CES HD DVD Event canceled due to Warner announcement

Notice of CES Press Conference Cancellation by North American HD DVD Promotion Group

"Based on the timing of the Warner Home Video announcement today, we have decided to postpone our CES 2008 press conference scheduled for Sunday, January 6th at 8:30 p.m. in the Wynn Hotel. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

We are currently discussing the potential impact of this announcement with the other HD DVD partner companies and evaluating next steps. We believe the consumer continues to benefit from HD DVD's commitment to quality and affordability – a bar that is critical for the mainstream success of any format.

We'll continue to keep you updated on new developments around HD DVD."

[GCO Gamer]

Noooooooo...................

[DARKKNIGHT]

" hddvd ces cancelled" : *repercussion of getting owned by blu

[sonarus]

damn... kinda feel bad for them now. Well alls fair in love and format wars.

[gamesR4fun]

reverse lol

[Fototherapist]

PWNED!!!!!!!!!

[kalistyles]

and I have chosen. This is my destiny. To be Blu forever. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

[drewdrakes]

And ill get HD movies cheap as hell when everyone gets rid of their HD DVD stock, everybody wins :)

[stunt213]

if xbox 360 ultimate is true, then i gues they would be releasing a console with dead format lol!!!!!!

[drtysouf 21]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=...

As soon as New Line joins their parent company WB LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY will be BLU-RAY Exclusive!

[aba]

My dad had a laser disk player. I remember going to rent em all the time back in the day.

[craymoogy]

I have one too.

it works really well though. The size that big for such bad storage. Weird.

[rofldings]

LOL

[Naruto]

HAAAAA lol

[Ashta]

whoa...

I can't wait to see the kind of damage control thats going to come out of the HD-DVD camp. I just have a feeling that with the announcement that somewhere someone just crapped their pants from the reverberating "brown tone" that Warner Bros. just sounded off.

[elterrible]

They still have one trump card left and 4 months to change Warner Bros mind...

They'll start selling the HD add-ons for the 360 for $100 as well as the Chinese Branded Players and the Toshiba HD-A3... Before you know it there will be 10 - 15 Million HD-DVD Players on the market and that would be far too large a group for any studio to ignore.

Basically, they're going to get real desperate and it might just pay off.

[diatom]

instead of tossing a few more million in the bin, you'll see Toshiba blu-ray players on the shelves in a few months. These are companies who want to make profits, they are not format evangelists.

[Brian5247]

lol

[coltsfreak18]

i think they just tapped out :D...

ill miss this format war!!!

[Meus Renaissance]

It says they've postponed. Not cancelled it. Am I reading the wrong article here?

[TriggerHappy]

To When though ? GDC ? IF they are missing this opportunity, you could tell something is seriously wrong here homie.

[Rybnik]

Thats part of the damage-control strategy, duh!

[coltsfreak18]

i noticed that as well. CES doesn't exactly last forever. Does it? Postponed until next year... possibly. kidding. i have no clue what they mean by that, actually!

9.4-it was planned for sunday. nobody knows when it will be back on (NEVER).

[Meus Renaissance]

Oh right, I thought it said postponed to Sunday. Wow.

[Rybnik]

Thats part of the damage-control strategy, duh!

[IntelligentAj]

I think they'll postpone it indefinitely until they figure how(if possible)they can recover from that shot Warner gave them.

[Fototherapist]

PWNED!!!!

[funolopy]

The world is changing. Who now has the strength to stand against the armies of Sony and Warner? To stand against the might of Blu Ray and Hollywood and the union of the two towers? Together, Lord Sony, we shall rule this Earth. The old enemy HD-DVD will burn in the fires of industry. Forests will fall. A new order will rise. We will drive the machinery of war with the sword and the spear and the iron fist of the Blu. We have only to remove those who oppose us.

[Brian5247]

Thats a bit dramatic, dont ya think =)

[GIJeff]

watch LOTR wayyyyy too much! ... but i admit that was very funny.

[jorellpogi]

Nice speech Gandalf. LOL

[Fototherapist]

bubbles for you lol.

[chrno6]

like others, I LOL

[TrillHeat954]

I didn't see that coming, don't know whether its cancelled or delayed, the topics misleading

[kalistyles]

Either way, not good for HD-DVD.

[aiphanes]

You can not spin it any other way. Canceled!

[diatom]

It's postponed infinitely.

[harv052]

Yeah. Doesn't surprise me. Of course they have to calculate their next step, whatever that may be...

Here's hoping they'll release their HD-DVD collaborators so they can join blu ray and end this "format war"...

[unlimited]

There are a lot of people putting their HDDVD player and movies on ebay. Toshiba can't do anything else right now. I think their is nothing to change people mind to still support HDDVD..

