap and you should get a bunch of free movies with it.

I don't really see Blu-Ray taking off like how they figure either. Certainly not until the players get down to about $150 and new movies cost $20. Compared to an upconverting DVD player, the improvement in picture quality just doesn't warrant spending up to 75% more than the movie would cost you on regular DVD. At least, the average non video/audio - phob wont do it.

DMBainbridge

There will always be a need for physical media, and it won't go away any time soon.

Moonchilde

zanzibarlegend

But honestly, there are fan boys on both sides here. Sony Fan boys not admitting the fact that HD DVD are obviously better in every way except storage space, and HD DVD fan boys (like me) still holding out hope for HD DVD to make a massive move that saves it.

But, my opinion still stands. This is just poor media coverage. I hate when people try to use their clout to try and influence others to side with them. Just pathetic...

Justcrim

I also find it funny that some people are essentially saying "disc media is dead - unless HD-DVD makes a comeback in which case it's awesome"

Disc media is here to stay... The whole industry wants it, TV manufacturers and studios.

Mark is right for posting this... if my, say, Uncle came to me and asked which HD format he should buy I would say do not buy HD-DVD its a dead end format, like lazerdisc.

How many people get out there lazerdisc players to watch the few films they bought before the format went under? The same amount that will get out their HD-DVD players in a few years.

Astrofox

wizll

DrunkRaba

UnnDunn

Wokisan

[www.pcworld.com],116846-page,1/article.html

orionzdrm

But seriously, I don't think anyone but us geeks(and nerds) really care, or know the difference between anything. I bet most people think anything that's round and shiny on at least one side is just a CD, and there's nothing special or different about it. I heard someone trying to tell people(me, of all people, among them) that nobody uses CDs or DVDs anymore, and everything is done with USB drives. lawl.

I've been with Blu Ray since I heard about it a few years ago. I think it should win. Am I actively saying "HD DVD is wrong and evil and needs to die"? No. That's my Pokemon campaign. I think it should win. I've learned the benefits of the blue laser. Yeah, it took a long time to develop a format, but Sony is a large company, who am I to question them? I, a sad, sad, strange little man who spends all his time all the computer, discussing, nay, RANTING about stuff I do and don't like.

But yeah, HD DVD is screwed.

Codexx

By the way DVD sux.

-Cheese

rcheeseman

Now as for tv's an resolution the CES that just finished up shows you that 1080p is aleady going the way of 720p. With laser displays and these crazy contrast ratios we will see a evolution in picture quality in the next few years that may make this current hddvd and blurays picture quality look gimpy in the long run.

But just to clear some other peoples post im PURPLE! I have both. Infact I have 2 hddvd players and one blu as we speak. The stand alone hddvd prince drop is a good thing. It will allow joe Q public to get into hd at upconvert pricing. With gas princes and housing an issue it may be a good place to start for those spending their own money and not their mom's.

orionzdrm

The PS2 was the most recent actually, which leaves a gap of.... well no gap at all, since you aknowledge another win. When was Nintendo's last win before Wii?... Let's see... SNES. Yeah, anyway >.>

Cheysan

PenguinJim

vgfanboy

God bless you for having the patience to reply to someone who's one word review of Resistance is "whatever". Wait, I replied as well... I'm a pretty swell guy.

Cheysan

krazyk

Easily one of the most ignorant people that has ever commented on anything ever in the history of the world. I almost respect you Vector... If you're gonna be an ass may as well be the best at it. If you decide to go with the format that new movies and tv shows come out on, here:

[www.amazon.com]

A bunch of Blu Ray movies for $14.99 that don't blow *chuckles at Sleepy Hollow*

Cheysan

vgfanboy

littletad

J

FranksnBeans

seasponge

You also forgot Haze, Killzone 2, Heavenly Sword, Unreal Tournament, Warhawk, Motorstorm, LittleBigPlanet, Final Fantasy XIII/Versus, God of War 3, Metal Gear Solid 4, and lots of other games.

