It’s not often that we report on pure industry business newsy-type items like who got promoted or what sales figures were grown in forumla, spun in a cetrifuge then released into the wild, but the recent decision by Netflix to drop HD-DVD seemed like a worthy target and judging by the traffic that bit got some of you actually give a shit about this whole DVD format war thing.
(gasps for breath.)
Which is now officially over.
(dramatic pause.)
OK, ok, by saying ‘officially’ I’m speaking as far above my pay grade as Dana Barrett sleeps above her covers, but with Wal Mart deciding that blu is the chain’s favorite color (surprised? have you seen their logo?) then only a member of Toshiba’s inner circle or one of the misbegotten Xbox 360 designers at Microsoft (who, I think, should collectively be packed into a hamster ball and shot into a pool of lava to pay for my three dead 360s) will still be singing the same old song about the virtues of HD-DVD.
(insert clip from Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang of Michelle Monaghan talking about 35-year old actresses here.)
Wal-Mart will phase out HD-DVD by June, which gives Paramount and Universal not much time to get on the right side of the fence. Will I be able to spin high-def copies of Hot Fuzz and Raiders of the Lost Ark in my PS3 by year end? Bet on it now.
6 comments
So is anyone surprised?
The whole thing was BS from the beginning. It was a war waged by the bullies at Sony. Because they lost all the exclusives for their gaming system they nabbed all the exclusives for their movie format. If this thing were to have been fought properly every movie should have been released in both HD and Blue Ray and let the consumers (you know, the ones who are really spending the money) decide on which one they wanted.
I've always thought it was bunch of crap anyway, because the time, effort, and resources spent on the HDDVD and Blu-ray war were resources that would have been better spent just making the DVD format obselete, developing something that would have made people go out and re-buy every movie they already HAD, like when DVD started to kill VHS.
I never really got the sense that I needed to buy EITHER of the 2 newer formats, as they're essentially just improved versions of something I already have that's still popular, and I can't really afford to spend money on the hardware (bigger and better TV, better sound system, etc.) that would make the upgrade worthwhile. I love DVD extras quite a bit, and it does piss me off that some of the studios were seemingly withholding extras from people that weren't willing to pay more, but it's not worth it really to see behind-the-scenes talking head footage for the extra money when you can probably find a lot of it online anyway.
I'll just wait and save my money for whatever the next big evolution in home entertainment is that will make me swear off DVD forever…
Well, all a PS3 really is right now is the cheapest Blu-Ray player. Unless you like crap games?
I'm still holding onto my laser disc player. This DVD thing might be a fad.
lmao…fair fight…ha ha. U must be sitting there with a XBox 360 add on. It was over a long time ago and you're just getting it? BTW the games are on the way….lmao
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