Blu-ray Mounts An Offensive

The gloves are off. Backers of the high-definition Blu-ray Disc format are staging a two-day offensive in Hollywood this week, touting their triumphs and offering previews of upcoming releases such as Cars, Ratatouille, the "Die Hard" movies, Dirty Dancing and Spider-Man 3 to a crowd of more than 50 influential print and online journalists.

Representatives of all the Blu-ray-exclusive studios - Lionsgate, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment - were in attendance as were key executives with supporting consumer electronics manufacturers such as Sony, Philips and Panasonic.

Also there was Dan Silverberg, VP of high-definition media for Warner Home Video, which since Paramount's move to the HD DVD camp is the only studio to support both next-generation formats.

The press was given a fact sheet of more statistics and Blu-ray milestones, including the fact that even in a week in which Transformers came out on HD DVD and with no comparable title in its lineup, Blu-ray Discs still managed to outsell discs in the rival format. So far this year, Blu-ray titles have outsold HD DVD titles by a 2-to-1 margin. Since inception, Blu-ray software sales have accounted for 61% of high-def disc software sales. And 17 of the 20 top-selling high-definition disc titles are available on Blu-ray.

There also were indications that the Blu-ray camp is done playing nice. At the entrance to the opening breakfast, at the Hollywood and Highland complex, was a huge blowup of a Deadline Hollywood article by renegade online columnist Nikki Finke. The article raised questions about Paramount Home Entertainment's claim that it sold 190,000 copies of Transformers on HD DVD in a single week.

Later in the day, on the 20th Century Fox lot, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment president Mike Dunn blasted Paramount for its defection, accusing the studio of "taking the bait," referring to a reported $50 million payout to drop its support of Blu-ray Disc and release titles exclusively in HD DVD.

[damnwrx]

"I Do Blu"

[Liquid Ocelot]

me too. LOL!!!!
OK being serious now i hope Blu-Ray wins though i probably end up being disagreed with for saying that.

[marinelife9]

Paramount only got 50 million? I thought it was 150 mill.

[ruibing]

With Disney and Pixar taking care of the family movies and then the rest taking care of all the other genres, BD has exclusives across the board. Now with BD-R/RW burners already in second generation and cheap organic dyes coming out for them, it will slowly replace DVD.

HD-DVD's counter is to slash prices on HD-DVD players, the cheapest one is $200 but can only display 1080i (what's the point on future proofing yourself with next gen hi-def with 1080i?). In the meantime, you can get a $400 bundle with a BD player and a PS3 (I'm just talking about the 40GB PS3) that takes care of the entire family's next gen entertainment needs.

[WilliamRLBaker]

is this the 2nd or 5th offensive so far by blu ray?

(sarcasm by the way)
there are more offensives by blu ray then hd dvd ever thought....

[ENNO]

Usually the one with the most offensives is the one that wins the war...lol @ you douche!!

[ArmrdChaos]

The side that WINS the most offensives is the one that usually wins the [email protected]

[unlimited]

paramount was being stupid goin exclusively to hddvd..lol..the money makin business is with blue ray..

[mighty_douche]

paramount signed the deal quite some time ago and at the time probably thought it would be a much closer race, as i see it they actually stand to lose money from making that deal. Transformers alone would have made them millions if it was on blu-ray.

give it till the end of the 18 month deal and watch how paramount start kissing some serious blu-ray ass!

corporate slags, nothing more.

[zsscommand]

Oh it's on!

[goodganja]

Let Paramount go the way of the Capcom. They'll be losing more money than they can gain back.

I'm hoping Sony Pictures stabs Capcom in the back for the RE movie sequel and leave them high and dry.

P L A Y B 3 Y O N D

[resistance100]

Blu-ray

Entertainment like.no.other

I just hope this 'war' will end so i can get transformers on blu-ray and then i'm happy. Thank god my ps3 upscales DVD's at least

[xm15e2s]

Blu-ray knows that HD-DVD is going to have a very happy holiday season. ; )
Toshiba already has sub-$200 HD-DVD players out on the market! In fact, it appears that the A3 is going to be available for $169 at Sears on Black Friday!
Those prices are going to do far more to drive sales than a few retarded Blu-ray exclusives ever could.
Blu-ray is in very, very deep sh!t.

[PStriple703]

Ok the price for the hd dvd player is nice, but hd dvd doesn't have a big variety of movies like blu-ray

go too best buy and see the blu-ray section compared to the hd section....

