Blockbuster Blu-ray announcement: Master Thread - Page 12

Just curious: is there any particular reason why this thread was made sticky? I understand that this news has some value for US users who rent optical discs, but on the other hand I don't see why a marketing newsflash should be as important as e.g. the insiders and sales numbers threads.

Does videoscan include sales to Blockbuster for rentals in their numbers? There's some speculation that HD DVD might take at least one week in June or July due to the HD DVD player sale, the number of new Universal releases and a lack of new Blu-ray releases. If videoscan does include Blockbuster purchases, Sony/Blockbuster could time the sales to offset any potential weekly loss.

Yeah, okay, here's something else: I had one of the first Blockbuster trial stores near me, I've been an HD DVD-only supporter since launch, and I went to that Blockbuster often to us a movie pass to rent SD DVDs.

Well, guess what?! I almost NEVER rented any HD DVDs from that store! Why you ask!? -Because I owned almost ever single title they had!

Blockbuster waited until several months after launch to put HD media for rent in these trial stores and then they only stocked the shelves with some of the earliest titles that had come out and nothing much really that had come out or was coming out recently.

Well, HD DVD owners have generally had a high attach rate and bought a ton of terrifically reviewed titles early on - like Training Day and Riddick and so on. HD DVD player owners were confident to just buy HD DVD movies because we had the proven VC-1 codec, etc while BD was screwing up and making people nervous with bad MPEG-2 on movies like The 5th Element and House of Flying Artifacts (whoops, I mean "Daggers").

So what did this do for renting HD media even if you take the Playstation 3 effect out of the equation?

Well, it meant that even unbiased dual-format owners would buy the HD DVD titles more often and not need to rent them ever - while they would be about 4 times more likely to rent the BD titles first to make sure that their PQ was up to par since BD had such a stigma around it for having "early launch", bad review/PQ jitters.

So the IRONY here is that: Sony and the studios SCREWING UP many of their earliest titles from a PQ stand-point could have in fact actually led to them winning the format war via pure stupidity and fumbling around alone!

(Things like lower price of an HD DVD player, etc also helped offset the need to rent instead of buy - since the money saved can go directly to actually buying and owning titles. So the other IRONY is that Toshiba may have contributed to losing the war for themselves by having great, consumer-friendly and aggressive pricing!)

Yes, I had heard rumor of this from a buddy of mine recently and I was hesitant to believe it to be true. However, it was the straw that broke the camel's back in my support of HD DVD and I just decided to cut my losses before the news broke and sold off my HD DVD collection. When small Mom and Pop stores did the same thing with Beta back in the 1980s, it was definitely the beginning of a chain of events that ended the life of that home video format. I am kinda relieved we may be reaching a point soon where everyone can rally behind Blu-ray and stop all the bickering.

According to the press release, the decision of Blockbuster is only temporary. When the low cost Chinese HD DVD players will fill the store shelves this fall, Blockbuster will expand the number of stores offering the HD DVD format.


Blockbuster to Expand Blu-Ray to 1,700 Stores
Company will continue to offer HD DVD titles online and in select number of stores

DALLAS, June 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- In response to the growing demand for high-definition DVDs, Blockbuster Inc. (NYSE: BBI)(NYSE: BBI.B) today announced that it is rolling out an expanded Blu-ray disc inventory for rental to 1,700 corporate-owned BLOCKBUSTER® stores by mid-July. The Company will continue to offer both Blu-ray and HD DVD titles through its online rental service, http://www.blockbuster.com/, and will continue to offer both formats at its initial 250 stores that currently carry both high-definition formats.

"We intend to meet the demands of our customers and based on the trends we're seeing, we're expanding our Blu-ray inventory to ensure our stores reflect the right level of products," said Matthew Smith, SVP Merchandising for Blockbuster. "While it is still too early to say which high-definition format will become the industry standard, we will continue to closely monitor customer rental patterns both at our stores and online, so we can adjust our inventory mix accordingly and ensure that Blockbuster is offering customers the most convenient access to the movies they want, in the format they want."

When Blu-ray and HD DVD were introduced to the marketplace in 2006, Blockbuster began offering the high-definition formats on all titles in which it was available through blockbuster.com. The Company also introduced both formats on select titles in 250 stores in November of 2006. With Blu-ray rentals significantly outpacing HD DVD rentals at its BLOCKBUSTER stores, the Company made the decision to expand the number of stores offering the Blu-ray format.

With the expansion in July, the 1,700 stores will be carrying more than 170 titles in Blu-ray and will continue to add titles in the format as they are released from the studios.

"We are excited to be able to make more high-definition titles available to our customers in those stores where our research indicates there will be the most demand," said Smith. "Obviously, when customers are ready we can expand the Blu-ray offering into more stores and add HD DVD to more locations if that's what customers tell us they want. We'll continue to work with the movie studios to ensure we have the right assortment of products."