[unlimited]

wow..it must be really degrading for them to announce this.. they should of known HDDVD is NOT what consumers want and Microsoft just want to prolong the war.They dont care about the format war...

Blu is the future..glad i got my ps3 for mainly games, but using it for blue ray movies is icing on the cake..

[Bladestar]

Blu-ray will win... I'll give you that... but let's not get the consumer involve on this one... cause how can you say what the consumer want if they are not given the choice to pick... You should say that it's what Sony and Studios which Sony have influence over want.... Sony had the support of the movie studios even before blu-ray came out.. and this is no coincidense.... Sony has movies studioes and contacts in the movie industry... Toshiba does not...

NOw, if all studios supported both formats equally and release the movies on both formats... then the consoler would choose.... I mean how can support both formats be bad for the consumer? it's the only way to tell what the consumer really wants... it Sony really wanted the consumer to be the one picking a format then... they wouldnt try so hard as trying to get exclusibity... so, let's not mix things up.. this was never about the consumer.... studios pick the format... not the people... the consumer will have no choice but to pick the only format that's left... regardless of preference....

[HarryEtTubMan]

Bladestar just leave this site man. You are gonna lose at EVERYTHING. You might as well get over it man. You sersiouly are going to lose at EVERYTHING.

[CrazzyMan]

BUT, why should Sony do THAT? For what porpouse?

I mean, yes, it`s good to have a choice, BUT for example you bought a blu-ray movie. Then went to a friend, and in blu-ray as ONE standart you will be able without problems to watch thta movie. And in multiplatform era, that friend could have hd-dvd player(it`s about choice you know). So unless you bring with yourself a blu-ray player or buy hd-dvd movie, which is useless to you, you won`t be able to watch that movie, simply Because of CHOICE.

"Toshiba does not..."
And yeah, it`s sad about Toshiba, they just couldn`t win this format war.

Same will go with x360. BUT i don`t think, that it will be very sad, when M$ will lose with it`s x360. =)

[NoxiousD]

Dang, that message is kind of depressing. But why am I smiling?

[Bladestar]

It's only obvious... or they will look very stupid at CES.... I do believe that Warner played dirty on this one.. and should of give announce their blu-ray jump way before since it was their plans in first place. Warner did spoil HD DVD camp on this one.
I wonder what kind of conversation they will be having with the HD DVD supporting group.

[TrillHeat954]

thats whats exactly making me crack up so hard right now.

[chrno6]

Yeah Warner "played" dirty right, and Paramount did not according to u???

[mccomber]

I think it's something like this:

HDDVD: Hey Warner, we were just out driving around and thought we'd stop by since we were in the neighborhood.
Warner: Look, we told you it's over earlier. Why did you come over?
HDDVD: Well, you haven't answered our calls, and we thought maybe your phone was broken or something. You look great by the way.
Warner: Please, just leave and don't come back. Don't make this harder than it needs to be...

Slamming of door in HDDVD's face.

[CrazzyMan]

so, WB atleast gave Toshiba oportunity to make some money.
But anyway, if WB planed to cancel hd dvd support, then when? after CES? BUT that was inevitable.. so why delay?

[bizi6498]

dude is so funny, woaaaaaahahaha!

[DrPirate]

So much happened today. It's been a while since we haven't had a day like this. Last I remember, E307 was the last time things were this intense. I forgot how much fun it was.

[Xemnas]

.......................rotfl

[heroman711]

this reli sucks for hddvd owners. warner bros make like the best movies

[DeZimatoR]

Damn, the tide is turning...and fast! I mean, we all knew the PS3 was gonna dominate in 2008, but we're only 4 days into 08 and HD-DVD is already dead.

Format war: won

Up next: consolidate amazing comeback by releasing awesome first-party games

:D

The only way the PS3 is going from now on is up, deal with it ppl ;)

[AllroundGamer]

every MS pwnage is a great pwnage :)

[Bladestar]

"every MS pwnage is a great pwnage :)" why is that? while blu-ray and HD DVD kill eachother... all these studios including warner.. disney... and all those blu-ray only supporting studios are releasing their movies.. including in HD on xbox live movie marketplace... movies available only blu-ray are available on xbox live marketplace and movies available only on HD DVD are also available on xbox live... so, tell me... who do you think is really getting pwned?... microsoft currently have the support of the studios exactly where they want them... just because microsoft uses HD DVD against blu-ray it does not mean microsoft is hurting...

