Coldgunner Posted February 15, 2008 Share Posted February 15, 2008 My parents are now looking to invest in HD.Mainly as before I got my HDTV in my room, my PS3 was hooked up downstairs to the HDTV and they loved watching stuff in HD (Y) (they're stuck with an upscaling DVD player just now :p Although they have on occassion watched some stuff in my room in HD). My TV came, my PS3 left downstairs and went upstairs :p Funny thing is my dad went online and groaned at prices, but he realises "new" technology is always expensive and then came to ask me which player to buy... I said "PS3" and he laughed saying we don't need another games console... Oh the irony, a lot of people buying a PS3 are buying it to play movies, not play games :p My parents aren't "anti" gaming, my dad likes his GT and Tiger Woods, and my mum plays all the usual "mum" games - Card/board games.... however they still find it hard to grasp buying a PS3 is the best option for movies right now :laugh: Anyway, we may be seeing another PS3 in the house in the upcoming weeks - I told my parents to buy it second hand off ebay to save a bit of money, as the console is rock solid, any 40GB model purchased off ebay in the UK will still have somewhat of a warranty left (hasn't been out a year), and they may get some bundled in content all for less than retail. get them to buy a bundle with a couple of games and 'liberate' the games from them, give them a few ??? towards it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Audioboxer Subscriber² Posted February 15, 2008 Subscriber² Share Posted February 15, 2008 get them to buy a bundle with a couple of games and 'liberate' the games from them, give them a few ??? towards it. https://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=619910 ? (I still don't have Unchart:pinch:ch:) :laugh:shiftyninja:ja: Nah my dad's a seasoned player on Ebay, he'll no doubt go the route of buying the cheapest 2nd hand 40GB he can - Especially as they know about my mkv to PS3 HD movie guide in my si:whistle:le;) ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kak Posted February 15, 2008 Share Posted February 15, 2008 I've been trying to sell my dad on the PS3 as well. He is big into the internet as well and I told him he could install Linux on it and browse from his set via bluetooth combo. So far, he isn't buying into the idea. He can't get over the fact that it plays games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Audioboxer Subscriber² Posted February 15, 2008 Subscriber² Share Posted February 15, 2008 I've been trying to sell my dad on the PS3 as well. He is big into the internet as well and I told him he could install Linux on it and browse from his set via bluetooth combo. So far, he isn't buying into the idea. He can't get over the fact that it plays games. So can PC's, hit em with that! Hah! Nah, I understand what you mean :( No disrespect for the older generations though, it's only really this generation consoles have shed the "games only" view that has been tagged to them since existence (more so the PS3 though, the 360 a bit and the Wii, well it really is for gaming only still). The PS2/Xbox was a DVD player, but that didn't really cut the mustard - They were games machines first, and the DVD player in each was more of an afterthought (shown by the quality of each player - Yeah yeah, they played dvds fine, but they were not feature rich/"high end"). We've been hit with numerous articles/posts since the PS3 release of decent %'s of people buying it to do other things than gaming - You wouldn't of seen that in previous generations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightz Posted February 15, 2008 Share Posted February 15, 2008 another one jumps ship...Wal-Mart Wal-Mart puts stake through HD DVD's heartPosted by Erica Ogg | 1 comment Things have gone from bad to worse for HD DVD in the space of one week. Wal-Mart announced Friday morning that it, too, has chosen a side in the battle for high-definition video supremacy: by June it will only stock Blu-ray Disc players. A buyer in Wal-Mart's video division wrote this morning on her Wal-Mart Checkout blog that the retail giant had made the decision following Netflix and Best Buy's high-profile announcements that they will exclusively stock Blu-ray products. Wrote Susan Chronister of Wal-Mart: "By June Wal-Mart will only be carrying Blu-ray movies and hardware machines, and of course standard-def movies, DVD players, and up-convert players." "So," she continues, not mincing words, "if you bought the HD (DVD) player like me, I'd retire it to the bedroom, kid's playroom, or give it to your parents to play their John Wayne standard-def movies, and make space for a BD player..." That might be the best option at this point, as the dominoes keep falling in Blu-ray's favor. While Netflix and Best Buy were pretty damning evidence that the end was near, now it's glaringly obvious: it's over for HD DVD. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean that consumers will automatically start buying Blu-ray players. As mentioned many times before here, prices will have to continue to fall on both Blu-ray players and packaged media for there to be any sort of mainstream adoption of the format. There are rumors that Toshiba might soon be declaring defeat: The Hollywood Reporter has sources telling it that Toshiba, the main backer of the HD DVD, might drop its allegiance with the format in the next few weeks. Toshiba denies it, but stay tuned. There's likely much more to come in this drama. http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9873029-7.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boz Posted February 15, 2008 Share Posted February 15, 2008 A buyer in Wal-Mart's video division wrote this morning on her Wal-Mart Checkout blog that the retail giant had made the decision following Netflix and Best Buy's high-profile announcements that they will exclusively stock Blu-ray products. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightz Posted February 15, 2008 Share Posted February 15, 2008 Wal-Mart on Blu-ray bandwagonRetailer will only sell Sony's hi-def movie discs, phasing out Toshiba's HD-DVD discs in its 4,000 Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores this year. February 15 2008: 11:28 AM EST NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- National discount retailer Wal-Mart announced Friday that it had decided to only sell Sony's Blu-ray hi-definition movie discs, and will phase out Toshiba's competing HD-DVD formatted discs over the next several months. Wal-Mart said that by June, its 4,000 Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores would sell only Blu-ray discs and Blu-ray hardware players. Blu-ray and Toshiba's HD-DVD format are not compatible. "We've listened to our customers, who are showing a clear preference toward Blu-ray products and movies with their purchases," said Gary Severson, Wal-Mart's Senior Vice President of Home Entertainment in a statement. Wal-Mart said it would continue selling HD-DVD products, but over the next 30 days, customers will see a significant shift in emphasis to Blu-ray in both brick-and-mortar stores and online. The retailer said it will continue to sell DVDs and standard-definition hardware. Wal-Mart is the latest movie vendor to choose Blu-ray over HD-DVD. Earlier this week, online movie rental company Netflix (NFLX) announced its support for Blu-ray, and said it would phase out HD-DVD as well. Video publishers Walt Disney (DIS, Fortune 500), Sony's Sony Pictures, News Corp.'s (NWS, Fortune 500) Twentieth Century Fox, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer have all endorsed Blu-ray. In a rivalry that mirrors the Betamax-VHS dispute of the 1970s, Sony (SNE) and Toshiba have been battling each other to define the industry's hi-definition video standard. The winner will see a boost in the sale of hardware needed to play the hi-definition discs. http://money.cnn.com/2008/02/15/technology...sion=2008021511 better, boz? edit: and you know that blog? it's on the walmart home page. go to walmart.com, scroll to the bottom, and click on "wal-mart blog". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kak Posted February 15, 2008 Share Posted February 15, 2008 CNN is unreliabe. COME ON. :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boz Posted February 15, 2008 Share Posted February 15, 2008 Yes.. it is over indeed. Sigh, inferior technology wins consumers lost without even having a say. Now it'll take us I guess 2-3 more years for everyone to hop on when we could've had it now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Audioboxer Subscriber² Posted February 15, 2008 Subscriber² Share Posted February 15, 2008 Yes.. it is over indeed. Sigh, inferior technology wins consumers lost without even having a say. Now it'll take us I guess 2-3 more years for everyone to hop on when we could've had it now. "We've listened to our customers, who are showing a clear preference toward Blu-ray products and movies with their purchases," said Gary Severson, Wal-Mart's Senior Vice President of Home Entertainment in a statement. I think Walmart know what they are selling more of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boz Posted February 15, 2008 Share Posted February 15, 2008 I think Walmart know what they are selling more of. No.. they weren't selling anything (my walmarts here had 10-20 movies of each and they didn't sell at all).. I'm pretty sure their decision is solely based on what's going on in the press and studios and CE companies. Sales of HD equipment are pathetic either way you look at it. For someone to determine one thing over another in 3% of market is pretty unrealistic, especially since Walmart associates didn't even know what is what. Again, I really feel bad for people. They will be paying $300+ for players that do less, will have potential compatiblity problems and will offer less features then something that cost $120 and was flawless. But when you have every conglomerate drooling over consumers money, it doesn't matter what's better, it matters only what makes more money. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kak Posted February 15, 2008 Share Posted February 15, 2008 Hey, Boz said it would be over soon. Great success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Audioboxer Subscriber² Posted February 15, 2008 Subscriber² Share Posted February 15, 2008 (edited) No.. they weren't selling anything (my walmarts here had 10-20 movies of each and they didn't sell at all).. I'm pretty sure their decision is solely based on what's going on in the press and studios and CE companies.Sales of HD equipment are pathetic either way you look at it. For someone to determine one thing over another in 3% of market is pretty unrealistic, especially since Walmart associates didn't even know what is what. Again, I really feel bad for people. They will be paying $300+ for players that do less, will have potential compatiblity problems and will offer less features then something that cost $120 and was flawless. But when you have every conglomerate drooling over consumers money, it doesn't matter what's better, it matters only what makes more money. :( No.. they weren't selling anything :blink: You came into a lot of weekly/monthly sales topics saying "I wonder how Walmart sales were" in defense of HD DVD sales by suggesting that the fact Walmart sales aren't published may mean the sales results we are seeing are "skewed". I'm pretty sure their decision is solely based on what's going on in the press and studios and CE companies. Of course their decision is influenced by that. HD DVD over the past weeks/months has had a ton of bad press down to it being heavily outweighed on studio support and being outsold. Again Walmart know what they are selling more of - They order in their own stock you know... it matters only what makes more money Precisely, the developers, publishers, movie studios, shops and any corporation involved aren't charities... Toshiba did not provide them with a lucrative opportunity so they backed out of supporting HD DVD - Couple that with sales being poor and it's obvious where things would go. Plain and simple business/investment logic there - Think carefully about/don't back a product that will fail/be a large risk/lose you money. Toshiba lost a battle due to a lot of their own errors/inexperience. For someone to determine one thing over another in 3% of market is pretty unrealistic Toshibas fault for not managing to put up a good enough fight at these early days. Plus I don't think you can say "3%" accurately, IMO the figure would be higher than that now - If you are doing HD vs DVD. Edited February 15, 2008 by Audioboxer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giantpotato Posted February 15, 2008 Share Posted February 15, 2008 Yes.. it is over indeed. Sigh, inferior technology wins consumers lost without even having a say. Now it'll take us I guess 2-3 more years for everyone to hop on when we could've had it now. Hey, you're back. This place just wasn't the same without you. You leave for a few weeks and HD DVD goes to hell in a handbasket. It's nice to see you finally took your blinders off and admit it's pretty much over. Look at the bright side of things, HD media will be adopted faster with only one format. The only thing holding people back from buying Blu-Ray is price and third party companies are starting to make cheaper Blu-Ray players. Sooner or later Blu-Ray will support all those internet extras you love, and the discs will actually have enough space and bandwidth on them to fit a whole bunch of extras, or really long movies like LOTR. The only downside is a probable end to BOGO sales, unless they continue the sales to compete with DVD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctebah Posted February 15, 2008 Share Posted February 15, 2008 LADIES AND GENTLEMAN THE FORMAT WAR IS OVER! sorry about that, but waking up to news as big as this doesn't happen often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGS4-SS Posted February 15, 2008 Share Posted February 15, 2008 Yes.. it is over indeed. Sigh, inferior technology wins consumers lost without even having a say. Now it'll take us I guess 2-3 more years for everyone to hop on when we could've had it now. Consumers won because now they don't have to guess between choosing a format with a future and one without one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boz Posted February 