[Liquid Ocelot]

Say whatever you want xm15e2s if it make you sleep easyer.

[power091999]

This is based on what?

A $200 HD-DVD device that Wal-Mart is selling.

I hate to say it but, it will take more than that to pursaude people to buy one unit over another. Although I agree price is usually the driving factor.

In this case I really don't think it will play too big of a roll.

Of course that's my opinion.

I really think this is going to drag out another year or so. I do however see Blu-Ray winning in the end.

[PStriple703]

i'm buying spiderman today!

[Vulcan Raven]

Once Spiderman sales figures come out, i think we will see an even more lopsided number for that week 3-1. Then once pirates 3 comes out hd-dvd's ship is sunk. Not even shrek3 will be able to mount a comeback.

[ITR]

Sony is betting everything on Spiderman3. Thats why you'll see it bundled with PS3's and Sony BD players.
We have 40 BDPS300's with S3 BD movie and special box.

Spidey was ok for me. I'm a big comic book follower, but S3 was just ok for me.
S1 and 2 were so much better..especially in pacing and less corny.

Shrek3 just sucked...I'm sorry but it did.

Transformers on the other hand made me feel good to spend $7 bucks at the theater.
Unlike the recent SAW4...release.

[trane07]

They didn't make the move because they liked hd-dvd, they did it for the money. Right after the 16 months expect them to promote blu-ray like crazy. They simply did it for the payout to the losing format.

If hd-dvd loses, Paramount got their money's worth from them. And its not like paramount's move to support hd-dvd hurts blu-ray massively. Transformers didn't even make a scratch.

[xm15e2s]

I sleep just fine, Chris03.

Instead of counting sheep, I count the hundreds of dollars I saved by going with HD-DVD. ; )

[Liquid Ocelot]

whatever makes you sleep better.

[SmokeyMcBear]

oh i see.. you got your words mixed up there.. where it says dollars saved.. yeah.. you should replace that with flushed down the toilet.. there ya go

[athlon770]

With no movies to purchase since only a handfull of studios supporting it I am sure you are saving money left and right. Anyway, enjoy your expensive dvd upscaler, better sell that HD-DVD on ebay now and hope some other fool buys it.

[hahahabutt]

And you know what, that sucks. they should call this site news for movies.com a.k.a n4m.com... I swear blu-ray needs to do alot to even take HD-DVD down (any movie lover knows the truth about this race), remember you guys probably dont even own a high def disc yet. and i bet that everyone on this site would say yes i do, when it's probably like 2% who actually does. I own high def discs. all you guys do is talk the same mombo jumbo. Blu-ray this or HD-DVD that... lets talk about games!!!!!!!!

[yeh]

That have a PlayStation 3 would like to see the format we have in our system succeed. Our games are printed on those blu-ray discs. We support them, we want them to win. They're winning.

[drtysouf21]

commenting in a story that you don't desire to read or see on N4G? Read all the gaming stories if you feel like that. All it takes is NOT clicking on the story you know.

Also

Blu-ray standalones are considered TECH their is a TECH section on N4G
Blu-ray Is built into the PS3 and all PS3 games are on Blu-ray their is a PS3 section
Blu-ray drives are available for PC and their is a PC section on this site

So blu-ray Information and news matter to a lot of people that frequent this site.

For those that don't like it don't complain just don't read them and move on its really that simple.

[mighty_douche]

this article is under the 'industry' tab, there for it does deserve its place on this site. look under the 'ps3/360/pc/wii' setions if you want gaming news.

with regards to "any movie lover knows the truth about this race" im not sure what your implying, are you suggestting all the blu-ray fans are not movie lovers?? cos i sure as hell am, oh and heres a few other blu-ray supporters that i think you may consider movie lovers, steven spielberg, ever heard of him? what about Micheal Bay, ring any bells? well ill post a quote from him shall i...

"As a director, my critical eye is that Blu-ray is where my money is,"

[hahahabutt]

lol. support a company who wants to rape thier customers for thier money. Trying to wipe out the compition so it won't ever have to improve anything. The day you ever see a HD-DVD in action you would see what i mean. HDi is all i have to say. you gamers dont no anything about movies so you wouldn't care. Guys like you are the reason the market today is all messed up. I buy cuz its in my playstation 3. oooooo..... lol

[drtysouf21]

It all makes sense now your nothing but a PS3 hater and for your info i own a 360 and the HD DVD add-on so i have interest in both blu-ray and hd dvd. you talk just like cdzie1 or whatever his name is and i have him on ignore looks like i'll be adding you to the list.

