Hi all. This is my first post to the forum.

Over the past month or so I have seen a complete bias towards the Blu-ray format at most major retailers (Blockbuster, JBhiFi, BigW etc) on premise that there are now more Blu-ray player in the market (PS3 games machines) than HDDVD players.

I have approached all and received mundane, unintelligent answers as to why they are promoting only the Blu ray format. As for JBhifi, I have heard from other sourcers the reason is because they are in contract with Sony in that Sony will subsidise rent space in lieu of JB's support. As for the others they just simply seem to be following suit based on JB's lead. Pretty dumb move and bad business ethics and models to base a business plan on.

Anywa, one store, EzyDVD in Macarthur Square NSW, have stated they cannot supply their shelves fast enough as HDDVD is by far outselling the Bluray format. They are so impressed by their sales figures that they are now considering stocking the cheap Asian players to get more push from the local market here and will be importing other titles not yet released in Australia from the USA as the software is Region Free.

This is a good support and anyone here on this forum in Oz should support busniesses like this by buying the software.

The other way to make demand is to have a list of business numbers like those not stokcking it above, relevant to your area, and phone them at least once a day and even send emails to the head office of the company. I have been doing this for about a month now and the point is stating to get through. Aside from JBhifi, which I think they have shot themselves in the foot, the other business may not be in contyract and therefore are able to more freely adapt to MARKET DEMAND and this my friends, can only be demonstrated by annoying the crap out of them until a result (stocking of software) is acheive in their stores.

The only way businessed like these will undertand the real demand is when they have the two differing software formats side by side. Let the consumer decide.

So, having said all this, get a group of friends, send those emails and make those daily calls. Sooner or later the messgage will get across. i know this works as i and a few mates have done it before for other items in the past.

Keep up the inquiry and support for the format in your local area. A seachange in thinking will then occur.

All the best to you.

Hey Aussedropbear (gotta watch out for them drop bears when walkin' through the rainforest - they just land on ya, and yer dead, mate! ;)

I had heard something about Australian courts ruling that region coding was an unfair trade practice. How has this played out with the SD-DVD releases so far in Oz? the same thinking should apply to BD disks (which is one of my main negatives regarding BD after price).

If you can comment on how that ruling has been applied and where things seem to be heading, that would be cool, cos I have not been able to glean much from the news sites on the web. It's been about a year since that ruling...

shinksma

Sounds like EzyDVD may be supplying the entire country at that rate. Wonder how the BD retailers are actually doing in sales? If EzyDVD also sells BD, then their BD sales will probably be indicative of BD sales generally.

I read earlier that it can be tough to find HD DVD players in Aussieland (:)) -- is that still the case?

Sounds like EzyDVD may be supplying the entire country at that rate. Wonder how the BD retailers are actually doing in sales? If EzyDVD also sells BD, then their BD sales will probably be indicative of BD sales generally.

I read earlier that it can be tough to find HD DVD players in Aussieland (:)) -- is that still the case?

Yes it is the case, to be honest I haven't seen one anywhere. HD DVD really hasn't had the big push along just as yet in Australia it's still very early here. Titles are beginning to grow but the PS3 release last month really has given blu ray the early lead. Hopefully that will all change soon.

Thanks for the report you all. Good to see HD DVD supporters in that part of the world.

If you think it will be helpful for us to come and do an insider HD DVD meeting, let me know. I will see if we can organize something. Would love to support the people/companies who are backing HD DVD against the tide there.

I think its needed in Europe aswell. Its to much the HighEnd users thats invest in it.

The 5disc deal would be welcomed ;)

I emailed Universal Australia and Village Roadshow (Warner?) last week to tell them that I have bought over 30 HD DVD's, not a single one of them from Australia (ie. All imports), due to the Australian distributors exhorbidant pricing. No response from my email though, probably was not even read by anyone important.

If anyone can supply contact details to someone who makes decisions like these, I will try again.

Amir,

You don't know how much this is needed in Oz right now. The lack of advertising presence for HD DVD is astounding.

It also doesn't help when JB HiFi have a huge sign over their Blu Ray demo saying "The future of DVD is here" :mad:

We all realise that we are only a small market in whole scheme of things, but it really sucks to be a HD DVD supporter in Australia.

The only places where you can actually buy software charge more than 50% more than ordering from amazon, and until the big retail stores (kmart, target, BigW) get behind the format this is not going to change.

Exactly the same thing happened with DVD.

btw, All 50 or so of my discs have been imported from amazon and dvdpacific, long live region free players :)

Andrew.

Same here, my collection grows each week, all from Amazon USA. I'd love for there to be an insider meeting in Melbourne, can it be organised?

