11:27 AM on 06.18.2007
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Even though Blu-ray discs can be rotten (literally!), they are now the only high-definition format that Blockbuster is going to back.
Blockbuster drives in what is probably the final nail in the coffin for the HD-DVD format disc. The company announced that they will only offer Blu-ray format in 1,450 of its stores, dropping HD-DVD forever. They say that customers are choosing Blu-ray more than 70 percent of the time.
"The consumers are sending us a message. I can't ignore what I'm seeing," Matthew Smith, senior vice president of merchandising at Blockbuster.
The North American HD DVD Promotional Group says that Blockbuster is jumping the gun and making a decision too early. They claim that their decision is skewed by the success of titles released in the first three months this year, but isn't that what really decides what we buy?
Blockbuster offered both formats in 250 of its stores and let the customers decide - and the customers have chosen the silly named format. Who knows if the PlayStation 3 launch had anything to do with the rental success - it's doubtful, but we can be certain that there some smug-faced Sony execs are blasting off 'told you so' emails this morning. You may now commence your pointless HD-DVD defense posts now (kidding!). |
|
| |
-icon.gif){kind=icon}
52 comments + 134338 views
er I used to work in blockbusters in the UK, and they're selling & renting both Bluray and HD-DVD
HOWEVER
Blockbuster is a diying business, their profits keep going down.
The only question here is, who's going to die first? Blockbusters or Playstation 3
People still go to Blockbuster? Netflix FTW. And they have both formats.
Blockbuster will still carry HD DVD at the original 250 "pilot" stores and via it's on-line service. All of their other store locations will be BD-Only.
Blockbuster and Blu-Ray - Butt Fucking Friends??
Until I get a High Def TV, both formats can fuck off.
Interesting. Isn't Wal-Mart supposedly showing love to HD-DVD? Now that is what I call a deal breaker.
I haven't been to Blockbuster in probably 2 years. I know that both formats are going to have a limited lifespan as it is, but I want my HD movies now! I guess I'll play the waiting game a little bit longer. And yeah, Netflix FTW!
Sterling = both format bashing.
will the bashing from this man ever end?
I hope that Blu-Ray doesn't win not because I'm anti-Sony, but because I don't want to have to pay $500 for a Blu-Ray player when I can get an HD-DVD player for $250. And it will be a while before BRay players get that low.
Plus there are some features that are built into HD DVD that Blu Ray apparently can't do. I can't remember exactly what but look at the difference between the "300" discs coming out and you'll see.
Wal-Mart is going to have a price point HD-DVD player available by the Christmas season. HD-DVD FTW
Bah. I can't be bothered with the whole HD thing. I'm still in awe at the magical picture boxes, or VCR as some of you tech-heads like to call it.
Hmm. I wonder how much longer Blockbuster can continue to exist as a brick and mortar store. Maybe consumers will continue to prefer a "traditional" shopping experience over digital distribution, but I kind of doubt it. If I were in the video rental business, I would be researching getting out of physical inventory altogether.
I love my Toshiba HD-A2. I'm not a fan of Sony, which helped contribute to my decision to go HD DVD. If things go decidedly in the direction of BluRay, I'll consider buying a non-Sony BD player then to go "format neutral".
Honestly, I'm with Mr Sterling. Until I purchase a HDTV neither format means dick.
Yeah well who goes to blockbuster any more anyway?
Why Blu-ray won't win. Also haha.
(doesn't actually care for format wars)
At the moment B&M rental places are great for impromptu get togethers or for those who want different movies depending on their mood. You want to laugh tonight? Sorry, Netflix sent you Schindlers List out of your queue.
I think B&M will continue for these reasons. However, once we get digital distribution renting (we are going to need faster connections than the current ones for HD rentals to be viable)...then B&M might go away. Why drive to your local blockbuster when you can have the movie magically beamed to your hard drive with a 7 day timer until it deletes itself.
Good thing I didn't buy an HD-DVD drive for my 360...just wait for the BR one!
I want to watch Ultraviolet in HD.
@JimSterling: May I have your man-baby (not gay)?
Your guys bringing up the rotting Blu-ray thing are hopeless, have you read into it outside of the realm of bashing Sony? It's the manufacturers fault and has only been on isolated to ONE movie...boo friggidy hoo.
In Canada movies in the mail are not as big as in the US I rent movies/games all the time (Rogers video mind you) as it is a 2 min drive to get there and costs like $5 a game/movie.
HD-DVD got the good porn. 'Nuff said.
