BREAKING NEWS: Warner Goes Blu-ray only

Damn I hate this call....

Me too, Especially since I just bought an Xbox 360 HD-DVD Attachment.

Piss on the fire and call the dogs home. Blu is up 2 touchdowns with less then 2 mins to play. Now its time for Blu to gets its act together stop selling 1.0 players that take 2 years to load.

Like others that have both formats I knew that some day one of my players would become a Beta player. What ALL of us early buyers of next gen. disk format should realize is that if one of the formats doesn't take over soon, then ALL next Gen players could ALL become just a nitch market like Lazer disks of old.

[Post edited by xavier311 on Jan 4, 2008]

Yep you're right Xavier. It just bumms me out that the better format lost the battle I just bought a standalone HD DVD player because Warner said before christmas that they would stay neutral. That totally blows though. Also just dished out for a 37inch Philips full hd tv (love it).

This is a dark day for movie loving world. If Sony is the only HD sort it will dominate everything and that is not a good thing! Prices will go up, they will no longer do their best to get more interactive features etc. sigh...

[Post edited by Wern_r on Jan 4, 2008]

You think Blu is slow on profile releases now? Wait till they are the only one in the market. Sony f*cks the consumer. Every time.

OBAMA and Blu-ray in less than 24 hrs... SWEET!!!

As usual, two threads on the same topic! As if one isn't enough!

yeah. really. I'd like to have one official topic on this to talk about it because we're about to have 200 pages on this anyway....might as well consolidate it

Odd this wasn't supposed come out until the CES

TIME TO DUMP WHAT FEW NON PARAMOUNT TITLES I HAVE ON EBAY.

So they claim that their stance is to keep supporting both formats before Christmas, then "coincidentally" wait until after the holiday shopping season to drop their bomb? Had I known, I wouldn't have bought Oceans 13 on HD DVD. I think I'm going to boycott Warner titles for a long time on any format.

[Post edited by Soapflake on Jan 4, 2008]

Know what? I'll just repost my thoughts in each thread and see which sticks more:

First...good news is that maybe we'll get to a one format system. CES is ahead and who knows what will happen there. I really don't care, I DO have both regardless of who I support.

What I DO find sad is that Warner waited until after the holidays, after those people were beginning to start a library of HD-DVDs, AFTER people already plunked down money for their new players and their DVDs and THEN said "oops, sorry, we're done....but thanks for your cash!" Even $ony and M$ don't pull that much of a fast one.

That, and now you know we'll all get screwed on players and DVD prices. Bye Bye BOGO offers.

I dunno....Warner's tactic really makes me think if I even want to buy any more HD media. It was pretty scummy of them to pull this now and stick the new adoptors with junk. Universal and New Line and Paramount are still in the game for now.

Well, either Sony finally gets a win in forcing people into their media OR we reject it wholesale until the next round of home media. I want to think positive about this, but Sony has never instilled confidence in me.

Guys, all is not lost for HD. You still have Paramount/Dreamworks. That $150 million is paying off HUGE!!!! I mean...you'll see the HD release of...well probably...

JServo... I agree with you completely, Warners act was despicable! I think $ony are greedy overpriced, this kinda sucks for a lot of people.

as well as, lets be honest, BRDA now has very little incentive to lower prices, thus slowing the adoption rate of the format. JQP can plunk down $200 or less much easier than $400 (which is the cost to get a current gen Blu Ray player that'll do what a HD-DVD player can do now).

Well, the PS3 IS a good upconverter DVD player, since I refuse to buy WB HD movies after this. Had they done it earlier, I don't think it'd be as much an issue, but screwing consumers like this is horrible business.

JServo,

Warner is the parent co. of NEWLINE studios. They will also fall into this deal.

JServo, if SONY is as half of the bad company you say that they are, do you think that they care if the small amount of upset consumers boycott their format. The market is so small anyway and they already know that at least a 1/3 of the current HDDVD owners will buy a Blu ray player or a PS3 right away to correct their wrong for buying HDDVD in the first place. I'm happy that WB will be Blu in 4 months but ultimately it is the consumer that looses and that is a same. Bottom line is that any HDDVD supporters that don't switch will be considered collateral damage and life will move on because of the fact the the HD disc market is so small it won't hurt them.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

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Well, the PS3 IS a good upconverter DVD player, since I refuse to buy WB HD movies after this. Had they done it earlier, I don't think it'd be as much an issue, but screwing consumers like this is horrible business.

