And the high definition format war rages on with Paramount and Dreamworks Animation opting to drop Blu-Ray support in favor of HD DVD exclusivity. According to Kevin Avery, president of Paramount Home Entertainment, the move was made because HD DVD offers better quality, cheaper players, and lower manufacturing costs. So, when you go shopping for the hi-def version of Transformers this fall, the only place to find it is in the HD DVD section. Furthermore, Dreamworks Animations films like Shrek 3 will also be exclusive to the format. Thus, you have one more reason to not regret buying that 360 HD DVD player (unless you hated Transformers, in which case ... um, sorry?).
Us, we're going to hide in a bunker with our DVDs and wait for it all to blow over.
[Via Major Nelson]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
8-20-2007 @ 4:35PM
a ham sandwich said...
how could you have hated transformers? a 360 turned into a decepticon!
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8-20-2007 @ 4:35PM
TRUTH said...
Great News for the 'Better Format' Rock on HD?-DVD
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8-20-2007 @ 4:36PM
footlong! said...
Does Viacom not own these studios? Does Viacom also own Blockbuster? these are snippets I've picked up from other sites reporting this. but, if those claims are true that could mean blockbuster may stop supporting bluray and go hd-dvd.
hoo rah for hd-dvd
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8-20-2007 @ 4:36PM
Tony said...
It's not going to go away any time soon. It's annoying that it's even reached this level. Considering how long it's taken Sony to drop something like ATRAC (despite its benefits, it's too proprietary), even if Blu-ray somehow 180ed into the garbage heap they won't give up on it.
The manufacturing costs, I'd say, are going to play a major part in this moreso than players. My impression has been that it's just easier and cheaper to make more HD-DVDs than Blu-Ray discs. Kind of like MS could probably make the 3 discs for Blue Dragon (granted, that's standard DVD) cheaper than one Blu-Ray disc for any given PS3 title.
Personally, I don't care about it and I'm willing to wait until it's over and whatever wins comes down to current DVD prices. I don't want to spend $20 to $40 on movies I can get for $15 on DVD the same week of release.
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8-20-2007 @ 4:41PM
zourskittles said...
I just wanna see a list of what companies each side has EXCLUSIVELY, big companies at least. Anyone gotta a link, or time to write it out?
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8-20-2007 @ 4:43PM
Smoke_Dawg_187 said...
Some peronsal favorites from Paramount & Dreamworks includes:
Gladiator
American Beauty
Beavis & Butt-Head
Chappelle's Show
South Park
Event Horizon
Jack A$s the Movie 1&2
Team America
Collateral
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8-20-2007 @ 4:44PM
Lharmon said...
I would love to be able to validate my huge hd dvd collection, I was banking on a win. I don't want to have to buy a BR player. Can't we all just get along and release every movie in both types of formats? Oh well, as long as HD DVD wins, I couldn't care less about sony and BR.
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8-20-2007 @ 4:45PM
SonyPS3Sucks said...
Everyone please Buy a Paramount/Dreamworks HD DVD to help support them on the wise decision!!! Tell your friends, wife, children, and pets!!
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8-20-2007 @ 4:47PM
Magic Whiskey said...
NOOOOOOO! 'Grease' in high def!
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8-20-2007 @ 4:48PM
Simple Panda said...
It should be noted that:
1) It's estimated that $150m was paid to Paramount and Dreamworks combined from the HD-DVD promotion group (Toshiba, Microsoft, Universal) for their exclusive support. HD-DVD is losing the format war - so switching from neutral to exclusive is a stupid idea unless you are getting something on the back end for it, given how small these markets are right now.
2) Fox has broken their months of silence and are announcing new Blu-ray titles.
For the record, it's now:
Sony/MGM/Columbia, Fox, Disney vs. Universal and Paramount.
Warner Bros. is neutral.
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8-20-2007 @ 4:50PM
gtpunch said...
Not sure if it's a coincidence but after reading this article, I was inspired to go out and buy the "best overall high-def release on the market": http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/hotfuzz.html
Eventually all players and/or disks will be and the only difference it'll make to us consumers is whether the boxes on our shelves are red or blue.
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8-20-2007 @ 4:51PM
gtpunch said...
Oops:
Eventually all players will be dual-format and the only difference it'll make to us consumers is whether the boxes on our shelves are red or blue.
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8-20-2007 @ 4:53PM
Tim said...
Sweet. Just when I was wondering if I'd be running out of hd dvds to watch one day.
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8-20-2007 @ 4:53PM
Liqwid said...
AAAAnNNNNNNNDDDDDDDDD!!!! We get the entire Naked Gun Collection when/if it debuts!
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8-20-2007 @ 4:56PM
Sircolby45 said...
@Simple Panda
Yes and the studios exclusive to Blu-Ray did it out of the goodness of their heart. Are you unaware of how exclusives work? Companies don't just magically decide "Hey I wanna make less money and support a specific format instead of making 2x the money and support both!"
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8-20-2007 @ 4:59PM
Mauricio said...
'Hot Fuzz' and 'Shaun of the Dead' are definite MUST HAVEs. they are awesome movies in any format. as long as good movies keep getting released i'll keep buying them.
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8-20-2007 @ 4:59PM
MYPS3KilledMy360 said...
Ok dont care about the format war anymore i know who will win sony is gonna do the same thing like they always been doing since next gen started copy the competition. So any tech people in here? i wan to know how the 360 is to displays HD images in 360 games on a DVD9 format but HD DVD wont work.
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8-20-2007 @ 5:00PM
jsn said...
simple panda:
When you say losing, it's not like they're 5 laps back with 5 to go. It's more like we're 10 laps into a 100 lap race and Blu-ray is out in front because HD-DVD pitted first. There would have been a long way to go even without this deal. With this deal we may never see the end of it. I could care less really. If both formats get players into teh sub $200 range, the market will support both.
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8-20-2007 @ 5:15PM
Grindstone said...
This war just got extended another few years. I mean, sure, as a 360 supporter it is good news, but now I have wait even longer before we get a definitive winner. Meh, upscaling, FTW!
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8-20-2007 @ 5:21PM
DaMan09 said...
@Simple Panda
Actually, Fox my be going to HD DVD because they have not released a Blu-Ray Title since April and have not announced any new BR titles
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