Toshiba's bid was in the area of $100-million (U.S.) while Sony's offer was closer to $400-million. Warner Bros. has declined to comment on whether it was offered money to pick a side.
I don't see what is "pro", in regards to HD-DVD, about the notion that the BDA had to get a cheque book out to end the format wars. If the suggestion is that it makes them look desperate, then the sales of the Blu-Ray format - especially recently - and the infamous rumour, pretty much conceived as fact by close to everyone, that Toshiba/Microsoft had to buy Paramount's support washes that suggestion with a tidal wave.
"Warner Home Entertainment President Kevin Tsujihara says the studio took no pay-offs to exclusively back Blu-ray.
In a post-announcement conference call, Tsujihara flatly denied rumors that studio had accepted anywhere from 250M to $500M in exchange for dropping its HD DVD format support.
According to the exec, Warner's sole motivation in dropping its HD DVD format support was to ensure growth of the "category" and the long-term health of the industry."
ARE YOU MENTALLY ILL?!?!? blu ray drives are going in everything, even apples are no installing them... the thing about computers is they can support both, but computer support isnt there for hddvd, blu rays are getting alot of attention in the computer world... blu ray has more capacity which is what people look for in the computer world...
What in the world says that the computer industry is going HDDVD?
That sounds even more far fetched. If anything why wouldn't the "computer industry" as you call it want the larger storage medium?
Please provide proof. Not just some article about a new HD-DVD pc drive either. I haven't seen any news about who's winning anything other than the movie industry.
yeah tell me about it! i'm still cracking up Benz - good one! Except the 0.4 kinda makes it look small =P
I would also like to point out objectively that if Sony and Warner have both declined to comment - how would this source know it was $400 mill. Pure speculation if you ask me.
at this point its all speculation. regardless toshiba can'y point fingers they did it to paramount and they tried to do it to warner but sony had the bigger check book. If they had left things alone blu ray would have still won. warner bros and sony have denied payment was issued these guys say no comment but like i said no matter no fingers can be pointed
This is ridiculous.Warner Bros. ceo said no.If anybody would have won a so called bidding war it certainly would have been Bill Gates.400 million is like pocket change for this guy!Xbots and HD DVDead fanboys just have to get over the fact that a company actually chose the superior format instead of bribes.
buddy who submitted didnt quote the whole comment "To break the stalemate, analysts believe the rivals offered the studio large sums of cash to release DVDs exclusively in their respective formats. One report suggested Toshiba's bid was in the area of $100-million (U.S.) while Sony's offer was closer to $400-million. Warner Bros. has declined to comment on whether it was offered money to pick a side."
Hey dude, watch the personal attacks. I'll change to rumour if you like. You're right. I submitted it as an article, however, because that's what it is. It's an article in one of Canada's largest national circulation newspapers... no skin off my back to change it though...
Why are stories about Sony paying off industry players "rumours", yet every single possible negative story about the Xbox 360, Microsoft or HD-DVD has 10-15 stories about every single "rumour" approved?
Exactly. Consider this story, in addition to being a valid story from a valid source that should definitely be approved (I even changed it to "rumour"!) as a social experiment on the fanboyism of N4G.
@wageslave, Because the Paramount/Dreamworks payoff was reported by respectable news, not some backwater hd-dvd fanboy blog.
"But money talks: Paramount and DreamWorks Animation together will receive about $150 million in financial incentives for their commitment to HD DVD, according to two Viacom executives with knowledge of the deal but who asked not to be identified."
This site was up in arms about a supposed $100 million 'pay-off' of Paramount (supposedly it was Microsoft who paid them off - big surprise there, seems like everything is a Microsoft conspiracy theory pay-off these days). The hatred and vitriol you saw being spewed because of that pay-off was enormous. It was ALSO a rumour.
...surely this rumour should be reported as well, should it not?
When the HD-DVD camp was clear about paying Paramount\Dreamworks off. Warner was asked about it, they said no. Their financials will support that when it comes out. Or they would have lied to their investors. Which is a serious crime. Its not Fanboy BS.
This site may have said anything about it. That doesn't matter, no one was harmed by it because we all knew Bluray was the winning format. Either way, I knew I was going to be seeing transformers with real audio on a bluray player.
Xbots are pretending like its an issue, even IF warner did pay. When it is so clearly not.
