[PeterS]

Just left an interesting conversation with a manager of a local Best Buy. He is a true HD-DVD fan. Not because of any obsurd allegiance, but because he thinks it delivers more for his customers for far less dollars.


The Problem...


Sony pays for end-caps for their player and the Samsung player. They can not put an end-cap together for HD-DVD as corporate will not allow them to without someone paying for it. However, he still says that they sell 2:1 HD-DVD:BD players, and easily 5:1 or better on the discs. Also, he thinks it may be over for the PS3 as they have had more than 35 units in stock now for the past two weeks and can not move them at all. They have even tried holding them in the back and putting out small quantities at a time to make it look as if they are still hard to get and small shipments are coming in.


According to him, Gears of War caused the XBox 360 to fly off the shelves and they can not keep the HD-DVD add-on in stock.


Who would'a thunk it?

 

[jmpage2]

Well, I don't think that there's any danger of the Xbox add on outselling the PS3 any time soon, but certainly if MS can move several hundred thousand of them by the middle of the year it will slow down BR adding market share.

 

[Capek]

I have a whole lot of BB store credit from returning from duplicate HD-DVDs I got for Christmas, and also from a trade for a sealed copy of The Sopranos HD-DVD, for which I got $129 after tax for

. So I was going to use it for a PS3, and my local BB got a ton of them in yesterday. So I went there at the end of the day, but all they had were 60 gig versions, and I was looking for a 20 gigger. But the salesman I talked to laughed when I asked if they had any 20 gigs in stock. He said I was the only person to ask about them all day. And there were sitting in plain view in a big cage right by the video games section. I then asked him if he had any idea if they'd be getting in any Wii's any time soon. And he said, "no, and that's what everyone is looking for now. This thing is so over", pointing to the PS3. He was just talking about demand of course, but now I think all the articles about demand having dried up for the PS3 are true.


So if any one wants a 60 gig PS3 in Houston, they have plenty of them at the BB in the Galleria.

 

[gordong11]

This is great to hear. When you think about it HD DVD players and Xbox 360 give much more flexibility and quality the BD playes and PS3. That being said, it will help HD flourish in the market. Xbox 360 > better gameplay/games + better DVD player. HD DVD> better PQ, SQ and more procepoints than BD players. Blue is losing whatever edge they once had fast IMHO.

 

[eizenga13]

At my best buy we have an HD DVD player hooked up to the Sharp Aquis 1080p TV on the M-HEAT wall.... Most stores should do this it would be great, and it is a great TV to show off your HD DVD's in store... we have WAY WAY WAY outsold HD DVD to BD in our store and on another note we have PS3 piling up and very very few sales. We do however have a lot of HD DVD and Xbox 360 add ons nowhere in sight because as soon as we get them they are G O N E.

 

[Forceflow]



Quote:
Originally Posted by PeterS /forum/post/0


Who would'a thunk it?

me.

I think this is news for the BD section, not HD DVD section. People here kinda realized the rush for PS3 was over. It makes a hell of a BD player, but it certainly isn't a great gaming platform (right now). Perhaps when FFXIII comes out, it'll be more sought after but I doubt until its price is in line with other consoles that its demand will ever match theirs.

 

[pcrx]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Forceflow /forum/post/0


me.

I think this is news for the BD section, not HD DVD section. People here kinda realized the rush for PS3 was over. It makes a hell of a BD player, but it certainly isn't a great gaming platform (right now). Perhaps when FFXIII comes out, it'll be more sought after but I doubt until its price is in line with other consoles that its demand will ever match theirs.

Lets remember this too:


Even IF the PoS3 suddenly "flies off the shelves" once the "must have" games hit (as fanboys like to predict amid the grim news) - all THAT then means is the PoS3 will not be getting majority time use as a GAME machine.


Plus given the price of admission to Sony's party, plus cables, etc and the price of the "must have" games at $60 a pop - thats not much money left over for more BD movies....

