With this move we now know that MS is willing to buy up competition (finally). Whats to stop them from just one studio? Perhaps they may try and sway Warner or even New Line now. Its not like they dont have the money...

Good job on actually reading this forum. People have taken crap some pro BD guy wrote in a blog as fact. Microsoft did not, repeat, DID NOT, pay a red cent to make Paramount HD DVD exclusive.

Also, the Cloverfield/1.18.08 monster is actually Bill Gates! True story.

Good job on actually reading this forum. People have taken crap some pro BD guy wrote in a blog as fact. Microsoft did not, repeat, DID NOT, pay a red cent to make Paramount HD DVD exclusive.

bill hunt will have to print a retraction then.

bill hunt will have to print a retraction then.

He'll have to do more than that I bet.

I love how his comments just flow throughout the day and how he claims that site is for reviewing/reporting info on all digital media and that they aren't pro anything. LOL!

bill hunt will have to print a retraction then.

I highly doubt that. From TheDigitalBits (http://thedigitalbits.com/#mytwocents):

By the way, a quick side comment here. A number of HD-DVD fans have e-mailed us to cry fowl over our issue with Microsoft offering financial incentives to studios to go HD-DVD only, when (they say) Sony must surely be doing the same thing on the Blu-ray Disc side. Here's the difference, and it's why we continue to flag it: Sony pumping money to various studios and parties to promote Blu-ray Disc make logical sense to us. Toshiba doing the same thing to promote HD-DVD, that makes logical sense too. Sony was involved in creating Blu-ray and has a financial stake in it. Likewise, Toshiba created HD-DVD and has a financial stake there. Where does Microsoft's interests lie? Microsoft did not create HD-DVD. Until not so very long ago (prior to these formats coming to market), as they themselves acknowledge, they actually supported both formats. So why are they putting so much money into HD-DVD now? Not only are they putting money into HD-DVD, they're basically the only party that's keeping the format alive. Left to their own financial means, we find it hard to believe that Toshiba would be able to keep pricing its hardware so low - especially given the fact that they've had to adjust their sales projections for the format downward in recent months. And without the "financial incentives" offered by Microsoft, would ANY of the HD-DVD exclusive studios still be HD-DVD exclusive? We doubt it. So what does Microsoft have to gain from all this? That's the question that keeps sticking in our minds. By making these deals with the studios, aren't they getting exclusive access to new high-def transfers that they'll be able to turn around and offer on Xbox Live - transfers that they themselves are encoding in VC-1 for the studios at a discounted rate or even for free? And as we've said many times now, doesn't Microsoft's download service stand to gain if this format war continues long enough to discourage most consumers from adopting high-def discs at all? That's the difference between Sony and Microsoft - Sony is heavily supporting their own format for obvious reasons. Microsoft is heavily supporting someone else's format for their own reasons, some of which are obvious (VC-1, HDi) and some not so much.

What a douche! Even if the MS thing proves false (who cares?), he will never retract or apologize.

bill hunt will have to print a retraction then.

Yeah right. Even if it wasn't true, and I'm sorry, even though I'm an HD DVD supporter, I know it is, even if it was true that MS or Toshiba didn't pay Paramount, there's no way in hell Bill-the shill-Hunt will ever take back anything he's said about HD DVD. Even if HD DVD was to win, I guarantee you he'd still be sitting there on his mediocre site whining about how much better BR was. ;)

I highly doubt that. From
(Bill-the Sony shill-Hunt's idiocy snipped)
What a douche! Even if the MS thing proves false (who cares?), he will never retract or apologize.

You got that right. Man, there are so many things wrong with his above, idiotic comments it's hard to get a handle and go with just one. The guy is just such a low-class act. Sits there on his crap website, taking money from Sony and tells us all how wonderful each and every BR disc, player and announcement is. He reminds of that guy over in Iraq, the media guy who used to just sit there and blatantly lie over the TV. What's worse about Hunt(as usual, I want to spell his name with a C, but I won't), is that the BR trolls just eat it up. Talk about the blind leading the blind. It's more sad than it is funny. ;)

You got that right. Man, there are so many things wrong with his above, idiotic comments it's hard to get a handle and go with just one. The guy is just such a low-class act. Sits there on his crap website, taking money from Sony and tells us all how wonderful each and every BR disc, player and announcement is. He reminds of that guy over in Iraq, the media guy who used to just sit there and blatantly lie over the TV. What's worse about Hunt(as usual, I want to spell his name with a C, but I won't), is that the BR trolls just eat it up. Talk about the blind leading the blind. It's more sad than it is funny. ;)

Yeah, that was Baghdad Bob, the Minister of DisInformation. I think you've got something there! From now on, Mr Bill Hunt shall be refered to as Baghdad Bill! :D

nothing like a whore ass shill reporting unproven news as fact

next time i see his arse he's gonna get called a whore to his face by me !!!