I can understand why HD DVD exclusive people would be upset at Warner, but there was no "right time" that Warner could have done this without upsetting anyway. At least Warner didn't "pull a Paramount".

Next time studio and corporate execs are "spreading rumors", we should listen. There were at least two studio people interviewed that Warner was rumored to be going Blu-ray before or at CES - BEFORE Toshiba's first major price reductions on the HD-A2. Seemed every studio exec outside of Warner knew what the buzz was.

Do people really think Toshiba was the only Corporation to NOT KNOW what was going down? Is it any surprise now that Toshiba had a $199 then $99 fire sale on their A2 players? Is it any surprise that Toshiba didn't replace their flagship HD-AX2 when the third generation players came out?

If anything, I'd be angry at Toshiba. Blu-ray shills joked and prodded HD DVD fans about the $99 player sale as being a "consumer dumping" before the news went public. In retrospect....

At least for those consumers. they only paid $99. I paid four times that amount for my HD DVD player. As far as Warner not announcing this before the Toshiba player dump? I don't think Toshiba wanted them to. And 200,000 consumers is nothing really compared to had this gone on another 2 years, along with the accumulation of bought media. 10's of millions of consumers were affected by Beta.

Anyway, that's it. I suspect that Paramount/Dreamworks will try and opt out of their exclusivity contract by May. HD DVD probably wont be "dead" for awhile yet, but it is relegated to a temporary niche format in any case.

Maybe, but attitudes like that is WHY they do this Tony. I have money and I WILL spend it elsewhere. If people actually used that logic, they'd actually listen to us instead of screwing us over.

and yes, Skyhawk, lets blame HD-DVD for this.

You two make me sick.

[Post edited by JServo on Jan 4, 2008]

JServo, so you really believe that Toshiba had no idea this was coming even though executives from other studios were telling us two months ago that Warner was going Blu?

Skyhawk, your thoughts are completely backwards. Why would we be upset with Toshiba? Just because they lowered the prices didn't mean that they were dumping players.

Warner Bros. specifically squashed rumors that they were switching before the holidays. This led everyone to believe that they were still going to continue to support HD DVD, when in fact it was a lie. They didn't just come up with this scheme overnight, they knew about this for a while.

Basically, Warner Brothers kept quiet because they wanted to sell a bunch of their HD DVD titles over Christmas and make some money. That is shady, there's no way else to say it.

Skyhawk, if Toshiba knew this was coming then why even bother putting out third-generation players? Plus, Warner Bros. stated that they weren't going exclusive just a few weeks ago in a press release.

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Warner Bros. specifically squashed rumors that they were switching before the holidays.

All they said, was that they were committed to both formats until a choice could be made based on sales. That was what, more than 2 months ago in response to one of their own saying the consumer had already made the choice, and Blu-ray was it??? Well it seemed they waited 2 or 3 months, and made a choice. Would it have been better if they stretched this out another year? Two?

Even though I own 63 HD DVD titles, I agree with Warner and think this will be the best thing for hi-def media adoption in the long run.

Shocking, I thought they were totally going HD...

Wouldn't it be funny if Disney and Fox announced at CES that they were switching sides? Could just be wishful thinking, but this announcement really comes at a bizarre time so it does seem like something else is going on for them to push it early.

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Skyhawk, if Toshiba knew this was coming then why even bother putting out third-generation players?

Because, those 3rd generation players were manufactured more than 3 months ago.

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Plus, Warner Bros. stated that they weren't going exclusive just a few weeks ago in a press release.

A few weeks ago? Link to the dated press release? Regardless, I don't think Toshiba wanted Warner to spill the beans before the holiday buying season, even though several corporate execs did from other companies.

poor tosh. got em with.....

For me it looks like a surprise attack.
Toshiba Comments

But then again. It could be Toshiba spin.

Hmm but they are still losing money on those players. At least that's what a lot of people have been posting here.

Well Henning, I seriously doubt Toshiba would put out a press release saying "we knew Warner was considering going exclusively Blu-ray since October, and we apologize to all our customers who recently bought our players and media..."

The "rumors" started by executives from other studios makes this statement sound what it is: The only thing Warner can say at this point. I am however interesting in what these "contracts" were

I apologize to Skyhawk and Tony. That was unfair and I generally try to conduct myself better.

That said, it works me up more as a consumer to be considered "collateral damage". I work for that money, dammit, and without that they'd be nothing.

