On their HD DVD promo shelf there was a stack of pamphlets.

The pamphlets don't mention Walmart in particular so I don't know if they are generic store promo flyers (although I have never seen one before)

On the front page it states "get the most out of your high definition television"

On the bottom, 2 web sites are listed:

www.thelookandsoundofperfect.com

but more interestingly,

www.wbhighdef.ca


Inside, it's a "what is HD DVD" explanation, kind of "dumbed down" for the average consumer. It shows "300" and "Planet Earth" in the pamphlet.

MOST interestingly, at the bottom of the inside page is a picture of an HD DVD player.

The Venturer.


On the back are logos for Universal, Paramount and Warner Bros.


Very interesting.

Hmmm... So I wonder if the Venturer will be the low priced HD DVD player at Wal-Mart Canada.

Sorry about the crappy pics, but it's the best I could do.


http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/1941/hd1wf9.th.jpg (http://img139.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hd1wf9.jpg)

http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/7163/hd2xe8.th.jpg (http://img236.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hd2xe8.jpg)

http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/5792/hd3ii8.th.jpg (http://img236.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hd3ii8.jpg)

http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/1084/hd4qp7.th.jpg (http://img139.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hd4qp7.jpg)

Whoa! So Target will be selling the Venturer in Target (online only till Dec 31) but Wal-Mart Canada will have this same Venturer product in stores?

It seems very likely, then, that Venturer will, in fact, make a debut in Wal-Mart US for 2007 is over ....

Now the rumours of a $149US price point make sense.

There's already a press release out the other day that indicated Walmart would be selling the Toshiba A2 for $198 in the U.S.

What a great pamphlet.. and the WB connection is very interesting indeed…

Hmmm.... so why is the Warner logo sitting down there next to Paramount and Universal, but no TWC?

Humm that venturer front panel look a lot like a A2/A3 front, but without Chrome Look..

http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/1084/hd4qp7.th.jpg (http://img139.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hd4qp7.jpg)

interesting.

would be smart of timewarner to take moneyhats from hd dvd for wb exclusivity and from blu-ray for new line exclusivity

i doubt any of the deals that are in place are binding anyway so they can always bailout if one format were to take off

Humm that venturer front panel look a lot like a A2/A3 front, but without Chrome Look..
Uh oh, be careful. I said the exact same thing in another thread and suddenly about 15 AVSers jumped down my throat to say I was completely out to lunch for saying that. :p

Hmmm.... so why is the Warner logo sitting down there next to Paramount and Universal, but no TWC?

TWC?

TWC?

the weinstein company?

Yeah, no Weinstein Company, I guess maybe because they are such a smaller company, but it seems that they were just listing their major studios, but hey, maybe they were listing their soon to be major EXCLUSIVE studios lol :D

Even Toshiba distributes similar pamphlets in Japan but in vain. No effect on the customers who have already preferred Blu-ray. I am not against HD DVD but I am furious with Toshiba for not promoting HD DVD properly in a sensitive market like Japan.

I went there today. Here is the display. Note the pamphlet on the top left.

http://www.eugbanana.com/files/Pix/Wal-Mart/Wal-Mart_HD_DVD-800.jpg

And here is the Blu-ray side. Actually, Blu-ray gets three sides, as you can see.

http://www.eugbanana.com/files/Pix/Wal-Mart/Wal-Mart_Blu-ray-800.jpg

Blu-ray gets an LCD, one wide side, and two short sides of the display.
HD DVD gets an LCD, one wide side, and no short sides of the display.

Yep. That's the same setup as in my Walmart.

Funny thing is, at my Walmart, the bluray sides were well stocked, but all but 3 of the HD DVD titles were sold out.

There was no question Venturer would be selling in Canada. A Canadian company, they have a number products they sell in Wally's and the cost should be comparable to the A2.