Blu-ray formatted titles are available from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment, FOX Home Entertainment, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Lionsgate Home Entertainment, Warner Home Video, and Paramount Home Entertainment and can be played on Blu-ray dedicated players, Sony PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) or a Blu-ray compatible computer drive.

About Blockbuster

Blockbuster Inc. is a leading global provider of in-home movie and game entertainment, with more than 8,000 stores throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia and Australia. The Company may be accessed worldwide at http://www.blockbuster.com/.


source: http://blockbuster.mediaroom.com/ind...eases&item=727

A step closer to "ONE" HD optical format. The sooner the better. Either it be Blu-ray or HD-DVD. Just one ring to rule them all.

Have any of you seen the "Digital TV: A Cringely Crash Course " show that comes on PBS HD? They talk about how different railroad tracks held up the railroad business. Then when they went with one size, it took off. That's what HD Media Disc needs! PERIOD!

Looks like this show comes on at 4:00AM everyday in Houston!

I wish we were at that stage, but I'm sure in a week Toshiba will anounce some discounts and everyone will go back to saying hddvd is the future.

I'm sick of it, and just wish people would STOP this and let Blu-ray be the only format.

Wouldn't this http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=25310 have a slight impact on Blu-rays supposed win if Target, the company suing won?

http://www.blockbuster.com/corporate/newReleases

the press release is up

How many Blockbuster stores are there in China?

Chinese players that have been confirmed to come this year by toshiba to the us..... heh i belive it as much as I believe the matrix will hit blu ray one day

Until BD players drop to affordable levels, this is all moot.

Gee, a 50% reduction in a year. At this rate, it won't be long for people that can't afford hdtvs to buy a blu-ray player.

History will repeat itself.

What happened:

- PS3 sells 1.3 million units
- demand for Blu-Ray goes up
- Blockbuster expands the numbers of stores carring Blu-Ray

What will happen this Fall:

- low cost chinese HD DVD players (like Venturer SHD7000) will fill the store shelves
- HD players will go mass market at mass prices (HD DVD first to be under $150)
- demand for HD DVD will go up
- Blockbuster will expand the numbers of stores carring HD DVD

I really hope that doesn't happen. MS, Toshiba, and Universal need to take a deep breath and throw in the towel.

yes monty all for you!!!!!

I'm neutral, but support BD obviously.

Question is, why is it better if Toshiba drags this stupid war out for years? Who does that help? Anyone?

I think the point is that it doesnt matter....it is what it is....and to expect someone to just roll over and die because of convienece for people that want blu ray to win...well thats just not even any kind of thinking at all.

Pure fantasy.

All while Blu Ray is doing nothing yet a daily fixture at Blockbuster and Best Buy (the #1 places for electronics and movie rentals)......

Perhaps I can offer the point of view of a person who has no allegiance in the Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD war. I have no product bias toward Sony or Toshiba. In fact, I have both a Sony TV and a Toshiba TV in my house, and I'm very happy with both. I don't really care who wins this war. That being said, last week, I took advantage of Crutchfield.com's mistake and purchased a Toshiba HD-DVD player for $199. I decided to make the move because I felt that the "side" that got its player down in price quickest would "win" this war, and Toshiba seemed to be moving in that direction. But now, with Blockbuster's announcement, I'm probably going to cancel my order. The expected shipping date is June 26th, and I don't want to be stuck with a machine that's going to be a Betamax deck in two years. Now, I'm a Net Flix subscriber who never walks into Blockbuster, but the reason for my decision to not buy the Toshiba is simple: It's very clear to me that this "war" is not tilting to Toshiba's side, and even if it's tilting to Blu-Ray's side, it's probably best to wait and not make any move at all for a while. Clearly, judging the winds in this situation right now is impossible, although I must say that the Blu-Ray wind seems to very strong right now. And it also seems that of the possible Toshiba reactions to this, one is dropping prices even more, in which case my $199 won't seem like much of a bargain.

On a side note, and I'm sure this has been said before, I think Sony destroyed Toshiba in the naming game. Most people already think DVDs are HD. Calling something HD-DVD doesn't make it sounds like it's a new technology. But Blu-Ray does sound like something new. People just might go for that...if the prices come way down. I don't see the average person spending more than $100-$150 for a DVD player, HD or not.

I agree that BB's numbers are skewed because of all the teen gamers who frequent the stores and have a PS3 and thus rent BD in addition to it becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy because of the number of BD titles carried vs HD-DVD titles.

I don't know....I'm in the demographic for this stuff. I still won't spend $499 to watch BD, and honestly wouldn't have spent even $299 to watch HD DVD because I care far more about the audio side than the video side. I finally went to buy one when it was $249 at Costco.

Price is still key. Toshiba will drop the price to $199 within a short period of time to counter this if they are smart. $300 is a big jump.

People will walk into BB, see a Blu movie and go looking for a player. Unless they drop the price along with rentals then I don't know how much good it will do them.

I've personally had excellent luck with Netflix and HD-DVD. The part I am still most disappointed about is the jumbled mess the audio side is in.