When people want to get the "Best possible HD picture" they don't skimp for HD content. They go to a store planning to buy an HD system (TV, sound, movie player) and see two formats. One has a cheaper player but the movies cost about the same. They don't think that the cheaper format could be better, or even as good. They buy the more expensive one, because they want the best system. Even if they know nothing about the formats. That, I believe, is what most people do when getting a system to show off.
@chill: HA porn is free on the internets
I still rent HD-DVDs from Blockbuster. Blockbuster.com > Netflix.
HD-DVD lets you (legally) rip a copy of the movie to your Vista computer so you can stream, while Blu-Ray does not. It's really a shame, actually, that Blu-Ray is winning. While the discs hold more, it really is the lesser format. The in-movie experience on HD-DVD can't be beat.
@buckf1tches
Because HD-DVDs can be pirated is why they are better, as well as having a lower capacity? Where is the logic there?
@everyone
http://www.eproductwars.com/dvd/index.cfm
@buckf1tches
The in-movie experience has nothing to do with format. That has to do with the people who make the disc and what they decide to put on the disc. If they put lack luster stuf or sucky stuff on it, it will suck.
Unless you have compared a movie on HD-DVD to Blu-Ray DVD, that isn't really a reason why one is better.
Hd dvd is nowhere near dead or even dying. Blockbuster will regret this move as many people are already organizing boycotts and other wining mechanisms to annoy blockbuster and make them lose money. Personally Im going in to blockbuster today to cancel my movie membership. Ill admit its not completely because of this move because Ive been using netflix for the past week and have seen the light. However, this switch to only blu ray would have been enough to make me cancel my membership. Ive always hated blockbuster and their membership policies...and their employees and this only proves that the rampant jackassery of the management of the blockbuster near me runs all the way to the top. I can remember leaving blockbuster for hollywood video back when blockbuster refused to upgrade from VHS. Yet now they are taking the jump and investing in a format that if history is any evidence will FAIL. This is SONY. betamax, UMD, etc. I think they had it right before. They didnt have these new formats in their stores (I know a few stores had them. Like 4% of their stores or seomthing). The fact is most consumers arent interested in these new formats.Either due to ignorance, or apathy most people just dont care. They are satisfied with their old mitsubishi CRT 20 inch color tv and couldnt give less of a damn about the new formats. Bad move blockbuster.
May have been a bit long for my first post. O well. Ive been arguing this topic all morning with people.
Doesn't the Blu-Ray group have more movie studios backing them?
I remember reading somewhere that Blu-Ray has 6 of the 7 major movie studios backing them while HD-DVD has 3 of the 7 and only one of those 3 are exclusive to HD-DVD.
If I remember that right then, there's a big reason why Blu-Ray will win.
@brainderailment
I was really hoping your link led to some spec chart or technical breakdown why BluRay's better than HDDVD, but no, it's sales figures. Because sales figures ALWAYS mean better information for all.
::rolls eyes::
Look, both are using the same spec of MPEG-4 on paper. How the data gets from the disc to your TV requires a slightly differently written decompression based on the laser.
Despite my idiotic mumblings on this board, my username actually represents something, I work in video. I've looked at both the specs for both, and neither one "wins" on everything.
In fact, for all the ballyhoo of each platform, it's strikingly similar in the way it works and I promise you, no one's missing out on going with either format if you're an early adopter, other than content.
I won't bore by posting specs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray_Disc#Blu-ray_Disc_.2F_HD_DVD_comparison
I will post that I think that from a developer's standpoint, HD DVD is a better format. I can code menus in freakin' Dreamweaver if I want to.
Image quality is neglibile. If anyone can find a difference between cross-released movie, I'll point you in the direction of an encoder who didn't know how to do their job properly. The playback stream for almost all HDDVD's and BluRays far exceed the minimum data transfer requirements of playback. A good half the market of available BluRay discs don't even use the full available 25GB on single layer discs, while a good number of HD DVD's use their full 30 GB.
From a market standpoint, HD DVD is a better format.
There's porn available. That alone should win. Why? Because despite the failings of porn profits in the internet based 2007, many people do buy porn on disc still. BluRay has no intent on supporting it.
They're also cheaper to produce since anyone that can manufacture DVDs can make HD DVD's.
But, inevitably I think BluRay will win. Why?
Because of Sony's marketing efforts. If they hadn't shoveled the player into every PS3, it'd be a totally different ballgame, despite the failing of the PS3. Putting that in the box put boxes in homes.