Image quality doesn't suck, it's 1080p, and looks remarkably the same as HD-DVD.

Blu-ray has higher capacity, more support, and the PS3 uses it. Get over it.

thereturnoftheufo

Whoa, a comment following the opinion piece on a blog, criticizing that opinion piece? Unfathomable!

Whoa, the ability to speak freely and criticize freely in civilized society? Downright inconceivable.

Langis-Langley

silentbobfan

Sabre_Justice: Okay, no more long name.

For instance I only wanted to play video games and cared nothing for HD movies. My purchase of the PS3 for games appears to the market as though I am another HD movie consumer who prefers my movies on Blu ray. Likewise if I bought a PS3 for the sole purpose of watching HD movies and cared nothing for video games to the market my purchase appears to say that I prefer a PS3 for video games weather I play video games or not.

giovonti

convergecrew

TheIrishNinja

That fanboy smell must be coming from your own arse.

convergecrew

Honestly, if this is true. Then I am sorry for the world. Having a Sony owned format will bring the end to physical media. People will hate it's over priced crap, and be even more pissed when version 2.0 comes out. Blu Ray is crap compared to HD DVD, and people just for some reason cant see it. But whatever, I know I supported the right side, and still will.

I have the HD DVD add on, and for the second drive alone, I love it. Even if I am watching DVDs I love having DVDs in one, and games in the other.

But, this story is very biased. You cant say "Dont buy" something while in your position. It makes Kotaku lose integrity whether you are right or not. It is a consumer's choice. If the article was more, "Buyer Beware" then it would be a different story. You can inform that trend, but as a media source, dont try to persuade buyers. I really think that is just bad reporting to do such a thing. Specially since it is not a dead format. At least not until Universal and Paramount make their decisions.

Justcrim

Phlycheez

convergecrew

reptile168

My PS3 plays blu-ray. I'm perfectly satisfied with that on its own.

Funny how my 360 cost $400. + $200 = $600.
My PS3 cost $500.

I lol'd.

thereturnoftheufo

The price will have to come down first.

Huckleberry

And I think Warner will think twice about this. Seriously, ifd there are 3 million HD players out there why would you not make discs for it?

Why don't you say Don't buy Blu-ray players because none of them except for the overpriced $399 PS3 actually will have the features HDDVD already has?

Unless of course, I smell a fanboy!

icedcornholio

@huxle: please be kidding.

TheIrishNinja

If you picked up a player for cheap, then it wouldn't be a complete waste of money. Just don't expect any new releases after June.

J-Fro

Warner surely made a decision well before the 4th, but waited until AFTER Christmas and the post-Christmas sales to make an announcement, just so they could make a few more bucks. Damn you Warner!

Take that Michael Bay. I'll out-conspiracy you...

(Actually... his conspiracy theory totally kicks mine's ass. At least he mixed his with a little bit of crazy...)

vr0oM

You take a few days off and shinanigens!

Will HDDVDs be made by paramont and universal? Sure, but how long? And do you buy a format for two studios only? Even the porn studios are jumping from the HD DVD ship.

What happens when your player breaks? or your 360? SOL! A library of movies with no available players, or second rate players that arent being manufactured, not that good.

VOD content on 360? What happens when the 360 breaks? So sorry, you just got DRMed. And the content still isnt in 1080p with lossless audio.

1000 HD DVDs? More like 200-400 movies

Consumer choise? No. A format war isnt consumer choice. Its consumer confusion and market stagnation. Warner gave up on HD DVD with no incentive from Sony because it recognized that the format war was stifling the market and consumer adoption rates.

Mark doesnt sound like a fanboy in his post. Silly people defending HD DVD at this late point in the game are the fan boys. Everyone else has just moved on, and are enjoying their HD content.

Belain

Huxle

Monte2

Battlestar is that damn good, and if you don't watch it I feel only pity for you. I can't wait for March.

