Paramount HD-DVD deal branded 'desperate'
/v3-uk/news/1961493/paramount-hd-dvd-deal-branded-desperate
24 Aug 2007, Clement James , V3
The founder of Blue Ray Technologies, an independent US Blu-ray factory, has hit out at the industry over the reported $150m in incentives given to Paramount and DreamWorks Animation to shun the format.
Earlier this week it emerged that Paramount is to be paid by Toshiba and the other HD-DVD proponents for producing content exclusively for the HD-DVD format.
Studios including Sony Pictures, Disney, Fox and MGM are Blu-ray only. Warner Bros remains dual format, while Universal, and now Paramount, will only release videos in HD-DVD.
"Toshiba and HD-DVD offered this deal because they are desperate. The public has chosen Blu-ray discs with their pocket books, buying them 2-to-1 over HD-DVDs this year," said Blue Ray Technologies founder Erick Hansen.
"For retailers, it's like being forced to stock VHS tapes after the public chose DVDs. For the consumer it creates more confusion that hurts the industry-wide move to high-definition."
Hanson noted that DVD retail leaders Blockbuster and Target will only stock Blu-ray on their shelves.
"What has Paramount gained by accepting the money?" asked Hansen, suggesting that if multi-billion dollar directors like Steven Spielberg and Michael Bay support Blu-ray, the deal is a double-edged sword.
Spielberg's films are specifically excluded from the Paramount-DreamWorks Animation deal and will continue to be released in both formats, according to Paramount.
Whereas Bay recently released a statement on his website publicising his displeasure at the distribution of Transformers I and II on HD-DVD only.
"It is not that I am surprised they took the deal," Hansen said. "But it is like paying them not to grow crops. How is the film industry going to segue into the next-gen world if it accepts a relative pittance to stunt its growth?"
Do you agree?
Ok, but Bay U-turned.
Well, he did re-think.
From Bay Forum:
"I heard where Paramount is coming from and the future of HD and players that will be close to the $200 mark which is the magic number. I like what I heard. As a director, I'm all about people seeing films in the best quality possible, and I saw and heard first-hand people upset about a corporate decision."
He concluded, "So today I saw '300' on HD, it rocks! So I think I might be back on to do Transformers 2!"
Posted by Krister Saarela, 24 Aug 2007
Sore losers
I have both a Blu-Ray and an HDDVD drive, I also have movies on both formats. After watching several modern BD films, I discovered that the quality was less superior than HDDVD. The sound is better under HD DVD and the picture on even some older films is better under HD DVD. As for Michael Bay being unhappy, big deal! Let's face it, it's not like he's Stanley Kubrick or Alfred Hitchcock! He's just another guy in Hollywood who has his own opinion and happens to have a one hit wonder under his belt. Like has been said before, Sony always loses format wars. On top of that is the region free status of HD DVD's still. No need to worry about which region you fall in. BTW, anyone know which region Australia falls in, cause I sure as shit don't!!!
Posted by Richard, 24 Aug 2007
Don't be a tool
This article is so full of lies and misleading statements. You should have your journalism priviledges stripped.
You do realize that Michael Bay was drunk when he wrote those statements right? The next day he retracted them publically and stated that he watched 300 on HD DVD and it was amazing. Just because you purchased a crap Blu-Ray player doesn't mean you have to mislead your audience. Oh and as far and BlockBuster and Target are concerned, as of yesterday, both had HD DVD and BluRay in my local stores. The Target deal was for the purchase of a BluRay aisle end cap. That is all. At no point did Target state that they were going to remove HD DVD from their shelves.
Get your facts straight. It's not HD DVD that is confusing people, it's Sony Tools like you. Stop being a Tool to the MAN!
Posted by S, 24 Aug 2007
Another desperate Blu Ray attempt to deflate HDDVD
First, Blockbuster's support for Blu ray is not exclusive since HD DVD titles can be rented on line and available in selective stores. Target only has a Blu Ray endcap until Christmas (I wonder how much money Sony paid for this endcap) HD DVD titles and hardware can still be found at stores. Michael Bay changed his tune soon after he realized he was talking to Blu Ray owners who brainwashed him. Like most Blu Ray spells they only last a few hours the truth always comes out. HD DVD is the product for the consumer and is here to stay. Boys, get your facts straight next time you print a story like this, please, check your sources.
Posted by mannyhd66, 24 Aug 2007
Can't blame HD DVD!
Offering millions of Playstation 3's at a huge loss and following that with a $100 price drop 6 months later isn't desperate. Sony has lost way more than $150 million just to keep their precious blu-ray afloat. I can't say that I blame the HD DVD camp for trying to swing things their way.
