News PS3 price cut won't affect format war

[Da Dego]

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2007/10...t_format_war/1

According to the European HD DVD Promotional group, the introduction of the cheaper PS3 will not affect the format war - it's being fought out between stand-alone players.

[cjoyce1980]

i watched babel on my xbox, but only because it sitting in my bedroom as a dvd player, but i've never played a dvd on my 360, thats for games, not movies! well maybe some family guy

[Da_Rude_Baboon]

I don't beleive that story at all.

In the UK there are only the Toshiba stand alone HD-DVD players on sale compared to Blue-Ray players from Pannasonic, Pioneer, Sony, Samsung and LG. The PS3 via its software updates is holding its own against the stand alone players while being cheaper. DVD play back on the PS2 how ever was appalling so its not much of a comparison.

[g_gimbert]

I use my stand-alone dvd for most movies, but my modded xbox for non region 2 discs. Also, loads of my films are ripped onto my server so i can watch them on the xbox without any danger of the kids getting hold of the discs and scratching them

[cjoyce1980]

if sony can sell a PS3 with blu-ray £300, doesn't that make every blu-ray player out there look like a pretty paper weight....... and aint sony doing a big FU to its partners that help it produce blu-ray by pricing there products out of the market.

come on if you had to do blu-ray would it be a £800 player or a £300 player?....... but then again sony keep upgrading the (so called) blu-ray standard that its better ecomony to buy a PS3 now then another one in year and still have change!

[E.E.L. Ambiense]

I'd say considering the source of the information, it's merely their version of the events that are unfolding. I'll be honest, I use my PS3 to watch BR discs more than gaming, simply because I don't have much time for console gaming (and prefer PC gaming anyways). I think what we're going to find is both formats co-existing (annoyingly so), with both camps doing their own thing. Personally, I'm a BR person (obviously), but that doesn't mean I don't recognize the other format.

[Goty]

The HD-DVD proponents only want to say that the format war is being fought by stand-alone players because they're having their rear ends handed to them if the figures include PS3s.

I'll give them the fact that a good portion of PS3 owners don't know or care about the Blu-Ray functionality of their consoles, but if we had reliable statistics on the number of PS3 owners who planned on using it as a Blu-Ray player as well as a gaming console, I think the numbers would still favor Blu-Ray.

[Veles]

I wouldn't think the "format war" (what is it with all these wars nowadays?) would end any time soon, in fact, I don't think it will ever end, with sony owning a big name studio, and their inability to admit defeat (UMD, their flash memory formats, etc.), BR will be around forever, even if it's just got MGM and Colombia TriStar being sold on the format.

[Bindibadgi]

If only we could harness the immeasurable spin-energy of both respective dvd camps, I'm sure we could cure the ills of all the worlds power problems.

If only...

[Paradigm Shifter]

Originally Posted by Bindibadgi

If only we could harness the immeasurable spin-energy of both respective dvd camps, I'm sure we could cure the ills of all the worlds power problems.

If only...

It's a kind of perverse perpetual motion. Same with politicians.

...

If I go one or other format, it'll likely be Blu-ray as it's an 'extra' with the PS3. I used my PS2 to play DVDs for a while, but then it wasn't hooked up to the greatest TV in the world, so I doubt I'd have been able to tell the difference in quality between a PS2 and a standalone DVD player.

I'm currently thinking of picking up a 60GB PS3 before they vanish - while I've still got a functioning PS2, the ability to play some games upscaled would be nice...

[completemadness]

Wheres the option
"No, I play them on my (HT)PC"

[E.E.L. Ambiense]

Originally Posted by Veles

...and their inability to admit defeat...

BR has 58% of the market share in terms of software being sold versus HD's 42% even with a little more expensive hardware, and The BR camp has the majority of the major studios either exclusive or format-neutral. I don't think they are being defeated anytime soon.

I still think this whole thing is ridiculous as a consumer. Of course, that's an understatement.

[leexgx]

PS3 makes better option for an 3-4 in one unit you can

it is an BD player
play games
use the internet
it can Fold@home very fast
does not sound like an hover (Xbox360 with there intercoolers heh)

other + to BD disks Start at 25gb per disk 50gb for dual (75gb maybe 100gb later on but cost of the disk not be worth it be cheaper to just by an 250-500gb hdd)

what can HD do just play movies and smaller disk size and as well on the computer side i have Yet to see an HD-DVD burner for sale, for an pc yet

[devdevil85]

My friend replaced his DVD player with his PS3 because it was also able to upscale his older DVD collection, so I guess I have one example in contrast to the HD DVD Promo Group's proposition.....and tbh why not just buy a PS3 vs. a stand-alone?

[fwalm]

At the moment i'm only using my xbox to watch DVD's becuase havent got any decent speakers for my computer yet, nice with surround sound on my TV, so not really. I would prefer HD-DVD though, hate sony being the reason behind that.

[naokaji]

if i was in the market for a blue ray player i would prolly opt for the ps3 due to it comming with a free console around the player....

but... well... i need to win the lottery first....

as for the whole blu ray vs. hd-dvd story... currently the biggest amount of sales comes through movies they give away for free in bundles with hw anyway....

i think simply not enough people can afford a hd tv of a reasonable size + stand a lone player + decent speakers.... because one without the others is rather pointless so both have rather big problems with the mass market.

[devdevil85]

Originally Posted by naokaji

i think simply not enough people can afford a hd tv of a reasonable size + stand a lone player + decent speakers.... because one without the others is rather pointless so both have rather big problems with the mass market.

it's amazing how much money will have to be spent to get the most out of either format.........and then the next week something else will come out (new update you can't get, newer HDCP connection, etc.) and make that purchase even more opaque.....but cheer up....that's technology!

[E.E.L. Ambiense]

Yes, to a point. Early adoption is what drives new tech IMHO.

I recall my first DVD...one of 4 titles available at the time, the original release of The Crow. I paid 35 bucks for it. I paid a grand for my first tabletop player. What a POS. I mainly used my 1x DVD-Rom drive on the compy...I think it was a 350mhz P2. Loved that thing except for the slot type. Kept falling out of the slot while I would poke around in the case while on (don't do this...lol). It was a beast for the time.

[yodasarmpit]

In truth people, the masses, buy consoles to play games.
The format war will be decided by stand alone players and the what movies are available.

[Bladestorm]

Also being a dvd player was a bonus reason to buy an x-box back in the day, but I wouldn't have bought it just for the player part.

Completely un-interested in blu-ray and hd-dvd at the moment.