And trust me I know alot about movies which is why i own a 65in 1080p DLP and i get the satisfaction of having both formats because i own a PS3 and an HD DVD add on for my 360.

Your anti blu-ray remarks aren't gonna keep us from buying blu-ray and it definately ain't gonna stop blu-ray from stomping hd-dvd's ass in sales. So your only preaching to yourself.

So now i'll be your first ignore.

[b777conehead]

organiccell your wrong about the ps3 i would have bought it if it didn't have blu ray player but some other storage format for just games hopefully high capacity as dvd-9 is getting to small for games. i would have bought a blu-ray if the ps 3 didn't have it.i am a electronic technical person and do research .i did research on blu-ray and hd-dvd and i choice blu-ray. the higer storage, better quality .not just 1 manufaturers of players versus toshiba for hd-dv that tells me a lot there . and more studios support the big reason.a lot of people thank sony was not smart putting the blu ray in the ps3 .but they were smart to get blu ray players in the hand of consumers and win the format war. if i owned a business like sony i would defiantly try to get things in consumers hands especially something that plays movies as most people will continue to purchase movies and make more money for your company .and isn't that what companies are in business for

[Bleucrunch]

Blu-Ray allllllllllll the way, everyone will join soon enough. hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha haaaaaaaa

[b777conehead]

every body has there oppinons organic cell.you like hddvd i like bluray .i am a true movie lover but i suport blu-ray and i guess since blu-ray movies outsell hddvd 2to1 that other movie lovers out there suport blu-ray as well.what dose the format have to do with being a movie lover are not. i have a girl friend thank you very much and i am 43 years of age far from a teenage boy.

[hahahabutt]

Go to dvdtown.com or highdefdigets.com/ everyone on those sites are tru movie lover and straight up for hd-dvd, Why. because it's actually a non-rushed format that has lots of goodies. Space dont mean anything with out all the cool stuff. swear you blu-ray people make me so happy because I know you have no logic, just teenage boys with no girl friends..lol

[Darkiewonder]

yep ;)

Because If it wasn't, I wouldn't be online right now lawlz.

[b777conehead]

i went to both of the sites you mentioned.i just saw news and info and reviews on all formats.on highdefdigest i read the spiderman 3 they said sony did a nice job on the pq and aq. they seem like neutral sites .so i don't see your point organiccell

[athlon770]

From small minds come small ideas. You will be supporting HD-DVD two years after they close their doors! Wake up man, open your eyes. The support for your format is dwindling and I am very sorry for your loss but their has to be a winner and a loser. The HD-DVD side tried to make a good run, but the rest of us that did their research choose BD as the format of choice. Have a nice life, sell the HD-DVD and get into BLUE!

Oh, and do be careful, it looks like your bubbles are dwindling as fast as the support for HD-DVD!

[HondaSIRowner]

Price cut for HD-DVD yes, with no full 1080p support, but where are the titles?

HD-DVD HAD its CHANCE to TAKE the LEAD With Transformers, but FLOPPED on a high level. LMAO..LOL.

What HD-DVD movie is supposed to compete with Spierman3 and Ratatouille right now? what?

[hahahabutt]

blu-ray was giving away lots of free disney movies during the week of transformers. it was consider as a sale. Transformers straght woped blu-rays a$$ if it was not for disney losing over 25 dollars for evey movie they sold (giving away a free disney movie with a purchase of one). the websites above all explain that.

[Kyur4ThePain]

Are you done now?
Or are you going to use the EDIT feature to keep making that noise?
Please be a man and realize that you've used up your speaking privileges in this thread and be quiet now.

[PStriple703]

he is trying so hard, it's so cute, lmao just say it "HD DVD is losing!"

[b777conehead]

regardless of what disney did you would thank all those movie lovers you say that support hddvd would have made that the biggest selling hd movie to release so far. it would have propyl been the best selling hd movie if it had been on blu-ray . so where are all those true movie lovers hddvd supporters you talk about . i thank they went blu

[mighty_douche]

dude $25???? each one probably cost disney like less than $1, and perhaps your right transformers MAY of been a bigger hit if it wasnt for the disney promotion but blu-ray had the forstight to predict it.

please tell me of a single week when HD-DVD has out sold Blu-ray? but i thought all the 'movie lover' where buying HD-DVD, guess there must be a hell of alot of movie haters buy movies on blu-ray then huh?

and with regards to your previous comments suggestting "no girlfriend and a teenager" the fact that you even wrote something like that proves to me that you infact meet that criteria exactly.

