Sony "Open To Discussions" On Format Wars

It has been revealed that Sony is offering to discuss the terms of the next-generation format wars with Toshiba between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. Sony has always been confident in the Blu-Ray, saying that it will be the standard for movies and games worldwide. Although Sony's self-esteem has been quite low lately.

"From the point of view to provide the best service to the consumer, one format is better than two. We're open to discussions," commented Sony's Yukinori Kawauchi.

[Juevani]

samurai

[ORIELKILLER]

so will sony give up the blue ray or will toshiba give it up ... isnt more for the same price better ... i have seen hd dvd for like 30 or 25 dollars .. same goes for blueray ... but the different is that blueray holds more ... well anyway ... let see what happen

[shotty]

Physical size doesnt matter. Its the quality of the movies. On HD-DVD they can fit full 1080p with True HD audio and all the bonus content with space to spare so obviously space is not an issue. Also HD-DVD titles use VC-1 which IMO looks tons better than MPEG compression. Come on the reason to go to High Def is to get better quality and as of now HD-DVD is the better quality and its cheaper. And if you have an xbox 360 its only $200 to got HD-DVD.

[ORIELKILLER]

so will sony give up the blue ray or will toshiba give it up ... isnt more for the same price better ... i have seen hd dvd for like 30 or 25 dollars .. same goes for blueray ... but the different is that blueray holds more ... well anyway ... let see what happen

[Gears]

Are going to throw in the towel and let HD-DVD be the standard. It is outselling Blu-Ray tremendously this holiday season plus the PS3's are not selling like Sony and their fanboys hoped. I can pick up a PS3 right now, they have 6 at Gamestop a mile from my house. They said they can't get rid of them, and we laughed together, I guess everyone hates sony and the new 3D0.

[Rooted_Dust]

Really? Then pick one up and ship it to me, because I would love one.

[Gears]

But it would hurt my image if anyone seen me with a PS3, only fanboys buy those.

[5asawi]

better a fanboy than a retard hahaha

[Gears]

http://www.jolt.co.uk/index...

Sony has lost confidence iin Blu-Ray, HD-DVD will be the format standar, the DVDForum already decided that long ago. Read the article in the link above, and get your fanboy kleenexes because you are going to need them, Blu-Ray will only be used for games for the PS3. LOL LOSERS

[frostbite06]

Seriously dude, just say the ps3 sucks and get done with it. You are starting to sound like a retard.

[RealityCheck]

With over 1 million Blu-ray players now in homes in the US and Japan (PS3 + standalone), it gives Sony new leverage to convince Toshiba to consider an alliance rather than a drawn out war. They could cross license Blu-ray technology in exchange for the HD-DVD name and VC1 license.

[hitthegspot]

If your numbers are true then tell us here why HD DVD is out selling the Blue crap that Sony is trying to shove down consumer throats? Check out the numbers on Amazon. It might be because HD DVD is a consumer conscious product that empowers the consumer. Not like Blu-g_a_y Disks that are not consumer friendly… Point in fact some HD DVDs come in dual formats DVD and HD DVD with other similar features soon to come (compare the specs). Deal with that. Sony is going down the wrong path yet again by alienating their consumer’s best interests….

[ORIELKILLER]

i mean ... HDDVD movies cost the same as the Blueray ... and the way they look on my 1080p hdtv is the same ... so wat makes hddvd better then blueray ...

[RealityCheck]

As my header suggested "New footing" implies a change has happened, in this case in installed base of players. HD-DVD has been out longer whereas the PS3 arrival is fairly recent so it makes sense that HD-DVD has been selling more titles up to now. My point was that the change in situation could bring compromises and cross-licensing between Sony and Toshiba. A single standard would really help speed adoption and help consumers. I personally do not care who "wins" as long as all titles are available in a single format supported by all hardware manufacturers.

[power of Green]

It's a better value, besides mom and dad can buy a collection of HD-DVD's for movie night for the family, then little timmy and teenage stacy can watch those HD-DVD's in their rooms on a DVD player. lol $1000.00, come on bro!; did you really expect/think one thousand dollar HD-DVD player's would appeal to the masses?, the bulk of consumers are WalMart budget shoppers and are the bulk of any consumer electronic base.

People might still think HD-DVD looks better than Blu-ray from past reviews.

[Boink]

blu-ray is failing, I hope HDDVD is next. sony and toshiba will get exactly what they deserve...

[Krimson]

The companies definitely need to swallow their pride and merge the formats. I think the stalemate is just a turn off to new buyers and slowing down the adoption rate (potentially fatal to both). Especially the fact that support from the film companies is segregated between the two. The casual consumers dont want to invest $500+ into new technology and only get to watch 1/2 the movies available as a result.

