Here come the bargain bins HD DVD |
Loading ...This morning’s news that Toshiba is officially ceasing support of HD DVD and will shut down production in March signals a (small) victory for Blu-ray as many publications are touting, but also means the price of existing HD DVD inventory will plummet soon:
"We carefully assessed the long-term impact of continuing the so-called ‘next-generation format war’ and concluded that a swift decision will best help the market develop," said Atsutoshi Nishida, President and CEO of Toshiba Corporation
The writing was already on the wall with Wal-mart and Netflix saying they would only carry Blu-ray following the CES 2008 bombshell that Warner Bros. was going only Blu-ray. Now watch those PS3 sales soar even further.
Where does this leave the Xbox 360 which has the HD DVD as an add-on drive? Making a standalone Blu-ray Xbox 360 drive, possibly available in a few months, if you believe what alleged insiders told SmartHouse:
Insiders at Microsoft in the USA have told SmartHouse that Microsoft has already configured a standalone Blu-ray player that can be connected into an Xbox 360 and that subject to internal marketing and sales approvals the model could be on sale within 3 months
There is further speculation that Microsoft is working on a newer version of an Xbox 360 with a built-in Blu-ray drive, but I don’t think that will happen, at least in 2008. Microsoft would be wiser to continue to promote their Xbox Live Marketplace as a viable next generation movie download platform. They have the best online gaming and video area but Sony has HOME up its sleeve.
One big problem that Microsoft has is that their downloads are all wrapped in a DRM scheme on a proprietary drive while the PS3 supports using any hard drive. You can easily copy downloaded content on the PS3 to an external drive and can even run Linux. The Xbox 360 even with their 120GB hard drive is outclassed by the PS3 storage architecture.
Back to HD DVD, set your bargain bin sensor on high alert. In particular, watch for goodies like the Star Trek Original Series HD DVD sets. Star Trek Original Series Season One HD DVD (affiliate) 
More TV Seasons, please
I’ve been saying for some time that one major weakness in both nextgen HD formats is the lack of TV seasons. A few TV seasons are trickling in on both HD DVD and Blu-ray, but not nearly the amount that are available in DVD. When/if this changes, Blu-ray might have a fighting chance for a little while staving off downloads.
It remains important when looking at the future of movies to remember collectors. People like buying and owning physical media. You can touch, display, there’s artwork and inserts and creative packaging. You can’t do any of that with downloadable media.
Related Posts- Star Trek Original Series finally comes to DVD
- 40-DVD Buffy The Vampire Slayer Limited Edition
- Star Trek MMORPG coming
- Where no DVD has gone before
- The adventures continue with Star Trek New Voyages
- More PS3 sell than Xbox 360 first five months of 2008
IIRC, X-box can also run Linux. At least that’s what my GF says.
Then again, my GF would likely write a Linux for ENIAC if she got her hands on one [or should we say flippers? ]
Comment by DeathMitten — February 19, 2008 @ 11:35 pm PST
I would also like to see more TV shows on high-def media (now being a Blu-Ray owner) however, keep in mind that not all tv shows are shot in high definition and thus, cannot (well, should not) be transfered to blu-ray disc. A perfect (movie) example of this is “28 Days Later”. This movie was shot entirely on DV video using Canon XL1 cameras. DV video resolution is not fit for transfer to high definition. Many tv shows (if this has changed, i don’t know) are shot on “broadcast quality” cameras which record somewhere between NTSC and 720p resolution and also are not fit for remastering at 1080p. The desire should first be to see more shows created in high definition (though this will most likely become the norm soon). Once all shows are created in high-def, transferring them to blu-ray become simple, other than the actual disc manufacturing.
On the rest of the post, I agree. I will be buying an xbox360 hd-dvd drive (at gamestop/eb games for $50 used) and building a small library of great movies that are available NOW on hd-dvd disc instead of waiting months of years for these same titles to re-emerge on blu-ray. Oh yes, the bargain bins will be bountiful with hd offerings.
To anyone who fires back the defense of “what are you going to do when your precious hd-dvd player breaks!? then what?!”. I will simply buy another one. The supply of hd-dvd players will not be in short supply for many years to come. Most likely, these players will be had at a steal unless, of course, they somehow become a collector’s item.
One more thing,
When your hd-dvd player (or any other gadget) does break, please, please, PLEASE, don’t throw it in the trash… Recycle it!
Look around your area for a business that recycles consumer electronics. I did this when I unloaded my broken MiniDisc deck (early adopter) and several other stereo components. The solder contains mercury which is toxic to humans. This gets into our drinking water from landfills and can cause brain damage in normal people and especially unborn children.
Please do a little to help keep one more thing from ruining the place we all live.
Comment by Aaron — February 22, 2008 @ 7:16 pm PST