You're obviously one of those "holier-than-thou", "I-can-do-no-wrong", elitest goody-two-shoes types (probably an Apple fan - they usually fit that bill).
...You'd never do well in business. Best get back to knitting yourself another pair of hemp pants since you "don't believe in clothing manufacturers" and throw another log in the fire since you "don't believe in big-business utility companies". Oh, wait - you're probably also a tree-hugging, pot-smoking hippy who'd never cut down a tree even if your own survival depended on it.
Dude I have a Master in business management from UNLV. So your observation is way off.
So Even thought you say I am on a high pedistal you keep stating wrong information. Benz what ever makes you feel better you go for it.
Since your analyzing me, Perhaps you defend your opinion even if its wrong to boost your self esteem? Move on and try to stick with the topic and refrain from personal insults MR. Internet-Tough-Guy.
Actually Bill Gates didn't steal anything. He bought the OS and then had the foresight to sell it for big money. Don't hate on Bill Gates because he bet on DOS being big and won.
"In addressing the oft-rumored "marketing compensation" paid to studios for switching high-def sides (aka payola), Tsujihara laughed and joked that he had heard these rumors too and was anxious to see such a check. "It's not a bidding war," he said. "It's all about what's best strategically for us." That said, he curiously didn't outright state that no payment had been received by Warner for dumping HD DVD. Not that it matters, I suppose. All's fair in love and home video."
And the last line pretty much sums up my personal opinion of the format war. If the rumour is true, there is no way the BDA would have willingly just offered them this amount of money unless they felt that Toshiba and Microsoft were planning to offer Warner their own sum of cash; they just out bid them and finished it. Is that derogative, or desperate? Considering the superiority in sales Blu-Ray has had, it's somewhat a little bias to state it as such. Whereas if the losing format was seen as trying to buy support, then it's more logical to tag it as desperate but this action by the BDA - if true - was just a chess move to win the game before the rival thought of their next move.
Sony (and company) pay $500 Million to get a BlueRay exclusive studio.
What is Meus' response?
"If the rumour is true, there is no way the BDA would have willingly just offered them this amount of money unless they felt that Toshiba and Microsoft were planning to offer Warner their own sum of cash"
Or;
"Oh! Well, they did it sure, but only because the EVIL MICROSOFT was going to do it too! Sony only did it because MS was going to."
And the Sony Apologists ROLL ON AND ON AND ON.
Edit: Meus, No. You dont want a respose. Because you are a True Believer. Your crippling bias comes through in your comment above (that I highlighted).
I would honestly like an intelligent response from anyone regarding my opinion. I don't conform it as factual, but just my current opinion on the situation. If anyone agrees or disagree's, then I'd love to hear your opinions.
ok Meus, since Wageslave is a blantant fanboy that ignores all truth,
The theory of BRDA actually making a counter attempt is some what valid but not true since the President denied of such bribes from either party.
Counter Arguement: Warners biggest release of the year, "300" sold almost 3:1 on blu-ray. Warner's subsiarcy , New line Cinema would only bring out its big gun: Lord Of the Rings when the timing was right and that there was a single format.
Blu-ray disc are selling more than HD DVD (Fact), and Warner is sitting on a mountain of gold ( lord of the rings) so obviously what would Warner do.
Lord of the Rings Trilogy: Day 1 purchase and major reason alot of people will buy blu-ray players.
I actually agree with the comment "all is fair". It's business. Business is cut-throat. Nobody ever said that anything should be "fair" or that back room deals shouldn't be made in business. That's why I was so surprised by the backlash about the Paramount HD-DVD deal. It's business. Who cares?
...but, it seems that lots of people did care. The outcry was both enormous and pathetic (as well as hilarious).
In any case, congratulations to the Blu-Ray camp for making a deal that will probably help them out a lot.
To the whiners about Microsoft and their "anti-trust" or "monopolistic" ways (not @ Meus) - what do you think Blu-Ray winning this war is going to create? What's that? A monopoly? Oh. Damn. That's business.
@Omegasyde (below):
Last I checked Windows wasn't a monopoly either - it came close by beating out competition, same as VHS, DVD, and eventually Blu-Ray (most likely). Microsoft has a high paid team of legal experts that are going to push the envelope of what they can get away with, legally, whether you like it or not. That's business. To think Sony or any other company is any better is just naiveity.
"Try blu-ray.com and research it if you don't believe me.