[AllroundGamer]

sorry i meant - every MS pwnage is a Bladestar pwnage :D

btw. it's so hilarious when you reply to every comment on N4G, that is badmouthing MS :D

[GIJeff]

the battle is over a 20 billion dollar dvd war. NONE of which has anything to do with marketplace that a few geeks use to get movies. Face it, average people dont even know about xboxs online movies...

What people do know:
1) they like having hard copies of media both for looks and to let friends borrow.
2) Blu Ray is best
3) Blu Ray is replacing DVD, not HDDVD.

[Meus Renaissance]

Paramount are printing their "I Love You Blu-Ray" polo shirts as we speak in preparation for the mass rally they have planned once the HD-DVD contract expires.

[TwissT]

Paramount is like that girl in highschool that picks on the new nerdy kid that liked her(Blu-ray)and goes out with the jock(HD-dvd) , and 2 years into the future that nerdy kid is now popular and rolling in money. And now Paramount comes crawling back to the Nerd (Blu-ray),saying "please except us back" and Blu-ray says "what happened to HD-dvd?" and Paramount says oh I left him with no money and just the kids. lol

[Jandre02]

and wants to find a way out of their contract. This really might be the end then. You just KNOW Blr-Ray is throwing some cash at Paramount at this point. They want to get it all finished by CES

[Bathyj]

Paramount should return the 150M maybe minus a little for the time HDDVD had Transformers exclusively and go BR. They will make it back on Tranformer BR's and other movies. There's no point staying locked to a dead format now, for any amount of money if its going to cripple you long term.

I would think Universal are thinking HARD right now. Someone should reach them for comment. I bet the rumours about them switching will start within the week. Toshiba are probably trying to pony up 500M right now to keep them.

[Shadow Man]

microsoft didn't want to embarrassed themselves with the new HD DVD 360:)

[coltsfreak18]

disaster is what the hd-dvd 360 would have been if they had announced it at CES... it would have been MS's worst move (except maybe vista)

[vloeistof]

the end begins ...

the dark knight is blu !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lol

[pwnsause]

this is when you know HD-DVD is dead, and the domino effect begins...

[ApocalypseShadow]

was going to have bluray built in:

THE TRAIN'S COMING.GET ON BOARD-no.hd-dvd is better.microsoft backs hd-dvd.hd-dvd is going to win.bluray is expensive for ps3.

THE TRAIN'S COMING.GET ON BOARD.no.sony should take bluray out and replace it with dvd.

THE TRAIN'S COMING.GET ON BOARD.no.dvd is good enough.dvd is still winning.

THE TRAIN'S COMING.GET ON BOARD.no.hd-dvd has lower prices and better features.

THE TRAIN'S COMING.GET ON BOARD.no.paramount is backing hd-dvd for 150 million.

THE TRAIN'S COMING.GET ON BOARD.no.toshiba has a lower priced player for $99.it's a great deal.

THE TRAIN'S COMING.GET ON BOARD.no.microsoft is going to announce an ultimate 360 with hd-dvd backed by toshiba.

THE TRAIN'S COMING.GET ON BOARD.CES hd-dvd event canceled.

WE TOLD YOU THIS FROM THE BEGINNING.add-ons don't sell.and will never win unless it is built in.bluray is backed by more companies and sony has more movies they make themselves.

so,i'm not sad at all that we told you again and again bluray was going to win.the sony top dogs told you it was going to win.the insider,scrivener,said bluray was going to win.

do i feel sorry for backers of hd-dvd?hell no.we told you to get on the train or get out of the way.looks like you got ran the f#ck over fanboys.

mag lev........................... ...

[2 cents]

I can`t say i`m surprised about this, i knew all along that Blu will win, but i can say that i`m happy that the tide is finally turning towards the ps3 cos it`s a grate console and it fully deserves it. All we need now is games to further increase ps3 sales.

[CrazzyMan]

They now just surrender..

Toshiba is GOOD hardware company, i feel sorry for them.
Hope they atleast were able to make some profit..

[Ju]

This is priceless. WB took them by full surprise. They didn't see that coming. Hilarious. I wonder what the WB would have said at the press event. "Eat more chickin." or what ? LOL

[Carbon]

Sounds to me that HDDVD backers were sure that they were going to land Warner Productions by now, but now that Warner is going Blu what is there really left to say... I can just think of the outcome... HDDVD dies... which is imminant. Will we see a future Xbox with a Blu-ray drive! If they don't all it will do is hurt them... I feel for them, that's going to be embarrasing.

[Bathyj]

Man, thats the big question.

Will XB3 have BR?

How can they not? Surely they cant stick with DVD again. Or maybe make their own propriety disk like Dreamcast did with the GD-roms. They might do that for the sake of saving face, but it just makes them look all the more pathetic and petty.