15, 2008 Share Posted February 15, 2008 Hey, you're back. This place just wasn't the same without you. You leave for a few weeks and HD DVD goes to hell in a handbasket. It's nice to see you finally took your blinders off and admit it's pretty much over. Look at the bright side of things, HD media will be adopted faster with only one format. The only thing holding people back from buying Blu-Ray is price and third party companies are starting to make cheaper Blu-Ray players. Sooner or later Blu-Ray will support all those internet extras you love, and the discs will actually have enough space and bandwidth on them to fit a whole bunch of extras, or really long movies like LOTR. The only downside is a probable end to BOGO sales, unless they continue the sales to compete with DVD. Marty, I never had blinders on.. I was just being very real. HD DVD is a better format for masses and will always be. I will never say otherwise. The whole one format is needed is pretty silly because we have PS3/Wii/Xbox 360 and it's EXACTLY the same as with HD DVD and Blu-Ray yet retailers and publishers support both. The gaming industry even with the separation in consoles AND content still makes A KILLING.. The only reason for not being able to have 2 HD formats is because Blu-Ray would inevitably lose because of HD DVD being more mass ready. As of now, I guess they have NO REASON to rush anything. With HD DVD we would've had mass adoption by the end of 2008, with Blu-Ray we are looking at around 2010 if the digital doesn't outdo it. I just hope that retailers and Toshiba continue supporting HD DVD as I still think that even people with less money who buy $800 Vizio LCD can enjoy HD content and not wait another two years for Blu-Ray players to reach $150 if they ever do. I will continue buying exclusive movies on HD DVD, until all studios back Blu-Ray up and offer same features in movies as HD DVD does. One of the biggest things that bothers me is that now with Blu-Ray you are limited to play your movies ONLY on Blu-Ray players. Old DVD players are completely useless. Even though you might say that you want HD so why do you care for DVD playback, it's simple.. I love the fact that I can go buy a movie in HD for my theater, then go to my bedroom and watch any of those movies on my regular DVD player there. Why do I need an HD player in my bedroom for example that costs $300? Blu-Ray will get to HD DVD levels in the next 2 years, feature wise, there's no doubt about that but the wait and limitations in features for consumers is what makes no sense. But in the end, I really don't care anymore. I have enough money to buy whatever, I was mostly supporting HD DVD because I care about people that are less fortunate to make more money and think they deserve to enjoy the HD for cheap without sacrifice. This is what HD DVD is and will be until it's complete demise (if it ever happens, I have hopes they'll still keep it with 2-3 studios). Now, I'll get on with my life, obviously I contributed as much as I could, I bought my share of movies I will continue to enjoy on HD DVD, but Microsoft and Toshiba simply didn't have it in them. And I'm glad in a way, because obviously this will shake Microsoft more then they think. PS3 now will grow tremendously because more people will buy it for Blu-Ray as it is indeed the best Blu-Ray player and future proof and they will get the same games that Xbox 360 gets. Instead making sure HD DVD wins so they make PS3 less desirable they dropped the ball. What a dumb move on their behalf. $79 HD DVD add-on or embedded HD DVD drive in the Elite would've done it.. Would've killed ANY advantage PS3 gave Sony, but no.... In the end there are much more important things in this world, like getting Obama to become the president of the United States and make this world a better place. :) YES WE CAN! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Audioboxer Subscriber² Posted February 15, 2008 Subscriber² Share Posted February 15, 2008 but Microsoft and Toshiba simply didn't have it in them. And I'm glad in a way, because obviously this will shake Microsoft more then they think. PS3 now will grow tremendously because more people will buy it for Blu-Ray as it is indeed the best Blu-Ray player and future proof and they will get the same games that Xbox 360 gets. Instead making sure HD DVD wins so they make PS3 less desirable they dropped the ball. What a dumb move on their behalf.