I love alliteration.

That said, I think Blockbuster may have prematurely chosen a side in the HD format war between HD-DVD and Sony's Blu-ray technology. If they are wrong, they could be stuck with the beta-max of our time. A better, losing format. 1300 stores full of them.

Why not offer both? It's not like anyone really goes to Blockbuster any more. Even BB is moving towards a more "Netflix" model. What on earth is the advantage of picking one format? In the grand scheme of things the expense of having 2 formats can't be nearly what it will cost them if they exclude one or the other in business.

Basically, if you have an HD-DVD player, there is not a chance in hell that you will be patronizing Blockbuster.

I'm not choosing sides until one format is laying in a pile of its own sick, face down in an alley. THEN maybe I'll step over to the winner's side and act like I've been there all along.

I agree 100%.

Between Netflix and other retail rental chains, I don't think I've set foot into a Blockbuster in over a decade.

If I were Netflix, I'd so use this to my advantage. I'd stock every HD-DVD and Blu-ray movie and then make a publicity campaign:
Can't find [i] at Blockbuster? We have it at Netflix!

I wonder if Sony is subsidizing this in some way. I wouldn't blame them. They need to do SOMETHING to sell more BluRay PLayers... er I mean PS3's.

:P

Blockbuster is definitely making a mistake by choosing a side this early; what reason could they remotely even find to explain choosing one over the other at this point? Personally, I think that Blockbuster has been on a major decline over the past couple of years, so this just flows into that fact...

Blockbuster is definitely making a mistake by choosing a side this early; what reason could they remotely even find to explain choosing one over the other at this point? *Personally, I think that Blockbuster has been on a major decline over the past couple of years, so this just flows into that fact...

Isn't an end (regardless of who wins) what's best for the market/consumer though? I would rather see this format war accelerated drastically, let it get all nasty/cut-throat and then be over with so we can KNOW who the winner was and which format is worth investing in.

BlockBuster has been in decline but they still have ENORMOUS brand recognition and the ability to make things happen and influence things. The average consumer knows Blockbuster, if Blockbuster supports one format and not the other, they may not even realize there IS another... if marketing drops in on TOP of this decision, marketing inside BB stores pointing out how PS3's can play Blu-ray movies, etc. this could be an even more powerful move than we're estimating. And since movies already get in-store advertising, it's not unreasonable to think Sony couldn't buy ads inside Blockbuster stores to promote their new technology...

yeah well.... hmmm you have a point there.

It's not being pushed by Sony. I read the reason is after I believe a 6 month study (memory's not clear on the time frame) the numbers showed a substantially large percentage of their HD rentals where Blue Ray. According to the article it was purely financial motivation and with many of the comments so far, they need to watch their pennies.

It was 70% of the rentals were Blu-ray. I'm much more likely to rent games than movies and as a PS3 owner, if I go into a Blockbuster and notice they have Blu-ray movies, I'm more likely to rent one. Now, that said, I don't own an HDTV yet but if I did, then I'd really be more apt to rent one because the damned movies are too expensive!

I just hope the format war ends quickly. I need to start purchasing some High Def discs in the bargain bin!

lol


I agree. I really don't care which format gets the win, just need one to prevail. I think it owuld be funny if my next-gen Xbox has a BluRay drive.

lol


I agree. *I really don't care which format gets the win, just need one to prevail. *I think it owuld be funny if my next-gen Xbox has a BluRay drive.

this was pretty much confirmed to never be considered... *a Microsoft employee spoke up as to why MS backed HD-DVD instead of Blu-ray... and it had NOTHING to do with HD-DVD being the better format and EVERYTHING to do with MS not wanting to support Blu-ray because it involved Java and MS despises Sun. See this post (and/or the whole thread) (http://www.gamercastnetwork.com/forums/showpost.php?p=77068&postcount=221) over at the GamerCastNetwork.com forums for more detail.

MS needs a smack on the back of the head... a hard one!

a Microsoft employee spoke up as to why MS backed HD-DVD instead of Blu-ray... and it had NOTHING to do with HD-DVD being the better format and EVERYTHING to do with MS not wanting to support Blu-ray because it involved Java and MS despises Sun.

:D microsoft hates sun because one of the secrets of XP is microsoft can see what you are doing and sun didnt like that, so SUn developed XP Nuder, it cuts off that so microsoft cant see what they are doing

I just hope the format war ends quickly. *I need to start purchasing some High Def discs in the bargain bin!

I like blu-ray its impossible 2 scratch the disks and if u buy one for 600 dollars u get a free ps3 (useless upgrade)

I had posted this on B.net regarding the same topic but...

I honestly don't care who "wins" between Blu-ray or HD-DVD, but the reason this format war has gone on as long as it has is because the general public really doesn't care, yet, about next generation DVD. Note the word, yet. Right now, next generation DVD is a luxury item and a lot of folks are content with their current DVDs so they don't see a compelling need to upgrade to next gen.

I have a feeling it will be at least another year or two before we can declare either format the winner. Not until digital HDTVs replace the "value" analog TVs in the same price point. Then we'll see analog TVs go away and digital HDTVs will become the market standard, giving Blu-ray and HD-DVD some leverage to really motivate consumers as to why they need a next gen format.

In the meantime, I'm gonna have to get a dual player.
Damn you porn industry for backing HD-DVD.

In the meantime, I'm gonna have to get a dual player.

Just so you know, there's NO dual-format player on the market yet that's fully functional for both formats and the ones that are "incomplete" are STILL more expensive than buying a dedicated HD-DVD player and Blu-ray player... talk about a poor business plan?!?!

Dual format players are future garage sale fodder. Don't do it. Wait and save your money...