Xbox720 BR:The "We were wrong and finally fully admit it" Edition.

[Bnet343]

I don't think they will jump on BR but they should. If anything they will be on the Digital Distribution ship once they get off HD-DVD.

[Bathyj]

Unlikely. No one wants to download all their games. Especially if they're all 30GB which they might be by next gen. They'll need a 500GB HD standard.

M$ will either just have to swallow their pride, build there own or pull out completely.

[Sprudling]

Square Enix, tri-Ace, Level 5, etc will have no problem reaching 50GB games this generation, which is the capacity of a dual layer Blu-ray disc.

[RudeSole Devil]

What kind of bandwidth will you need to download a 20GB HD movie or game with true 1080p and 7.1 uncompressed digital audio. Digital distribution is stupid, this will not happen any time soon. How long does it take to download a 1GB demo through Xbox live???? Thats my point, I'll pay the extra $5 for the hard copy.

[Bathyj]

They're packing up their bat and ball and going home.

Obviously they had no idea whatsoever.

It could have only been worse (funnier) if M$ had announced the Ultimate and then WB dropped the bomb. Would M$ have gone through with it?

[turbogeek]

by Sony. oh man. no HD Dark Knight for you fools HAHAHAHAHA

[n_n]

at least we have Gates' 360 ULITMATE announcement.. wOOt!

[Shaka2K6]

Blu-ray player for Q2-A3 of 2008.

and toshiba satelitte laptop with buil-in Blu-ray drive for the holidays.

Blu-ray
For
The
Mother
*ucking
Win !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!

[Bathyj]

The best thing about all of this?

Zhuk hasn't posted for like 10 hours.

[diatom]

As a member of Microsofts HD DVD Promotional Group, he is now looking for a job.

[Bnet343]

HD-DVD just got their asses handed to them.

[cmrbe]

They didn't know this in advance. Its obvious they just found this out. As i said before. They should do the honorable thing and bow out now with dignity. The writing is on the wall. Any small hope of wining is now dashed for them. I really do genuinely fell sorry for them now and especially for the HD-DVD customers.

[IGNFTW]

MUST BE DOING THE MACARENA RIGHT ABOUT NOW

[cmrbe]

Actually i think all at sony are doing it now haha

[nomad117]

IT's A gOoD... ThInG.... "straightens tie"

GMAN

[Bnet343]

Blu Ray camp offered MS on board, they should of taken it. I bet MS regrets not taking the offer now.

[cmrbe]

I am sure MS will be welcomed with open arms at the blu camp like paramount will be. I read an article that the blu camp still list paramount as a blu backer as they believe paramount will be back. I really do doubt they would let rivalry get in the way of money. In the end it all about the money

[Jandre02]

All they want is for BD/HDDVD to fail. They dont manufacture players like Toshiba, and they arent a studio like Universal.

And Blu-ray doesnt need money at all. If its the only format, it will be accepted by itsself.

[Sev]

When they finally have this canceled Press Conference...
They will be announcing that HD DVD is canceled...

For them to be canceling this press conference proves that there is no coming back.

RIP HD-DVD.

Sony you done it this time.

PS3 helped push Blu-Ray to the finish line. Without PS3 this war could have been alot longer.

Blu-Ray will now return the favor, and effectively bring down the cost of the Blu-Ray drive in the PS3

PS3 drive costs reduced. Value for PS3 goes up due to Blu-Ray.
PS3 price reduced.
PS3 Market penetration increases
PS3 gains more developer support.

[shoota33]

I was thinking that also that pretty soon they will have a press conference throwing in the towl,and toshiba joining the bda.

[Doctor Strange]

This really hurt HD-DVD, they should back out now and not prolong this so called war any longer.

[Samer305]

Blu ray is eventually going to win. The hd dvd has an advantage imo just because there are consumers that do not know what blu ray is and will think hd dvd is the next upgrade because its "HD"-DVD.That is the only advantage this team has.

[Ju]

I actually think, that the "HD" DVD is confusing. My wife has trouble with that. I got the question "can I play that in a DVD player" ? While Blu Ray is clearly distinguishable. Its obviously not DVD. But, well it leads to the other question: "Oh didn't know it can play DVDs as well".

[TANOD]

dont know what to say

[LinuxGuru]

TANOD, speechless! This is truly remarkable!

lmao

[LinuxGuru]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHHHAHAHH AAHAHAHHAAHAH

A news story has NEVER made me laugh so uncontrollably hard as this one has.

Holy crap my sides hurt.

Less than 48 hours from CES and they chicken out.

Probably because Paramount's pissed, and Toshiba doesn't have any other cards to play.

Too bad! I knew I was making the right move when getting a PS3!