BR is definitely the better format disc but they need to just cut the Mpeg-2 bullshit out completely. 50GB + VC-1 is the future. ;)

[0ldb0y]

I don't care which format overtakes the other, or if there is some sort of "merge." I just want one, single format. Somebody please win this damn war. As with all wars, almost everybody loses one way or another. In this case, the consumers, the backing studios, and the damn producers of each technology themselves.

What a waste.

[BIadestarX]

"From the point of view to provide the best service to the consumer, one format is better than two. We’re open to discussions" ohh now they are interested on "the best service of the consumer"? come on Toshiba don't fall for it. Sony has too much influence in the marketting; which is why you see blu-ray marketting everyone and almost none for HD-DVD and yet, HD-DVD is selling better. Now, if blu-ray players can also, read hd-dvd sony would have a better chance. Forget that and let their format die. I hope microsoft has a saying in this.

[JoelEH]

"Open for Discussions?" hmmm sounds fishy.

[power of Green]

Open Discussion, Nah!, it's more like Sony's begging Toshiba to let them in on the action or their finished.

[Fuzz McDeath]

Did no one fail to realize that this story (posted on Digitalbattle.com and Jolt.co.uk) are recycled from a 18 month old story on www.gamesindustry.biz? that's what I hate about these blogs, you guys don't check your sources. You just lift a story from another site, who in turn lifted it from a third site, which recycled it from a forth site.

go see the original article from APRIL 2005!!!
http://www.gamesindustry.bi...

Sony is not giving up on Blu-ray without a fight, they've got too much riding on it.

Although, I do personally think HD-DVD will win, because it will capture the mindshare of the average consumer

[Fuzz McDeath]

just check the quote from Yukinori Kawauchi - its the same.

[xfrgtr]

yeah!!! I JUST FOUND OUT IT IS OLD NEWS
http://www.gamesindustry.bi...
"From the point of view to provide the best service to the consumer, one format is better than two. We're open to discussions," said Yukinori Kawauchi, the general manager heading up the next-gen DVD project at Sony's Video Group." 18/04/05

[shysun]

I hope they merge!

[OC_MurphysLaw]

They introduced the HD-DVD and DVD combo format on many movies. From what i understand you can watch in a regular DVD player and then watch in HD-DVD when you upgrade. Better long term investment that isn't forcing consumer to buy player right now.

[FFVIIFan]

Who has the most to gain from giving up on their format. I'd say Toshiba would be more willing because the PS3 audience will build. Anyone check the sales on those HD-DVD add ons for the 360...not so great. It'll bring your xbox 360 up to a 700 price tag, the same as sony, but with the yearly 50, you're paying more. So people with the ps3 already have the next format. Sure Sony has an image crises righ t now, but it has major industry suport from the majority of movie companies. Toshiba won't be blind to that. Now it's possible Sony will drop Blu Ray, but I think it's more likely that Toshiba will drop HD-DVD.

[power of Green]

LOL. What choice does Sony have; they have so much invested in Blu-ray/PS3 it's either beg for unity or fail in those markets.

one thousand dollar HD-DVD player's when folks save for years to get a HDTV, Yah! right!, folks will look for the product that has equal feature's and the same qaulity and they will always choose the cheaper simular product.

This is a sign of weakness, expect Sony stock to fall agian.

Toshiba can take Blu-ray in my opinion it would be foolish to join; as HollyWood would more than likely dump Sony as they did with Betta MAx.

[Arkham]

This isn't a sign of anything, it's something that was said over a year and a half ago when Sony was still willing to work things out with Toshiba.

[power of Green]

Dam! i wish i could take the "Unity" and and the "stock" part out of the post, oh well.

[MicroGamer]

Open to discussion=willing to accept Toshiba's surrender. It ain't gonna happen.

[DJ]

for every 10 PS3s, it doesn't look like toshiba's format is going to have much of an impact. And with Blu-ray catching up to HD-DVD movie sales, it's obvious that Toshiba is going to have to do something quick.

A lot 360 fans here prefer to paint Sony as the creator of many failed formats, when in reality it's just the advancement of technology. Betamax failed, and that was it. Sony learned their lesson from that moment on. UMD is doing great, especially since it was built for games and simply allows for movies as well. Minidisc beat out its rival format, but both were overtaken by the advent of MP3 players. In fact, Walkman evolved and is now an mp3 player as well. Memory Stick is doing great, and in fact Sandisk actually does a better job with the cards than Sony, so I recommend that brand heavily.

