NYT Confirms Movie Studios Paid to Support HD DVD

An anonymous reader writes "The New York Times has confirmed the story that Paramount and DreamWorks Animation were paid $150 million for an exclusive HD-DVD deal that will last 18 months. 'Paramount and DreamWorks Animation declined to comment. Microsoft, the most prominent technology company supporting HD DVDs, said it could not rule out payment but said it wrote no checks. "We provided no financial incentives to Paramount or DreamWorks whatsoever," said Amir Majidimehr, the head of Microsoft's consumer media technology group.'" We discussed Paramount's defection on Monday.

Comments

Checks

[revengebomber]

Microsoft, the most prominent technology company supporting HD DVDs, said it could not rule out payment but said it wrote no checks. The mafia always pays in cash.

Re:Checks

[profplump]

Either the reporter is an idiot, or Microsoft is full of shit.

I suspect those aren't mutually exclusive options.

Re:Yeah... So?

[Cassius Corodes]

I did. (Nah I'm just kidding)

Apparently

[kilgortrout]

the checks were actually written by some Canadian company called BayStar Capital.

Arghhh

[Anonymous Coward]

I have a 720p projector. It looks fantastic showing HD-DVD, which I picked at random. It is really nice to get away from lame DVD artifacts, and I figure if blu-ray wins, I'll finally have an excuse to buy a PS3. But let's summarize the other options, based on previous slashdot articles:

0) "I haven't watched anything on a TV since 1970 and now I'm Jesus Christ"
1) "Even if you don't watch broadcast TV, all movies are crap too. Ditto for music."
2) "I watch TV and movies, but who would pay for them when you can steal, I mean find them online?"
3) "I've never bought a DVD, so they'll pry $25 out of my hands for a blu-ray/hd-dvd disc when hell freezes over - I get them from the library, which is also my only social outlet"
4) "I'll buy hd-dvd/blu-ray when it costs $10 and the discs are $1. My VCR is still running."
5) "Physical media is dead anyway, in fact I don't even _type_ anymore because it involves physical contact."
6) "All video formats are the same, and anyone who says otherwise is blind... I love my 12" vga monitor!"
7) "LINUX LINUX LINUX!!!! Microsoft can suck my dick."
8) "They all use DRM, so I'm going to boycott life, as soon as I get one."
9) "First post!"
10) "All companies are run by Nazis who also control your congresspeople, and you live in a police state that just wants to monitor what you watch. It's too late to do anything about it, but I'm Canadian, which means I'm an expert on how the US sucks."
11) "DVI / HDMI / HDCP / WTF"

So in summary, I have seen an actual HD-DVD played back on a quality LARGE screen, and it looks very very nice.
Probably too good for you, if you don't care about movies. Or if you have anything less than a 60" screen,
which is the same thing. I am COMPLETELY PISSED that there are two formats, and that the movie studios won't do both formats. Is it that big of a deal to master two discs? What a cluster fuck. If money changes hands, whatever. Hopefully there will be a decent dual format player soon. And don't get me started on why I can't rip a movie I paid for legally!

Re:So what?

[Bartab]

We don't eat humans because that would be a huge disease vector. Duh.

Re:So what?

[ThePiMan2003]

I lived in your house while you were on vacation
Sure! I need someone to look after the place when I am gone. First week of October good for you?

Re:So what?

[pAnkRat]

Brings to mind the flipside of "living doll" by Cliff Richards and the Young Ones:

Neil: What, wait, I tought Capitalism was about "the best ideas rising to the top"
Mike: No Neil, that's sex, captitalisn is about making money.

Re:So what?

[jon287]

My property is protected by a Smith and Wesson granted monopoly.