Woohoo!

(eats pizza in celebration)

[Cyrus365]

Was this a really surprise though?

When it was first announced you had a HUGE group of people who were in BLu-Ray Association. You had a huge amount of backers who made BLu-Ray players from Sony, to Panasonic, etc. Comapnies like Dell, to Apple, etc. And not to mention the majority of Movie studio support.

While HD-DVD had Tosibia, Universal, and Microsoft.

The fact there was only 1 HD-DVD maker for the most part, was telling...Yes HD DVD buying Paramount exclusivity was a sly move.. but in the end they needed way more all around support, from companies, to movie studios, everything. They might have had the Cheaper technology, but they did everything else basically wrong.

I feel sorry for all the suckers though who jumped in the past month buying an HD-DVD player at crazy low prices (Who didn't know any better, saw the term High Defenition player and figured awesome I got the next gen player), only to have it absolete in about 6 months, well hey atleast it can act as good upscaling DVD player. But I'm sure that wasn't the intended purchase.

[Tru_Blu]

http://hddvd.highdefdigest....

This just might be the white flag waving from the HD-DVD side.

[UltramanJ]

It never really stood a chance. That $150 million bribe to Paramount means nothing as well, as they'll be on the BluRay bandwagon as soon as they can.

[Jdash24]

that warner bros. announcement came out of nowhere.....now hd-dvd pretty much withdrew from ces......thats like just pure retreat right there

i feel kinda bad for hd-dvd.....they prolly feel like a student having to speak in front of the entire school, when theres some bad rumors about them spreading

ohh well......now im waiting to hear about LOTR trilogy on blu-ray :P

[cmrbe]

with this cancelation the hd-dvd group has come to their senses and concede defeat. In the process they hold immediate talks with the blu assoc to help lessen their loss and allow them to join BDA ASAP so that they can move the High-def industry forward for the benefit of everyone. If HD-DVD group concedes defeat i hope the BDA will be gracious victors and embrace them.

[Tru_Blu]

They would. At the end of the day it comes down to money and everyone getting behind the BDA would be good for the bottom line of all involved.

[ActionBastard]

Those $99 HD DVD players really helped, am I right? Same goes for the Paramount deal. HD DVD FTW!

I'm sorry, I had to. The devil made me do it.

[pwnsause]

its ok hd-dvd fanboys all your hearts will go on forever:
www.riphdvd.ytmnd.com
www.gghd-dvd.ytmnd.com

[sanjay09]

Hey how come i cant take any bubbles away from bladestar?? its all gray

[Jdash24]

thats because you must have already given him positive or negative feedback already, you can only submit feedback for each user every once in awhile..........not sure how long til you can submit feedback again thou........but you will be able to do so later

[Bathyj]

Because you took his bubbles already.
You have to be patient. Wait a little while, wait for it to reset, and then take his bubbles again. Remember, keep your eye on him, and when it goes to colour again take his bubble. Hope I was of help.

[jorellpogi]

Try to logout every time you leave N4G. It will refresh faster.

[360_Rules]

It's a bad format and in 5 years you are going to see a better format.

[Jandre02]

Remove this mans bubbles.

[turbogeek]

it's a douche bag 360 owner.

[Chaos Striker]

I guess some people are still denying the true that has burst their nutshell of a reality ;-)

[Tryst]

lol @ Jadnre02

[Jdash24]

i wonder if were going to hear a press release from universal or paramount or any neutral movie company for that matter.....about going to blu ray or supporting it exclusivily

Warner. Bros decision will surely influence other companies to choosing blu ray

[PMR_21]

all day, everyday!

[Partisan]

Yes now i can Finally decide which format to buy

Blu

[Fighter]

I'm sure HD DVD had Warner movies on their promos but now have to regroup to take them out. BTW, I don't feel bad for the HD DVD group. No one should.

[J@D]

Nobody has said something like this but AUCH! seriously!

[Antiomo]

Im gonna start saving up money for a nice bd player.

Seriously all the xbots are quiet.....

And its not helping when there is REal stats showing that ps3 did better on its first year with fierce competion including their ps2 than the 360.

[brianodom]

hddvd players going for 50 bucks soon?

[hardmetal]

Maybe this cancelation is Bill Gates' big announcement. lol

Bluray won on January the 4th 2007.

This is living.

[TANOD]

I feel bad for Bill Gates

His plans to announce new X360 SKU with HD DVD ????

poor BILLY

[ElementX]

Anyone who thought HD-DVD would win must have been smoking crack. Yes I love 360 but I'd NEVER buy the HD-DVD add-on. I feel sorry for those suckers who did. I own a PS3 but I don't plan on buying Bluray, either. I guess buying movies is a waste because you only watch them 1 or 2 times and they collect dust. Digital distribution FTW!