Also, I'll buy a PS3 (if I don't have one already) the minute Season 2 and on come out on that Format, if that is indeed The Shape Of Things To Come. I'll spend another 450+ dollars to play Season 2 in HD...and I already own the DVDs.

DaiMacculate

xoque

Don't buy an HD-DVD player because eventhough Blu-Ray has won, they won't continue to win unless everybody agrees.

Leathersoup

Anyway, that brings me to my point: all your statements about the PS3 games are the same cookie-cutter comments said by every Sony denier who's never played them but has seen screens and videos. I mean, a lot of games borrow from others. Are you going to tell me that Bioshock doesn't share serious similarities to System Shock 2? Or that Halo 3 isn't seriously similar to Halo 2? What about Mass Effect being like a combination of Star Wars KOTOR and Oblivion, to certain degrees. Whether you agree with the Oblivion comparison or not, the game borrows heavily from others, in its shooting mechanic, conversation mechanic, and story elements.

Uncharted? Similar to Prince of Persia and Gears of War. But amazingly fun! Heavenly Sword, similar to God of War, but good fun. Ratchet & Clank, similar to its prequels, but great fun! Resistance, that was a very fun game. Folklore... hmm... what was THAT similar to? I found Folklore to be a very unique take on the "RPG" genre. And it was a great game, to boot. Eye Of Judgment? While not everyone's cup of tea, it was a unique idea for a videogame, and it is great fun.

I just think it's crap when people deny that Sony has any fun games. They do. And of course they have a huge number on the way, considering they have franchises like God of War, Gran Turismo, and Ico as exclusives.

baked ham

Scuba Steve

ara

noliferuin (PSN+XBL)

And at any rate, there is the external 360 drive, wouldn't that manipulate consumers as well/ save the format if people only cared about movies and not about games as well?.

Most people chose not to spend twice just to watch minimally visually upgraded movies, but I don't see that as having been "manipulated". Plus the PS3 gets real advantages from using next gen media as opposed to just DVD's as quite a few developers have said. I mean I guess you could dismiss Rockstar et all saying that the size of the discs is a boon and using regular DVD's and no standard hard drive on the 360 is a blight that affects their game development, but that looks a little well, biased.

One of the formats did movies, games, and had superior storage, and costs why, about the same to the costumer. the other is well, about the same but smaller capacity wise and is only used for movies.

If Blu ray went under PS3's still worked, and would continue business as usual and the advantages of using the format for games would still be there. If HD DVD went unser, well, you are SOL for new releases and out about the same, or a little better (depending on when you bought it) than just getting the other format.

Mind you I don't own either a PS3, or a HD DVD player, but for the stated reasons I wouldn't even consider the HD DVD player, just too expensive for what I would get out of it, and too risky.

Apparently a lot of people felt that way.

Seiryuu

ara

Okay, I surrender, I'll buy a freaking PS3.

Aresef

rebelphoenix

cynopt

Mobius

noliferuin (PSN+XBL)

So as consumers. Our choice for movies has been a little manipulated.

giovonti

vectorsan

Mobius

Reiji

vectorsan

noliferuin (PSN+XBL)

Besides, if being objective and reacting to the market situation is called being "owned by Sony" nowadays, then yes they are.

Candlejack

Weasal

Rzarekta

Yeah, I need my Asian games

angry_gamer

vectorsan

We are in complete agreement!

My comment was to the poster Lyrai, who stated that he wanted both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray to fail and that we didn't need a new High-Def format.

I, for one, am for progress. I was just listing a few of the format changes I've lived through to illustrate the point!

KapuKapper

angry_gamer

LittleBigPlaneteer

legacyed

Cheysan

OT79

Elliuotatar

Sucks to be you.

elpierce

Thanks.

fidgetwidget

Poormojo

y2kenjination

[www.circuitcity.com]

I just included the link as verification. Please don't waste your money.

theduke282

noliferuin (PSN+XBL)

nxp3

littletad

@orionzdrm: yeah, mark's a huge fanboy, well played.