And by you saying Blu-ray will be a monolopy?
WTF: So DVD was a monolopy also I think not:
In 1993, two high-density optical storage standards were being developed; one was the MultiMedia Compact Disc, backed by Philips and Sony, and the other was the Super Density disc, supported by Toshiba, Time Warner, Matsushita Electric, Hitachi, Mitsubishi Electric, Pioneer, Thomson, and JVC. IBM's president, Lou Gerstner, acting as a matchmaker, led an effort to unite the two camps behind a single standard, anticipating a repeat of the costly videotape format war between VHS and Betamax in the 1980s.
Philips and Sony abandoned their MultiMedia Compact Disc and fully agreed upon Toshiba's SuperDensity Disc with only one modification, namely changing to EFMPlus modulation. EFMPlus was chosen as it has a great resilience against disc damage such as scratches and fingerprints. EFMPlus, created by Kees Immink, who also designed EFM, is 6% less efficient than the modulation technique originally used by Toshiba, which resulted in a capacity of 4.7 GB as opposed to the original 5 GB. The result was the DVD specification, finalized for the DVD movie player and DVD-ROM computer applications in December 1995.[1] In May 1997, the DVD Consortium was replaced by the DVD Forum, which is open to all other companies.
Source: Wikipedia.com, Answer.com
And Benz you stated: To the whiners about Microsoft and their "anti-trust" or "monopolistic" ways (not @ Meus) - what do you think Blu-Ray winning this war is going to create? What's that? A monopoly? Oh. Damn. That's business."
Yep, but in the end its bad for the consumer and drags up prices. Once Hd DVD is dead, The format war isn't over however. Blu-ray will have to compete with the DVD standard for pricing. And Monopolies are actually bad for the economies and for the consumer.
O did we forget about the DVD standard and how monolopies are bad for consumers Benz? I am sure you did with your uninformative useless ranting.
Despite Warner claiming this isn't true you have to wonder if they figured this amount of money would be much more than Warner would have made from the HD-DVD market anytime soon.
Could also explain how they would support one market over 2. Sure we hear the consumers are confused excuse(consumers just don't see the importance of High-def DVD players yet)
That is most likely the reason why Paramount signed that contract with Toshiba. The reported figure they would have earned during that 18month period is probably more than they'd earn by going neutral or Blu-Ray at that time.
However, Warner's decision will most certainly increase sales of Blu-Ray movies and hardware consequently increasing profit rates for all studios related to that format. It's rumoured that Paramount have a clause in their contract, that any decision made by a studio like Warner which would could see them earning more by going neutral or Blu-Ray exclusive, would give them the right to cancel that contract.
Warner has already said it did not accept any bribe or money. Remember, blu-ray has been winning, so I don't think Sony would shell out as much as 0.4 billion to end the war.
HD-DVD paid for Paramount & Universal & Blu-Ray paid for Warner Brothers. There is nothing difficult about this. It is just the Sony Droids thinking that Warner Brothers did what they did because they wanted to end the format war. But in reality they just went where the highest bidder went & chrno the last people to believe are Studio Executives. They can & will always lie to cover their backs & this is fact for any Hollywood studio.
Toshiba only offered 100 million to Warner Bros. Even if this is true, this is really an INSULT to Warners. Paramount got 150 million and Warner was offered less. If I were the CEO of Warner Bros, I would immediately tell Toshiba to fcuk off and go Blu-ray.
LOL @ the Sony Droids disagreeing with me. I guess they do not follow movie news like I do. Studio Executives do say things that later turn out to be true. I am just going by experience.
THE FLAMING ANGRY xbots ARE HILARIOUS. aT THE END OF THE DAY... U STILL GOT pwned. NOT us PS3 owners. So just get over it. You lost. Your HD DUD addon lost. Thats all there is to it. And this could be true or could DEFIANTELY be rumor... so thats all there is to it. Bots and Microshaft got PWNED. PS3 and Sony won.
At your damage control. If you have to make statements like that you are indeed worried and a little over excited.
And the last time I checked(checks again) yup PS3 is in LAST PLACE in the console war. Maybe Sony can spend 400 million and buy some of their games and systems that are sitting on the store shelves. LOL
You know you would be all over this story if it was positive BR news, but since it exposes Sony and their payoffs you are all defensive.