$79 HD DVD add-on or embedded HD DVD drive in the Elite would've done it.. Would've killed ANY advantage PS3 gave Sony, but no.... Couldn't agree more. While MS were "playing it wise" not to jump right into the thick of it, they seemed to have missed one glarring fact - Pushing and supporting HD DVD with a successful platform like the 360 would of hindered/castrated Sony and Blu Ray... 360 first to market & 360 selling more than the PS3 would all equal a lot more exposure. Couple that with Toshiba's cheaper "better" hardware (better on profiling for sure, but im not debating actual build quality/features). Toshiba still dropped the ball on marketing regardless, however with MS backing HD DVD marketing would of been better. Even although MS released an HD DVD addon, they hardly "marketed" it the PS3 does Blu Ray. However an integrated HD DVD addon, and you could bet your socks they'd be selling that as a main feature. With the addon it was as if the "attempt"/intention was there from MS to cause the PS3 a threat by offering HD DVD, but it was a half assed, overpriced attempt. Now MS are in a position where for once, the PS3 really is posing a real genuine threat. (and no im not basing this all on 1 months NPD figures, im basing it on the way the market is going with HD, the positive press the PS3 is currently receiving and finally the obvious, 2008 should be the gaming year for the PS3). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlphaPrime Posted February 16, 2008 Share Posted February 16, 2008 Don't worry guys, HD-DVD can still win, they just need to buy Sony and rename Blu-ray to HD-DVD. BTW, 81:19 this week. Superbowl ad did nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tech Star Posted February 16, 2008 Share Posted February 16, 2008 Don't worry guys, HD-DVD can still win, they just need to buy Sony and rename Blu-ray to HD-DVD.BTW, 81:19 this week. Superbowl ad did nothing. Lol, Sony is worth more than Toshiba! :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGS4-SS Posted February 16, 2008 Share Posted February 16, 2008 *snip* Sorry, but I found all that post funny. Well, everything except the last part, I agree with getting Obama to be the next President of the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ji@nBing Posted February 16, 2008 Share Posted February 16, 2008 IGN has an interesting article on the fall of HD-DVD. It's an interesting read. I'd suggest you all check it out. The Rise and Fall of HD-DVDThe next-generation DVD format war, or the Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD battle as it has come to be known, has been taking place, privately and publically, for more than 5-years. The competing formats were the result of an industry that became divided in setting standards for the follow-up to the DVD format (more info here), aligning Sony's 13-company Blu-ray Disc Association against the smaller, Toshiba-led HD-DVD consortium. The benefits of being on the winning team appeared sizable, as the backers of the victorious format stand to make sizable income on the basis of licensing fees, a system established by the DVD Forum in the previous generation of optical media. The first consumer HD-DVD players hit the market on April 18, 2006, and first-generation Blu-ray players arrived shortly afterwards. Today, almost two years after the war began in the consumer space, Toshiba has all but conceded victory to Sony and Blu-ray. Though the vast majority of the battle, however, Blu-ray's transcendence was not a fore drawn conclusion. Indeed, just three months ago, Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer described the format war as a "stalemate." How then, in so short a time, did HD-DVD die? We'll trace the chronology of the format's demise. In the months previous to Sir Stringer's stalemate comment, HD-DVD appeared to be riding a sizable wave of support. In August, Toshiba had managed to convince Paramount and DreamWorks to drop their Blu-ray support and go HD-DVD exclusive, at the cost to Toshiba of hundreds of millions of dollars in "promotional consideration." Shortly afterwards, the HD-DVD group unleashed its not so secret weapon, leveraging HD-DVD's lower hardware production costs to drop dedicated players below $200 at retail at a time when the cheapest Blu-ray players cost more than $400. Thanks to the price cuts, and even deeper markdowns in the Black Friday retail period, more than 90,000 HD-DVD players sold over a weekend. Continued... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlphaPrime Posted February 16, 2008 Share Posted February 16, 2008 Lol, Sony is worth more than Toshiba! :p Microsoft to buy Toshiba, to buy Sony. Then rename Blu-ray to MS-DVD. That's what my inside sources are telling me, fo shizzle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Venomous Posted February 16, 2008 Share Posted February 16, 2008 ^ haha :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Typhon Posted February 16, 2008 Share Posted February 16, 2008 What happened to VHS-Two? Also the VHS burner that was coming out years ago? I am still waiting to get blue rays or hd dvd cause VHS-Two could win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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