 

[Forceflow]



Quote:
Originally Posted by pcrx /forum/post/0


Lets remember this too:


Even IF the PoS3 suddenly "flies off the shelves" once the "must have" games hit (as fanboys like to predict amid the grim news) - all THAT then means is the PoS3 will not be getting majority time use as a GAME machine.


Plus given the price of admission to Sony's party, plus cables, etc and the price of the "must have" games at $60 a pop - thats not much money left over for more BD movies....

Exactly. Those that buy from now on won't be considering BD a priority or even at all. They'll be buying BECAUSE of games. Really gamers are not happy with the PS3, it has HUGE framerate issues, texturing problems, doesn't upsample PS1/PS2 games, it overheats like a bastard, it is EXPENSIVE. All in all, I do like the machine though. Heck, I own one but I'm one of those getting it for BD playback people. I will be all over FFXIII when it comes out and PS2 RPGs when it can upsample. Frankly I think the PS3 is about the worst thing for BD CE companies because they just can't match the price/performance that it provides compared to their pared down, overpriced offerings.

 

[MidnightWatcher]

Last time I was at BB I saw one of the sales guys sorting the HD DVD movies section so I asked him which format was selling better. He said HD DVD was definitely selling much more, so yes BB is definitely noticing what is happening.

 

[hmurchison]

Well I bought a friend of mine's kids GoW for Christmas and being the nice young gentleman that they are they let me play. SOLD.


If I was on the fence about the Xbox/HD DVD solution then I was off the fence with speed. GoW is a fun game to me and it looks great. I started digging more and found out that the Xbox has a few games coming out that look solid and Alan Wake looks freakin unbelievable.


The PS3 has what Resistance? And some games that look like they're coming to Xbox anyways. Sony laid an egg...how can you ship the PS3 with 1 stellar game and a bunch of retreads???


Like I've said before. I'm in no way looking at Blu-ray in 2007. I'm going to enjoy grabbing some Xbox games and using the HD DVD player for my movies and I'll wait and see how the Onkyo and other players look by years end to see if I want to move to a STB player.


I'm kinda feeling like the PS3 kind of blew it's wad and there's not much to fear in 2007 until they start delivering some games..but then that doesn't really affect us does it. We'll have $400 or less players by summer for HD DVD.

 

[the__rob]

I think this stuff depeneds on area. I was able to find one 60gb ps3 yesterday and no 20gb. I am not sure the wifi is worth it though so I may return it for the 20gb version when it is in stock. the wifi is limited I was hoping I could tranfer video files via wifi and so far no go.


I think the reason ps3 is slow right now is just game support and price. who wants to pay that much for just gaming without tons of games.


it is okay as a blu-ray player. I hate the fact it has no IR port. it runs kind of hot as well and will not work enclosed in a cabinet. the thing that sucks about blu-ray IMO is the image is just not as good to me. I just watched taledaga nights in blu-ray and world trade center in hd-dvd. I though the hd dvd looked better. it is nice to be able to rent or buy any movie I want in hd though.


bottom line is the war is far from over unfortunatly. The day you can start to say the tide has shifted is the day you can get any movie on one of the formats. that just isn't happing yet.


As for disc sales I get conflicting data from local stores. some will say BD is selling better some will say HD-dvd is selling better.

 

[suffolk112000]



Quote:
Originally Posted by PeterS /forum/post/0


Also, he thinks it may be over for the PS3 as they have had more than 35 units in stock now for the past two weeks and can not move them at all. They have even tried holding them in the back and putting out small quantities at a time to make it look as if they are still hard to get and small shipments are coming in.

Actually I think I might have witnessed this shady form of marketing first hand. I was in the Ann Arbor MI BB checking out the Magnolia store a few days before Christmas. They had three PS3's on a table with a store clerk standing next to them. He said these are the last three... better get one. I was in the Magnolia store for over two hours. When I came out there were four PS3's on the table. When I asked the same sales guy, he said they found another player in the warehouse. Oooopps.

Craig

 

[Paul_Seng]

The nail in the coffin might be Halo3.