If HD DVD does become obsolete who cares?? celebrate all you want but digital downloads are the way of the future..so keep stacking those BD cases while MS and Viacom take over the world!! oh and btw The 360 is a Game console unlike the Cheap bluray player you have in your room playing your disney movies
How is it an old story, it was 6 days ago. In any case, who cares? If Sony paid WB to come Blu, good for them. In fact, I couldn't care if it came out that Sony blew dollars up everyones skirt to side them with Blu-Ray. Microsoft buys gaming studios all the time to get exclusivtivity (sp), I guess you have trouble with anyone else doing this? What, you bought the hype and bought into HD-DVD and now that it is going under, you are clinging to every branch, limb, twig and root and what, still claiming that HD-DVD will survive. Get real. You & Wage are acting like if you can just "prove" that WB took a bribe to go Blu that you will kill its support. Sorry, Blu is too big. If you are so set against purchasing a PS3, there are plenty of stand alone BD players available for your enjoyment.
These "bought out" articles are about as useless as MGS4 to 360 articles.
No matter how right you are or how intelligent you sound when you say it if you comment on these you'll end up with a dozen invisible disagrees and have some of the less intelligent people on this sight feel compelled to give you their shortsighted answer as to why you are wrong.
If anything I read through these comments for a laugh now. Besides, if you are a blu-ray fan you're an immediate hypocrite to half of these guys because "We were all really pissed when Universal sold out."
Its so obnoxious how xbox fanboys and Sony fanboys just bicker back and forth... yes the Xbox 360 is doing WAY better than the PS3... and FACE IT!! BLU-RAY is doing WAY better than HD-DVD!!! For crying out loud who cares who paid what!! Didnt Microsoft pay a hell of alot of money to aquire Rare studios back in the day which really hurt nintendo? HD-DVD paid 150 million for Paramount.. Thats the way buisness is! People want to win... it just so happens that Blu-Ray is kicking the crap out of HD-DVD and some people need to find excuses of why this is happening. Its better for everyone that Blu-Ray wins!!
When Toshiba paid Paramount, Sony fans said "how desperate", but BR group does the same its "good for them".
When MS HD-DVD/Toshiba players came with free movies, "they're desperate", but when PS3 came with its own movies, "what a great deal".
When Forza 2 sold over a million it was because "it was packed with the console and shouldn't count", but of course not taking in to account Motorstorm was the same reason.
Maybe because there's no proof of an actual payoff such as the Paramount/Dreamworks payoff?
To break the stalemate, analysts believe the rivals offered the studio large sums of cash to release DVDs exclusively in their respective formats. One report suggested Toshiba's bid was in the area of $100-million (U.S.) while Sony's offer was closer to $400-million.
It's nothing but analyst guessing.
Btw, Motorstorm sold over a million before it was bundled with the 80gb. And HD-DVD was giving away 10 free movies, while BDA was giving away 5 free movies.
You said: "When Toshiba paid Paramount, Sony fans said "how desperate", but BR group does the same its "good for them".
My Response: the key difference, is that HD DVD was *LOSING. Blu Ray had been outselling HD DVD movies by 2:1 for the *ENTIRE YEAR. it didn't make sense for Paramount to drop Blu Ray, when they were actually making *MORE MONEY on the Blu Ray versions of their movies than HD DVD. they should have stayed neutral. which is why most Blu Ray supporters cried foul when Paramount made the switch. it wasn't a logical business decision, and the only reason they did it was because of the bribe.
the Warner Bros. decision is quite different, because Blu Ray was *STILL clearly the winner, and it made more sense to go Blu Ray exclusive, since that's where the market momentum is at. you can't argue with a 9:1 ratio in favor of Blu Ray in Japan, a 7:1 ratio in favor of Blu Ray in Europe, and a 3:1 ratio in favor of Blu Ray in North America. it's good business to end this format war (and therefore consumer indifference and them just "waiting for a winner"), than to continue to drag out the stalemate. i'm a Blu Ray supporter, but believe me, if the ratios were reversed, and Blu Ray was *LOSING, and Warner went HD DVD instead, i'd pick up an HD DVD player to go along with my PS3.
you aren't thinking from a logical standpoint, but from a "i hate Blu Ray and Sony standpoint." you can't go into business with that kind of attitude. business is all about making money. your heart and emotions have no place there.
You said: "When MS HD-DVD/Toshiba players came with free movies, "they're desperate", but when PS3 came with its own movies, "what a great deal".
