Universal is to blame for the current Blu-Ray/HD-DVD format war
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The title is correct. I'm not talking about the Toshiba/Sony hardware war. It's too late for that now. It's all about content now.
I use current because Universal(last major hold out) is being paid by the HD-DVD group for exclusive content. It's not a new practice because the Blu-Ray group does the same. The longer the format war, the better it is for Universal, at least short term. In this case, GE, the parent company of Universal, is not happy about it and made some pressures on Universal executives.
300 (Warner), available in both formats, was sold 2 to 1 in favor of Blu-Ray. Seeing another evident "win" for Blu-Ray, Universal should do the right thing for their clients by supporting both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD before the years end. Sooner will be better. And don't forget that Disney and Fox did not release their best movie yet! This year major blockbusters, Spider-man 3 and Pirates of The Caribbean, are only on Blu-Ray.
The holday conversation
Imagine, comes the holidays, when a grand child of the GE boss ask:
Grand child: "Grandpa, why can't I play The Bourne Ultimatum in my Playstation 3?"
GE boss: "Well....Grandpa did not make it clear enough to those that made Bourne(Universal) that the majority should enjoy Grandpa movies".
Grand child: "Why?"
GE boss: "I did not insist enough"
Grand child: "But you are their boss, no?"
GE boss: "You are right. I will demand."
GE boss to himself: "I should had listen to Steve. When I think of all the money lost and negative publicity because of Universal bad decision. They will be all fired!"
Disclaimer: The above conversation did not take place, yet. It was meant to reproduce something that will occur in the future based on a strong and valid scientific method. By making this simulation, I hope to save the jobs of many Universal executives so that they have a great Holiday season this year. No player was harm during and no child cried during the simulation.
Conclusion
I don't have a problem with studios doing both formats for awhile but I want Blu-Ray to be the clear winner to end it now. I do feel for those that picked the wrong format(HD-DVD). Eventually, they will be able to buy their movie again in Blu-Ray for less if their HD-DVD is ever scratch or the HD-DVD player is broken. If lucky, they may able to buy a dual format at a premium later on when the rest of us would buy a lower priced Blu-Ray player.
Some started to boycott Universal. I won't because they have Heroes and did not see Bourne yet. I'm still coughing a little and don't want to bother others and also be their patient zero 
)
Other nice sources:
The Digitalbits has great and longer article on this and also on Hettrick Blogs.
For a look about content: By The Numbers - Why the HD DVD/Blu-Ray War Is Over
Related post:
10 Comments on this post
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Spud Oregon said:
I don’t have either kind of player, but even if I did, I’d want regular DVDs so I could play them on any of the DVD players with any of the TVs, in the house.
If Grandpa is smart, he’ll buy Bourne on regular DVD. Besides the PS3 must play regular DVDs too, right?
August 11th, 2007 at 1:23 pm -
Steve McGrath said:
I don’t have neither one yet but it will be Blu-Ray(more possible content for me).
DVD is not HD even if it’s upconverted.
Grand child: “But Grandpa, DVDs are so lame! It’s 2007, you know? Blu-Ray is the new DVD now”
August 11th, 2007 at 1:46 pm -
Spud Oregon said:
Well, regular DVDs still feel new for me!
I can’t imagine they’ll be out of fashion too quickly.Anyway, yes, Universal should support both formats.
August 11th, 2007 at 2:17 pm -
Steve McGrath said:
Regular DVDs are old for me
It’s been 2 years now that I did not buy one and that was a gift for my birthday.DVDs will be out for awhile like VHS was when DVDs first came out. The cost is higher this time because people need a HDTV but the price of HDTV falling very fast that it may not take that long. Player are starting to drop also. When they hit $200, people will buy them at much faster pace.
August 11th, 2007 at 2:50 pm -
Spud Oregon said:
Okay, I don’t know very much about this new generation of discs, but I do remember that besides better quality, the big attraction of DVDs over videotape was being able to skip scenes, jump to the menu, and not need to rewind to the beginning after watching a movie.
