Warner Bros. goes Blu-ray exclusive

by Andrew Yoon { Jan 4th 2008 at 4:15PM }

We were right. Our very first prediction for 2008 has come true a few days after we proclaimed it. Warner Bros. has gone Blu-ray exclusive. According to Barry Meyer, Chairman & CEO, this decision was made to bring a quick end to this tiresome format war. "The window of opportunity for high-definition DVD could be missed if format confusion continues to linger," he noted. We have to agree.

Warner Bros. will continue supporting HD DVD until May 2008. However, after that time, the studio will be exclusively Blu.

[Via Engadget HD]

Tags: blu-ray, warner-bros

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

M @ Jan 4th 2008 4:17PM

finally!

Christian @ Jan 4th 2008 6:58PM

Agreed, finally a decisive step. I think Sony's decision to make the PS3 a convergence device was the right decision and with Blu-Ray now getting this extra boost to its already significant lead the positive feedback loop this setup gives the PS3 will strenghten. More people will buy the PS3 to watch blu-ray movies, ends up also buying some games. More PS3 units sold means more and better games. More and better games means more people buy the PS3 to play games, ends up also buying some movies. And the loop continues.

woodpecker_2004 @ Jan 4th 2008 4:18PM

lolz i just posted this as a comment in the predictions must have read it the same time

SQUIRTFORCE @ Jan 4th 2008 4:18PM

WHAT GOOD IS STEEL WITHOUT THAT HAND THAT WIELDS IT? I gave this to you. Such a waste. Contemplate this on the Tree of Woe.

rxse7en @ Jan 4th 2008 5:50PM

Crom, grant me one wish...grant me, REVENGE!

MCX @ Jan 4th 2008 4:27PM

Hell yeah!!!!. Now bring on the Matrix.

John @ Jan 4th 2008 5:16PM

and Batman Begins.

XDragon @ Jan 4th 2008 4:23PM

Bye-Bye HD-DVD; the war is over!

myself @ Jan 4th 2008 4:24PM

OOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nate @ Jan 4th 2008 4:24PM

Fantastic. Someone please kill off HD DVD so I can get Heroes on my PS3 :)

Haiddasalami @ Jan 4th 2008 9:58PM

Curses that I see Heroes on HD-DVD...

XDragon @ Jan 4th 2008 4:25PM

Bye HD-DVD! The war is over!

mccomber @ Jan 4th 2008 4:33PM

PLEASE let this end the war, the sooner more consumers adopt the format the sooner the prices will drop to DVD levels.

wonderwes @ Jan 4th 2008 4:38PM

*laughing at all xbox360 HD-DVD owners*

camelsafari @ Jan 4th 2008 6:37PM

*laughing at things that are actually funny*

comtar @ Jan 4th 2008 7:44PM

*laughs at the 40% failure rate of the 360... everyday*

jango fett @ Jan 5th 2008 2:21AM

*laughing at toshiba for canceling their press conference and at bill gates for being an arrogant nerd. Irony when paramount dropped blu ray, caught everyone off guard, now warner caught everyone off guard*

Tim Parsons @ Jan 4th 2008 4:37PM

I thought they were Blu-Ray Exclusive already,. well it's good to hear that they are for Sure LOL

Elsnerma @ Jan 4th 2008 4:40PM

As much as I hope that this will end the war...

1. It'll still be another year or so.
2. I expect Microsoft/HDDVD Group to do something else insane, such as buying another studio off, which will further prolong the war.

Andy @ Jan 4th 2008 4:43PM

Good stuff. This made my day. I feel sorry for the people who bought HD DVD players. Unfortunatly that player might become useless within the year.

So Blu now has 80% of the big name movies exclusively.

I'm really curious what Toshy has to say about this.

Organic_Shadow @ Jan 4th 2008 4:44PM

What's that? Silence? Where are all the 'Warner got paid off...' articles quickly popping up after this announcement?

There aren't going to be any because Warner did this on their own.

comtar @ Jan 4th 2008 7:29PM

You know. Reguardless and outside of the console wars, I thought Microsoft paying Paramount to make HD-Dvd exclusive was the most bastardized underhanded thing I ever heard. Next to the $40 million dollar GTA4 exclusive content deal. When I hear news stories like that, I don't care who has the better console, all I care about is how stupid these decisions are. Creativity shouldn't be up for sale. You make something because you want to make it, not cause someone tells you too.