Posted by c-well, 24 Aug 2007
WOW
Michael bay retracted his earlier statement after viewing the 300 with features like picture in picture which are the HD DVD standard but not the blue ray Standard on all machines. thats of course going to change on/around oct 30th when blu ray gets its specs updated aand all players released afterwards will be compatible with the new spec.
Another big problem is the fact studio's have to hire computer programmers to code java code to simulate all of HD DVD's easliy built in features which do not require to be coded in using a programming language further cutting costs for disc production & faster releases.
Im not so surprised they chose not to mention the BetaMAX VHS comparision which at least boasted the same technological advances at the time as HD DVD & Blu ray are boasting now.
I have both HD DVD on my xbox360 & Blu ray in my PS3 & still believe Sony will come out with another Media Format Failure.
Remember betamax ... remember Sony MiniDisc.
At Least Toshiba Has done it right before with DVD so my bet is with them for sure.
Posted by Anon Ymous, 24 Aug 2007
Target is NOT Blu-Ray Exclusive!
Target is going to sell a Blu-Ray *player* exclusively, but they are NOT Blu-Ray exclusive when it comes to the movies.
Posted by Bunghole, 24 Aug 2007
Target was paid to drop HD-DVD
It's amazing that the Blu-ray group can gripe with a straight face about Paramount getting paid to support HD-DVD -- and then say Target only supports Blu-ray. Hello -- Blu-ray PAID Target to drop HD-DVD.
Posted by jayntampa, 24 Aug 2007
HD DVD is Better Format
HD DVD is the better format, as Paramount CTO Alan Bell layed out clearly for PC World http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,136253-c,dvdtechnology/article.html and as the Economist discusses http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9689600. More robust, cheaper to manufacture, easier to program, video commentary tracks, the product of a real industry trade group, and an inexpensively supported by players besides a not super popular game console. HD DVD has all the capacity required for HD video.
Posted by D. Reis, 24 Aug 2007
Numbers are clear
2 to 1 in sales for blu-ray.
And if you are an engineer and want to talk capacity, 50Gb's BR > 30Gb's HD-DVD (not to metion bandwidth).
People must really hate Sony, and love microsoft (or do you think it's really Toshiba alone there).
Posted by Rob, 24 Aug 2007
Take that SONY
Great news. Anything that slaps SONY is great news. Ever since that rootkit issue. I'll never buy a SONY product again. Join boycottsony.us.
Posted by Steven Rumo, 24 Aug 2007
misleading...
Misleading article.. Target will only stock Blu-Ray Players in stores, but they have HD DVD movies.. Just there yesterday.
Posted by Chip, 24 Aug 2007
Fuzzy Math...
BluRay isnt outselling HD-DVD, this is fuzzy math. BluRay has bought out several companies. The only reason BLURAY is Making ground is because the PS3 come out with it, BLURAY counts every PS3 sold as a bluray player, factor this in and HDDVD has outsold BluRay. Also HDDVD is a superior format simple because the PLAYBACK format and qaulity. I think it is HIGH TIME people give up over the 50gb/30gb issue and realize sitting side by side, HDDVD just looks better, and guess what that is what matters.
Posted by NatDoGG, 24 Aug 2007
OH MY GOD...
This is the most biased and mislead article I've ever seen in my life. Not only is it not desperate, but it's one of many in a line of actions taken by the HD camp to completely obliterate Blu-Ray. Blu-Ray doesn't stand a chance, and anyone with any brains could see that. Just look at the evidence. HD DVD has more movie companies? exclusive to it. (That is a FACT, even though many of them are smaller companies) HD DVD has more and exclusive special content on its discs. HD DVD consumers don't need to buy the latest players because they have problems. (See Blu-Ray and all their JAVA problems, among others...) HD DVD players, by Toshiba alone, are outselling ALL Blu-Ray players 3-1!!! (And honestly, player sales = market penetration, not movie sales) HD DVDs are cheaper then Blu-Ray discs not (mostly because they are cheaper to produce because they are more like DVDs). HD DVDs also have a thicker protective layer between the data and the outside world, giving it better protection. And while the BR discs hold slightly more for the time being, the movies out there now aren't even utilizing it so why would it matter? (Not to mention triple layered HD DVDs are going to be out soon, which hold a whole gig more then BR discs) Now, what else, god it's hard to tell what I've forgotten to mention, there?s just so much. Ok, how about the internet capabilities that all HD DVD players have. Now how about no regional coding for HD DVD letting you watch and HD DVD from anywhere, while Blu-Ray has multiple regions, preventing someone from watching a BR from say... Japan. How about the adult industry? It's giving it's full support to HD and has done so for quite some time. While on the other hand, Sony has a no adult materials policy. Another strike for BR and it's supporters. Now let's look at the gaming