@nintend0nick: dont like sony, eh? tell me, how do you feel about nintendo?

@Lyrai: felt the same way till i saw Planet Earth in blu, that was the fucking business.

@supercrap: i agree, check back Q4 '08.

@Langis: ...wow.

@chillspace: that's right buddy, keep on fightin!

@yurodivuie: glad im not the only one who's heard that before.

@FyroniK: more wilson potshots, class.

@nintend0nick: yeah, im pissed about things that happened 10 years ago to, like uh, biggie getting shot.

@Kj719: good point.

@jollydwarf: blue...best buy shirts? youre reaching.

@Onizuka-GTO: read about those, are they actually real or just tech talk?

@nintend0nick: damn consumer choice! id rather pay to not own things.

@AnTi PRO: must be nice to not have to read things.

@Grave of the Fireflies: ...ever even played a ps3? no? oh.

TheIrishNinja

That's it. Do you want HD movies, or HD movies that look slightly worse than the other format? Lots of storage, or 10 gigs less?

HD-DVD has been a joke from the very beginning. Had Microsoft delayed the 360 launch until they could have implemented a built-in HD-DVD player (without increasing the cost vs a PS3), HD-DVD may have lasted a bit longer before its ultimate defeat.

VipingViper

noliferuin (PSN+XBL)

marvinduran

I am not paying for an overly expensive movie format when I can watch pretty much everything I want on DVD.

I just hope HD-DVD sticks around as long as possible (or makes a resurgence!) because I would love to see them force further Blu-ray price drops.

Huckleberry

I'll just get a Blu-ray player once they're cheap enough.

Destruction

"As for Blu-ray itself. It too is a bad joke for consumers, as after 2 years they are still altering player profiles making various stand-alone players obsolete. This is not going to change in the foreseeable future, meaning you are 'forced' to buy a Playstation 3 for a futureproof Blu-ray player."

I don't understand. Are you implying that Sony conspired with companies that made the other players to convince them to make them obsolete down the road? Don't think so. And how is a future-proof Blu-Ray player a 'con' to Sony. I give applause to the approaches that they've taken in these regards. Remember how much it cost you to upgrade your Hard Drive on the 360? Yeah, I spent $85 for a 120GB 2.5"SATA standardized laptop drive. How much did you spend on a headset? Yeah, I spent $0 and just used the bluetooth set that came with my phone. Sony did right by just about everybody other than M$ fanboizzzzz.

"As a games machine the PS3 is a joke, the best titles available with few exceptions are multi-platform and always inferior to their 360 counterparts. Do you really think more sales will remedy this? This is a problem with the design of the hardware, to be overcome with lots of time and money spent on better middleware and development tools. A cost that will be factored into future development. An example of which, might be shorter games."

Let me guess, it's at this point that you would normally dive into the "nyuk, nyuk, Sony doesn't have enough RAM!" Seriously, this argument gets old. Just as similar arguments did with the condition of the PSP and it's library. I doubt that anybody here would learn anything from further ranting, so please, spare us. You weren't going to say anything of substance anyway. Besides, how exactly is the PS3 shorting consumers graphically (because we all know this is where you were going with it)? If you sat down with one you wouldn't make such an ignorant statement.

Great...now I'm the one that is tired.

@adamonfire: Fire up CHIPS!

BoffrO

That will probably be quite some time because some places have no broad band still. It's a lot easier to do in the Scandinavian countries and Japan/Korea for a few reasons such as geographic size (US is #3/4 in country size) wealthy disparity and the digital divide so even if we could re-download, junking physical media would screw over a sizable segment of the market.

Look how many people still lack digital TVs after all.

SSJPabs

Charlie Kelly

Candlejack

AnTi PRO

Stormrider

I would never suggest to anyone that they buy an HD-DVD player (or even a Blu-ray player, for that matter), but that doesn't mean I don't hope that tons of stupid people pick up HD-DVD players on account of the fire-sale prices and keep this battle going well into 2009 (though it's doubtful HD-DVD will even make it into the next fiscal year).

