BJ's Wholesale drops HD-DVD, goes Blu-ray exclusive
by Andrew Yoon 
{ Jul 28th 2007 at 5:00AM }
If Blu-ray becomes the dominant HD movie format, people may be more inclined to see the value of PS3's inclusion of Blu-ray support. Certainly, PS2's support of the then-fledgling DVD format helped it greatly. Will Sony's bet pay off? This holiday season looks to be a decisive one.
[Via Joystiq]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
sam-evans @ Jul 28th 2007 5:14AM
A win for Blu-Ray is a Win for PS3
matjet @ Jul 28th 2007 6:05AM
blu-ray currently has more consumer support( it is more popular as indicated by sales), more retailer support( see target and that video rentals place), more industry support with accompanying greater content ( far more companies back the production of blu-ray discs and hardware than the competition) and more hardware support if you count the ps3( clearly many more ps3's have been sold than all hd-dvd and other hd formats combined).
this 'war' was decided before it began and the winner became clear for all to see 6+ months ago.
DownwardMonkey @ Jul 28th 2007 7:07AM
The only thing HDDVD had going for it was support from porn (I believe that's correct?). That meant something back in the days of VHS (it's why VHS won) but in the days of the internet it means nothing. I wasn't that bothered with either till I got my PS3, then I gave Hellboy a shot on Bluray as I wanted to pick up a copy and WOW I'm fully converted now.
Jldowning @ Jul 28th 2007 8:09AM
Yep HD DVD had Three things going for it.
1. A few "Un-nammed corporations" throwing money at it because they had chosen to back it. (Guess which ones?)
2. Was Slightly cheaper to make then Blu-Ray (However never really saw that passed onto the consumer.)
3. Porn Backed HD-DVD. (The internet is for HD Porn)
So yeah, I'm not even going to get started on the plus side of BluRay, I think we can all have heard it enough.
Blu-Ray, like the PS3 was the clear winner to anyone with an open mind 6+ months ago.
Pas @ Jul 28th 2007 8:17AM
There IS support for blu-ray from porn.There's been a few pornos released on Blu-ray.
Jldowning @ Jul 28th 2007 8:16AM
On a side note, anyone ever notice. When there is bad news like "no GTA exclusive content" PS3 fanboy posts about it. However even with hit after hit against HD DVD, the only thing even close that Xbox360Fanboy is posting about it, is the HD Drive "Price Cut"?
Yeah price cut on a unsupported media..... (ok not yet but give it a year) could this be why the Xbots seem so blind to whats going on when they come over here to flame? They didn't even get the article about the 33% return rate at best buy >.
naruto007 @ Jul 28th 2007 8:54AM
HD DVD is officially death thanks the ps3 and as #1 says a win for the bluray is a win for the ps3 XD since looks like most of the bluray players out there are ps3 xD
Noshino @ Jul 28th 2007 10:54AM
http://www.tvpredictions.com/hirsch111006.htm
madgunde @ Jul 28th 2007 12:38PM
'It's clear that Sony's proprietary HD movie format is gaining strong retail support in this format war."
C'mon PS3 Fanboy, you should know better than to spread that FUD. The Blu-Ray format is no more proprietary than HD-DVD or DVD.
From Blu-Ray.com:
"Blu-ray, also known as Blu-ray Disc (BD), is the name of a next-generation optical disc format jointly developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), a group of the world's leading consumer electronics, personal computer and media manufacturers (including Apple, Dell, Hitachi, HP, JVC, LG, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, TDK and Thomson).
.
.
.
Blu-ray is currently supported by more than 180 of the world's leading consumer electronics, personal computer, recording media, video game and music companies. The format also has broad support from the major movie studios as a successor to today's DVD format. In fact, seven of the eight major movie studios (Disney, Fox, Warner, Paramount, Sony, Lionsgate and MGM) are supporting the Blu-ray format and five of them (Disney, Fox, Sony, Lionsgate and MGM) are releasing their movies exclusively in the Blu-ray format."
Doesn't sound very proprietary to me.
Chameleon @ Jul 28th 2007 12:41PM
^^^^^^^
I second that.
Dave @ Jul 28th 2007 12:44PM
I love this site (and 360) because everyone is such a fanboy :) I own both consoles so I'm pretty nuetral.
HD-DVD has another thing going for it, it has a RAM standard for all of it's players, therefore all discs offer interactive features that can be used on ALL HD-DVD players. Blu-Ray on the other hand, does not.