As for the morons who work at the Big Box stores here, they will never see my business ever again. Their total lack of intelligence in the area of their trade is astounding, and well bought from Sony.

Hey Aussedropbear (gotta watch out for them drop bears when walkin' through the rainforest - they just land on ya, and yer dead, mate! ;)

I had heard something about Australian courts ruling that region coding was an unfair trade practice. How has this played out with the SD-DVD releases so far in Oz? the same thinking should apply to BD disks (which is one of my main negatives regarding BD after price).

If you can comment on how that ruling has been applied and where things seem to be heading, that would be cool, cos I have not been able to glean much from the news sites on the web. It's been about a year since that ruling...

shinksma

Hey shinksma,

Thanks for the reply. unfortunately it has been very quiet since that ruling however I was only pondering this today and were thinking of following it through with Consumer Affairs and the like to see what response I can get?

As for the SD Disks, well, they are still region 4 however I do believe there are more and more hardware players that are now able to play all regions with little or no intervention.

As for BD I believe it infringes on the basic tenants of the court ruling by stym'ing the consumers ability to play software from other regions.

It may take me a little time but will try my best to keep others informed.

Cheers

Thanks for the report you all. Good to see HD DVD supporters in that part of the world.

If you think it will be helpful for us to come and do an insider HD DVD meeting, let me know. I will see if we can organize something. Would love to support the people/companies who are backing HD DVD against the tide there.

Amirm,

Anything that can be done for the HD DVD camp downunder would be greatly appreciated. It is so quiet many probably dont even know there is another format other than Blu ray.

Whilst I am not a wealthy guy, family and all, I do my best to support the stores that stock the HD DVD format.

Something need to be done and a feel like it was needed to be done a month ago, things are that dire.

I am in the IT industry and feel that Australians in general are quick adopters of formats placed in front of them but that is the problem, we need the choice and need to be shown just how good a format HD DVD is over Blu ray.

What I would like to see is an influx of cheap Asian HD DVD players and also some subsidising of he software for a period of time to get the momentum going.

Thanks for your reply.

I've got a good news story which I posted a little while ago but bears repeating. When I bought our second HD DVD player, the Xbox add-on, I had a little trouble! Dick Smith had sold out. EB Games had sold out. Grace Bros had almost sold out - they had one left in stock, which I promptly grabbed. I think everyone at those stores was more than a little surprised by that, given that no one has even heard of HD DVD in Australia.

Oh, apart from a friend who didn't need any convincing to buy the HD-E1 after seeing my HD-A1 in action :)

Hey Aussedropbear (gotta watch out for them drop bears when walkin' through the rainforest - they just land on ya, and yer dead, mate! ;)

I had heard something about Australian courts ruling that region coding was an unfair trade practice. How has this played out with the SD-DVD releases so far in Oz? the same thinking should apply to BD disks (which is one of my main negatives regarding BD after price).

If you can comment on how that ruling has been applied and where things seem to be heading, that would be cool, cos I have not been able to glean much from the news sites on the web. It's been about a year since that ruling...

shinksma

Hey shinksma,

Found this little site. Seems to have a wealth of legal tid bits which at the moment I dont have the time to trawl through but anyone here is welcome to..

http://daledietrich.com/

Perhaps you (or any other here) could approach the site owner for info?

Aside from Ezy DVD (http://www.ezydvd.com.au/), I have also imported a couple of the Oz Studio Canal HD DVD releases from DVD Crave (http://www.dvdcrave.com/) as they were cheaper than importing the French releases from Amazon France or Fnac (www.fnac.com).
Believe it or not btw, buying Kiss Kiss Bang Bang from OZ is cheaper than importing the US combo release because it's sold as a non-combo (at a non-combo price) is Oz, even though the Oz disc is identical to the US one incl. the R1 SD DVD version on the flip side of the disc :)

I'm in Brisbane, and I own both formats with a preference for HD-DVD.

That said; I haven't seen a single HD-DVD player or disc anywhere in public. Even Blu-Ray discs are tucked away in the corner at JB Hi-Fi. Harvey Norman and The Good Guys really push the Blu-Ray hardware though -- and always have the Samsung set up on the new 1080p Panasonic plasmas.

Australia is going to be real slow on the uptake when it comes to HD formats, and I blame the dishonest misrepresentation of what HD is by our leading retailers. Every week, I get new catalogues for JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman, WOW Sight & Sound etc., and every one of them labels their old 720p televisions as 'High Definition'. Now, I know that 720p technically is still HD, but these sets are being marketed as THE HD; the latest, greatest and best technology. I even overheard a Harvey Norman sales guy trying to sell a couple on a 720p Toshiba rearpro, telling them it would give them the best picture from Blu-Ray, 360 and PS3. If they hadn't smiled politely and left without buying it, I would have had no problem giving them the right information.