If Blu-ray actually turns out to be a format that doesn't suck, I may have to change some of my world-views, but so far it doesn't look like that will be the case. Not like anyone is going to read this ...

shimage

Nightshift_Nurse

Unfortunately for us, consumers made their choice to drop trews, touch their toes and become the Blu-Ray Association's bitch.

Want to import cheaper and/or better releases of films from abroad? Want to burn, say, a fan-made film to Blu-Ray to watch in HD on your 50" plasma? These are all things that the BRA don't want you to do -- otherwise they wouldn't have included region coding and compulsory encryption in the standard.

HD-DVD might not be "open" in the same way that Xvid is open but it's certainly more consumer-friendly than Blu-Ray.

On the other hand, I'm at least appreciative of the fact that Sony are letting you copy scrunched-down versions of films to Memory Stick Pro Duo Hyper Fighting Zero Alpha EX+ so you can watch them on your PSP. Score 1 for Team Sony!

tossrStu

Grim Santo

Don't buy Blu-ray... it will go LaserDisc and DVDs will rule until digital distribution takes over...

????

Seriously, I'm not sure what to think about this Kotaku post?

retronaut

noliferuin (PSN+XBL)

My best buy has an entire side of one isle for Blu-ray films and 1/4th of one for HD DVD. Which one will look better to the consumer?

Blu-ray has extra space for superior sound and the fact that Blu-ray support uncompressed PCM is fact that sound is superior. While the HD DVD audio formats are close and nearly indistinguishable, Blu-ray still wins in audio consistency.

Viet0ne

infi

I_Hate_This_Place

Stormrider

Pound my tom-tom

The add-on is what it is, and doesn't affect MS either way (you could buy a stand-alone player cheaper than buying a 360 and an add-on, which isn't used for games). It is a cheap HD-DVD player that can be used on the xbox or a PC with the right software.

peacefuloutrage

Oh, and yay Blu-Ray! Everyone drink a toast to the memory of Beta...it's restless spirit can finally find peace.

Nightshift_Nurse

Candlejack

Sometimes the kid just wants to watch Happy Feet and it's nice to have both versions so I can play it wherever.

Jabbertrack

I don't know what the poster in question was talking about, but that's the vibe I was getting from the whole thing. Not trying to put you down or anything, just sayin'.

Anyway, my opinion on this format war is exactly what it's been all along, that they are both unnecessary formats because DVD's can be upscaled to high def and eventually it'll all be done digitally anyway. One of the reasons I chose to buy a 360 over a PS3 is because I didn't want to pay extra for a Blu-Ray player that I'd never use because A) I don't watch many movies and B) even if I did I wouldn't want to play them on my game console, when it risks screwing up the disc drive. Plus at the time I didn't have an HDTV anyway.

Stormrider

AnotherGamer

He's basically saying that Blu-Ray won the format war between HD-DVD but that there is no guarantee that Blu-Ray will become an enstablished format anyways. To put it crudely, "It's like winning the special olympics" if Blu-Ray does not become a consumer accepted standard.

Of course the one problem with his assessment is that he equates the success of the PS3 to Blu-Ray. For Blu-Ray to succeed, it needs the PS3 to succeed. It should be the other way around IMO.

Using his PS2 example, it becomes a question of "Did the PS2 succeed because of DVD?" or "Did DVD succeed because of the PS2?"

angry_gamer

infi

but at least they knew what they were getting into:
[www.betanews.com]

Bargo

AnotherGamer

Jest

MattB

I got over it. As long as I have a Blu Ray play that can play both DVD's and Blu Ray movies.. whats the point for me to have both on one disk.

Only reason I see is for portable DVD players, which in that case if I was that worried I would just buy the DVD.. it will still work in my Blu Ray player anyways.

P-Sheddy

gojirah

That's called m