[unlimited]

seriously let it go..HDDVD isnt going no where..by 2008 blue ray will take over..everyone who been keepin up with blue ray and hddvd battle know its goin to happen..why defend hddvd?? unless u own one..lol..only movie i want to get is transformer but im not stupid to cough my money up for it..it will come out for blue ray soon.. and i already got it on dvd..

[HarryEtTubMan]

I'm getting a PS3 and I'm going to support Blu ray. Bluray is the best and is winning. Don't be mad if you decided to "jump in" to early and now every Company and electronics distributer supports Blu ray instead of what you thought would win... boo hoooooo. Obviously they ALL see Bluray as the format with the "cool stuff"

[joevfx]

wow those comments by Warner VP definitly sounded like they might turn blu by CES this year. THat can end it for HD DVD, $200 players and all.

[Pain]

This holiday is going to be a Mess! But ill Have fun watching Blu~ woop HD stupid.
Tranformers&Shreck Cant help u now hddvd. And With More People Finaly getting therr
Facts right about What Fomat "is" Clearly the beter product the end is near.

p.s From all the news and hear say about this format war it only seems to come from US, the rest of us already know what the 'winner' *cough* right choice is and its NOT 1080i player..........save yur pennies!

[HondaSIRowner]

BR didn't have any movie/movies that were in the same league to go against Transfomers during that period. Still BR continued to hold the lead during that week and an all time lead in this war.

But still people refuse to listen. My point is this, WHAT movie does HD-DVD have to combat Spderman3 and Ratatouille? Also who's to say BR players won't get price cuts?

Your probably mad because the BDA are now going hard and are not stopping till they've won.

Who is leading the Promotional scene for the High-Def war RIGHT NOW?

Blu-Ray!

organic=owned!

[DJ]

And with worlwide Blu-ray movie sales enjoying a 4:1 lead over HD-DVD, there's not much reason to even bother with Toshiba's format. I only know one person that supports HD-DVD, and the reason he claims it's better for movies is because "it...it has something in there that makes it better." Yes, that is a direct quote. Oh, and he thinks Blu-ray has too much space (had me laughing forever).

Which reminds me, Blu-ray movies are starting to get cheaper than HD-DVD movies due to their high popularity. I just picked up Memento (BD) for $14.99 the other day off of Amazon. Still waiting for Fox to release Star Wars on Blu-ray as well, which would probably shatter BD sales. Lucas better offer the original version of the first trilogy though (but with remastered visuals and audio). I don't want no glowing Anakin at the end of Return of the Jedi.

[damnwrx]

SCATTER GRENADE.................(KZ)
CASE: CLOSED

@#22 Just Go Blu and you get lots of benefit from that. lol

[jaja1434]

I'm curious, does a Pixar movie benefit from HD? I'm really not sure but I see it as like how most Disney movies, at least the ones that are cartoons, see no real benefit to going HD. Anyways just a question.

[Pain]

Bought Cars awhile ago for blu~ Looks sweet in HD and borrowed that whats its called
Meet the Robinsons from friend its looks GREAT in 1080p.

[DJ]

all major Pixar movies were rendered in HD, so it does make a noticeable difference. Then again, their DVD transfers were incredibly clean, so I'm not in a rush to repurchase their movies. in hi-def. Definitely getting Ratatouille on Blu-ray though.

[jaja1434]

Ah thanks. :)

[chrno]

The fact is that blu-ray has already won in Europe and Japan - fact. The only war going here is in the US.

[darkvenom]

my opinion Blu-ray is the clear winner in this format war,and once Warner goes Blu exlusive that will be another nail in the Hd-dvd coffin. Na! Na!Na! Hey! Hey! Goodbye!

[cmrbe]

The Blu camp needs too as the 199 Hd-dvd will be a major boost to the Hd-dvd camp. I am gald that they are now moving to try and end this war soon. With the biggest support from the content providers as well as manufactures. The war imo is still for Blu camp too loose. They need to constantly remind the public about this fact and also the fact that the PS3 could be counted as Blu ray player. Whats the point of getting a cheap HD-dvd player if you can only a few blockbuster movies on it?. This is sort of message they should be conveying as well.

[Shaka2K6]

Yeah just like the x360 is dead in Japan and Europe only a matter of time of time for the USA and BOOM!!! Sony wins again.