I brought a Conia LCD cheapie a year and a half ago when my Samsung CRT set blew up, because i didn't want anything big and expensive while I waited for the new Sony SXRD sets to arrive. But that didn't stop the sales guy trying to get me to pony up a few grand more for the 720p Sony of the time -- "Oh, you don't have to wait...we have the HD Sony TVs in stock already..." And when I told him I was waiting for 1080p, he said they'd be 3x more expensive, and there was very little difference in quality. I didn't fall for it, because I know better, but I can only imagine how many others HAVE fallen for it.

Australians need better education on what Full HD actually is before they can be sold on hardware and software for Blu-Ray or HD-DVD.

A HD-DVD tour would be awesome for brand awareness, but somebody really needs to crack down on retailers' advertising claims when it comes to HD.

We've had to break into a 3rd shelf for...ONLY HD DVDs! Just broken the 80 title mark this week.

Just had another order for a Toshiba.

Amir - swing by via Australia - Warner NZ hasn't given any support after asking them. Bring Microsoft and boost the 360 exclusive presence here, with declining interest in the PS3 (anti-region coding scenario).

Thanks for the report you all. Good to see HD DVD supporters in that part of the world.

If you think it will be helpful for us to come and do an insider HD DVD meeting, let me know. I will see if we can organize something. Would love to support the people/companies who are backing HD DVD against the tide there.

Hi Amir

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE can you help us?

Amir

Out here, it's all talk about Blu-ray, and how fantastic the format is, and how it is the successor to DVD, how it's won the war.....the standard propaganda.

I must say, I'm tired of all the misinformation being swallowed up by the public. I am supporting HD DVD and in fact, already own 6 titles before I have bought a player!

There is utter frustration within the HD DVD community with the lack of support (and interest) from retailers. Also, the insufferable delays in the release of the Toshiba HD-DVD players (where the heck can I get one?????).

I have reached dead-ends when attempting to contact Toshiba Corporate in Australia regarding the release of the HD DVD player. As you may be aware Castel (Australian distributor ) ceased distributing Toshiba products on March 31st 2007. I was advised to contact Toshiba directly. I did this and was told that Toshiba did not have an Audio/Visual department setup. They offered no more assistance. After waitng patiently since last November for the release of HD DVD players, I am no closer to an answer, and I must admit that my patience is all but gone.

I firmly believe the HD DVD is a far superior technology to Blu-ray, and have already purchased 6 titles in HD DVD with , as yet, no player to enjoy them on. With the release of Sony's Playstation 3 in this country, HD DVD is dying a quick death without even making a show. Retailers don't care because they are not receiving information, products etc. from the supplier.

I never thought that it would be so difficult to part with so much of my hard-earned money. Also, can someone please advise the massive price difference for this player? If it retails for $799USD which converts to approx 989.00AUD, then why are we being asked to pay a massive $1599AUD? That's an incredible markup!!!

Anyway, thanks for letting me rant. I really hope you can assist.

Thanks for the feedback. Let me contact Toshiba and see what I can find out.

Thanks for the feedback. Let me contact Toshiba and see what I can find out.

Hi Amirm,

I have approached Toshiba Australia only to be transferred to Castel Electronics in Victoria who are/were the distributor for Toshiba until March 31, 2007.

Even when i had phoned after this date Toshiba still did not have a team assembled and still wanted to transfer me to Castel even though when I have spoken to Castel they said they no longer are the distributor but were apparently doing sales support until end April, or something like that.

Still, it did not help me one bit in finding out Tsohiba's game plan for the marketing and public awareness of the HD DVD format.

Well, anything you can do in your position is greatly appreciated for us HD DVD'ers in Oz. If the HD DVD can get the foot hold in the Australian market over and above that of Blu-ray I would then think the region in general (NZ, Fiji and other island states) would follow suit.

I have already contacted Toshiba. For now, if a personal visit from me helps, do let me know. Not sure when we can make it out there but I am willing to put it on the list places to visit.

Everything helps. Some signage at least!

I have already contacted Toshiba. For now, if a personal visit from me helps, do let me know. Not sure when we can make it out there but I am willing to put it on the list places to visit.

Thanks, Amirm

Yes - A vist would definately help. Did you get any joy from Toshiba?

Recent news article FYI:

Quote by Toshiba Australia in Melbourne Age -

"From the first of April we will be broadening the distribution of the products ... [and] promoting very heavily," he said, adding that Toshiba would then introduce its second stand-alone HD DVD player, the $1599 Toshiba HD-XE1."

Thanks, Amirm

Yes - A vist would definately help. Did you get any joy from Toshiba?

