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Tag Archives: BluRay

Where have all the HD DVDs gone?

May 5, 2008 – 3:26 pm

HD DVD
I know that HD DVD is dead in the water now and the HD DVD players and movies are no longer being supported, but what I am talking about are the physical discs themselves? For about a few weeks after the announcement that BluRay was taking over as the predominant medium for Hi Def movies, we saw the prices on HD DVD fall and go on sale and then boom, they disappeared. Where the hell did they go? Did Best Buy and all the retailers burn them out of spite? You can’t find a physical HD DVD anymore, I wouldn’t mind picking up a few for cheap in a store.

What do you guys think?

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By Al Zamora | Posted in Loot Ninja | Also tagged , , , , | Comments (5)

50GB Not Enough Space for Metal Gear Solid 4

March 2, 2008 – 2:00 pm

MGS4 Screen

Did you do a double take when you read that headline? That’s exactly what I did when I read this interview with Hideo Kojima. Apparently, the 50GB available on the BluRay disc just isn’t enough for Metal Gear Solid 4.

Seriously, Kojima, what the hell are you doing over there? If you can’t fit your game into 50GB, there’s something wrong. Are you using fully uncompressed textures for everything in the game? How many insanely large CGI cutscenes are there?

Maybe the inclusion of Metal Gear Online Starter Pac on the disc is causing the size issue. Whatever the cause, if we start seeing multi-disc BluRay games, I’m going to be a little upset.

[via Hatimaki (Google Translate)]

By Matt Banks | Posted in Loot Ninja | Also tagged , , , | Comments (27)

HD-DVD Officially Dead, Format Wars Officially Over

February 19, 2008 – 9:41 am

bluray1.jpg

Ring the bell people. It’s officially over. How official? Toshiba held a press conference in Japan this morning where they stated they will no longer sell or produce HD-DVD players or media beginning in March, as in two weeks from now.

Toshiba said they have no idea what other studios will do as far as future releases, but I’d be willing to be Universal and Paramount already have some plans for producing BluRay titles really soon.

I guess I’ll leave my HD-DVD add-on drive for the 360 hooked up for a while… at least until the few HD-DVD titles I own make their way over to BluRay (specifically the Bourne series, Transformers, and Knocked Up).

By Matt Banks | Posted in Loot Ninja | Also tagged , | Comments (2)

Wal-Mart to Stop Selling HD-DVD

February 15, 2008 – 1:00 pm

Walmart Image

Toshiba’s HD-DVD format is backed way into the corner and getting the piss beat out of it. The referee is mere seconds away from jumping in and stopping the fight. How did this all happen? Wal-Mart today announced they will stop selling all HD-DVD players and discs by June of this year. Ouch. Here’s what Susan Chronister of Wal-Mart had to say on the company’s blog:

So… if you bought the HD player like me, I’d retire it to the bedroom, kid’s playroom, or give it to your parents to play their John Wayne standard def movies, and make space for a BD player for your awesome Hi Def experience.

Sick burn. I guess it all started with the Warner announcement earlier this year, followed by the quick one-two combo of Netflix and Best Buy turning to BluRay. Now almart has made the switch, which looks to be the final nail in the coffin of HD-DVD. Seriously, if Wal-Mart stops stops selling your format, just call it quits.

[via Check Out Blog]

By Matt Banks | Posted in Loot Ninja | Also tagged , , | Comments (7)

Netflix Dumps HD-DVD for BluRay

February 11, 2008 – 3:30 pm

bluray1.jpg

Aaaand the format wars are coming even closer to being over. Blockbuster only rents BluRay in store, and now Netflix is dropping HD-DVD from it’s online lineup. Current library titles will remain until the stock is depleted, but that will be it.

HD-DVD is really hanging on by a thread. The longer is stays around, the longer consumer confusion will remain. It’s better for the industry as a whole to have one format, and hopefully the move by Netflix will push the bar further to ending this drawn out battle.

[via Reuters]

By Matt Banks | Posted in Loot Ninja | Also tagged , , | Comments (3)

Blu-ray Grabs 93% of Market After Time Warner Announcement

January 22, 2008 – 3:28 pm

HD DVD and Blu-ray players sales pie charts
Many predicted the death of the HD-DVD to be a slow and painful one, but it seems that the consumer is making up its mind. In the few short weeks since the announcement of Time Warner to go Blu-ray exclusive, the Sony format has grabbed 93% of sales  for the lucrative players market. It had previously shared a 60% lead in player sales in December.