I have both formats, so in the end, it affects me minimally. I still have my HD-DVD player and can still watch those movies for a least a few years until the player breaks down. And actually beyond the HP boxset (which I'd likely rebuy in a few years after they are all together anyway) and The Matrix, I havent really lost much to Warner's decision.

I do think this will hurt the overall HD format, though.

I agree Skyhawk.

However, if it was not by surprise you could simply have left it out of the press release.

[Post edited by Henning on Jan 4, 2008]

Though I do still fell its kinda lame to blame HD-DVD for this. I mean, really Skyhawk? I know you're more intelligent than to believe that.

Ok, We can make a difference here. Please tell all of your friends not to buy warner products go online and check out who they are affilliated with. Next call the numbers below and flood there phone lines and emails with why you choose hddvd over blue ray and don't say retard things like f-blueray and things like that tell them how hddvd is more affordable to consumers right now in our economic times and how hddvd releases bonus footage, deleted scenes, and other extra footage. Tell them if they made there decicsion because of the consumer then where was that survey and how can i write to them telling them my views about HDDVD. So flood all there lines , tell your friends, and make it legit. We can make this happen and remember still keep your hddvd also find out from toshiba what can you do im sure them can give you more contacts too.

DBA: Warner Brothers Home Video
» Other
Address: 20100 South Vermont Avenue
TORRANCE,
CA 90502 » Other
Primary Phone: (800) 868-5912

DBA: Warner Brothers Inc.
» Other
Address: 4000 Warner Blvd. Suite 154 Box 3104
Burbank,
CA 91522 » Other
Primary Phone: (818) 954-6000 » Other
Primary Fax: (818) 977-8581 » Other
Primary Contact: Sherri Bogard,Customer Service » Other

I already canceled all my WB pre-orders from Amazon.

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Though I do still fell its kinda lame to blame HD-DVD for this. I mean, really Skyhawk? I know you're more intelligent than to believe that.

Perhaps I'm not that intelligent, but I'm not naive. Remember a certain executive from Warner spilling the beans before thanksgiving? How about this snippet from Businessweek in early Decmember?:

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"The rumor is that Warner is coming aboard soon," says Michael Burns, vice-chairman of studio Lionsgate.

Are you suggesting that although we heard this rumor, to Toshiba this came as a big surprise because their entire corporation lives in a complete media vacuum? And only now they're considering alternative strategies to deal with Warner's decision? Corporations don't survive by living in the denial of what might become reality. They entire day-to-day operations are overlaid with strategic decision making and alternative strategies for various market scenarios.

This doesn't mean I "blame" HD DVD for Warner going to Blu-ray. That's silly.

I think it may be too late to call WB and tell them anything, however logical... They've clearly already cashed the check from Sony.

Consumers (if they choose) will now pay top dollar for movies that DON'T have picture-in-picture, players that won't update, movies that won't play, etc etc etc.

Sad day for opponents of DRM and businesses telling US how we use our purchased products.

Indeed a sad day for HD DVD, but even so Blu-Ray supporters should be objective and keep in mind that it's you as consumers that will suffer and lose out. If HD DVD really does losses the high def market then Blu-Ray has no incentive to seriously cut prices for their BD players and movies, even adoping a more consumer friendly policy by dropping their DRM such as BD+ and Regional Coding, even to finalise the specs properly that none of their current BD players has.

It's sad that you as consumers failed to recognize that HD DVD offered you a much more consumer friendly scenario than Blu-Ray right from the start, with full specs players even with top grade upscaling SD DVD capabilities at much more accesible prices, movies with no Regional Coding even HD DVD/SD DVD combos, all of this was done to let you know that they were looking out to favour consumers more than movie studio's interests.

If people are irritated with the timing of Warner's announcement, then it's about time you should realize that movie studios have very little concern for your customer's interest (yes, they should had announced this before Christmas) don't allow this to blind you from the fact that Blu-Ray is not consumer-friendly, that has used you as beta testers with unfinished products that eventually will be useless, that it's intent is to cripple your freedom to use and view movies as you wish to, and has only movie studios interests in mind.

DVD sales are down not because people were waiting for a resolution in the HD media war, but rather the lack of appealing titles worth purchasing. In previous years DVD sales were much higher because of the release of blockbuster classic 80s and 90s titles, but know that pretty much everybody owns those movies they wished for on DVD, there are less options to choose from, since only a few of the new releases are worth buying.

When you add to this the overpricing of DVD, HD DVD and Blu-Ray titles, most consumers have avoided double dipping for a ultimate extreme collectors special re-release of a movie they already own, even if that movie is now availible on HD DVD or Blu-Ray... simple as that.