People will choose a $600 game console WITH video playback over a $500 video player. Duh.
Claiming disc rot or losing distribution through a B&M store are non-issues. What is an issue is market penetration. And neither format is succeeding in the same way that DVD did in 1997. And it's not due to market fragmentation either. It's simple lack of HD adoption. There isn't any. At all.
Less than 30% market penetration, marginal sales of HDTVs with built in tuners, and the ever shifting transition date from analog to digital have all impeded a high penetration for HDTV. And until market penetration crosses a good 50-60%, video player sales won't matter. We barely have decent content to begin with on HDTV.
I refuse to buy into either format until there's a sub $200 stand alone player on the market. And not as an attachment for a game console. That's busy playing games on mine, ya see.
Or not, as in Brainderailment's case.
I have the add on for the 360 and i think its perfect. Its not liek you could watch a movie and play a game at the same time anyway. To see an example of hd dvds superiority look at the special features in 300 compared to blu rays 300. and the u control features in tokyo drift are amazing and thats the kind of thing that makes hd dvd the best.
@genfunyung
Or do what I do...
Don't rent at all. Just buy the damn thing. If you're nervous about the movie, read a review. Find a critic you like and stick to their gut instinct.
I've rented DVD's 9 times in 10 years since I got my first DVD player. I own over 450 of the best damn movies you've ever seen, and I don't regret purchasing any of them. Including Joysticks.
I get flak all the time from people, but I promise you, you're not missing anything by skipping out on Final Destination 3, Outbreak, The Hills Have Eyes 2, Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, etc. They all suck. If the sequel doesn't end in Wars, Trek, Of the Rings, -erminator, or -ambo, chances are highly against you that it'll suck. Bad.
This methodology has spared me from all Steven Segal movies and most Van Damme movies.
Don't support rental stores period. Also, don't support shitty movies. Asked to be challenged every once in awhile. You deserve better than Shrek 3 or House of Wax.
And there aren't any Paris Hilton tits in House of Wax so double shame on you if you paid to see it.
Horror movie tips:
Stage 1 test: If the film doesn't take place on a college campus or there are no co-eds in the film, skip it outright. SKIP IT!
Stage 2 test: If the film doesn't take place over a holiday or with some sort of slumber party taking place, you're wasting your time. No one wants to watch stoners die. They won't feel it anyway. We want to watch the horny couple trying to screw get killed because premarital sex is "teh bad!"
Stage 3 test: If there are no boobs in the movie, you wasted cash and are due a refund for both your money and your time.
I don't own any HD shit, so I could care less...
Interesting that while the PS3 is "failing"(based on personal opinion), Blu-Ray isn't.
@genfuyung
Well, that's the unique feature of HD DVD. And if you're into special features, that's your pot of gold.
I could care less about special features. I want high quality video. Most people never realized it but a good number of original DVD's on the market were done at sub-par DVD standard encoding rates. They skimped a lot on video quality because people were asking for special features that many people only ever looked at one or two times total. Those behind the scenes docs and commentary tracks from the production assistant's gopher ate up a lot of space that I would've preferred to see higher quality video or audio.
Wow, 250 stores? I can see they were really worried about getting accurate results.</sarcasm>
It's still way to early to decide on either format. If Blu-ray does pull ahead, that would be a nice break for Sony, since it would be the first proprietary format they created that actually worked out for them.
@dvddesign
Ive yet to see a blu ray movie that looks better than any movie in my hd dvd collection. And all releases Ive seen that were released on both fofrmats always look better on hd dvd. I see it as hd dvd for quality and blu ray for quantity.
@dvddesign
to your earlier post im not the wealithiest of people so renting is definetely the way to go for me. more power to you to buy the movies you want but that just isnt an option for me. I own a lot of dvds but i only buy movies that i know i can watch over and over and never get tired of. and I apply that philosophy to my hd dvd purchases as well. and for the record I despise damn near every movie you mentioned and half spelled.
Doesn't anyone else find it pathetic that the PS3's only shot at being a successful product is due to it's ability to play HD movies? Personally I feel sorry for anyone who currently supports blu-ray (or hd-dvd, even). It's not like going from VHS to DVD. The upgrade in quality is minimal to most people. But most importantly, there's that whole DRM fiasco. I'm not supporting either format. And when I buy a PS3 (for Ico 3), I don't plan on getting any movies for it. Ever.