I understand that this is only a few weeks and may be a statistically insignificant sample size, but maybe the format war may be coming to an end much earlier than much of us anticipated.

[Images via engadget]

By Steve Kohlbecker | Posted in Loot Ninja | Also tagged , , | Comments (3)

Rumor Mill: Paramount to Go Blu

January 8, 2008 – 4:00 pm

bluray1.jpg

According to the Financial Times, Paramount will be opting out of it’s exclusive contract with HD-DVD and making the switch to BluRay. This comes after the big news of Warner Brothers going exclusive with the BluRay camp.

Apparently, Paramount has a clause in the contact that will allow them to opt out and make the jump to BluRay should Warner do the same. Why they put this in the contact, I don’t know. But either way, this would essentially shut the door for HD-DVD in the movie realm. Currently, BluRay commands 70% of the movie studios, and that number would only go up should Paramount jump sides as well.

I think we can all say it’s a good thing that the format war is coming to an end. Consumers need to know what to buy, and one format is the way to go. I personally prefer BluRay for the disc size, since everything else is roughly the same. I think Toshiba will keep HD-DVD around for PC use, which will be a good fit.

[via Financial Times]

By Matt Banks | Posted in Loot Ninja | Also tagged , | Comments (2)

BluRay Profile 2.0 To Bring Movie Copy Support to PSP

January 8, 2008 – 1:00 pm

PS3 PSP Connected Image

Sony unveiled one of the biggest features of BluRay Profile 2.0. First off, it was running on the PS3, which means your console will be updated via firmware sometime this year once the specs are finalized. What they showed could be one of the coolest movie features I’ve seen. They copied a BluRay movie to the PS3 hard drive, and then transferred the movie to the PSP. Holy crap.

Yes, that’s right, in the near future you’ll be able to transfer your BluRay movies to your PSP to watch anywhere on the go. This will make the PSP an even bigger part of my mobile multimedia experience (which is currently dominated by the iPhone). No word on when this spec might be released or how many titles will support this feature. Remember, just because the feature is there doesn’t mean that all movie studios need to support it.

Either way, we’ll keep you updated on this amazing new feature as details unfold.

[via PC World]

By Matt Banks | Posted in Loot Ninja | Also tagged , , , | Comments (1)

Format Wars: Possibly Now Over

January 5, 2008 – 1:13 pm

bluray1.jpg

The HD format wars could be reaching an end. That’s right, the end is in site. The winner? It looks like BluRay has come out on top. Yesterday, Warner Home Video announced it’s exclusive move to BluRay. The studio was formerly on the fence and had released titles for both formats. It’s now being reported that New Line, a subsidiary of Warner, has gone Blu as well. Both are huge hits to the HD-DVD camp, and they didn’t take the news well.

The HD-DVD press event for CES has been cancelled. That’s right, they’re entire press conference, cocktail party, and after parties have been canceled. I know they need to come at this from a big PR standpoint and need time to prepare, but canceling your only press event at the world’s biggest consumer electronics event? Yeah, doesn’t look good for the format.

Rumor has it that Paramount is looking for a way out of their exclusive contract with HD-DVD to move over to BluRay as well. And with recent stats showing the sales of players and movies for BluRay are trouncing the sales of HD-DVD, how can you argue the move?

Only time will tell, but ending the format war can only benefit the customer. I highly doubt Microsoft is going to release that Xbox 360 Ultimate given this news (if they were going to announce it anyway).

By Matt Banks | Posted in Loot Ninja | Also tagged , | Comments (4)

Adult Films Coming to Blu-ray

December 21, 2007 – 9:45 pm

pirates-adult.jpgAnd there it is. The adult film industry had made the leap to blu-ray. I understand this is not the quantum leap like 8mm to VHS was in Boogie Nights, but now you can take in a nice skin flick on your PS3. Recent reports suggest that the movie Pirates, an adult version of Treasure Island/Pirates of the Caribbean will now be on blu-ray format says Gizmodo. You don’t believe this exists? Here is the Amazon link. I may never leave the house again.

By Steve Kohlbecker | Posted in Loot Ninja | Also tagged , | Comments (3)