Sony steps on its own foot

[DropDeadEd]

If Sony would just stop wasting their time with all these pointless firmware releases and paying these programmers 24/7 to battle these crackers -- they may have gotten somewhere by now. They should just be happy the PS2 is on a respirator since the PS3 has already died.

 

Agreed. Take the PSP for instance- there is so much potential for the little beast, but instead the constant stream of updates is geared toward ultimately unsuccessful security fixes. Who cares? It is the tiniest majority that take advantage of exploits anyway, and even then they do not necessarily stop buying games because of it.

 

Why not spend the time making the machine a more attractive proposition to potential buyers? Anyway they have taken it easy with the PSP so far, but its about now that they really have to step their game up. Now's also a good time to hype up all that PSP-PS3 connectivity of which nothing has come so far.

 

That and the fact the porn industry has gone with HD DVD. They lost a lot of money there.

 

I don't think Blu-Ray is faring as bad as people like to think. JB Hi Fi, which is probably the biggest DVD retail shifter in Australia is backing it exclusively and not stocking HDDVD at all. Not that it matters to the rest of the world, but the format is certainly far from dead.

 

And I don't think the porn industry is a major concern for Sony. They actively opposed the early adoption of the UMD as the porn media of choice in Japan.

 

 

the U.S. Porn Industry is a major concern.

 

But then again, region is a factor.

[Alpha]

Well, here is some news that was just released today.

 

Walmart declares HD-DVD the winner over Blu-Ray

 

What does this Mean?

 

It means that any studio wanting Wal-Mart’s support after year end had better be selling HD DVD movies. Wal-Mart won’t be promoting Blu-Ray and, after year end, will increasingly focus their marketing on getting people to buy into HD DVD players and the related HD DVD movie from them.

 

In short, the Blu-Ray aligned studios will now have to either support both formats or risk losing much of Wal-Mart's business and given how material this business is to them, you have to think that an anti-Wall-Mart decision would have a material impact on their bonuses and career longevity. It certainly puts Columbia Pictures, which is owned by Sony, in a particularly uncomfortable position.

 

So, if this move by Wal-Mart is true, and it appears to be (but we won’t know for sure for a few months yet), the format war is likely over and Wal-Mart has declared the winner.

[DropDeadEd]

Well, here is some news that was just released today.

 

Walmart declares HD-DVD the winner over Blu-Ray

 

What does this Mean?

 

It means that any studio wanting Wal-Mart’s support after year end had better be selling HD DVD movies. Wal-Mart won’t be promoting Blu-Ray and, after year end, will increasingly focus their marketing on getting people to buy into HD DVD players and the related HD DVD movie from them.

 

In short, the Blu-Ray aligned studios will now have to either support both formats or risk losing much of Wal-Mart's business and given how material this business is to them, you have to think that an anti-Wall-Mart decision would have a material impact on their bonuses and career longevity. It certainly puts Columbia Pictures, which is owned by Sony, in a particularly uncomfortable position.

 

So, if this move by Wal-Mart is true, and it appears to be (but we won’t know for sure for a few months yet), the format war is likely over and Wal-Mart has declared the winner.

 

 

Hah, I was just about to post this also.

[L.S.D]

This seems to be the nail to Sony's coffin on Blu-Ray.

 

My good DVD player is still usable and pirates still support it so it is all good I won't spot much difference in the resolution anyway

[Alpha]

This seems to be the nail to Sony's coffin on Blu-Ray.

 

My good DVD player is still usable and pirates still support it so it is all good I won't spot much difference in the resolution anyway

Seriously, I could care less about seeing some extra trees in a background scenary. HD is a complete waste of money IMO. Until we get 3D movies, 2D has already reached its peak.

[BlackKnight]

There is no difference in resolution - there are subtle compression differences and such but who cares.

 

The main things are audio - in which BD wins hands down, and extras - which seem to be more thorough on HDDVD atm.

 

Still, how can Walmart so casually throw its weight around in this instance? It seems to be extremely arrogant and almost illogical business practice to just dismiss an entire family of products on a whim. They must be in cahoots with the HD company big time.

[Alpha]

There is no difference in resolution - there are subtle compression differences and such but who cares.

 

The main things are audio - in which BD wins hands down, and extras - which seem to be more thorough on HDDVD atm.

 

Still, how can Walmart so casually throw its weight around in this instance? It seems to be extremely arrogant and almost illogical business practice to just dismiss an entire family of products on a whim. They must be in cahoots with the HD company big time.

I wouldn't be surprised if Bill Gates handed them some cash underneath the table. Why not?

[L.S.D]

This seems to be the nail to Sony's coffin on Blu-Ray.

 

My good DVD player is still usable and pirates still support it so it is all good I won't spot much difference in the resolution anyway

Seriously, I could care less about seeing some extra trees in a background scenary. HD is a complete waste of money IMO. Until we get 3D movies, 2D has already reached its peak.

I agreed. The only quality difference (and I mean a huge one) is the difference between DVD and VCD (quite popular in Asia, due to karaoke and porn ). Furthermore, what do we get from HD/Blu ray movies?

Extra contents - we can get it in DVD

Quality sound - we can get it in DVD

SUbtitles? - we can get it in DVD

Quality picture - my TV can't spot the difference and so does I

[DropDeadEd]

There is no difference in resolution - there are subtle compression differences and such but who cares.

 

The main things are audio - in which BD wins hands down, and extras - which seem to be more thorough on HDDVD atm.

 

Still, how can Walmart so casually throw its weight around in this instance? It seems to be extremely arrogant and almost illogical business practice to just dismiss an entire family of products on a whim. They must be in cahoots with the HD company big time.

I wouldn't be surprised if Bill Gates handed them some cash underneath the table. Why not?

 

 

I believe Blu-Ray should stay PC oriented.

 

The Japanese usually keep their own formats anyway.

[OverlordMondo]

I've said it before, I'll say it again. I don't care about Blu-ray (or HD DVD) in even the most remote area. I've been satisfied with some of the worst quality recordings you can imagine. I can't tell the difference between my old 12 inch tube and my HD LCD screen. If it's going to cost me more money to upgrade to these higher quality formats, than I'm not going to bother.

[DropDeadEd]

People just like to have the best of everything.