What do Blu-ray and HD-DVD offer besides superior quality?
I can’t imagine it becoming standard in homes across the world for another decade. I don’t mean to go back to our IE vs Firefox debate, but unless you’re a bit fanatical about new technology, people won’t upgrade so quickly.
Personal examples:
My parents upgraded from vinyl records to a tape/CD player about four years ago. they don’t have a DVD player and they still use dial up. They do have two houses and three cars though.
My mother-in-law doesn’t have a computer, and got her first DVD player last year (she won it in a raffle and hasn’t used it yet).
My brother-in-law makes microchips for a large electronics company here in Japan… yet he doesn’t have a computer.
I love technology (Vista, dual monitors, home theater system, etc.) BUT I haven’t got around to upgrading to a DVD recorder for the living room yet. We still use a bog-standard cheapy DVD player.
My local (but very big) video store still has more videotapes than DVDs.
Sorry for going on, but I have more to say!
About six years ago, I was having a beer with an Australian guy here in Japan and we were debating which would succeed – MP3 players or Mini-Disc players. At the time, MD was huge in Japan. Everyone had a Mini-Disc player and tape players had pretty much become obsolete. MP3 players on the other hand just weren’t making a dent in the market. My friend argued that MP3 players would still win because they had no moving parts.
Fast-forward to now and Mini-Discs, while still standard in home stereos, seem to have disappeared from the shelves. The iPod came along and got people’s attention, but cell phones (with music capabilities and downloadable mp3 services) have become all the rage.
My point is, perhaps neither Blu-ray nor HD-DVD will become common. Instead, we might be downloading movies of equal quality to our huge TV/computer screens in our living rooms, with no need for discs at all.
What do you think?
August 11th, 2007 at 9:38 pm -
Steve McGrath said:
It’s a post not a comment, at least in length
I have the HDTV and not the HD signal. I don’t have a DVD recorder because I have a PVR/DVR(it’s better). Hey, I don’t have a cell phone! So, I can understand people not having the latest and greatest.
I think it’s a region issue because, here, DVD is the king and VHS are way in the back if they have any in store.
Mini-Disc players never took off in North America. So, no debate here
What Blu-Ray/HD-DVD bring is better quality(video and sound) movies. Those who have watched quality HD content on TV have a hard time watching SD quality again.
Also, both format bring a better interactive features to movies. I don’t really care for that part.
It’s a bit like a PVR, once you used it, you have a hard time going back. My dad, who said it was just a dump VCR with a hard drive can’t live without it now. When I go HD, it will be a HD-PVR but it cost much more depending on your addictions. Mine cost more
People would not buy HDTV in masses just to look at VHS tapes. They watch DVD and TV on it. They may get the HD either free over-the-air or via a digital box if possible. More often, it’s the cost of getting the HD signal that stop them. I only have 1 French free OTA channel and no English channel. I’m too far from the US borders.
My very first post, I wrote about the troubles of going download/streaming. It’s another can of worms you will have to live with.
If you think the HD format war wast bad, wait till you read this…It’s in the related post.
August 11th, 2007 at 10:11 pm -
Spud Oregon said:
Well, having read that article, I guess downloading cheaply and efficiently is a long way off. And with that said, I’ve run out of things to say on the matter, except that we all watch too much TV anyway!
August 11th, 2007 at 10:31 pm -
Steve McGrath said:
A long way off. Some region, it’s faster and could do it but the other factors are not set yet.
I was recording TV (Masters of Science Fiction) before commenting the previous time. I was 23 minutes behind now 13 min. I skipped the ads and if it was not for this comment, I would be almost in Live mode. That’s watching TV the efficient way.
I should join TIA: TV and Internet Anonymous group but I don’t know where they are streaming it
Now back for the end of Masters of Science Fiction. While in paused mode on my PVR, I’m now 16m25s from the end.
August 11th, 2007 at 11:05 pm
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