[TANOD]

Digital distribution takes effect in 2015

How desperate of you MS fanboys .

DD is a midsummer nights dream

when DD takes effect then you would have TVs with 10TB HDD

Till then its a distant reality

YOU DONT OWN A PS3 . We all know that you are a BIG X360 fanboy

HD DVD gone

x360 next

@ELEMENT

why would i rent when i can get a decent collecion of PHYSICAL discs.

Why would i pay 18$ for 6 hours of watching movies when i can get 2 BD discs for 18$ (amazon BOGO promotion for instance).

i bought BD discs dring XMAS for as low as 9.99$

keep dreamin but that wont save X360

[ElementX]

Look up MagickalMo on PSN, if you can. Same as my Magical Mo on XBL, except w/o a space. Keep dreaming. You think I don't own a PS3 however you're wrong. Digital distribution is already here. You can download movies on Netflix on your PC. Why spend $29.99 on a bluray movie you might only watch 3 times? You can rent it 3 times for $18 or less. It doesn't sense to buy ANY movies of ANY format unless you buy them used (Blockbuster 3 for $20 DVDs) which comes out to less than the cost of renting them 3 times

[DJ]

It doesn't matter what Element's favorite consoles are; just respect the fact the he and countless others are gamers like you. Chill out and just enjoy your system.

[RudeSole Devil]

You will never get a full 1080p HD moves with true 7.1 digital sound with Digital distribution. Well not anytime soon, think about how long it takes just to download a 1GB demo through Xbox live. HD movies with all the extra content reach almost 20GB. Keep dreaming.

[Killzownz84]

Jesus, I knew sony would dominate 2008 but good God, its only Jan 4th and they are ALREADY starting the domination!! Sony is getting off to a good good start, I mean this is HUGE!! Everyone is saying that in order for sony to win the console war they first need to win the format war!! WOW, GO SONY!! What a way to start the new year with a fresh start and with a bang!!

Now that sony has Oficially won the format war the next step is games.. and once MGS4,Killzone 2,Little Big Planet,Gran Turismo 5, Socom and Home are released, you can kiss 360 goodbye!!
This is only the begining! This news alone is enough to erase all of sonys mistakes in the last year. Sony has been spit upon by the media but starting today Sony is Kicking ass and taking names!! They WILL dominate this year.. Quote me on this.. By this Christmas in 2008, PS3s will be sold out!

[RudeSole Devil]

This is so huge for PS3, I really thought PS3 was in hot water for 2008.

[kidd2446]

does this mean that microsoft will now put blu-ray drives in all upcoming/360 ultimate systems?...blu-ray is now the standard hd format....WOW... big news

[joydestroy]

haha, jeez.

yup it's over.

[Enigma_2099]

... but still, ouch. Looks like this whole mess may be over soon...

[bee2427]

WOW! ... wonder how many will be waiting online tomorow returning there nice holiday hddvd player xmas present ... ouch

sony was clearly underestimated for blu-ray and for the ps3... looks like its all coming together for them now ... but every wise person already new it would!

damn I wish I could return the wii my parents got me thats sitting collecting dust, but i dont have the heart since those things "were" impossible to come by

[Prismo_Fillusion]

Anyone think it would've been 10 times more hilarious if Warner Bros made their announcement the day *after* MS announced an HD-DVD version of the 360?

[DJ]

Not even HD-DVD Association feels confident about their format. Might be too early to tell, but it looks like HD-DVD is officially dead.

[RudeSole Devil]

Sony will for sure win the format war, but what really confused me is why Microsoft let this happen. Sony will also win the console war, because no matter what people say the Xbox 360 really needs a larger format to replace the current DVD 9 drive, and Blu-Ray is Microsoft only choose. On top of that developers need to really start papering for Blu-Ray being the next-gen format for future consoles drives, and PS3 will start being the industry primary SKU when developing cross platform games. Microsoft where's your balls when it really mattered.

[tordavis]

What a dumb statement. WTF do you think people are gonna say, "Oh wow, I was gonna get Blue Dragon but it's on 3 discs. Damn, if they only made it on Blu-Ray and had that option for 360. I guess I won't buy the game cuz I don't want to have it on 3 DVD9 discs."

Jesus christ. Since when does winning a disc format war mean that you're going to win the console war? Here's something laughable:

"This news just in. In 2012 Sony has sold 200 million Playstation 3 systems and their software attach rate is .1 to 1. Seems everyone is buying Blu-Ray movies and not games. The Xbox 360 has 100 million systems sold and their attach rate is 10 to 1."

