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Paramount to Drop Blu-Ray for HD-DVD
JM78 writes to tell us The New York Times is reporting that Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Animation will be dropping support for Blu-ray Disc and going solely with HD-DVD for their next gen DVDs. "Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of DreamWorks Animation, said consumers seeking to switch to high-definition DVDs will be enticed by the movies available for HD-DVD players. He added the lower price for the Toshiba devices will appeal to the family market. 'It's a game-changer, what they're doing, and it's why we decided to throw in with them,' Katzenberg said."
RS
Shoes for Industry. Shoes for the Dead.
Too much porn on Blu-ray now?
annoying!
Microsoft slashed the price of their HD-DVD addon as soon as Target and Blockbuster decided to only carry Blu-Ray. (Technically Blockbuster stores that already have HD-DVD content can still keep it, but all new purchases will be Blu-Ray solely).
Supposedly, sales of Microsoft's uber-cheap HD-DVD player skyrocketed right after they slashed the price. I wonder if someone at Paramount saw a huge surge in HD-DVD player sales the past two weeks and based their decision solely on that factor. Sure the 360 add-on is cheap right now, but there are two things to consider. First, you really need a nice $400 console to begin with, and then a $179 add-on, versus a $500 or $600 PS3 so the price is basically the same. Second, even if you get the player cheap, what good is it if you won't be able to buy movies for it in the future?
The last big showdown was supposed to be two months back when The Matrix movies were all released exclusively on HD-DVD the same weekend as Pirates 1 and 2 being released exclusively on Blu-Ray. Pirates stomped all over HD-DVD. I'm sure I will come across as a fanboi here, but while competition is good, when it comes to formats, it is better to have one industry standard. Everyone who dumps big money into a format will be pissed if and when that format loses the war. We're only punishing consumers. Even with this switch, the vast majority of the studios are backing Blu-Ray, Blu-Ray offers more storage, Blockbuster is backing Blu-Ray, and so is Target.
All Paramount is doing right now is dragging this out longer than they need to. All the big summer blockbusters will be coming out around November or December, right? Of those big movie purchases that will decide the market in the pivotal holiday season, how many will be Paramount/Dreamworks movies? Transformers and Shrek 3.
Blu-Ray has Pirates 3, Spiderman 3, Harry Potter, 300, Ratatouille, Simpsons, The Bourne Ultimatum, All 4 Die Hard movies, Knocked Up, Oceans 13, Fantastic Four 2, Surf's Up (never underestimate DVD sales on a kid's movie like this), Rush Hour 3, etc.
People forget that Blu-Ray had to come from behind, and is establishing a sizable lead, and after the holiday season, that lead should widen significantly. It should also be noted that Warner Brothers committed to release all their content on Blu-Ray as well eventually, so the Matrix movies will be getting Blu-Ray releases as well, which takes away one of the big current HD-DVD exclusives.
http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
This move makes no sense. Consumers have spoken and they prefer Blu-Ray by a 2-to-1 margin. Yet here Paramount comes and drops Blu-Ray for HD-DVD. Paramount is trying to dictate to consumers what product to buy. If history has told us anything it's that when belligerent companies try to force their unwanted product on consumers, the product always fails. Paramount is about to learn the hard way.
I predict Paramount will sell very few HD-DVD discs and end up abandoning the format in favor of the consumer-preferred Blu-Ray. Dropping Blu-Ray for HD-DVD is like dumping your super model girlfriend to date Rosie O'Donnell.