Currently a HD DVD / Blu-Ray edition is priced almost twice than a DVD special edition... we should make it clear that we are all tired of paying DRM overpriced DVD movies, and in order to keep buying from them, we need a significant reduction in price, specially if they want us to support HD DVD and Blu-Ray in the following years.

Nobody is disputing that HD DVD / Blu-Ray offers an improvement in audiovisual quality compared to DVD, but keep in mind that such improvement isn't enough to justify buying the same movies again at even higher prices than we did (and still do) for them in DVD format, specially when you can achieve similar results (not equal) viewing current DVD titles throw upscaling DVD players.

I believe that the best option is if indeed the winner of the HD format war is Blu-Ray, it should work simultaneously with DVD for the next 10+ years, rather than trying to debunk DVD as the dominant vehicle for consumer video. Because billions around the world have at least one DVD player at home, with their own DVD movies and TV series collection, which could go from hundreds to thousands of titles, which you can back them up/transfer them to mobile players if you wish, much quicker and easier than HD DVD / Blu-Ray movies.

The fact is that more than 95% of consumers don't feel the rush to replace their DVD titles to even more overpriced HD DVD / Blu-Ray titles, nor spending thousands of $$$'s to upgrade all their equipment, merely because of an audiovisual improvement, there should be more than that, specially when the movie studios expect us to pay full price again for a movie we already own.

Reducing current retail prices by half and allow consumers to choose either a special DVD edition at $10-15 SRP or an HD DVD / Blu-Ray edition at $20-25 SRP, will appeal consumers to buy more movies than they currently do (even double dipping already own titles) and undeniably stores could offer discount prices to promote higher sales... otherwise it's you as consumers that will suffer and lose out.

Well this sucks...I bought an A1 for $400 when they were first released, along with about 25 HD DVD's over the last two years. I knew the gamble going into the hi def game though and I can accept defeat. At least I still have a wicked upconverting DVD player...
My big question right now is if I should run into my local Best Buy/Future Shop to get one of the cheap after Christmas sale Blu Ray players before the price jumps 200% in the next four months.

The bad:

I bought "The Matrix Ultimate" (again)
My HD DVD A2 player cost $294

The good:

I bought a PS3 with free stuff added for Black Friday
I got to see the jaws drop when Paramount claimed HD DVD exclusivity
I didn't buy "Star Trek"
All the HD DVDs I did buy were mostly $9.99 (cost of a movie out)
I no longer "buy" movies on either format

The uncertain:

DTS HD logo isn't on my PS3 - so does this mean I don't get it?
All the 7.1 PCMs (even though I could get two more speakers on my Denon 987, I don't want to) do these combine the 2 extra channels into the 5.1 that I do get or am I missing two channels?

Closing statements:

After I got Blu-ray, I did find that the menus were more "responsive" and instantaneous sort of. HD DVD menus have that little delay. I love HD DVD because Dolby True HD is in every machine, even mine, and it sounds phenominal!

The only thing I'm bummed about is having so much equipment. Both of these competing format groups knew what they were doing. I think it's been a cooperative dance all along. But buying discs is bad for the environment anyway, so I'll stick with rentals. If they go up I'll do the same as I did before and go without...I'm kind of "over the awe" by now anyway...their just movies.

Congratulations Blu-ray...you can thank Mickey Mouse for your victory.

Despite their wishful thinking, I too feel this is the end for HD DVD. Too bad...well, except for the slowly reacting menus - my guess is that they're like HTML which needs to be interpreted on the fly. Meh. Like it matters.

Blu-ray is the new way...now.

We are too unfair blaming WB, sony and who else for this descision...and we are forgeting the true resposible for HD-DVD fall...you know who: M$!!!!!!!!!!! M$ is the great responsable for this black day to HD-DVD customers, thanks to these mfkrs` idea to not release the X360 with HD-DVD. the sony´s strategy to sell BR with the PS3 was the best move afeter all, and in the end thanks to WB and M$ the PS3 will reign supremem and kill the xbox360 after all, I was planning to buy a x360 console with HD-DVD player when ninga gaiden 2 were to be released, but after the the WB fatal blow to HD-DVD, but I will change plans for a PS3. If M$ would have released the xbox360 with HD-DVD instead of DVD, things woul be very much diferent today, with metal gear solid Br and Warner, the ps3´s victory is at hand!!! THANKS TO m$.