Blu-ray is poised to do even better since it's not strictly a Sony format. Sony knows that hogging technology all to themselves is suicidal, and thus they simply support this format, along with 130 other major companies. Sony simply has a lot of leverage because they directly/indirectly own half the movie industry, a significant chunk of the music industry, and are #1 in both HDTV sales and Videogame Console sales.

A good 90% of the industry supports Blu-ray over HD-DVD, and that number keeps increasing with every month. Even if Toshiba's format survives, it won't get very far, especially with the probability of over 100 million Playstation 3s being sold over the next 6 years.

Blu-ray was put in for games, but for the PS3 to be truly successful, Blu-ray movie functionality had to be put in. It adds no additional hardware cost, but adds $600~$1000 worth of value to consumers. Even Microsoft woke up and tried to add HD movie functionality at the last second, something that they should have realized when they made a console that requires an HD video display to begin with.

[testerg35]

UMD is doing great? So Sony wasn't pushing this as another movie media? Is that why they packed the PSP with a copy of Spiderman instead of a game? Last I checked everyone movie studio has pulled out of the UMD format.

"Blu-ray was put in for games... It adds no additional hardware cost..". Again, if they are pushing for games, then why give a movie as a freebie instead of a game? And Sony gave me the Blu-ray for free? Wow.. you're telling me if Sony didn't just put a dvd player it would not have just cost around $350-$450 to the consumer and Sony wouldn't take just a big lost on each console?

Atleast with MS, the HD-DVD hardware is optional. Its easier to pay for the game console and then later get the HD-DVD.

[DJ]

They released PSP with movie playback capabilities since UMD stores exponentially more data than the cartridge formats offered by Nintendo (who in retrospect doesn't even offer movie playback on their handhelds).

But two things conspired against that market. Sony had a hands-off approach and was kind enough to let movie studios price the movies themselves...which led to extremely high prices. People were paying twice as much on versions of films that had less features than their DVD counterparts, which was foolish on the studios' part.

Sony should have been stricter, and in fact they're working to reboot the UMD movie market by releasing the films at a much lower price point (UMDs are physically smaller than DVDs, which is a main reason why they're percieved as lower in value by consumers).

As shown in Japan, Paramount UMD films that were dropped to $10 each sold 5 times faster than when they were priced at $20~25.
----------------------------- --------------
"And Sony gave me the Blu-ray for free? Wow.. you're telling me if Sony didn't just put a dvd player it would not have just cost around $350-$450 to the consumer and Sony wouldn't take just a big lost on each console?"

Actually, yes. The Blu-ray drive cost $110 to manufacture (a month ago), and only contributes about 16% of the console's cost. Playstation 3 would have cost $700 to manufacture without the Blu-ray drive, and in fact, it is Blu-ray's storage capacity that gives the PS3 a signficant edge over its competitors.

It was completely necessary, and game developers love having 5~10 times more space for game content. The more, the better, right? If it benefits us, there's nothing wrong with it.

$500 gets you a fully featured PS3 with HD Movie Playback with HDMI output.

$600 gets you a fully featured Xbox 360 with HD Movie Playback, though without HDMI output.

[rexdriver]

It is funny what you say about Blu-ray being "put in for games" but in the same breath compare Toshiba HD-DVD sales to the PS3. Common sense will tell you that the latter was precisely Sony's strategy - Sony was using PS3 as a platform for the initial push of Blu-ray - the movie player and not Blu-ray - the gaming format.

With the PS3, Sony was hoping to kill two birds with one stone. Dominating the console war with the PS brand and dominating the format war with the integrated Blu-ray player. Problem is they can't dominate anything now 'cos of delays and severe shortages in Blu-ray diodes or whatever you call them. So the plan has backfired and they now risk losing both the wars. Isn't this a fact, or are the people still grasping at straws?

So, in reality, Toshiba doesn't have to "do something quick". As of right now, the doom and gloom isn't in their camp. Sony is the one suffering huge losses at the moment and at risk of losing more than just the format war. So it's Sony who is desperately in prayer. The removal of Ken speaks volumes about the situation at Sony.

As for Microsoft "waking up" and "adding HD movie functionality at the last second"... on the contrary, I think this was a brilliant well-timed move on the part of Microsoft to counter the launch of PS3 - the movie player. Although Microsoft does not have a direct interest in the format war, yet they know that if Sony loses the format war, PS3 will also lose. And they're just making sure that gamers who are also movie enthusiasts have an alternative option to having Blu-ray shoved down their throats.