Recent news article FYI:

Quote by Toshiba Australia in Melbourne Age -

"From the first of April we will be broadening the distribution of the products ... [and] promoting very heavily," he said, adding that Toshiba would then introduce its second stand-alone HD DVD player, the $1599 Toshiba HD-XE1."

Hmm.. can't see a $1599 player exciting the market... we need players around the $200-300 mark to get interest. the Xbox360 HD DVD add on was a good start for those with the '360 but we need stand alone, cheap HD DVD players to promote the market. Who would be willing to slap down $1599 on a product that appears to have little support? Considerign you can get the PS3 with Blu ray for $999 doesn't make very good commercial sense.

We need HD DVD in stores like BigW, Target, K-Mart as well as support in the major rental stores like Blockbuster and VideoEzy.

and Yes, a visit from the gurus in the HD DVD camp from the US would be an excellent start. We need to bolster support from the mainstream for the sake of HD DVD

I would get an XE1 in a heartbeat. My original DVD player cost $1,400.

Unfortunately with the change over of distributer back to Toshiba it is utter confusion and this player is still not yet available. I know I check every week.

Hopefully this will be sorted out very soon.

Michael

I would get an XE1 in a heartbeat. My original DVD player cost $1,400.

Unfortunately with the change over of distributer back to Toshiba it is utter confusion and this player is still not yet available. I know I check every week.

Hopefully this will be sorted out very soon.

Michael

Hey Michael,

Wondering if you have an Xbox360? I am presently using the HD DVD drive add-on and find it very, very good. for me, I am over spending large lumps of cash on audio gear and have had my fair share of exotic and high quality gear in the past.

To me, I focus on what gives me the best bang for buck without too much in the way of scarifices and the '360 HD DVD add-on does it for me in spades at $249.

I'd rather spend $249 on the hardware and then have $1300 to spend (thats about 30+ HD DVD movies) on building my collection up. As time goes by so too does the price/performance of hardware come down.

Cheers

Yep being an aussie myself I too can confirm the terrible support in this country for HD-DVD. Living in sydney I haven't seen 1 toshiba/hd-dvd player in all the stores of I've been too. Plenty of bluray displays from samsung/panasonic/sony though.

I recently bought the hd-dvd addon here, but to be honest i kinda feel like it was wasted money. Just because the 360 elite now doesn’t support hdmi 1.3 for truehd/dtsma and I was hoping to pick up another 360 for mce and hd-dvd playback. So now I seriously gotta look at getting a Toshiba. Since I already have a ps3 for gaming which is also a damn fine hd player, hd-dvd has me somewhat disappointed because Toshiba locally is an absolute disaster, not to mention E1 pricing is a joke compared to the US.

So at this stage, hd-dvd looks terrible here and is only appealing to those who can import movies/hardware from the US. Which means it will forever be niche here if that’s the case.

Yep being an aussie myself I too can confirm the terrible support in this country for HD-DVD. Living in sydney I haven't seen 1 toshiba/hd-dvd player in all the stores of I've been too. Plenty of bluray displays from samsung/panasonic/sony though.

I recently bought the hd-dvd addon here, but to be honest i kinda feel like it was wasted money. Just because the 360 elite now doesn’t support hdmi 1.3 for truehd/dtsma and I was hoping to pick up another 360 for mce and hd-dvd playback. So now I seriously gotta look at getting a Toshiba. Since I already have a ps3 for gaming which is also a damn fine hd player, hd-dvd has me somewhat disappointed because Toshiba locally is an absolute disaster, not to mention E1 pricing is a joke compared to the US.

So at this stage, hd-dvd looks terrible here and is only appealing to those who can import movies/hardware from the US. Which means it will forever be niche here if that’s the case.

Hey Neomoz,

I tend to agree with your perspective. I have mates that are waiting back on which way to go and these guys are usually early adotpers but I think their enthusiasm has waned due to being bitten one too many times on new formats and the like. Although, they do love watching the HD DVDs at my place and can see how good it is.

With bugger all exposure in the stores for HD DVD then why would the masses start picking it up in blind faith when Blu ray is already being pushed very heavily in their face.

I also just got off the phone from a lady at Universal and they advised me that the May releases will be the start of the their push for the HD DVD market with the intention of day and date release of HD DVD along side of SD DVD. When that will happen could be anyones guess? She also mentioned seeing Jurassic Park listed for a release sometime too. Cool.

Hey Michael,

Wondering if you have an Xbox360? I am presently using the HD DVD drive add-on and find it very, very good. for me, I am over spending large lumps of cash on audio gear and have had my fair share of exotic and high quality gear in the past.

