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No HD-DVD Movies Until April
Jed from Pan and Scan writes "It's official: when the first HD-DVD players are released on March 28, there will be no movie titles available in the new high-def format for at least another three weeks, and far fewer than initially announced. Warner, the only studio that was planning on having HD-DVD movies to accompany the format's much ballyhooed debut, will now release just three initial HD-DVD titles -- and not until April 18."
Since I do not own my DVDs and have already paid a license fee for the content and intellectual property, what fee structure is available for those of us that just want to upgrade to the additional content? Obviously that is not worth re-licensing what we already have, right?
I'm as big a movie fan and geek as anyone. I've got my HD-ready 55" widescreen TV that is aching to take advantage of 720p or 1080i in native resolution, not scaled-up DVD resolution. But frankly I am in no rush for either format to come out for several reasons, not the least of which is the DRM that they're trying to push.
Could it be that perhaps Warner is worried about falling into the same trap that Microsoft fell into by rushing the Xbox 360 to market? Any failings during the official release HD-DVD will be fodder for Sony. If Warner releases their movies and HD-DVD bombs, that's obviously their lost money. They're feeling the water of HD-DVD because, let's face it, Blu-Ray appears to have the most popularity from both a technical and exposure perspective. Sony's recent statement that they will no longer force analog down-converting also helps to bolster their high-def DVD position.
What I'm surprised at is that Warner is releasing movies that really should not be on the forefront of high-def showcasing. If you want a format to succeed, you support it with movies that not only show off what the format can do but also are what have a large fan base! Warner is not doing HD-DVD any service with the titles they're releasing. Million Dollar Baby? The Last Samurai? Phantom of the Opera? Oh my f**king God!!! What the HELL is Warner thinking?!
The people who would buy HD-DVD are those who are movie aficionados, technical geeks, or both. The Matrix should be first and foremost one of the top three HD-DVD releases if Warner really wants to help to push the HD-DVD format into people's homes! Come on! Warner owns New Line Cinema! Why for the love of Pete is the Lord of the Rings trilogy not one of the first releases!
Warner might be delaying to feel the HD-DVD water before taking a dive, but with movies like those three, that's water's going to be REALLY cold, and they're obviously not helping to warm it up! With the movies they're releasing, they're not going to convince anyone to spend the money for HD-DVD.
The Overrated mod is for reversing inappropriate, positive mods, not for voicing disagreement with a post.
How went out and bought a £250 DVD player and Mars Attacks when it first came out?
DVD and VCR are worlds apart. This is more akin to CD compared to one of the newer audio formats like Super-CD or DVD Audio. I don't know a single person who's upgraded their audio and I know a ton of music fans, more so than movie fans. There were great advantages to DVD, this simply isn't the case with Blu-Ray or DVD-HD. Not to even mention the percentage of people who can take true advantage of the formats playback. How many people own a HD TV to make a better viewing experience with? I'm sure this number is much smaller than the number of people who could take advantage of DVDs clearer picture when it first came out... A great margin infact.
I would buy one if I know who was going to win the format wars only so I don't needlessly buy new titles under an older format but without knowing what kind of player I would be able to buy in 3-5 years when my current one dies and not knowing if I'm going to be able to buy new releases for my new player if it loses the format wars in a couple of years I'm a bit stand-offish about buying the new players/media at all. DVD didn't have a competitor, that was acceptable. CDs never had a serious competitor in the early days.
I don't know what to buy and I'm sure Joe Sixpack is even more confussed. My guess? It's going to be at least two years until there is enough of a stir and a clear enough vision of the future until the public accepts this technology on the same level that they accept DVD today.
Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
.. realizes that these new formats are going to flop.
They won't save you if you're down.
They won't make bad movies good; they won't even make ok movies good.
They'll make money off enthusiasts that'll buy a movie they already own in 2-3 formats who just -have- to buy it again.
They won't get people to respect you for a devistatingly lackluster year of movie.
They won't wash the bad taste out of my mouth for putting unskipable anti-priating ads on the DVDs I PAID FOR.
Bye!