[NoxiousD]

i don't know whats sadder....britney spears losing her kids or HD DVD dying slowly...

[ScottEFresh]

Is this the same CES M$ was supposed to reveal the "Ultimate". HAHAHAHHAHA! Not even a week into 2008 and look at all this...poor xbots...this year definitely will NOT be yours.

[cjp4eva]

WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA omg, uhm $2 HD DVD movies anyone?

[stennexxx]

ITS ABOUT TIME. BLU IS IN.

[mintaro]

wow, that warner bros announcement really killed everything hd-dvd

[Vip3r]

fail.

[Rims]

pwned!

[pshizle]

microsoft hopefully is on its way this year for something like APPLE TV execpt 1tb and download HD movies...

if anything with the ultimate they should include a combo drive

and release a external bluray drive so some people dont have to buy a ps3 just for a bluray player

i just wonder what drive will they put in with the next xbox

DOES ANYONE KNOW THE FORMAT THAT has 5x the storage of bluray???

[BigPappaPump]

LMAO!

[mullet]

!!!!!

[wallace1000]

I was going to wait until the sunday press conference to decide if i was going to return all my HD DVD stuff but after hearing this last night it all went back this morning. The fact that they canceled is a massive red flag. I would be very very surprised if HD DVD can recover from this. I just wish warner had done this sooner, then maybe blu-ray players might have been cheaper in the holiday sales.
I read a few people before saying they had opened HD DVDs, if you bought them within the last month you should be able to return them for store credit.

[GITPWNED]

Blur-Ray FTW...

edit: I would say so....

[resistance100]

lol

Your avaitar - must be what some of the HDDVD backers face would be like after finding this news

[boopis]

I've been wanting blu-ray to win all along, just because my console is a PS3. But I actually feel bad for HD-DVD lol. They reallly struggled to push their format, and they did the best they could. They got Paramount to side with them, and they got their players as low as $100. They did pretty good for a format losing from the start. R.I.P HD-DVD =[

[djt23]

to me HD dvd really need a cheap player but i know it is dead

[Figboy]

Sony has been right about quite a few things this generation, despite what unreasonable Playstation haters have said:

Sony: HDMI is good. we're putting it in the Playstation 3

Microsoft and Sony haters: whatever, we don't need HDMI.

a few months later:

Microsoft: we're putting HDMI in the X Box 360
Sony haters: yeah! now we have HDMI in the 360! it's awesome now!

Sony: Playstation 3 games will be output in 1080p

Microsoft and Sony haters: nobody needs 1080p. you won't see games in 1080p this generation.

a few months, and a few 1080p games later:

Microsoft: the X Box 360 will support 1080p games!
Sony haters: yeah! the 360 supports 1080p! it's awesome now!

Sony: we're including a Blu Ray drive in the Playstation 3. games will need it, and you can watch HD movies to boot!

Microsoft: we're making a games console, not a movie player. DVD is enough for games. it's all about choice, so we're offering *ONLY an HD DVD drive for the 360.
Sony haters: yeah! we don't *WANT a movie machine, Sony! hey, i'm going to buy that HD DVD add on for the 360.

Blu Ray is mopping the floor with HD DVD:

Microsoft: we're releasing new SKUs that have more hard drive space for movies!
Sony haters: yeah! i'd much rather *DOWNLOAD movies to my 360 than buy a disc! (whatever happened to *JUST wanting a *GAMES machine, guys?)

Microsoft: Lost Odyssey - 3 discs, Blue Dragon - 3 discs, Infinite Undiscovery - 4 discs.

DVD9 is enough? *REALLY?? each of those games would have fit on *ONE Blu Ray. meaning less space, and less chance to lose or misplace a disc (i can't install some of my PC games because i've lost an install disc or two).

point is: SONY. WAS. RIGHT.

they were right when they used CDs for the PS1. they were right when they put a DVD drive in the Playstation 2, and they were right when they put a Blu Ray drive in the Playstation 3.

they were right for including a hard drive standard across all Playstation SKUs (ie, games like DMC4 can be installed on the PS3 version to eliminate load times, which can't be done on the 360 because of the lack of HDD across *ALL 360s).

they were right. period.

i think all the haters and dissenters (in the media and otherwise), owe Sony an apology for the needless bashing of the past *TWO years (since E3 2006).

now don't get me wrong, Sony has done and said some boneheaded things, things worthy of ridicule, but the features they packed into the Playstation 3 have proven to be good moves.

i mean, you don't see many homegrown Playstation 3 games with laggy online servers, horrible framerates, and ridiculous texture pop in and load times (see Ratchet and Clank, Warhawk, and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune for examples of superb load times; in the case of Uncharted *NO load times, no lag in online matches, and little to no texture pop in).