To me, I focus on what gives me the best bang for buck without too much in the way of scarifices and the '360 HD DVD add-on does it for me in spades at $249.

I'd rather spend $249 on the hardware and then have $1300 to spend (thats about 30+ HD DVD movies) on building my collection up. As time goes by so too does the price/performance of hardware come down.

Cheers
I have been thinking about it as a temporary solution. These are also very hard to find at the moment.

You just can't beat a stand-alone player though especially the XE1 with the analogue outputs and the exceptional upscaling. I also find the stand-alone players are much easier for the family to use. I have a Vista MCE and the family don't use it, they still prefer the stand-alone set top box and separate DVD player.

Michael

Who did you say doesn't sell HD DVD's? Took this shot myself :D

Hey Aussedropbear (gotta watch out for them drop bears when walkin' through the rainforest - they just land on ya, and yer dead, mate! ;)

I had heard something about Australian courts ruling that region coding was an unfair trade practice. How has this played out with the SD-DVD releases so far in Oz? the same thinking should apply to BD disks (which is one of my main negatives regarding BD after price).

If you can comment on how that ruling has been applied and where things seem to be heading, that would be cool, cos I have not been able to glean much from the news sites on the web. It's been about a year since that ruling...

shinksma
My understanding is that the court ruling was about modding Playstations, and the court ruled that modding the PS2 to circumvent region coding was not illegal. I seem to recall (though I could be wrong) that the ruling was overturned on appeal, but the basis of this was that the chipping was allowing copied games to be played on the machine, and was not to do with region coding. There is no ruling AFAIK that region coding is an unfair trade practice. However the ACCC (corporate watchdog with no legislative teeth) have stated that in their opinion region coding may be anti-competitive. However this has not been tested in court and manufacturers of players and discs are free to do what they please. Most DVD players sold here have been region-free in recent years, but the BD players sold here are region-locked for BD.

I have been thinking about it as a temporary solution. These are also very hard to find at the moment.

You just can't beat a stand-alone player though especially the XE1 with the analogue outputs and the exceptional upscaling. I also find the stand-alone players are much easier for the family to use. I have a Vista MCE and the family don't use it, they still prefer the stand-alone set top box and separate DVD player.

Michael

Hi Michael,

Totally understand where you are coming from and agree stand alone usualy does offer extra abilities than what the '360 add on does. I too have Vista and am now using the '360 to be the extender from it. It frees up the computer and the '360 manages the rest very well, it even extends the Vista media interface which is pretty cool..

Who did you say doesn't sell HD DVD's? Took this shot myself :D

Fair enough to be corrected but they do not suport the format. If you did a search on their site you would find the titles (all 12 of them as of writing) would in my mind constitute a lack of support or fair equality for the two formats to compete on.

Most staff when approached in JBHiFi seem to care little of the format. The store local to me have the xbox360 HD DVD add on tucked away near the back of the shop up high so it is not in clear view for people to see.

My understanding is that the court ruling was about modding Playstations, and the court ruled that modding the PS2 to circumvent region coding was not illegal. I seem to recall (though I could be wrong) that the ruling was overturned on appeal, but the basis of this was that the chipping was allowing copied games to be played on the machine, and was not to do with region coding. There is no ruling AFAIK that region coding is an unfair trade practice. However the ACCC (corporate watchdog with no legislative teeth) have stated that in their opinion region coding may be anti-competitive. However this has not been tested in court and manufacturers of players and discs are free to do what they please. Most DVD players sold here have been region-free in recent years, but the BD players sold here are region-locked for BD.

I wonder where the free trade agreement between the US and Oz come in. Shouldn't we be seeing software comparable in price across the two continents?

Fair enough to be corrected but they do not suport the format. If you did a search on their site you would find the titles (all 12 of them as of writing) would in my mind constitute a lack of support or fair equality for the two formats to compete on.

Most staff when approached in JBHiFi seem to care little of the format. The store local to me have the xbox360 HD DVD add on tucked away near the back of the shop up high so it is not in clear view for people to see.
No, you misunderstand. They did make a big song and dance about being exclusive, but look what I found. You can also get HD DVD through their online store.

My point was their hypocrisy and attempting to dictate the market to buyers but still hedging their bets.

hey guys,

was linked to this topic from the DTV australia forums. Certainly would be good to get Amir down here to push HD-DVD.

regarding the situation with supply of the XE1, they are on the way... I am running a group buy of them at the moment over at DTV and what started out to just be a group buy for HD-DVD and BD players in general, but i can tell you the demand is for the XE1 10x more than all other players.

I really think the audio/videophiles know HD-DVD is technically the way to go, hopefully the general consumer catches on! Amir we can do with your help!