I have both a ps3 and 360. bought resistance and a NBA game for PS3 (can't remember which one). Finished resisitance and GOW and IMO GOW is much better. Waiting on Alan Wake and Halo3 (not waiting for anything for PS3).


On a side note my family and I probably have about 20 360 games.

 

[CounterSeal]

I think some of you are forgetting that the PS3 isn't selling well at this time. Keep in mind "at this time." There is currently a lack of notable games on it, but once the mega exclusives hit, PS3 sales will pick up. In March, we'll be seeing many more games trickling out. And the format war is indeed a long haul. Final Fantasy 13, MGS4, DMC4 are all due around end of 2007 and 2008. More or less, these game releases will effect the format war in BD's favor.


And I simply don't get why the lack of PS3 sales is getting blown out of proportion. We expected it to happen. It's quite obvious, less good games = less sales. The 360 didn't have many great games at launch either. It was right after Gears of War where all this Microsoft fanboyism surfaced.

 

[screxer]

why would video games affect the format war and swing it to blu ray players....anyone holding out for a video game is a gamer, not someone that wants to spend their time watching movies on the PS3.

 

[jas722]

You are correct that the 360 didn't have any great must have lauch titles, imo anyway. But you still couldn't find a 360 in a store till around March after the launch. Its pretty insane the PS3's are so easy to find now, every store I go to has them.

 

[enchntr]

I just picked up a 60GB PS3 at GameStop today (BB also had them) and it does seem that they are not selling well at all. The people at GameStop said they're having problems selling them, and any one that they do sell is to people wanting a cheap BD player (like me).

 

[mcsporfut]



Quote:
We expected it to happen

No you didn't. You expected to sell 4 million.

 

[Dundidit]



Quote:
Originally Posted by jas722 /forum/post/0


You are correct that the 360 didn't have any great must have lauch titles, imo anyway. But you still couldn't find a 360 in a store till around March after the launch. Its pretty insane the PS3's are so easy to find now, every store I go to has them.

That's because MS only shipped 249K units in Jan and 161K in Feb. Those are really really low monthly shipping totals.


BTW shouldn't this thread be moved to the BD forum? Why are some people so obsessed with discussing BD in the HD-DVD forum so much lately? How are threads like "Best Buy pissed at BD" and "BD Tasteless Propaganda" allowed in a forum specifically for discussing HD-DVD?

 

[cws_kahuna]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul_Seng /forum/post/0


The nail in the coffin might be Halo3.

I have both a ps3 and 360. bought resistance and a NBA game for PS3 (can't remember which one). Finished resisitance and GOW and IMO GOW is much better. Waiting on Alan Wake and Halo3 (not waiting for anything for PS3).


On a side note my family and I probably have about 20 360 games.

I have been a very, very happy 360 owner since it came out. I still even play some of the launch titles, so I think that says the 360 launched with some pretty good stuff. Gears has been Halo like Huge, Rainbow Six Vegas is great. Ghost Recon 2 is coming in March, Halo 3 later this year plus I am sure plenty of other great titles. I was all for getting a PS3 to have the best of both but the more I think about it and the more I look at the PS3 games there is truely nothing I would care to own. I do not know what they have coming down the line but from what I saw is that pretty much every game the PS3 has the 360 has too. I was still thinking I'll get the PS3 for Blu-Ray but I am happy with the two HD-DVD players I have, the HD-D1 and the 360 add-on. I'm still hoping to see more studio support for HD-DVD but I believe that will come. From a gaming perspective the 360 meets all my needs to the fullest, yes even without HDMI.


Now as for Halo 3 think about this... Halo 2 is still the most popular game played on Live. I think it's safe to say Halo 3 will not only be the most popular 360 game for the next 3 years but it will also sell a lot of 360s too. Hell I bought my Xbox the day Halo 2 came out and I was not the only person doing it that day at BB. Anyone else thinking the PS3 might be launhing an HD-DVD drive shortly after Halo 3 comes

I know it would never happen but it sure would be funny.