My Response: the difference, is that HD DVD was *LOSING. not only have HD DVD players been cheaper from the *START, but Toshiba actually *LOWERED the price even more, when HD DVD was losing to the more expensive Blu Ray format. the 5 movie pack in *DOES seem desperate when even the price advantage of HD DVD players didn't help to put sales of HD DVD over Blu Ray.
the Playstation 3 coming with 5 free movies *WAS a good deal, because not only did you get a cool gaming system, but you actually got movies to watch in the new HD format to boot (granted you had an HDTV; i got my PS3 before the 5 movie deal went into effect, but i have an HDTV, so i get HD movies). and worst come to worse, you could always *TRADE IN those 5 *FREE movies at a gaming store for store credit, and probably walk away with a game or two (most stores were offering $15-$20 store credit for Blu Ray movies, especially new ones).
You said: "When Forza 2 sold over a million it was because "it was packed with the console and shouldn't count", but of course not taking in to account Motorstorm was the same reason."
My Response: Motorstorm was *ALREADY a million seller *BEFORE it was bundled with the 80gig PS3. that's the only reason why it was bundled with the 80gig to begin with. it reached *ANOTHER million because it was bundled. personally, i don't see what the problem is with Forza 2 being bundled with the 360 either, as i'm not one of those PS3 owners that say it shouldn't count, but whatever.
"See a pattern?"
actually, i don't see a pattern.
what i see, are companies moving support to the winning HD format. the sooner this stupid format war ends, the better for HD consumers, and the HD market as a whole.
HDTV penetration went from about 20% or less last year, to 40% by years end and early this year in North America.
people *ARE buying HDTVs, and as a result, they will *WANT HD programming. from movies, to television shows, to sports. market confusion won't help people adopt to HD. we've been using analog, SD signals for the better part of 50 years now. it's about damn *TIME we evolved to something new.
digital, and HD is that next step.
Digital Distribution is still a ways off (most consumers want a hard copy of their media to show off, not a digital one where, in the blink of a virus, could be *ERASED), but i don't deny that that will one day become a viable market. just not in the next 4 or 5 years, which is plenty enough time for HD disc media to make a profit, and studios start to push digital.
it's a multi-pronged plan. get the consumer hooked on HD media first. once that happens, they will demand more HD content.
digital HD content will then be pushed on the consumer *LATER, when their appetite for HD content is at critical mass, and disc releases aren't fast enough.
this will not happen anytime soon. they're trying to get HD in everyone's homes first, hence the move to digital signals in February of next year.
not to mention that bandwidth just isn't large enough to accommodate *MILLIONS and *MILLIONS of people downloading large HD files to their televisions or computers. it's still a lot quicker to drive or walk to your nearest Best Buy and purchase the disc *PERMANENTLY, than waiting for it to download.
it's easier to pop the disc in it's case, and drive it or walk it over to a friends house and pop it in his/her player than it would be to have *THEM pay for, and download the content on *THEIR box. meaning that, basically, all of your family and friends would have to have the same tastes in movies as you do, and take up space on their hard drive for *YOUR MOVIES, if you want to watch your favorite movie or video at *THEIR house. a disc is a simpler solution.
now that this format war is all but done, you don't have to worry about someone in your family, or your friends, not having a compatible player. it will all be Blu Ray eventually.
don't get me wrong, i think digital content is cool, but it's still too impractical at the moment.
pulled the day and date release for HD DVD. Why? Because the contract that they signed with BDA requires them to do so. Yes HD paid Viacom but to say WB did this out of the goodness of their hearts. Please. I work for a billion dollar company and knows how contracts work. Educate yourself.
How when a story says anything remotely pro hd-dvd its lame
buddy who submitted didnt quote the whole comment
"To break the stalemate, analysts believe the rivals offered the studio large sums of cash to release DVDs exclusively in their respective formats. One report suggested Toshiba's bid was in the area of $100-million (U.S.) while Sony's offer was closer to $400-million. Warner Bros. has declined to comment on whether it was offered money to pick a side."
"Analysts believe" makes this a rumor
After the whole EGM thing, I'm not surprised by Sony
Sounds to me like HD-DVD paid the wrong people.
LOL, good! How much did M$ pay Rock*, Micromart, lawyers to defend rrod, scratched discs, and LIVE issues, Paramount, Dreamworks?
Bots make me laugh.