Sony is actually going to win one!?

[sperry]

It looks like for the first time Sony might win a format war. BetaMax died, Memory Sticks are rarely used, MD flopped... but Blu-Ray might just pull it off!

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6186141.html

Which is nice, 'cause it's the better format that supports 1080p instead of just 1080i.

[Nick Koan]

And my investment in PS3 pays off.

Okay, not really.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by Nick Koan

And my investment in PS3 pays off.

Okay, not really.

Another win for the conservative, sandwich-heavy portfolio!

[Kunikos]

If they continue dropping the price on the PS3 I may pick one up just as a Blu-ray player. I hear price drops are coming since the laser doesn't cost as much to make now.

[JC]

Originally Posted by sperry

It looks like for the first time Sony might win a format war.

Ya 3.5" floppies and CDs really bombed for Sony.

HD DVD does 1080p, I don't know what the hell you are talking about. I liked HD DVD better so I'm a little sad. Oh well I own both so it's no big deal.

JC

[sperry]

Originally Posted by JC

Ya 3.5" floppies and CDs really bombed for Sony.

HD DVD does 1080p, I don't know what the hell you are talking about. I liked HD DVD better so I'm a little sad. Oh well I own both so it's no big deal.

JC

Really? Maybe it was just the cheaper players, 'cause I thought HD DVD only did 1080i.

As far as 3.5" floppies and CDs (that were primarily developed by Phillips, not Sony)... what was the competing standard they had to beat? 5.25" floppies? Cassette Tapes? There was no format war for those products. I'm not saying Sony's stuff never gets adopted, I'm just saying that when they're up against a similar new technology, they tend to lose the battle, i.e. BetaMax, Memory Stick, MiniDisc, PSP (vs. the Nintendo DS), Playstation 3 (vs. both the XBox and Wii), etc. Sony even tends to lose when they've got the better technology, probably because the other manufacturers tend to band together against Sony.

What's really the biggest dick move in all of this was last year's BS from Walmart about how they said they were adopting HD DVD right before XMas then sold a shitload of cheap HD DVD players to a bunch of people that figured Walmart's support would set HD DVD up for the win. Now Walmart's changing their mind... I guess they want to sell BluRay players to all those people too.

[JC]

Originally Posted by sperry

Really? Maybe it was just the cheaper players, 'cause I thought HD DVD only did 1080i.

The cheap ones are 1080i but most models (like mine) are 1080p.

Originally Posted by sperry

As far as 3.5" floppies and CDs (that were primarily developed by Phillips, not Sony)... what was the competing standard they had to beat? 5.25" floppies? Cassette Tapes? There was no format war for those products. I'm not saying Sony's stuff never gets adopted, I'm just saying that when they're up against a similar new technology, they tend to lose the battle, i.e. BetaMax, Memory Stick, MiniDisc, PSP (vs. the Nintendo DS), Playstation 3 (vs. both the XBox and Wii), etc. Sony even tends to lose when they've got the better technology, probably because the other manufacturers tend to band together against Sony.

Sony definitely loses more than they win.

Originally Posted by sperry

What's really the biggest dick move in all of this was last year's BS from Walmart about how they said they were adopting HD DVD right before XMas then sold a shitload of cheap HD DVD players to a bunch of people that figured Walmart's support would set HD DVD up for the win. Now Walmart's changing their mind... I guess they want to sell BluRay players to all those people too.

Wal-Mart had little say in the matter. HD DVD was still a legitimate format when they sold all those $99 players. The "war" was over when Warner went Blu Ray exclusive a few weeks later. What was Wal-Mart supposed to do?

[tysonK]

so now some decent films might start being released on BR.

Of course I don't know about the technical side of how a re-release will look on BR. I've read a little on hd digest of how some of the original media of films really does not cut it for the BR transfer.

edit: http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/1282/runlolarun.html

[Kunikos]

HD-DVD is officially dropped by Toshiba, so Blu-ray has won (at least in terms of physical formats).

[100_Percent_Juice]

They better drop the prices now.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by 100_Percent_Juice

They better drop the prices now.

Unfortunately, the opposite will be true. No competition means no price wars.

[JC]

Originally Posted by tysonK

so now some decent films might start being released on BR.

Of course I don't know about the technical side of how a re-release will look on BR. I've read a little on hd digest of how some of the original media of films really does not cut it for the BR transfer.

edit: http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/1282/runlolarun.html

It depends on the transfer. They can do a lot to clean it up or just a little here and there. For example Blade Runner looks great and T2 looks very mediocore. HD DVD usually had better transfers which is why I was hoping it would pull through.

Originally Posted by sperry

Unfortunately, the opposite will be true. No competition means no price wars.

You and your internet economics. Blu Ray has lots of competition, it's called DVD.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by JC

It depends on the transfer. They can do a lot to clean it up or just a little here and there. For example Blade Runner looks great and T2 looks very mediocore. HD DVD usually had better transfers which is why I was hoping it would pull through.



You and your internet economics. Blu Ray has lots of competition, it's called DVD.

I was specifically referring to the dirt cheap HD DVD players we were getting 'cause Toshiba was trying to push their format. Likely BluRay players won't break the $300 price point for a year or two, while if HD DVD players were still going for $100, they would have had to do something.

[Dean]

Sony will undoubtedly ensure that stand alone Blu-Ray players will only be slightly cheaper than PS3s to encourage you to go that route.

[JC]

Originally Posted by Dean

Sony will undoubtedly ensure that stand alone Blu-Ray players will only be slightly cheaper than PS3s to encourage you to go that route.

