Okay, the HD DVD promotional group has announced that they are planning to release 300 titles this year. Will that number be enough to sustain the current strong momentum of HD DVD? I would say 300 titles for consumers to choose from IS WAY MORE than enough. What is the consumer trend for DVD? average 30 DVD purchases a year? How many people actually have more than 1/2 of the 300 figure of their DVD collection after 10years? So why are there people claiming that the lack of title announcement will hurt HD DVD? Because BDA says so and because that is what they want consumers to believe? 300 titles per year is like almost 1 title per day. What say you people?

What say you people?The stuff I've seen has been for worldwide. Would you consider 180 non-porn titles in the US to be enough for the HD DVD format for 2007?

If they are good enough titles it might be enough. As far as momentum, if there aren't enough in the first 4 months of the year then it will be hard to maintain that momentum no matter how many are released in Q4. They could of course start building momentum later in the year, but maintaining it requires enough titles.

It would be really interesting to see what your response would be if it was HD DVD that had more titles coming out over the next couple of months and Blu-ray that had few exclusive titles announced.

--Darin

Warning: Chickens being counted zone!

:D

The stuff I've seen has been for worldwide. Would you consider 180 non-porn titles in the US to be enough for the HD DVD format for 2007?

If they are good enough titles it might be enough. As far as momentum, if there aren't enough in the first 4 months of the year then it will be hard to maintain that momentum no matter how many are released in Q4. They could of course start building momentum later in the year, but maintaining it requires enough titles.

It would be really interesting to see what your response would be if it was HD DVD that had more titles coming out over the next couple of months and Blu-ray that had few exclusive titles announced.

--Darin

wow 120 porn titles? whoooppppps ... Shinco, where are your cheap HD DVD players !!!! :D

with 2mil STANDALONE players are projected to be sold (this is just a conservative number :p ) , i would say that the momentum would continue to be strong. And somehow, i sense you are purty sure that all BD exclusive studios WILL REMAIN exclusive for the whole of 2007. I wouldnt bet my money on that though :p .

The difference between HD DVD and Blu-ray is, Blu-ray IS ALL about deprieving consumers of content to force to embrace blue. So content and exclusivity is currently their SOLE selling point. If HD DVD continues to lead in title releases, then i see more trouble for BD. Lets face it, content is more of a BD problem than it is for HD DVD. Basically, in order for BD not to perish into thin air, they need to have more titles especially exclusive titles.

wow 120 porn titles?No, you said that, I didn't say that. You misinterpreted what I said. As I said:
The stuff I've seen has been for worldwide. Would you consider 180 non-porn titles in the US to be enough for the HD DVD format for 2007?Notice the "in the US". The question still stands. Or are you expecting 300 titles in the US?
If HD DVD continues to lead in title releases, then i see more trouble for BD.And do you expect that to happen, or is this one of those "ifs" that has little likelyhood of happening? If you think that HD DVD is going to continue leading in title releases, how do you think they are going to do that? I've seen you say that HD DVD doesn't need Universal to be exclusive to sell players. While there are always people who will buy players, I bet Toshiba and Microsoft consider keeping Universal exclusive to be very important at this point.

With Universal announcing one title for February 6th and now a couple of titles for April 17th, it doesn't look like HD DVD is going to be able to keep the title lead for long without getting one of the Blu-ray studios to go neutral or switch. That is just the reality regardless of which side a person is rooting for.

--Darin

100, 120, 200 or 100k it'll probably be more than I was going to buy anyway. I'm after quality not quantity.

Notice the "in the US". The question still stands. Or are you expecting 300 titles in the US?

There are plenty of consumers importing titles from Europe and Japan. HD DVD is not region coded. Well unless the good old conversative Republican law makers think it underminds family value to make purchase from Non-US sites. U know .. as they did with the Online gaming thingy.

And do you expect that to happen, or is this one of those "ifs" that has little likelyhood of happening? If you think that HD DVD is going to continue leading in title releases, how do you think they are going to do that? I've seen you say that HD DVD doesn't need Universal to be exclusive to sell players. While there are always people who will buy players, I bet Toshiba and Microsoft consider keeping Universal exclusive to be very important at this point.

I am a logical boy. I can do simple math. I know that BD has several exclusive studios and i expect to see more Blu-ray releases in the future. However, i might say that i dont the studio exclusivity to remain (on both side) FOREVER as what some higher power would want consumers to believe.