Anyhoo, according to toshiba australia directly, they are 2 weeks away.

btw Dont bother contacting Castel anymore for any toshiba info, they were useless as the toshiba distributor, they are even more useless now.

AMIR - I might be able to organise a joint promotion of the X360, Toshiba HDDVD and a major retailer down in Australia. Let me know if a trip is on the cards.

the real joke here is that even if the consumer wants to support the format by buying from local dealer, they can't.

I imported my HD-A1 from the US, and it cost me just over AU$500 delivered (HD-E1 is AU$999 RRP).

I also imported my 360 addon months before it was available in Australia.

To be fair, I also imported a PS3 from Japan for $600 delivered ($999 RRP).

I want to support HD DVD.

I want to buy locally.

But with the outrageous local prices and lack of hardware/software on the shelves I have no real choice other than to import.

Buying 4 or 5 discs at a time, HD DVDs cost about AU$30 each from amazon, compared to AU$45-50.

So not only do we need the stuff to be actually available, but it needs to be priced competitively.

Andrew.

Thanks for the feedback. Let me contact Toshiba and see what I can find out.

Hi Amir,

Wondering if you have had word back from Toshiba or any other sources at your disposal on HD DVD in Australia?

Cheers

I wonder where the free trade agreement between the US and Oz come in. Shouldn't we be seeing software comparable in price across the two continents?


no but maybe bigger penalties for copyright infringement

:-)

we are all criminals remember!

I have had my A1 for over 8 months now. 60 HD DVD's later I still love it to death.

Fact is, I dont go to JB hifi or any of the Bluray loving dorks anymore.

It is their loss.

If I cant buy my fix there I dont need to go. Saves me money.

The one time I did venture in was to look at a 55 inch plasma and used their Bluray player for comparision.

I kept asking for HD DVD disks. The sales guy says yep sure they are over there. Pointing to a shelf of Bluray disks.

"I dont want them, i want HD DVD's not Bluray". These idiots have no idea what they are selling.

All I could say is " if you dont have em I cant buy em" Long live Amazon.

HMV are selling HD DVD and Blu-ray discs in store.
I myself have bought from both Parramatta and Sydney City Pitt St Mall stores...
I have about 6-7 Aussie ones, and about 20 from Amazon...

But paying $40 for a title like Serenity in Australia, that is damn straight outrageous.

There are a couple of stores in Sydney have have been able to have stock of the HD-E1's, but with the minute quantity released on to the Australian market, ergo the Xbox Add-on also, no wonder you can not see any for even demo in stores!

Amirm, you'd be more then welcome in Sydney, you can even visit Microsoft's Australian brethren... nice offices too.

I am even sure I know one store in Sydney that would be most welcoming to host any demo you'd wish to show HD DVD here.

No, you misunderstand. They did make a big song and dance about being exclusive, but look what I found. You can also get HD DVD through their online store.

My point was their hypocrisy and attempting to dictate the market to buyers but still hedging their bets.
A little unfair. JB were stocking that title before they made the big song and dance. Since they announced they were stocking only BD I have not seen any HD DVD titles other than this one in any of their B&M stores. The hypocrisy is in selling HD DVD titles in their online store but not in their B&M stores.

I was in the Sydney city HMV store today. They have a few HD DVDs and a few more BDs. The HD DVDs ranged from $31.99 up to $46.99, and while BD titles like Blazing Saddles and Corpse Bride were something like $32.99 each, Monster House was $54 IIRC. Ridiculous.

First titles I got from HMV were $28.99, which was fantastic...
At that time, I had the HD-E1 and waiting on Amazon still...

At the moment in Australia, it seems like the only positive marketing about HD-DVD is done through discussion forums. I have not seen a HD-DVD player displayed at any department store or electronics retailer apart from a specialist hifi store (except for the recently released XBox drive). The term "Blu-ray" always seems to make an appearance in the media via a new product announcement or some FUD marketing.

It would be nice if the HD-DVD partners in Australia could organise themselves and get the word out about the positives to HD-DVD like cost of the player and region free disks.

Lets not forget that to even make people stand up and consider the format it needs to be within a competitive pricing model. the prices for the discs is seriously over stated when compared to what you can get at Amazon, even with the cost of shipping added.

I believe the HD DVD titles need to be consitently cheaper than the BD by a margin of $5 or so. Day and date release with SD DVD would also be welcomed.

I'm glad there are Aussie's starting to pick up on this thread as we need to start beating our drum as the blu-ray beast wont go away unless demand for it wanes and HD DVD increases. On that note, spread the word, make those phone calls and send those emails to your local stores week in and out, get your mates involved if need be. Doesn't take much time and effort to do so.

Hi all..