Oh, and nobody uses Blockbuster anymore. It's all about Netflix and torrents. If you still use Blockbuster you're an idiot.
blockbuster is huge in europe and the middle east. nuff said. you guys can't think of america as the only place in the world. the european market alone is much bigger than the american one. and if you consider all PAL territories + canada/south america... yup... blockbuster is quite important.
You prove you know nothing about what your talking when you say the quality jump is minimal.
You also lack intelligence when you believe people are inferior because they use another movie distributor.
In terms of quality right now Bluray is better as it is using AVC. While HD DVD supports avc, they are not even using it.
Pick what you want.
oops sorry for the error. * Dont't know what your talking about.
Don't tell me that Sony finally backed a format that is going to win. Maybe BetaMax and the MiniDisc are going to come back and rule the world!
I don't rent movies so this means nothing to me. I still go to the theater when I want to see something new, or wait a while and buy it for 5 or 10 bucks from Best Buy.
However, I believe that Blu-Ray's lack of support from the porn industry as well as from Wal-Mart will have a huge (albeit ironic, as well) impact on the final resting place for both formats in the annals of history.
My real question, one I've been pondering for quite some time, is why can't the movie industry support two formats? I mean, the gaming market we are all a part of currently supports 9 separate formats if you count Nintendo's 4 consoles (GC, GBA, DS, Wii), Sony's 3 (PS2, PS3, PSP), and Microsoft's 2 (if their lack of support for Xbox1 even counts and clearly the 360). Now granted that may be a bit of a stretch, but honestly. Essentially we're supporting at least 6 solid totally separate formats (Wii, DS, PS2, PS3, PSP, 360). Why can't the movie industry handle 2?
the lack of games for the PS3 is a weak argument for thinking that Sony has failed. less than a year. the machine has been out for less than half a year and it's sold some 4 million units. they're doing soooooo terrible for selling 4 million units at 600 usd a pop.
and yes, blu-ray will win because for every bit of bad news against blu-ray, hd-dvd receives almost no boost from said bad news. the news becomes negligible. sony's hardware department actually made profit recently when not factoring in the ps3. their hardware sales are ridiculously strong -- especially in the hdtv sector.
the us mandated switchover to hd broadcast will influence the purchasing of hdtv units soon. blu-ray is already ahead and they came out of the market way later than hd-dvd. they're not going to lose ground to hd-dvd on sheer power of momentum. the rest of the world has pretty much chosen blu-ray anyway. the format war is a north america thing.
it's retarded.
"Essentially we're supporting at least 6 solid totally separate formats (Wii, DS, PS2, PS3, PSP, 360). Why can't the movie industry handle 2?"
I'm doubtful anybody would suggest it's a good thing that gamers are dealing with 6 formats right now. In fact, I'm doubtful that game corporations can afford to develop and sell so much competing hardware for much longer. At some point the pie will be divided so much with each piece becoming so expensive that at least some players won't be making money any more.
There's no way in hell the movie industry is going to support multiple formats long-term. The average movie renter doesn't know what the hell is going on when they rent and watch a movie. They know that they're putting a shiny thing into a magic box and they get to see Shitty Marvel Comics Adaptation 2007. DVD has major benefits over VHS, and they're easily explained. DVDs and VHS cassettes are easily differentiated from each other. This is why DVD has been so successful; it was time for a change, and that change was relatively easy for consumers to understand. For the average consumer, HD-DVD and BluRay do not offer a major benefit over DVD, and they certainly aren't easily differentiated from each other.
In my estimation, studios and related electronics manufacturers do not want multiple formats. More formats means more expenses for less profit. It means more confused consumers who may become adverse to all of the products involved. It just doesn't make sense. Quite honestly, I think the fact that both sides allowed this HD-DVD/BluRay war to occur on store shelves just reflects how little respect and consideration these corporations have for their customers. A whole bunch of people are going to end up with very expensive paperweights and coasters; a whole lot of stores are investing all sorts of resources into products with no chance of long-term success.
In short, multiple physical formats, at least on the movie side of things, is a bad situation for everyone involved.
Fuck them both... Just go buy a DvD DVR recorder and just get videos on demand and shazaamm .. HD qaulity and all..
Plus most movies are on Cable TV about three weeks after it hits dvds.. Counting if you have the movie channel...
Returning Dtoiders: login now to post a comment
Destructoid is an open discussion community. You don't need to "audition" to post a comment - just Create an avatar now - it's fast and free: PLUS you also get your own gaming blog and begin posting stories and uploading videos in our open community area that may also appear on our home page. Sign up and we'll guide you through it, it's easy and 100% anonymous.