Dave @ Jul 28th 2007 12:44PM
And you also have to rememeber that Disney studios (and all affiliates) have now released all of their content to Microsoft via X-box live marketplace, which was a bit of a hit for the Blu-Ray camp, so I wouldn't declare a clear winner for quite a while.
Andy @ Jul 28th 2007 1:04PM
I don't think the jump from DVD to Blu-Ray will be as quick as people think. Main reason there is not a big a jump.
VHS tapes are big and clunky, they have really bad picture quality. The switch to DVD was an easy one because of the quality and how small they were compared to VHS.
DVD to Blu-Ray is not a big jump. The discs are the same size, the movies look the same unless you have a HDTV and movies are released on both Blu-Ray and DVD.
And if Xbox360fanboy.com posted every negative HD DVD news topic they wouldn't have any room for Halo 3 news.
Dasgooch @ Jul 28th 2007 1:05PM
Get your "facts" straight PS3FB. The Target story was full of half truths. What it actually amounted to is Target struck a deal to have BluRay end caps and nothing more. They are still selling HDDVD disks instore as well as the Xbox360 HDDVD add-on. Also BJ's wholesale is a very localized wholesale club, nothing near the buying power of Sams or Costco.
Bangbang... @ Jul 28th 2007 1:11PM
Jldowning:
Because the guys at 360fanboy know that HD dvd sales will have no effect on the 360, just as blu ray sales will have no effect on the ps3.
I still dont know why sony fanboys dont understand that good news for the ps3 is good news for blu ray, but good news for blu ray has no effect on the ps3.
For example:
5 million ps3s sold = 5 million more blu ray players on the market. That's good news for blu ray.
But
5 million stand alone blu ray players sold = 5million stand alone blu ray players sold. It has no effect on the ps3 because the sony will continue to ship ps3 games on blu ray discs. But who am I spoil the ps3s victory with something as trifle as logic.
Andy @ Jul 28th 2007 1:17PM
@Bangbang...
The more exposure Blu-Ray has the better. Any time a big company says they support Blu-Ray it means they are supporting the core of the PS3...BluRay
Bangbang... @ Jul 28th 2007 1:35PM
Andy
Ok,I understand. I didnt know that Blu Ray was the core of the ps3, I guess i always assumed that gaming was. My mistake.
Andy @ Jul 28th 2007 3:53PM
True but the gaming is on Blu-Ray discs. I am not sure if your being sarcastic...you just can't tell on the internet.
Galley @ Jul 28th 2007 5:42PM
I've been wondering why my local BJ's hasn't carried BD before now.
GL @ Jul 29th 2007 12:04AM
Andy, I just wanted to point something out about your VHS to DVD comparison.
Form factor is just as important today as it was in the past. Tracking and compactness of the DVD outweighed the quality factor. Although, it did help. The picture quality of DVD over VHS (the best) wasn't that great. Even your $299 VHS players looked pretty good.
Today, the main factor is picture and audio quality. Second is FORM FACTOR (again). But this time, instead of giving the consumer a different form-factor (like tapes to disc). It's the SAME FORM-FACTOR. Which makes the transition easier for the consumer to KEEP their DVD collection and play them in the Blu-ray players. You could NOT do that with DVD players (play your VHS tapes).
So, DVDs had different things going for it than Blu-ray does. If all DVD had going for it was picture quality, it wouldn't have been enough. Convenience, tracking and durability was before PQ/AQ.
The Jump of PQ and AQ of Blu-ray over DVD is much greater than the jump of PQ/AQ over VHS. Plus, the SAME form-factor is helping Blu-ray adoption. It's n ot forcing. You can KEEP your DVDs if you want and get upscaling.
Do move to DVD over VHS you had to get a whole new player that DID NOT Play your VHS tapes.
Quest @ Jul 29th 2007 1:55PM
@ Bangbang . . .
I think your point is good, but a bit sideways. It isn't the Blu-ray sales that DIRECTLY affect the PS3, it is the fact that Blu-ray is becoming the dominant format. Because of that, I think (some) people will opt for the PS3 over a stand-alone because of its "other" features. A quick search just showed that the range of stand-alone prices is about $400-$1,000! Makes $600 for a PS3 seem almost reasonable!
Trina @ Jul 29th 2007 6:09PM
"16. @Bangbang...
The more exposure Blu-Ray has the better. Any time a big company says they support Blu-Ray it means they are supporting the core of the PS3...BluRay
Posted at 1:17PM on Jul 28th 2007 by Andy"
Well I'm glad see that at least one of you has the brains to see the PS3 for what it is. A trojan Horse for Sony's video format.