As for the universal exclusivity thingy, the ONLY reason that i see why they are still exclusive is to prevent BDA from creating media paranoia or media hype that HD DVD is doomed because of lack of content as (yet again), studio will follow where the money is. We have already seen what BDA can do when it comes to the media hype. If consumers like HD DVD, they should not worry about getting an obsolete format because, once they are millions of standalone HD DVD players, studios will provide contents. There are still contents in UMD format isnt it?

With Universal announcing one title for February 6th and now a couple of titles for April 17th, it doesn't look like HD DVD is going to be able to keep the title lead for long without getting one of the Blu-ray studios to go neutral or switch. That is just the reality regardless of which side a person is rooting for.

yupe, true and its good for BD players owners anyway :)

--Darin

read those in cyan :)

100, 120, 200 or 100k it'll probably be more than I was going to buy anyway. I'm after quality not quantity.

see ? ;)

Yes, I consider it a treat to buy one HD DVD per week. Even if they don't release ANY new titles this year, there are still plenty for me to choose from.

If I were to purchase any more than that per week, it just wouldn't be special anymore and I'd end up with more titles than I wish to own with little time to watch them.

Wayne

The difference between HD DVD and Blu-ray is, Blu-ray IS ALL about deprieving consumers of content to force to embrace blue. So content and exclusivity is currently their SOLE selling point. If HD DVD continues to lead in title releases, then i see more trouble for BD. Lets face it, content is more of a BD problem than it is for HD DVD. Basically, in order for BD not to perish into thin air, they need to have more titles especially exclusive titles.

Man, Tony Snow's got nothin' on you! :D

Answer this for me ( us ) is it 300 or 600 titles in the US ( North America )?

:confused:

Who knows prehapps the number is higher many of the porn studios just jumped on th HDDVD side. So the 300 tittles should all be regular movies. Hopfully most are US releases. Which would mean even more over seas tittles.

How many HDDVDs are out now 200 or so..

If they're mainly mainstream movies, that's great news. If they're mainly speciality titles (porn, anime, indie) then I'll pass.

Well we cannot assume that new buyers will recognize just the new 300 titles. Any new HD DVD buyer will have access to the full catalog so we're talking more along the lines of 500+ total titles with 300 being the newest.

If HD DVD hits 2 million players the battle is over. Blu-ray doesn't lose and HD DVD doesn't win but rather both formats co-exist. 2 million players are too large a number to ignore just as 6 million PS3/BD players are too large a number to ignore. These numbers ensure a stalemate if hit together.

Well we cannot assume that new buyers will recognize just the new 300 titles. Any new HD DVD buyer will have access to the full catalog so we're talking more along the lines of 500+ total titles with 300 being the newest.

If HD DVD hits 2 million players the battle is over. Blu-ray doesn't lose and HD DVD doesn't win but rather both formats co-exist. 2 million players are too large a number to ignore just as 6 million PS3/BD players are too large a number to ignore. These numbers ensure a stalemate if hit together.

Last number I've seen for HD-DVD players (1-15-07) that have found a home is 270,000. 150,000 add-ons for the 360, 120,000 standalones. It's a good start but a ways off from 2 million.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070115-8625.html

Personally, I'ld rather have a smller number of good titles, than a large number of garbage.
J

Last number I've seen for HD-DVD players (1-15-07) that have found a home is 270,000. 150,000 add-ons for the 360, 120,000 standalones. It's a good start but a ways off from 2 million.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070115-8625.html


No doubt. They have some selling to do if they wish to hit that number. Toshiba's going to have to drop the A2 down to $399 and hopefully the Lite On, Shinco, Alco and ED Digital players are on time.

2.5 million worldwide is a lofty goal. If they hit that they survive. Period.

MS needs content for a myriad of reasons. Time for it to buy a studio or two and kill two birds with one stone.

Cheers,

Grant

MS needs content for a myriad of reasons. Time for it to buy a studio or two and kill two birds with one stone.

Cheers,

Grant
Now that's cute!
J

It is if you want that particular content.

I'll be sooo glad when an affordable and fully functioning (I'm looking at you LG and no HDi) dual format player hits. (affordable = $600 or less for me)

My content interests are mostly on BD....almost all on BD, but there are quite a few Universal flicks like King Kong, Jurassic Park...etc that I'm interested in.