industry. BR is supported by PS3, one of the worst and clearly inferior gaming system on the market (Which I won't even go into because there are a million and one reasons why it sucks, but that's another argument. However, I will say that it uses its BR laser, making its games load slower) while HD is supported by Microsoft, a company who has never failed. On the other hand, let's look at some of Sony's failures, minidisks, and Betamax for instance. Both terrible formats that screwed a lot of consumers and Sony. Betamax was the last format they tried to push onto the world, and the world decided it sucked just as bad as Sony. That's why VHS won and for the same reason HD DVD will win. Ok, now, just so much... How about the fact that Sony is greedy and manipulative. For instance, they are charging more for a standalone BR player then the PS3 which PLAYS BR! They are trying to play off of peoples ignorance which is why the are spending so much to advertise BR, and paying off so many people to say BR is the way to go. Microsoft however isn't threatened, because they shouldn't be, and there for is not spending hardly any on advertising. They know that positive word of mouth will be more or less enough. I know plenty of people who don't even know what a Blu-Ray is, but say HD DVD and they instantly know what you're talking about. EVEN if they don't know what it is, they can put 2 and 2 together. Because it's a simple name, and people know what a DVD is. That another reason why HD DVD will win, DVD is a familiar name. People know what it is and they aren't afraid of it disappearing from the market like Blu-Ray. When they have a HD TV, they will grab an HD DVD player. It's pretty simple logic, not to mention when you combine that with a better movie selection, with cheaper movies and players, it's no contest. It's really looking bleak for SONY and BR, and anyone with half a brain could see that. Unless say they were paid off by SONY like some people and websites. I'm not going to mention any names, but I think it's pretty obvious.
Posted by Royal P. Isaacs, 25 Aug 2007
that's just Blu-ray's SPIN...
Check out this article fro mthe Economist - this is the real story - http://www.economist.com/daily/columns/techview/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9689600
Posted by john, 25 Aug 2007
Yep the numbers are clear.
True blu ray leads hd dvd in sales 2 to 1. Compare those with DVD sales and they make up roughly 4% surley not greater than 10%.
Your numbers your lead , they mean nothing at this point.
Apparently neither does you bigger capacity which just drives up the price and is not needed , cause if it was HD DVD would not have even been considered for HD content.
Not to mention you need to hire computer programmers who know at least Java to spend hours programming a solution which HDi makes So painless and easy.
You think consumers are gonna learn a programming language to make home made blu ray discs good Luck.
Give it time and Blu ray will go the Way of BetaMAX and the good old Sony Mini Disc which was poised to replace standard Audio CD's if you all remember.
Yep a 2 to 1 lead is right for about 5% of the high def industry thats good news.
Just wait for the other 95% of customers who still by DVD's on a regular basis to choose sides then we will see who the winner will be.
Posted by Anon Amos, 25 Aug 2007
Blue Ray Technologies
ok, maybe there is a company named blueray.
Posted by Joe, 25 Aug 2007
who payed who?
crying about paying for paramount to go exclusive,sony paid target 50mill to stock only blu ray players this holiday season.the sony/blu ray spin doctors at it again.
Posted by bob murray, 25 Aug 2007
???
Why is this a desperation move. This whole format "war" just started and I think the longer it drags on the more advantage HD-DVD will have. If Sony has any chance they have to throw a lot of money around and squash this thing now or they are doomed. Just my opinion.
Posted by Najaf, 25 Aug 2007
Too early for silly sweeping comments
$150 million pay-off?
Prove it (as opposed to quoting dubious reports of a rumour).
There is no credible support for this claim.
The Blu-ray camp are the ones looking (and sounding) desperate now.
They know that the PS3 sales are not good and the numbers of Blu-ray movies the PS3s are shifting per player are not good either.
HD DVD now has more available content and (thanks to it being region-free everytime) HD DVD has more exclusive content available too (over 60 movies which are claimed as 'Blu-ray exclusive' are not if ordeered on-line from other countries).
This 'war' is far from over - the market is so timy & immature.....and those 'we already won' comments by the Blu-ray side just look laughable now.
Posted by Interested Watcher, 26 Aug 2007
SONY is the one that started the "WAR"
Notice at the beginning he says "an independent US Blu-ray factory", it's SONY you a-hole, might as well call them by name. And remember back when DVD authority approved HD-DVD as the next format and NOT Blue-Ray ?
It's SONY that want's to finally establish a monopoly for themselves. Hope they are NOT successful this time.
Posted by someone, 08 Jan 2008