Out of the 8 HD DVD's I've rented, 3 of them have been in TrueHD.

If Sony were the first to the sub 300 price point I'd have a BD player. PS3 is useless to me because of the lack of high quality audio out.

We'll see how it fleshes out in the next 3 weeks...thats how long I have to return my D2 to Costco

My wife and I also despise our local BB...and if BB is truly trying to push their online ordering and will still carry HD DVD then in the end it may not be that big of a deal because no matter what people are going to see that $499 price tag.

i dont know why you guys bother with damage control anymore... first of all you cant watch most of the movies, and now you cant rent at most of the Blockbusters that carry HD.

Now chinese HD-DVD player will save the day? Why? What will you do with it - set it on the table and admire it? Hd-DVD already has significantly better price, which can easily be called mass market, yet BD still outsells it easily (even more than before). Thats why Blockbuster decided to carry BD only in expanded selection of stores.

Game was over minute first PS3 was bought, and firmware updates are just rubbing it in.

Evetually, both formats will be under $300. Getting there first matters little if Best Buy pushes Blu Ray (and continues to hide HD DVD in the corner) and when you go to Blockbuster HD DVD is no where to be found. Walmart?? Who cares.... Walmart is for stapl items not luxury goods. They'll have no impact on the war even players are $99.

Toshiba is the only manufactuer selling the players for the format. They are losing money on each player as they desperately slash prices. No other manufacturer can afford to make them at hose prices. That is why after 1 year on the market, there is still no sign of any other name brand manufacturer making them. Blu Ray has many manufacturers on board and selling players with far more margin. They are cutting prices a lot less drastically so everyone makes money along the way.

Also, they have paid Blockbuster and Best Buy fees to push Blu ray and keep HD DVD out in the cold.

It has been a shrewd plan but very intelligent, focused and, of course, successful.

Who wouldn't admire Sony for such a lopsided showdown?!
The Blockbuster story is just another piece in the puzzle and another nail in the coffin for HD DVD.

That lawsuit will impact BD, HD-DVD, and DVD. I don't see why it would hurt BD any more or less than HD.

Target claims that company founder Han Nee developed the reflective silver alloy material which is used as a component of most DVDs produced today.

Exactly. HD-DVD will stop if/when they've exhausted ALL THEIR cards I'll bet, why not at this point? Kinda tickles me to read all the BD fanboys taking an HD-DVD negative and running with it as if BR just made a proactive, positive move themselves, lol (ok, both sides are quilty of that). Did they launch a full featured/spec stand alone player yesterday for $300 and I just missed it? A new slew of great new exclusive movies hit the shelves? What exactly did SONY do to entice me to go buy into BR here other then point at HD-DVD not being at all Blockbusturds?

Blu Ray at blockbuster is not going to get J6P to drop 500 bucks on a BD player.

As a regular Blockbuster renter, I usually rent New Releases. I am also interested in High Definition. Back in 2005 I looked at which studios were supported by which format. It was very heavily tilted towards Blu-ray as having more studios that could release titles Day and Date in high def, and the fact that Universal had a horrible 2006 lineup and not much great going into 2007 made my decision very, very easy. I budgeted the cash to get a PS3 at launch to view Blu-ray movies. Knowing that supporting both formats with my cash would only prolong a war, I decided to not buy into the HD DVD format at launch and see what happened in 2006 and 2007. Money drives business and if you don't support a product, it will fail. This is a tough choice because there are quality titles by Universal that I want to watch, but it just isn't good for a QUICK resolution to this war to support both formats.

For me, its all about Day and Date, New Releases and big titles. Catalog titles are just not widely appealing, especially for disc sales. I mean, high def is great, but I'm not going to go and repurchase most movies I already have on DVD, and most consumers also follow this trend. Blockbuster is following this trend and its the right thing to do for this format war. Yes, it sucks to have to pay a price premium for the hardware and a spec that isn't polished and complete, but seriously, its not a huge price premium at $300 vs. $500, and the 1.1 Spec will go into effect in a few months. That's not to say that Blu-ray is the final answer, but split studios means taking a stand for the group of studios that are going to put out more movies that you want to see. For me, that means Blu-ray, and consumers are supporting Blu-ray at about 65% of the market, month after month. I'm just happy I'll finally be able to rent the Blu-rays in store instead of just using the online thing.

Sony has gotten Blockbuster on their side so as to choke off more content from HD DVD players. They did so by purchasing movie studios AND paying other big studios off to withhold content from HD DVD. Now they own the majority of the rental market exclusively. HD DVD is in a tail spin.

The low player prices are the biggest red herring in this war. It is too bad that when folks spend hard earned money on the cheapest thing, they think it will automatically win. That is farther from the truth and ignores the facts. I feel sorry for those who in trying to save some money (and could only afford either a BD player OR a HD DVD player) chose HD DVD. That investment will soon go into the toilet as the few new releases they were getting will dry up). Then, they will have to buy Blu Ray in the near future to conitnue enjoying new HD content.