[cSurfr]

I also enjoyed where he says that "every universal HD-DVD release will be in combo format from now on". . . just another way to bleed a little bit of money from the consumer before the format fails.

If Universal wants to sell movies, maybe they should make titles like Jurassic Park ($920,100,000
gross) in HD as opposed to titles like The Nutty Professor ($435,414,019 gross)

[analogue SPRINKLES]

So how many HD-DVD owners here entire collection of movies consist of the 5-10 free ones you got with the player?

Now that I think about it that is an important point as if you sell the player at a loss PLUS give them a nice base library of movies very few are going to buy more movies for a loooong time. Hence, why HD-DVD did so well in disks sales next to BR. Nobody had to buy any, they got em all free. Oh but there are more stand alones in the market

Hopefully there is a lesson learned with how well that worked out.

[starman]

Originally Posted by jokell82 

It did from most of us DVD owners as it was a pretty crappy DVD player.

True, it wasn't the best. The Panasonic was a better one at the time, but the combination of cheap (relatively for its time) DVD player and game machine helped not only sell PS2s, but helped strengthen DVD. Now people give Sony crap for a Blu-Ray drive and the 360 for the HD add-on? I don't get it.

[cSurfr]

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES 

So how many HD-DVD owners here entire collection of movies consist of the 5-10 free ones you got with the player?

Now that I think about it that is an important point as if you sell the player at a loss PLUS give them a nice base library of movies very few are going to buy more movies for a loooong time. Hence, why HD-DVD did so well in disks sales next to BR. Nobody had to buy any, they got em all free. Oh but there are more stand alones in the market

Hopefully there is a lesson learned with how well that worked out.

I have a total of 46 HD-DVDs and 4 Blu-Rays (5 more for free in the mail yet), but I won't buy any more of either format. It's just not worth the investment.

[cSurfr]

Originally Posted by starman 

True, it wasn't the best. The Panasonic was a better one at the time, but the combination of cheap (relatively for its time) DVD player and game machine helped not only sell PS2s, but helped strengthen DVD. Now people give Sony crap for a Blu-Ray drive and the 360 for the HD add-on? I don't get it.

Because, as Microsoft says "They want to give the consumer choice." Between HD-DVD and HD-DVD, that is

[jokell82]

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES 

So how many HD-DVD owners here entire collection of movies consist of the 5-10 free ones you got with the player?

Now that I think about it that is an important point as if you sell the player at a loss PLUS give them a nice base library of movies very few are going to buy more movies for a loooong time. Hence, why HD-DVD did so well in disks sales next to BR. Nobody had to buy any, they got em all free. Oh but there are more stand alones in the market

Hopefully there is a lesson learned with how well that worked out.

That makes no sense considering Blu-Ray had the exact same promotion.

[cSurfr]

Originally Posted by jokell82 

That makes no sense considering Blu-Ray had the exact same promotion.

I think he's pointing out that HD-DVD players were as low as 99.00, which was sold at a loss, and then Toshiba is eating the cost of the movies as well. Not all Blu-Ray players are sold at a loss (especially when some are over $1000.00!)

John Q. Public is more apt to spend 100.00 on an HD-DVD player than they are 500.00 on a Blu-Ray player. More players sold = greater attach rate, but with the Blu-Ray attach rates of 2:1 (usually), people that own Blu-Ray are spending more money on movies. . . . Does that make sense to anyone but me? It sounds right in my head. . .

[jokell82]

Originally Posted by cSurfr 

I think he's pointing out that HD-DVD players were as low as 99.00, which was sold at a loss, and then Toshiba is eating the cost of the movies as well. Not all Blu-Ray players are sold at a loss (especially when some are over $1000.00!)

John Q. Public is more apt to spend 100.00 on an HD-DVD player than they are 500.00 on a Blu-Ray player. More players sold = greater attach rate, but with the Blu-Ray attach rates of 2:1 (usually), people that own Blu-Ray are spending more money on movies. . . . Does that make sense to anyone but me? It sounds right in my head. . .

But remember the best selling Blu-Ray player *IS* sold at a loss.

[starman]

Another point:

Why would anyone even know of HD-DVD's existence when BR is being advertised LIKE NUTS on TV and I see NO ads for HD-DVD at all? I'd be interested to see how salesmen in places like Best Buy approach customers looking for a high-def player, or if they'd talk someone out of BR because of price.

[cSurfr]

Originally Posted by jokell82 

But remember the best selling Blu-Ray player *IS* sold at a loss.

The best selling Blu-Ray is sold at a loss, yes. . . but ALL HD-DVD players are now.

Originally Posted by starman 

Another point:

Why would anyone even know of HD-DVD's existence when BR is being advertised LIKE NUTS on TV and I see NO ads for HD-DVD at all? I'd be interested to see how salesmen in places like Best Buy approach customers looking for a high-def player, or if they'd talk someone out of BR because of price.

Come to think of it, you're right. I haven't seen one HD-DVD commercial since warner went Blu-Ray exclusive. . . before that, I would see maybe one Toshiba commercial per week (the one with the guy from the sopranos). Has Toshiba all but given up?

[hyteckit]

Originally Posted by starman 

Well, this is an interesting article:

BetaNews | Interview: Universal EVP Ken Graffeo says HD DVD is here to stay

I love this quote:

Over the course of the upcoming years -- the next 5, 8, 10 years -- physical media is still going to be dominant. That's not to say you're not going to have digital, because it's going to come, but it won't reach the masses very quickly.

Honestly, what do you expect the the co-president of the HDDVD group, responsible for promoting HDDVD as the new physical media format, to say? It would be stupid for him to say physical media is dead in 5 years.

I personally do not like physical media. Where I live, rent is expensive. I don't need physical media to clutter my place and take up valuable space. Nor do I want to carry hundreds of pounds of CDs, DVDs, and storage cases everytime I move, and I do move often.

[Mrjinglesusa]

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES 

So how many HD-DVD owners here entire collection of movies consist of the 5-10 free ones you got with the player?

I got 5 free with the purchase of my XA-2. I'm up to about 20 total HD-DVDs and 20 Blu-rays (no freebies w/ my PS3).

[Shaddim]

10 HD-DVDs, 88 Blu-ray

8 of the HD-DVDs came free with a HD-XA2, but I gave the player away to my grandmother. Her DVD player died and I figured it was better than a $25 COBY.

[brassplayersrock²]

88 blu-ray? how much did that burn your wallet?

[icruise]

Originally Posted by brassplayersrock² 

88 blu-ray? how much did that burn your wallet?

Probably about the cost of 44 discs.

[analogue SPRINKLES]

Originally Posted by jokell82 

That makes no sense considering Blu-Ray had the exact same promotion.

Na makes perfect sense actually. Both Toshiba and the 360 add on were always sold at cost or even for a loss for the most part. The players were $150 or sometimes even $99 with up to 15 FREE movies. That is a gigantic loss when you aren't making it back with disk sales.

Blu-ray did have a few similar promotions but you didn't have to buy a player with it, stand alones weren't sold at a loss, and the offers are few a far between.

My BR library is only about 20 titles with 1 free. 20 movies is all I really want as I have everything else on DVD anyway. The point is if my BR player had come with 20 movies from the start I would have also ended up buying zero as I had the essentials already.

HD thought they could saturate the market with cheap players and disk sales would pour in. It never happened even after Paramount goes exclusive, $99 player + 10 movies. The next month overall sales didn't even make a difference at all.

[turtle777]

Well, here it is. HD DVD is dead.



Blu-ray players grab 93 percent of market after Warner went Blu - Engadget

-t