BTW, does anyone have a feeling that Jurassic Park is going to lose much of its "allure" in HD. The CG is aging badly now and I just see HD as the final nail in its believability coffin.

This "number" will be plenty for me...I've averaged about 2 to 3 per week of SD DVD since its inception (have 1000+) AND I am quite happy two announced titles today (Universal's "The Jerk" and "The Game" on 4/17) I am looking forward to purchasing.

I'd like to see the 300 number broken down into regions, and into which ones are HD-DVD exclusive.
300 sounds like a lot but if its really only (for example) 100 in North America and 75 of those are also on BD then its not looking so flash as the 300 sounds.

Last number I've seen for HD-DVD players (1-15-07) that have found a home is 270,000. 150,000 add-ons for the 360, 120,000 standalones. It's a good start but a ways off from 2 million.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070115-8625.html

According to the HD DVD promotional group, the 2mil figure is merely a "conservative" figure. Sony plans to sell 6mil BD players in the form of the PS3 console by March. The PS3 is on the market for 2 1/2 month and its two months more before the end of March. The latest figure we got on the PS3 sales is 1/2 and they are already slashing the console price by a WHOPPING 20%.

Anyhow its a great sign that the HD DVD promotional announce the 2mil figure. It means that Toshiba is ready for the mass production of HD DVD :p

Can we please keep the political comments out of this? This is one of the few places I've been able to go and not have to put up with them.

Gonna be bad enough for the next two years as it is....

The difference between HD DVD and Blu-ray is, Blu-ray IS ALL about deprieving consumers of content to force to embrace blue.Yes, because Universal isn't trying to force anyone to buy into HD DVD. :rolleyes:

So content and exclusivity is currently their SOLE selling point.Sole selling point besides being technically superior and having more potential down the road for added extras and more content per disc...

If HD DVD continues to lead in title releases, then i see more trouble for BD. Lets face it, content is more of a BD problem than it is for HD DVD. Basically, in order for BD not to perish into thin air, they need to have more titles especially exclusive titles.Yes, because people will automagically pick HD DVD despite the fact that it's inferior to Blu-ray Disc. :rolleyes:

As for the subject of this thread, well... let's just say I'm very skeptical they'll hit that 300 title mark this year. Especially with Universal being so quiet about new releases.

Yes, because Universal isn't trying to force anyone to buy into HD DVD. :rolleyes:

No they are not. People buy hd dvd because of the superior PQ consistency, superior interactivity, superior CE empathy, advance audio codec and the EXTREMELY value for money players which are 1/2 of the price of the current BD standalone players. They are not buying HD DVD because of Universal's exclusive contents. On the other hand,

Sole selling point besides being technically superior and having more potential down the road for added extras and more content per disc...

Potential is has nothing to do with value for money. People buy players what the players can do not for the player's potential. Potentials are good for marketing only when the players in not yet in the market. people dont pay 50% more money for potential which often proven undelivered.

Yes, because people will automagically pick HD DVD despite the fact that it's inferior to Blu-ray Disc. :rolleyes:

Inferior? :D :D tell that to the 270,000 HD DVD owners.

As for the subject of this thread, well... let's just say I'm very skeptical they'll hit that 300 title mark this year. Especially with Universal being so quiet about new releases.

The figure is nearly a 'conversative' figure. i would say the the chances of achieving that is much more higher than Sony selling 6mil "BD players by March. Dont you agree?

see those in Cyan ;)

No they are not. People buy hd dvd because of the superior PQ consistency, superior interactivity, superior CE empathy, advance audio codec and the EXTREMELY value for money players which are 1/2 of the price of the current BD standalone players. They are not buying HD DVD because of Universal's exclusive contents.Sorry, but that just isn't true. People buy for all those reasons and have their own priorities as far as which ones of those matter to them. Are you really claiming that just as many HD DVD players would get sold if Universal was neutral and nothing else was different? If so, I wouldn't expect you to have much credibility here. There are definitely people buying HD DVD players who wouldn't be if it weren't for Universal's exclusive content. Toshiba and Microsoft know that keeping Universal from going neutral is important to HD DVD players sales and HD DVD's success.

--Darin

Are you really claiming that just as many HD DVD players would get sold if Universal was neutral and nothing else was different? There are definitely people buying HD DVD players who wouldn't be if it weren't for Universal's exclusive content. Toshiba and Microsoft know that keeping Universal from going neutral is important to HD DVD players sales and HD DVD's success.