i'm not saying the 360 is a bad machine either, but i *AM saying that Microsoft has shown a lack of foresight when designing the 360. so far, they have gone back on practically *EVERY statement they've made concerning what the 360 does and doesn't need.

in the past 2 years since the 360 launched, they've included support of an HD format (the near dead HD DVD), they've included support of 1080p games via upscale VGA, *THEN they included support of 1080p via HDMI, making it *STANDARD across all newly manufactured 360s, and now they are paying the price for including a *LAST generation storage format, DVD as their standard means of storing game content, despite the fact that *EVERY GENERATION, storage capacity gets larger, and produces some great results (for example, Grand Theft Auto 3 would *NOT have been possible on a CD. it *NEEDED a DVD).

games like Mass Effect have suffered on a technical level due to that lack of foresight. Bioware is a *FANTASTIC developer, but Mass Effect, no matter how good the game is, suffers from framerate issues, load times, and *HORRIBLE texture pop in. this wouldn't have been a problem if

1. Microsoft had used a larger capacity storage medium, either HD DVD or Blu Ray.

*OR

2. included a Hard Drive standard in all 360s.

HD DVD cancelling their CES Event is a *HUGE turn of events in the format war battle.

people will interpret this as a sign of weakness in the format, and fence-sitting consumers will now go Blu Ray, as they are more confident that the format is going to win (*HAS won for the complete optimist; i'm reserving judgment, *ONLY because money talks, and we have yet to see how MS and Toshiba truly respond, but my gut tells me it's over, and i always trust my gut).

HD DVD was a good format, but it lost. simple as that.

and for those not aware of history: Toshiba developed DVD. Sony was *GOING to develop a rival format, but they eventually decided that a format war would benefit *NO ONE, and caved, allowing Toshiba to make *BILLIONS off of DVD. basically, Sony surrendered before a format war even *STARTED.

*THEN, they started development on the *NEXT DVD, Blu Ray. they offered Toshiba a seat on the BDA, but Toshiba refused, still blissful from the billions they made off of DVD, and set out to beat Blu Ray to the punch, and release the next incarnation of DVD themselves. hence, HD DVD was born, and why HD DVD uses the same processes as DVD. not because of a technological breakthrough, but because they needed to beat Sony to releasing Blu Ray. as a result, HD DVDs are cheaper to manufacture, but are also prone to scratches, just like a DVD.

because Sony didn't want to lose out on billions in potential revenue *AGAIN, they decided, "screw this noise, we're going to have a format war then," and did what they could to win; and that was Trojan horsing Blu Ray in a brand that is synonymous with gaming and entertainment; Playstation.

they risked hurting the Playstation brand by using expensive and untested technology, but they knew that if the tactic *WORKED, they would reap untold benefits and profit.

needless to say, it looked like the tactic worked, and Blu Ray is a few stones throw from becoming the defacto next generation DVD.

the Playstation 3 is no longer at risk, as many people will see that Sony was smart in putting Blu Ray in the PS3, as Blu Ray is the winner.

consumers everywhere will now feel more comfortable in buying Blu Ray, and for gamers; the Playstation 3.

on the business end, more HD player manufacturers will now move over to making Blu Ray players, and begin to compete with one another for your money. because of that competition, the price of stand alone Blu Ray players will drop, as will the price of the Playstation 3 (i expect a $300 Playstation 3 by the end of the year, late summer, early fall at the earliest).

movie studios, who will be releasing their movies on one singular format (i expect Universal to go neutral, if not Blu Ray exclusive soon, and i expect Paramount to buy their way out of their contract with Toshiba; ironically enough, probably using the money they got paid *BY Toshiba to move to HD DVD exclusively for 18 months), will *THEN begin to compete for your money also, by pricing their movies agressively on Blu Ray. meaning lower Blu Ray movie prices.

in Los Angeles (where i live), Blu Ray movies are $24.99 already, barring television shows and special box sets (like Planet Earth). DVDs are regularly priced $19.99, and $14.99 at Best Buy during release week.

i expect Blu Rays to be $19.99 by years end also.

unlike with consoles, having a singular standard in home video is a *GOOD thing. there's still competition, and still economies of scale.

in consoles, competition is good, because it encourages creativity, and better pricing. how else do you explain the Playstation 3 dropping from $600 to $400 in it's *FIRST YEAR? competition.

HD DVD collapsing is a *GOOD thing for the entertainment industry, and for *US consumers. hell, if HD DVD won, and Blu Ray lost, it would *STILL be a good thing, and for the exact same reasons i listed above. a format war benefits *NO ONE.