Its all a big game of chess and Sony hasn't been making any right moves as yet despite their huge initial advantage.

[richie007bond]

Well what do u know more bullsh@t from dj,give it a god dam rest man....

[FFVIIFan]

He made valid points, and until one of you can put him in his place with actual facts or another reasonable idea don't same BS BS just because you don't like it. Sony isn't retarded, they got where they are for being smart business people, and just because some of the things they do don't make sense to you, well just think of it like this. Who is a major global company making thousands and millions and billions of dollars, and who is sitting at home saying BS.

[ironwolf]

HD-DVD players and the XBox add on were sold out. PS3s were still in stock and there were stacks of Blu-Ray players.

[NJ1307RSX]

All I can find are xbox 360's. I have never found a single PS3 in stock and even nintendo wii's are rare to find.

The hd-dvd add on is always sold out and the blu-ray Players are always in-stock but maybe the reason for that is that everyone is Planning on buying a PS3 as their blu-ray Player now that the reviews are in and it scored as the best blu-ray Player currently in the market!

Also I think the xbox 360 sales are somewhat low considering it had a 1-year head start, 8 million in 1 year is not impressive considering there was no competition.

[pshizle]

not everyone has the 400$. I believe that they will hit 10mill 360s sold around the world at the end of the year =)

for myself i have a

360
HD DVD player of 360 and its amazing
ZUNE

HD DVD > Bluray

price will be the issue not that many people are going to spend 1,000 and not everyone is going to buy a ps3 just for a bluray player...

HDDVD has better picture VC1 nuff said

[FeralPhoenix]

yeah its easy for any of us "gamers" to say HD DVD will win or Blu-ray will win or we like this one over that one, but at the end of the day we dont have anything to lose(or not much, if you paid for one already)....but for a company like Sony who took a huge risk on "one" unproven format the stakes a very high, so maybe, just maybe a compromise would be better than the risk of being left with a "failed format". If Sony was so confident as you are DJ, that Blu-ray will be THE WINNER, then you could bet your SonyVisionGoggles that they wouldn't ever say at this point "We’re open to discussions,” come on DJ, you know as well as I do that when Sony is confident about something they are no way "open to a compromise" -as their statement implies.

[gnothe1]

add on for the xbox!! an Im gonna buy the hd-dvds because if for some reason hd-dvd dont become standard, hd-dvds will play in a regular dvd player.unlike blue ray, them discs only work in a blue ray player, so buying blue ray disc a risk right now!!

[MicroGamer]

HD-DVD won't play in a regular DVD player. That's why you had to buy the HD-DVD add on or else you would have been able to play them in the 360 DVD drive without the add on. Both HD-DVD players and Blu Ray players can play and upscale regular DVD's, though.

[MicroGamer]

Try Target. I noticed the day before Christmas they had some in the XBox 360 display, but they were in the bottom of the cabinet where they were difficult to see. So if you go there look on the lower shelves. You might be able to snag one.

[gnothe1]

talk what you KNOW an not what you THINK!! I can take an HD-DVD dics an put it in a regular dvd player an it works fine, just wont be in HD. so useless you know for sure dont say anything!!now you cant put a blue ray dics in a regular dvd player an expect it to work!!so please do research before tyring to correct other people!!

[Arkham]

WTF are you talking about? You can't play HD-DVDs in anything but an HD-DVD player.

If an HD-DVD disc is released in dual-format, e.g. has a regular DVD version on the flip-side, then yes, of course you can. But you can also do that with a BluRay disc that has dual-formats. You could also have a BluRay/HD-DVD format disc, which apparently is the route some studios are considering.

You should be very, very careful when you yell at someone to do their research.

[gnothe1]

for one, thats what I was saying!! that I can put my HD-DVD in a regular dvd player an watch the movie, it just wont be it HD, regardless if I have to flip it over!!but where in the h3ll did you see anything about the blue ray dics being able to do that!! the dual sided DVD an HD-DVD is only on the HD-DVD format!!the blue ray format is to differnt.the players is what makes the differance, a blue ray player is made to play both formats, but an standard dvd playes cant read blue ray because of the way the disc is made an whats required of the system the run the disc!! now HD-DVD an standard dvds are built the same way read by the machine the same way but 1 uses the HD codecs!!so therefore HD-DVD is a better choice!!

you also talk about a dual format player blueray/HD-DVD, something we wont see for atleast a year or more, why even bring that up, plus it wont affect the PS3 or the xbox360 in anyway!! because I was talking about buying movies for the HD-DVD addon an blue ray movies for the Ps3!!