And there are just as many people, if not more, who are spending $1000-$1500 on Blu-ray machines because of Disney/Fox/Sony exclusivity. Are you really claiming that just as many Blu-ray players would get sold if those studios were neutral and nothing else was different?

Sony knows that keeping Fox and Disney from going neutral is important - no, CRUCIAL - to Blu-ray players sales and Blu-ray's business.

Can we please keep the political comments out of this? This is one of the few places I've been able to go and not have to put up with them.

Gonna be bad enough for the next two years as it is....

Your first two sentences were fine, but isn't the third a polical comment?

Back to the subject:

I think the winner will be the one who drops their prices for the players below $250. If I had to guess it will be HD DVD. Remember VHS vs Sony Beta?
Right now I don't think the number of titles is a good indicator of who will win.

Are you really claiming that just as many Blu-ray players would get sold if those studios were neutral and nothing else was different?Are you really claiming that the sky is green? :) Why did you even ask me that question? Of course keeping studios exclusive is important to both sides. xboxboi claims that, "They are not buying HD DVD because of Universal's exclusive contents." Do you agree with that statement? Is there anything I said that you actually disagree with, or just some made up statement about Blu-ray exclusive studios that I didn't address in that post?

--Darin

I guess it depends on just which movies are released.

We all know that there are really only a few titles that will really matter, namely the Harry Potter, Matrix, and LOTR movies. A head to head HD-DVD vs BD sales war between the two would be the best way to truely gauge consumer interest. Of course these are all Warner controlled releases, so they may usher in TotalHD instead :)

A lot of dreck releases will only appeal to a very limited demographic. We need the heavy hitters to make the siren call to SD-DVD owners to upgrade and create some real buzz to spread the word. It is a shame HP4 wasn't released here last x-mas. I bet it would have been a huge seller and a big media point for HD-DVD.

The list I've seen looks pretty promising, but some of those movies were promised LAST SUMMER, and others are available, but are not released for some reason. I would personally be happy with the big franchises listed above, day and date with current movies, and some favorite catalogue titles like Conan.

I'm sure the BD guys are desperate for Spiderman, Aliens, and Pirates. We want the big titles and the new releases.

atleast 100 exclusive titles from Universal ... oh dear ... that's much than many's pocket can bear :D

I wonder if the original count of '300 titles' included the 100 titles recently anounced by Universal. Has anyone found information on this yet?

I wonder if the original count of '300 titles' included the 100 titles recently anounced by Universal. Has anyone found information on this yet?
People in a number of threads are saying yes.

jeez, if i bought 20 discs this (hd) year i would be more than satisfied if not wondering if i spent too much.


and can you even watch 300 movies at home in a year?

jeez, if i bought 20 discs this (hd) year i would be more than satisfied if not wondering if i spent too much.


and can you even watch 300 movies at home in a year?

We all have our interests and some are watching movies. Ive gotten 76 BD discs since October and have watched everyone at least once. I just love watching movies.

So, with the known titles announced through the end of the year, will HD DVD actually hit 300 titles released for the year?

Not sure but I expect a few more will be announced before the end of the year.

300 titles this year? No, that's not enough.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=915379
Title: HD-DVD to have 1000 titles by December

We have had to read it repeatedly on this forum for long enough, it better become reality.

Wow!!

Surely they must be getting close to the 1000 count now aren't they? There are less than 3 months left in the year now.

300 titles this year? No, that's not enough.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=915379
Title: HD-DVD to have 1000 titles by December

We have had to read it repeatedly on this forum for long enough, it better become reality.

lol :eek:

To date I count 174 releases for HD DVD this year.

Currently there are 56 further announcements.

And 11 re-issues.

Does anyone know if the the re-issues replace the current titles? Or will both be available?

Regardless I find it hard to count them as releases. So, the total is in the ~230 range for 2007.

BD has 201 so far, and a further 120 announced.

I rustled up these quickly so sorry if they are not 100% - none the less they should give you an indication of where we are as of today...

To date I count 174 releases for HD DVD this year.

Currently there are 56 further announcements.

And 11 re-issues.

Does anyone know if the the re-issues replace the current titles? Or will both be available?

Regardless I find it hard to count them as releases. So, the total is in the ~230 range for 2007.

