Warner Exclusive Blu-ray= More PS3 sold?

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You know, outer space and such... HD-DVD may have gained momentum, it was just less momentum than Blu-ray gained.
 
So despite the fact it will make them out of pocket (in lost royalties), Warner go for the superior format in a bid to end this so called war.

Kudos to them.

There really is nowhere to go now for HD-DVD, they aren't going to bribe anyone else as it would just be pointless.
 
And on the impact that PS3 sales has had on the format war...""You also can't underestimate the impact of PS3 as a playback device," Sanders said. "The attachment rate may not be very high, and in fact it isn't, but in the aggregate that still adds up to a lot of software sales.""

Source: http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6517192.html

And that about sums up the impact.

You would have to hope that Sony learn the right things from Apple and Nintendo. Both did plenty of right and wrong things, but recently, they have been more right than wrong.

What they do right all starts with branding and strategic consumer appeal. iPods are a classic example of such with a cascading peer effect (and it doesn't hurt to lock consumers into your format, either). Consoles are affected by much of the same mentality which is cyclically reinforced by software development.

Wii 2 is likely to come with a BD drive too.

The Wii 2 isn't likely to have a BD drive.

If this was a bet, Nintendo's own history would strongly argue against such. The Wii strategy even re-inforces this message.

Nintendo didn't support DVD playback with the GCN and Nintendo didn't support DVD playback with the Wii. They don't even have full size DVD disks. Their goal isn't to be at the technological forfront or to "confuse" the market as an all-in-one media device.

Again, the Wii 2 isn't likely to have a BD drive.
 
The Wii 2 isn't likely to have a BD drive.

If this was a bet, Nintendo's own history would strongly argue against such. The Wii strategy even re-inforces this message.

Nintendo didn't support DVD playback with the GCN and Nintendo didn't support DVD playback with the Wii. They don't even have full size DVD disks. Their goal isn't to be at the technological forfront or to "confuse" the market as an all-in-one media device.

Again, the Wii 2 isn't likely to have a BD drive.


Both the GC and the Wii both use DVD drive technology. Even if they don't actually playback movies and have different proprietary filesystems. The way data is physical stored and read off the disc is DVD. And for duplication purposes it is DVD.
 
If this was a bet, Nintendo's own history would strongly argue against such. The Wii strategy even re-inforces this message.

Nintendo didn't support DVD playback with the GCN and Nintendo didn't support DVD playback with the Wii. They don't even have full size DVD disks. Their goal isn't to be at the technological forfront or to "confuse" the market as an all-in-one media device.

Again, the Wii 2 isn't likely to have a BD drive.

It probably comes with some proprietary HD-DVD format ;) (couldn't resist). Seriously, it will feature some non-standard optical media.
 
The Wii 2 isn't likely to have a BD drive.

If this was a bet, Nintendo's own history would strongly argue against such. The Wii strategy even re-inforces this message.

Nintendo didn't support DVD playback with the GCN and Nintendo didn't support DVD playback with the Wii. They don't even have full size DVD disks. Their goal isn't to be at the technological forfront or to "confuse" the market as an all-in-one media device.

Again, the Wii 2 isn't likely to have a BD drive.
Nintendo's own history suggests Wii 2 has a BD drive since the supplier of optical drives in GC and Wii is Matsushita (Panasonic). Looking at the current demand of Wii it will take at least 2 years before the next Nintendo console appears, a BD drive will be much cheaper in 2010. Adopting an obsolete red-laser drive for Wii 2 in 2010 or later just won't make sense with all drive noise and slower transfer speed, or even economically. The software stack necessary for BD-ROM movie playback is another matter.
 
I am now seriously thinking of getting a PS3 just for the blue ray abilities (that and to try out some PS3 titles)...
 
What they do right all starts with branding and strategic consumer appeal. iPods are a classic example of such with a cascading peer effect (and it doesn't hurt to lock consumers into your format, either). Consoles are affected by much of the same mentality which is cyclically reinforced by software development.

Yes, that appeal includes simplicity in design, usage and business (processes).
 
Nintendo's own history suggests Wii 2 has a BD drive since the supplier of optical drives in GC and Wii is Matsushita (Panasonic). Looking at the current demand of Wii it will take at least 2 years before the next Nintendo console appears, a BD drive will be much cheaper in 2010.

Yet still more expensive than a DVD drive as well as inflating disk replication costs.

Adopting an obsolete red-laser drive for Wii 2 in 2010 or later just won't make sense with all drive noise and slower transfer speed

CD-ROMs are "obsolete" yet are still manufactured. The issue is one of cost and need. Nintendo can not only increase their disk capacity 5x by moving to full size DVD (or the like) as well as increase disk speed. Disk authoring and production costs will also be much lower.