I think I started a bum fight over here... http://www.atomicmpc.com.au/forums.asp?s=1&c=1&t=101793&p=0

Hope you can get to it?

Hi all..

I think I started a bum fight over here... http://www.atomicmpc.com.au/forums.asp?s=1&c=1&t=101793&p=0

Hope you can get to it?
Just gave you some air cover :). PM me if you need to more...

I live in New Zealand and used to buy DVDs when I visited Australia because they were cheaper, but the situation is reversed with HD DVD. I just bought seven HD DVDs (Perfect Storm, Doom, Bourne Supremacy, First Blood, Total Recall, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Unforgiven) locally from a B&M and an online retailer, and all were $28.99NZ (full retail) each, that's less than $26AU and about $14AU less than their Australian prices. Considering the economies of scale involved, Aussies are getting well and truly ripped off!

I live in New Zealand and used to buy DVDs when I visited Australia because they were cheaper, but the situation is reversed with HD DVD. I just bought seven HD DVDs (Perfect Storm, Doom, Bourne Supremacy, First Blood, Total Recall, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Unforgiven) locally from a B&M and an online retailer, and all were $28.99NZ (full retail) each, that's less than $26AU and about $14AU less than their Australian prices. Considering the economies of scale involved, Aussies are getting well and truly ripped off!

Holy crap .... i feel depressed now.

Amir, if you read this. Any word from your contacts? This particular point shows again how the Australian market is being screwed over on HD DVD.

By the way, just like with DVD, the HD DVDs we have are exactly the same as those sold in Aus, OFLC rating tags and all. I'm guessing the labels are printed up in Australia, inserted into the imported case wirth disc included (from Europe or the US) then shipped to Australian retailers or across the Tasman to us (yet the extra shipping to us actually seems to reduce the cost!)

Can please you give us some links to NZ online stores where we can buy these cheaper disks?

I use Marbecks (http://www.marbecks.co.nz/dvd/hddvd-new.lsd) but I don't know if they ship overseas (probably). Gameplanet (http://www.gpstore.co.nz/DVDs/HD-DVD/) looks reasonable, but they're a bit on the expensive side and their release dates are more often wrong than not.

The situation with pricing is better than here in the UK. Some titles sell for £30 (That is $60US!!). Universal are pricing more reasonably but Paramount in particular are really overpricing. The same problem occurs with Bluray titles though.

At least choice wise we are doing pretty well here in Europe, Studio Canal are pretty good exclusive backers (Would be better if XBox HD Drive did not have so many security holes) so far and Warner and Universal are beginning to release exclusives for titles they own rights for in Europe but not USA. Interestingly some small studio titles are beginning to appear like Opus Arte along with German and Spanish exclusives.

Store wise there are no large exclusive chains or stores I know of. Some of the video game retailers stocked Blu for a little while but then backed off due to poor sales (PS3 did not sell out in UK). If it werent for HMV and Independants there would be no presence on the High Street for either format. Hardware dealers are more polarised, interestingly one of the large Hifi chains (Sevenoaks) has been pushing HDDVD harder.

I can't beleive that is so cheap. I just bought the three First bloods and Bourne Supremacy for under AUD $90 delivered to Melbourne.

Thanks Guys this is great! :)

ADBNZ - check your PMs - sent you a message about a New Zealand HDDVD Movie Club.

I have been obsessivly checking several stores on a weekly basis here in melbourne..

Harvey Norman - Will definately stock Toshiba HDDVD drives when they are released in Australia! Apparently according to Harvey Norman Chadstone, Knox and Nunawading managment have been told they have not been released, apperently they will be released in 6 to 8 weeks??

JB Hifi - Not stocking any media and most staff seem to have been clearly told that they will never stock HDDVD media, although you can buy them on the online store..this is the case with Knox, Dandenong and Nunawading stores..

Dick Smith - May get Toshiba Drives when they are released in Australia? Stores are not sure when..

Ezy DVD - Retail outlets are only going to stock HDDVD media online only...

Virgin Megastore - Apparently they are getting stock very soon of HDDVD media, less than 10 Titles...

I have been obsessivly checking several stores on a weekly basis here in melbourne..


Ezy DVD - Retail outlets are only going to stock HDDVD media online only...



EzyDVD in Macarthur Sqr near Campbelltown NSW is stocking HDVD software and can't stock enough of it as it is far outselling the blu ray format Dthere. they are now considering importing titles to keep customers demand happy as well as stocking the soon to be released cheap Asain HD DVD players.

They have even stated they believe Blu ray appears to not be the favour format and they too prefer HD DVD over bluray for their movie experiences, having now compared both formats side by side.

