Comments on: Gartner Predicts HD Format War Winner

By: Brendon Clune

Brendon Clune — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 14:25:01 +0000

I'd be surprised if blu ray won because if u look at not only the players themselves but the tv's and gaming systems that bak these products, HD DVD has a big lead aside from setbacks (Warner Brothers…) The Xbox 360 is much more poular then the PS3 and the HD plaayer are much cheaper then the blu ray ones. You also have to look at the media on each format, as sad as it is 2 say this, the first side 2 allow porn studios to record on their format will gain a huge upper hand and sony has been known to be quite reluctant of that i think it's clear that the batle belongs to HD

By: Unbiasedgamer0_0

Unbiasedgamer0_0 — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 14:22:31 +0000

the PS3 will lose. Blu ray might win. The PS3 will lose because 3 games does not a console make. (Ratchet and Clank, Drake's Fortune and Metal Gear Solid four) If Microsoft includes hd dvd players, hd dvd will win because the 360 has, among others: Halo 3,Call of Duty 4, Game Of the Year Bioshock and solid state media.

By: pm

pm — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 14:20:15 +0000

Oops, I forgot about licensing fees, that can add to profits too. Still, one format would've been easier on consumers. :)

By: pm

pm — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 14:15:45 +0000

I agree with Simon that an end to the war is generally good (especially for people like me who decided at the beginning to stick with standard dvd's until all this is sorted out…maybe longer :) ). But I think it would've been better to not have a war at all. If all the companies had agreed on one format before release (easier said than done!), we wouldn't be in this. I'm not a financial expert but if Sony had backed hd-dvd (ie. never developed blu-ray at all) wouldn't they have made more money? Lower production cost + same retail price = more profit. Maybe they were banking on blu-ray winning so consumers would feel compelled to buy more Sony movies just because (on the winning format) there would be more of them – but that's silly, right?

By: Victor Hooper

Victor Hooper — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 14:05:24 +0000

This is huge news that most people seem to be oblivious to. In a few years, when you go to buy the latest movie-it will be on Blu-ray and everyone will be forced into buying a Blu-ray disk player. I think that as of now Blu-ray players and the whole HD experience is far too expancive then the standard DVD witch as a result will hold the market for some time. Most people would never spend $30+ on a movie, so the price clearly has to drop. In the next decade however, Sony will make billions as HD becomes afordable and Blu-ray disks become the norm. Keep in mind that by this time the 4.7 GB DVD will not hold enough info for most people so the 25 GB Blu-Ray R-W will be introduced as the standard recording format. This is clarly good news for Sony.

By: Simon Cohen

Simon Cohen — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 14:02:54 +0000

It's amazing to see how many comments on this (and the many other HD format pieces we've posted) are talking about winners and losers. Apparently each format has some pretty die-hard fans. What seems to be missing is an acknowledgement that as long as one format eventually emerges as the single HD format, we all – as consumers – win. Isn't an end to the war what we've all been asking for since it began?

By: Justin

Justin — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 13:57:28 +0000

Both to fail? Have you even seen a high defintion movie? HD is not going anywhere, as a matter of fact, the US is going strictly to HD on all there airwaves (television programs) very soon. And I don't think now consumers are confused, there's vanilla and chocolate. Which do you prefer? (Unsure which format to buy- pick your favorite movie and see which format it's on)

By: pm

pm — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 13:55:42 +0000

If it had been a fair market – all studios releasing on both formats – hd dvd almost certainly would've won (if only because it's cheaper). But since Sony owns a good portion of the studios (plus influence on others), they controlled the market and basically told consumers what they were getting instead of letting them choose. I've said for a while "hd dvd -should- win, but blu-ray will."

By: Jake1234

Jake1234 — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 13:48:41 +0000

The only reason MS backed HD-DVD was to draw out the format war and give them time to release an online distribution service. They couldn't give a frack about any of the physical formats and were hoping that continued consumer confussion would lead both to fail.

By: Justin

Justin — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 13:38:43 +0000

….almost forgot! FYI in case it wasn't mentioned anywhere in this posting of Gigs this and upconvert that, all this is futile without a HD TV. You won't experiece anything in high defintion on a 27" tv you've had kicking around for the better part of a decade!