Sony doesn't control who makes Blu Ray players so they are SOL on that one. Toshiba should have a sub-$300 player in a couple months.

[Dean]

Originally Posted by JC

Sony doesn't control who makes Blu Ray players so they are SOL on that one. Toshiba should have a sub-$300 player in a couple months.

Um, aren't the 40Gb PS3s down to about $350 new? And I am pretty sure they have a pretty strong influence over the distribution and cost of licensing Blu-Ray technology.

[JC]

Originally Posted by Dean

Um, aren't the 40Gb PS3s down to about $350 new? And I am pretty sure they have a pretty strong influence over the distribution and cost of licensing Blu-Ray technology.

They are $399. The Blu Ray Disc Association controls licensing not Sony.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray_Disc_Association

[Dean]

Originally Posted by JC

They are $399. The Blu Ray Disc Association controls licensing not Sony.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray_Disc_Association

Did you even bother to read your own link to see who is on the board of the association and who isn't I'll give you a hint, So?? is, and To????? isn't! Is Sony all powerful, no, but they also happen to be one of the primary manufacturer of some of the Blu-Ray components.

and don't mess with with Señor Cheap Bastard.

$369
$350 refurb

And the $399 version available everywhere has the Spiderman 3 game which is worth about $40. Console = $359

There are some sketchy ones out there listed for <$350.

I'm not saying there won't be a <$300 player, I am saying Sony will continue to make it only a small price jump to a low end PS3. Even $100 is pretty damn reasonable for a current gen game console as compared to a dedicated player.

[JC]

Originally Posted by Dean

Did you even bother to read your own link to see who is on the board of the association and who isn't I'll give you a hint, So?? is, and To????? isn't! Is Sony all powerful, no, but they also happen to be one of the primary manufacturer of some of the Blu-Ray components.

and don't mess with with Señor Cheap Bastard.

$369
$350 refurb

And the $399 version available everywhere has the Spiderman 3 game which is worth about $40. Console = $359

There are some sketchy ones out there listed for <$350.

I'm not saying there won't be a <$300 player, I am saying Sony will continue to make it only a small price jump to a low end PS3. Even $100 is pretty damn reasonable for a current gen game console as compared to a dedicated player.

Well Toshiba has already had said they will be building blu ray players so I'm not sure what your point is. Sony won't be able to keep the price artificially high, not to mention that's illegal.

I wouldn't buy a PS3 from some bootleg website. Going price is $399. I'm sure you can find a blu ray player under $300 if you search the interweb too.

[100_Percent_Juice]

I'm not going to buy a PS3 until they are the size of an iphone and can answer my calls for me. You all know that blu ray discs are going to be phased out by SD cards anyways. The next PS4 will be a set of black sunglasses that have an SD slot on the side. Don't you all remember virtual reality goggles. President bush has been keeping them under wraps long enough. Soon Obama will unleash upon China his PS4 coupled with Google phone, creating VR Googles which are capable of shooting down the Nintendo Wii satellite. Thus dominating the gamer/communication market as we know it.

[Kevin M]

Originally Posted by 100_Percent_Juice

I'm not going to buy a PS3 until they are the size of an iphone and can answer my calls for me. You all know that blu ray discs are going to be phased out by SD cards anyways. The next PS4 will be a set of black sunglasses that have an SD slot on the side. Don't you all remember virtual reality goggles. President bush has been keeping them under wraps long enough. Soon Obama will unleash upon China his PS4 coupled with Google phone, creating VR Googles which are capable of shooting down the Nintendo Wii satellite. Thus dominating the gamer/communication market as we know it.

You must have, like, a tinfoil SOMBRERO!

[JC]

Originally Posted by 100_Percent_Juice

I'm not going to buy a PS3 until they are the size of an iphone and can answer my calls for me. You all know that blu ray discs are going to be phased out by SD cards anyways. The next PS4 will be a set of black sunglasses that have an SD slot on the side. Don't you all remember virtual reality goggles. President bush has been keeping them under wraps long enough. Soon Obama will unleash upon China his PS4 coupled with Google phone, creating VR Googles which are capable of shooting down the Nintendo Wii satellite. Thus dominating the gamer/communication market as we know it.

Ya whatever man, I already have my PS4 on pre-order from Amazon. $1500 is a steal.

[Dean]

Originally Posted by JC

Well Toshiba has already had said they will be building blu ray players so I'm not sure what your point is. Sony won't be able to keep the price artificially high, not to mention that's illegal.

Maybe you should go read my earlier posts then before you respond. I never said Sony would do anything illegal.

Toshiba can make whatever they want. I never said they couldn't, but they will need to pay licensing fees and buy components from OEMs possibly including Sony.

And Sony will likely use influence over licensing and component costs as well as adjusting PS3 pricing to ensure a low end PS3 is within a reasonable $ figure of stand alone players.

So what is your point since you said Sony was "SOL on that one" in response to my original comment?

[Kunikos]

Originally Posted by Dean

I'm not saying there won't be a <$300 player, I am saying Sony will continue to make it only a small price jump to a low end PS3. Even $100 is pretty damn reasonable for a current gen game console as compared to a dedicated player.

Actually, there's already price drops happening on European Blu-ray players due to new cheaper blue laser being made in Asia (Taiwan, China, Japan, etc). I would expect PS3 and stand-alone players to drop in price in a few months, if not then by at most Christmas.

[Double Phister]

I found a couple of stand alone players in the $325-$350 range delivered.
Sub $300 will happen before christmas 08.
Sub $150 is when things will really move though.