Cheaper doesn't mean cheapest. And the obvious question is need. Nintendo has a history of using older technology they can adapt to their needs, and with the Wii they have difinitively set a course for their internal studios that won't be easily overcome. From a personel and resource standpoint they have chosen a path that will make competing in the technoligical/graphics arena very difficult.

I cannot fathom their need for over 7.5GB of data let alone the "perk" of BD playback seeing as the GCN and Wii have avoided the widely popular DVD movie format.

Blu-ray may have some security perks, but the general benefits aren't much inline with their design focus and the additional hardware/replication costs eat directly into their profit$.
 
I for one believed the conspiracy theories about MS trying to break the hd disc market and bring Sony to financial ruin.

So I'm glad this format war had a happy ending.

So did Warner simply accept a big check from Sony? Or did any part of their decision have to do with standing up for their own industry and consumers in the face of anti-consumer monopolistic bullies?
 
I for one believed the conspiracy theories about MS trying to break the hd disc market and bring Sony to financial ruin.

So I'm glad this format war had a happy ending.

So did Warner simply accept a big check from Sony? Or did any part of their decision have to do with standing up for their own industry and consumers in the face of anti-consumer monopolistic bullies?

From the rumor channels and not bad channels at all in this case:

Warner wanted the war to end, they saw a declining sale in DVD and a HiDef market that wasn´t moving because of the war. Toshiba wanted to buy them to their side, Warner knew that it would be a stalemate with no winners for a long time if they joined HD-DVD alone, so they asked for a second studio. Fox was apparently in on the deal but left at the 11th hour and told Blu-Ray what was going on.

Without Fox HD-DVD had nothing to get Warner and Warner went for Blu-Ray. Backing up Warners decision was better sales on standalone Blu-Ray players during the Hollidays and better disc sales. But i think these were more bonuses than real determing causes. The real cause was the future of HiDef and lots of money that will be made over the next 10-20 years.
 
Have a hard time believing Fox considered abandoning Blu-Ray.

They've been almost as hawkish as Sony Pictures and the BDA hardware makers about their support of Blu-Ray.

Disney was a bit less hardcore but Blu-Ray had 3 solid studios on their side. None of them ever flipped, whereas Paramount and Warners went from HD-DVD to neutral to HD-DVD and Blu-Ray respectively.

MS tried to court a lot of the studios, not just for HD-DVD but for HDi, for XBL marketplace, etc.

Ultimately, they did what was in their best interests.

There's some overlap between gaming and video markets but in other ways, they compete against each other for the same dollars.

But maybe, given the precedent, future consoles will have to offer some video playback capabilities?
 
Why should a console have to offer video playback via a disc? The best selling console so far this generation has no video playback and then the next only has DVD via disc without a expensive add-on. Not sure at all where a precedent other than don't include cutting edge disc format in your system exists.
 
Have a hard time believing Fox considered abandoning Blu-Ray.

They've been almost as hawkish as Sony Pictures and the BDA hardware makers about their support of Blu-Ray.

Disney was a bit less hardcore but Blu-Ray had 3 solid studios on their side. None of them ever flipped, whereas Paramount and Warners went from HD-DVD to neutral to HD-DVD and Blu-Ray respectively.

MS tried to court a lot of the studios, not just for HD-DVD but for HDi, for XBL marketplace, etc.

Ultimately, they did what was in their best interests.

There's some overlap between gaming and video markets but in other ways, they compete against each other for the same dollars.

But maybe, given the precedent, future consoles will have to offer some video playback capabilities?

Yes i have a hard time in regards to the Fox thing myself. On the other hand money is money and if HD-DVD would allow Region encoding on Fox discs....

Every console does allow playback now...
 
From the rumor channels and not bad channels at all in this case:

Warner wanted the war to end, they saw a declining sale in DVD and a HiDef market that wasn´t moving because of the war. Toshiba wanted to buy them to their side, Warner knew that it would be a stalemate with no winners for a long time if they joined HD-DVD alone, so they asked for a second studio. Fox was apparently in on the deal but left at the 11th hour and told Blu-Ray what was going on.

Without Fox HD-DVD had nothing to get Warner and Warner went for Blu-Ray. Backing up Warners decision was better sales on standalone Blu-Ray players during the Hollidays and better disc sales. But i think these were more bonuses than real determing causes. The real cause was the future of HiDef and lots of money that will be made over the next 10-20 years.

You left out the money factor, which everyone was up in arms about when the HD DVD group did it, ;)

EDIT: Of my HD DVD collection which is only about 40 or 50, Universal makes up most of it then Warner closely behind, so this one stings for me; it does not however entice me to go buy a PS3 and luckily as a digidistro supporter many of the movies I want to see, appear on the Live Video Marketplace.
 
Suppose if Blu-Ray became the dominate format, what does this mean for MS and their next console? Could we be seeing a XBox 720 with Blu-Ray equiped? Does Sony makes a profit off of every Xbox 720 sold? Wow!
 
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