HD-DVD – Page 2 – StuffWeLike

Toshiba: HD-DVD sells more than Blu-ray, more laughing at Sony

One of technology’s more heated battles is between the HD-DVD and Blu-ray storage formats, a rivalry comparable to Windows/Linux/Mac, UT/Quake 3 and Sony/Microsoft. The latest strike has been made, and Toshiba reports that HD-DVD is in the lead!

HD-DVD players began to outsell Blu-ray ones since about mid-September, according to NPD sales figures. Jodi Sally, Toshiba VP for marketing of digital A/V products said that year to date, according to NPD figures, HD DVD players command 53% of sales; Blu-ray players, 44%; dual format players, 3%. The lead may sound marginal, but it may just herald a dark future for Blu-ray.

Sony managed to woo many customers to their camp of evil when they released a cheaper version of Blu-ray players, and attained a status of absolute win. Sally says that the victory was short-lived and that HD-DVD still dominates the scene. Sony can be seen crying in that corner again, like last week (or the week before).

And as for the PC, Toshiba expects 5 million HD-DVD drives to be sold in the fiscal year 2008. With this, they seek to compete further against the atrocities of Sony’s Blu-ray. What is Toshiba’s master plan?

Toshiba believes more people are buying PC HD DVD drives with the pure intention to watch high-def movies than people who are buying the PS3. Sources have estimated that just 20% of PS3 owners have played movies on the machine.

Where will war turn next? Will Blu-ray strike back? Will Toshiba merge with Sony to form the Imperial Japanese Electronics corporations and attack American shores? We can only ~~hope~~ wait.

[Via Video Business]

Serenity 2? Is it actually possible? Tudyk says yes!

Several years ago Joss Whedon, the creator, executive producer, and a lead writer for both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and it’s subsequent spin off Angel created a futuristic western for Fox called Firefly. The series didn’t do immensely well ratings wise and was canceled after the first eleven episodes. However, like many of Whedon’s TV series, the series developed a dedicated cult following. A movie spin off was made by Paramount called Serenity. Despite positive critic reception the movie didn’t perform as well as hoped in theaters.

After 3 separate DVD incarnations over the years, a copy of the movie resting up in the International Space Station, and many many efforts to increase DVD, we’re finally seeing some positive news. The sales from the recent release of the collector’s edition has reignited the chances of a Serenity sequel. Alan Tudyk, the actor who played Hoban “Wash” Washburne in the Firefly series and Sonny in the I, Robot remake, says that there are talks within Paramount to make a Serenity 2, either as a theatrical release or a straight-to-DVD release.

While it’s not been greenlit yet, Whedon and the rest of the Serenity cast (well perhaps no Tudyk considering his character’s demise in the movie) will likely jump at the chance to make another movie if given the chance. While this might not jump start a chance at a second season for Firefly, considering Whedon’s disposition on working with Fox again, I’m sure all of us Browncoats would love to see another movie, regardless of how big or small the release. Keep flying my friends, keep flying.

[Via sources: Moviehole and AICN]

Awesome Ultimate Halo Package for sale on eBay – costs more than NASA budget.

Now, this is one deal that will satisfy anyone from an innocent 360 owner, to your grandma who’s interested in this new “Hello 3” game that’s all over the news. One eBay auction is for what appears to be the Ultimate Halo collection. Payment goes completely to charity, so everyone’s happy in this situation. Check out the auction for yourself!

The auction, whose current bid is $8,600 as of this writing contains the following goodness:

A Halo 3 edition Xbox 360 signed by the Devil, Bill Gates himself.
A 30GB Halo 3 edition Zune signed by the Vice-Devil J. Allard himself.
Two damned copies of Halo 3 (standard and Legendary!) as well as one copy of Halo, Halo 2 and that Halo 2 multiplayer pack they made.
Xbox 360 HD DVD player.
Rare special aluminum storage case with over $400 worth of accessories (two Limited Edition Halo 3 Wireless Controllers with an exclusive Todd McFarlane Collectable Figurine, Messenger Kit, HDMI AV cable, extra 120 GB hard drive, and a Halo 3 T-shirt).

How can you resist such an awesome deal? Sell your house, car, wife and kids right away and buy this thing ASAP. You don’t get deals like this everyday (or money like this everyday)! Alright, the auction lasts till October 4th.

[Via Major Nelson]

HD-DVD Wins!

In a surprising turn of events Paramount Pictures has come out and said they will release titles on HD-DVD exclusively! This is huge considering the mega Transformers movie will be arriving on the HD format very soon. Kelley Avery, president of Paramount Home Entertainment, said that the reason why Paramount decided to exclusively release movies onto HD-DVD instead of Blu-Ray is because of HD-DVDs better quality and lower cost. Blades of Glory and Transformers will arrive on HD-DVD this Fall as the first batch of titles.

Dreamworks will also be using HD-DVD as their exclusive format and will be releasing Shrek the Third this Fall as well. Other related studios to use HD-DVD in this announcement are Paramount Vantage, Nickelodeon Movies and MTV Films. However Steven Spielberg’s movies will not be exclusive to HD-DVD or Blu-Ray. Considering how anti-HD Spielberg is to begin with it’s not that surprising.

So far Blu-Ray discs have been outselling HD-DVD because Blu-Ray has the higher install base as PS3’s are also Blu-Ray players. On the other hand the cheapest HD-DVD player is the add-on for the Xbox 360 which hasn’t sold spectacularly yet.

Looking at Fall’s HD disc lineup for Blu-Ray the major two titles are Spider-Man 3 and Pirates of the Caribbean 3.

If HD-DVD does not meet or surpass Blu-Ray sales this Holiday season, studios could begin to question the future of the format. For consumers waiting to adopt a HD format things have just gotten a little crazier.

I own the HD-DVD add-on for the Xbox 360, but I haven’t bought a HD movie since I purchased the unit. I can’t tell a huge difference between HD titles and regular DVDs so why pay the extra money per disc? The huge advantage to this next-gen formats is with box sets. Now you’ll be able to fit more hours of content onto a single disc which makes viewing extra features better for everyone.

Blu-Ray is here to stay because Sony is using it on the PS3. As long as the PS3 is bought by consumers, Blu-Ray will always have a stake in this war. If Microsoft truly wants HD-DVD to win they will have to integrate it with the system. I think Microsoft will release this combo system next year if HD-DVD can survive this Holiday season.

[Via Reuters]