EzyDVD in Macarthur Sqr near Campbelltown NSW is stocking HDVD software and can't stock enough of it as it is far outselling the blu ray format Dthere. they are now considering importing titles to keep customers demand happy as well as stocking the soon to be released cheap Asain HD DVD players.

They have even stated they believe Blu ray appears to not be the favour format and they too prefer HD DVD over bluray for their movie experiences, having now compared both formats side by side.

The buggers are certainly not stocking in stores down here in Melbourne.. Hope this policy changes...

The buggers are certainly not stocking in stores down here in Melbourne.. Hope this policy changes...

Just keep at them and get a few mates to do so as well. bug them with phone calls and visits and fob off suggestions on blu-ray that your not intersted. Even go as far that you had visited the Macarthur Square mall in NSW Campbelltown NSW recently and noticed they are stocking HD DVD hand over fist, which they are as demand is high for the format.

Interesting to read the comments so far.

My purchasing so far (Auckland, NZ) has been solely with Dick Smith Powerhouse stores. I have not seen HD-DVD titles in any other stores at all. Pricing for back cat titles is $29.95NZ, $34.95NZ for recent releases and $44.95NZ for New Release titles, so it does seem as though we are getting a much better deal here then Oz as has already been pointed out.

I had noticed this a little also on a recent visit to Melbourne when checking out X360 games. Sticker price was almost identical if not more then what they cost in NZ, taking into account it was in Aussie dollar also :confused:

I payed $249NZ for my 360 HD-DVD add on. Wasn't this the same for Australia, but in Australian dollars?

Interesting to read the comments so far.
I payed $249NZ for my 360 HD-DVD add on. Wasn't this the same for Australia, but in Australian dollars?

Unfortunately ..yes...

Australian are being royally ripped off ..

I came across this little tid bit which I think gives light on why the HD DVD format has had such a poor showing in Australia. lets hope the damage done by poor market awareness is not too deep and HD DVD can bounce back.

http://www.smarthouse.com.au/Installation/CEDIA_Members/T8K4A4N2

COMMENT: When SmartHouse News first reported 14 months ago that Castel was set to be dumped as the distributor of the Toshiba brand Castel, Managing Director Michael Kwong accused us of lying.
Instead of asking us the basis of our story he decided in a very unprofessional manner to slam us with both resellers and other media organisations. He even threatened us with legal action for defamation.

His actions and the way he managed Castel are amongst the reasons why he has been dumped by one of the biggest CE brands in the world. Then there was his idiotic decision to openly criticise mass market CE resellers in a document where he was openly soliciting dollars from specialist resellers to take on mass market resellers like Harvey Norman, JB Hi Fi and others. These are the very customers who had the potential to deliver millions of dollars worth of revenue to Castel with the Toshiba brand.

What Michael Kwong has failed to do, because he lacks the skill set, is grow a brand with bucket loads of potential. His advertising, which was always done on the cheap, failed to position the brand. A guy playing a trumpet had nothing to do with the sheer quality found in the Toshiba CE brand which, when positioned correctly, will not only appeal to consumers, but when purchased deliver for them a real quality CE experience. And if he was half-serious about the CEDIA channel, he failed to show it by failing to market Castel via the CEDIA expo.

Already key staff have started to jump ship. Paul Astbury, who joined Castel several months ago from a senior marketing position in Yamaha, has joined Melbourne based distributor Qualifi. Others are set to look for jobs straight after Xmas.

Michael Kwong has left himself totally exposed by having 50 percent of his business in one brand, now he is set to pay the price.

I use Marbecks (http://www.marbecks.co.nz/dvd/hddvd-new.lsd) but I don't know if they ship overseas (probably). Gameplanet (http://www.gpstore.co.nz/DVDs/HD-DVD/) looks reasonable, but they're a bit on the expensive side and their release dates are more often wrong than not.

Looks like we spoke too soon.

Marbeks have just shipped my order of HD DVD's at the price points mentioned earlier.

But guess what ??? The pricing has all changed and now the ones I bought are NZ $6 more expensive.

Looks like I got in just in time. :D

Thanks again for the heads up.

Hi again,

I have been away and busy hence not much from me.

I today managed to speak to a Heath Avers (ex employee of Castel) at Toshiba. The Toshiba HD DVD site will be online around the beginning of June and they are organising a 'coalition' of companies (such like Microsoft, Toshiba, Univeral, Paramount and several other movie houses and CE stores and distribution points) for a push around the same time as the launch of the website http://www.toshiba.com.au/

All this is good news for the those with a preference to the HD DVD format and a ask you to continue your support of this excellent product. Stay tuned.

For those interested, here is a very neat thread on many of the responses given by Amir on HD DVD.... worth checking out and reading through..if you have the time...

http://forums.highdefdigest.com/showthread.php?t=3952