BD has 201 so far, and a further 120 announced.

I rustled up these quickly so sorry if they are not 100% - none the less they should give you an indication of where we are as of today...

How are you dealing with the Paramount BD titles? I know you are counting them in the 201 number. But they will not be available - as they run out of stock - not to be replaced - existing inventory only.

610 unique HD-DVD available to order or to preorder:

http://www.homecinema-fr.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=29769511&sid=315f1a187db343131e3f0f5ac0c5e1d0

610 unique HD-DVD available to order or to preorder:

http://www.homecinema-fr.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=29769511&sid=315f1a187db343131e3f0f5ac0c5e1d0


That list includes:
(a) Titles released last year;

(b) Titles released outside of North America


This BS-defusing post has been brought to you by the Shimago Dominguez Corporation. Helping AVS improve its S/N.

Is that it for Paramount, Zodiac is a 2008 release.

Unless Universal step up they're going to be 70-90 titles behind Blu-ray releases this Q4.

How are you dealing with the Paramount BD titles? I know you are counting them in the 201 number. But they will not be available - as they run out of stock - not to be replaced - existing inventory only.

The plan is to mark them as discontinued.

Is that it for Paramount, Zodiac is a 2008 release.

Unless Universal step up they're going to be 70-90 titles behind Blu-ray releases this Q4.

I make it a little over 60 behind in Q4.

The '50' difference in the sig is only major studios. BD has a lot more 'other' titles coming in Q4, especially from Starz.

After the Timecop announcement, and a couple more day and dates, that seems to be it for Universal.

HD-DVD's Q4 releases are lacking in several areas, not only day and date but catalogue releases, seeing as Blu-ray have Anchor Bay, Close Encounters etc.

Yeah it looks like Universal will not meet their goals for this year if HighDefDigest is correct (and we have no reason to not believe them??).

Even I was expecting a few more catalogue titles for December.

That is just sad.

I make 68 for the year so far and a further 16 announced. That makes 84 - somewhat short of the 100 titles they claimed they would release this year?

It was 100, wasn't it? It was so long ago I kinda forget...

Edit: To be fair, at 84 it looks like Universal will still be the most prolific studio this year, with Sony for example at roughly 74 titles for 2007 currently.

The Quaterly breakdown for Universal Pictures releases:

Q1: 6
Q2: 34
Q3: 28
Q4: 16

Didn't Ken say that Q4 is where the battle would get serious?

Didn't Ken say that Q4 is where the battle would get serious?
Is he wrong?:confused:

This BS-defusing post has been brought to you by the Shimago Dominguez Corporation. Helping AVS improve its S/N.

Daughter don't you dare! Oh mama who cares?

Come on Dec 18th :)

Is he wrong?:confused:

Don't be confused.

I don't think he is wrong - he just has a funny way of competing, releasing only 16 titles for the battle, somewhat less than Q3 which was in turn somewhat less than Q2.

I would have expected to see the releases weighted towards Q4 if that was where the battle is expected to be.

To be honest, I am very surprised by this.

That list includes:
(a) Titles released last year;

(b) Titles released outside of North America


This BS-defusing post has been brought to you by the Shimago Dominguez Corporation. Helping AVS improve its S/N.
Irrelevant!!!! :D

"610 unique HD-DVD available to order or to preorder:
http://www.homecinema-fr.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=29769511&sid=9e518d5a0ef19badf861bef8451b9760
"
Is it not true? :p
Is it not clear? :p
Is it not information? :p

"610 unique HD-DVD available to order" => available HD-DVD = HD-DVD released from the beginning to now !

This list of world wide HD-DVD is quite relevant to this thread. The OP posted: "There are plenty of consumers importing titles from Europe and Japan. HD DVD is not region coded..."

BTW - Here is the original announcement from Universal (Jan. 2007) about them having 100 titles on HD DVD by 12/31:

http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/news/show/449

1960 masterpiece 'Psycho'

'Scarface' (1983),

BTW - Here is the original announcement from Universal (Jan. 2007) about them having 100 titles on HD DVD by 12/31:

http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/news/show/449

1960 masterpiece 'Psycho'

'Scarface' (1983),

Interesting, thanks.

Also MIA is Slap Shot! :D

Though perhaps more tempting to me would have been Brazil and Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels.

Hopefully we will see some of these titles get release in 2008.