I would say that it FAR more likely that Paramount just called Sony on their promises of 'millions of players in homes across america'. After months of seeing that these promises were far from holding water with despicable attach rates they decided to stick with their original format choice. Purely my opinion though.

Prediction: 'Disney becomes neutral for $100 million!'

Yeah, that was Baghdad Bob, the Minister of DisInformation. I think you've got something there! From now on, Mr Bill Hunt shall be refered to as Baghdad Bill! :D

Ah, yeah, that's the guy. I really believe that Bill-the Sony Shill-Hunt is that guy for the BR camp. I really don't understand how he feels that people need to take what he says seriously. Watch, the more HD DVD grows, the less people will listen to him. It'll be funny to see how bad it gets if HD DVD wins, he'll be just another idiot on the internet crying about how his beta-like format was superior, but just didn't win somehow. ;)

even though its not true about microsoft paying that money as far as we know, but if they did, I think it would make perfect sense. we all know the next xbox is going to need a hd disk format for the games side of it, why would they ever want to use blurry and owe sony for it and it would basically say that pos3 is better because they had blurry first. Now if they went HD DVD 30gig disk for the next xbox, sony would have jack poop to say about it and it cant be compared to the pos3. its very clear that HD DVD is going to be with us for quite some time now,forsure when the next xbox comes out. you can see that microsoft has more to gain then just downloadable movies, its their hardware too.

Whats to stop MS from "buying" other studios?

Not a damn thing, isn't the free market great? Columbia/Sony could use some studio/CE competition imo, maybe Toshiba should grab a studio outright.

With this move we now know that MS is willing to buy up competition (finally). Whats to stop them from just one studio? Perhaps they may try and sway Warner or even New Line now. Its not like they dont have the money...

Our friend AMIRM already confirmed MS paid nothing.

Please don't post this rubbish again!

Do not succumb to Sony FUD (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear,_uncertainty_and_doubt).

I'm fine with it, business is business.

Bill Hunt also told me in an email yesterday that Sony was NOT paying off studios. His comments above seem to indicate that Sony is in fact giving money to the studios. Interesting.

With this move we now know that MS is willing to buy up competition (finally). Whats to stop them from just one studio? Perhaps they may try and sway Warner or even New Line now. Its not like they dont have the money...

I hope NOTHING stops them!

Even if it were true, who cares? Why is this such an issue to the blu-ray fanboys? If in fact it were true, your small, meaningless comments and whining won't change it. Won't even be a blip on the radar.

No win for blu-ray, beautiful.

Nothing can stop MS or Toshiba from buying Studio support if they want. I mean do we really think that content delivery companies NEVER pay content creating companies for exclusivity of content? Please people. In the gaming business this happens ALL THE TIME. Oh and the music business. And publishing business...

I say if MS/Toshiba did pay Paramount to drop Blu Ray, then Sony needs to wake up or this thing will be over in a few quarters with BR being talked about like BetaMax. If, on the other hand, Paramount walked away truley because of the merits of HD-DVD over Blu Ray, then BDA is probably even in bigger trouble. They better hope Paramount was paid off!

bill hunt will have to print a retraction then.

Bill Hunt is a complete moron fanboy. His true colors shine is this recent editorial BS. Does anyone actually take Him or his pathetic website seriously anymore. I always thought he was tool, but his maturity or lack of at CES spoke volumes about his character.

TheDigitalbits is not a reputable news site, and should be considered a tabloid

nothing is to stop them, and at this point i wish they would.

Yeah right. Even if it wasn't true, and I'm sorry, even though I'm an HD DVD supporter, I know it is, even if it was true that MS or Toshiba didn't pay Paramount, there's no way in hell Bill-the shill-Hunt will ever take back anything he's said about HD DVD. Even if HD DVD was to win, I guarantee you he'd still be sitting there on his mediocre site whining about how much better BR was. ;)


You mean kind of like the Iraq Information Minisiter statement

"We are wiping the floor with the Americans. They are being defeated soundly" yet thier troops were surrendering and/or retreating real time? :)

I wish I could find the quote Bill Hunt made at the end of last year where he said that HDDVD would be dead by September 2007. He has been working very very hard to get it to happen as it began to appear that it would not on it's own. Now the best he can do is cry foul.

Art