Jakob @ Jan 4th 2008 4:45PM

MS said if Blu wins, they will support them, and:

If you can't beat them, join them.

Eddie @ Jan 4th 2008 4:51PM

Just came over from xbox360fanboy to say congrats, guys.

Wonderflex @ Jan 4th 2008 4:55PM

Thanks. We can use all the good news we can get sometimes.

Bucket @ Jan 4th 2008 5:06PM

I'm not one to brag, I'm just getting tired of studios not releasing the big titles because it hasn't been unanimously decided yet (thus starting over the cycle and screwing the consumer).

Nonhippyhippy @ Jan 4th 2008 6:48PM

its nice that not everyone is a mindless fanboy on both sides of the fence... and yeah!! wanted to get the matrix on blu ray sice i heard blu ray existed!!

watcher @ Jan 4th 2008 4:53PM

Nice! A big leap in the positive direction to ending this war.

XanthouS @ Jan 4th 2008 4:54PM

So how long until Microsoft releases a 360 Bluray player add-on? :P

mberkowitz @ Jan 4th 2008 4:55PM

hell yeah. Finally I can get transformers on Blu Ray! That would be really funny if Bill Gates does announce the rumored XBOX360 w/ HD-DVD internal at CES this week.

Jakob @ Jan 4th 2008 4:57PM

Transformers is still a Paramount movie, so no. But maybe it's just a matter of time?

Jason B. @ Jan 4th 2008 6:09PM

Spielberg movies are HD-DVD exclusive for a short time then created for Blu-ray. Spielberg loves Blu-ray even if Paramount doesn't.

linebeginstoblur @ Jan 4th 2008 11:20PM

Remember, Sony didn't make the PS3 a Blu-ray player so you could have a hi-def movie player. The primary reason was for extra storage space for games. If Microsoft makes future 360 games on HD DVD, that doesn't mean that the 360 will flop. Sony only influenced the HD format war, not depended on it.

mat parker @ Jan 4th 2008 4:55PM

Blu wins unless MS buys off Disney

MV @ Jan 4th 2008 6:16PM

That's not going to happen with Apple's Steve Jobs on the Disney board.

proArchy @ Jan 4th 2008 5:01PM

finally a big step in the right direction! this format war helps no one, end it now! all studios kill hd-dvd's support worldwide!! One format means more for everyone. more money for companies, and more movies at lower costs for consumers!!

jango fett @ Jan 5th 2008 2:31AM

...now if we could do the same about video games and kill of the wii and the 360 and only release games on the ps3. wouldnt that mean more game sales? haha

Justin @ Jan 4th 2008 5:02PM

Does somebody have a list of the studios Warner Bros. owns/ is over?

Or a list of the big movies coming soon to blu as a result of this?

Andy @ Jan 4th 2008 5:22PM

Time Warner owns
-HBO
-New Line Cinema (Lord of the Rings anyone?)
-TBS
-Warner Bros

Justin @ Jan 4th 2008 5:23PM

Thanks.

Bryant @ Jan 4th 2008 5:05PM

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!

Mat @ Jan 4th 2008 5:08PM

So wait, it's a good thing for limited consumer choice and a monopoly? So much for prices coming down or additional features being added... but yay we get to laugh at 360 people! Great!

Chris @ Jan 4th 2008 5:32PM

No, it's a good thing that consumers don't have to buy two lines of players just to have the ability to own any HD movie they want.

Has there been a price or monopoly problem with DVDs?

What will happen is when Blu-ray finally becomes the standard, every other hardware company will hop on board to start manufacturing them, and prices will fall that way.

My only hope is that actual Blu-ray movies will fall in price this year. I'd really love to see a $15 standard similar to DVDs one day, but I'd be accepting of even a $20 MSRP sometime this year.

Nonhippyhippy @ Jan 4th 2008 5:33PM

yes i agree, i would have loved if there was betamax and vhs, laserdisc and dvd... i love buying two players for all my favourite movies
have u not heard of competition between companies.. just because wb, disney and sony are all on blu ray doesnt mean they all love each other, they all still want people to buy their movies over other companies movies, so prices will be dropped... look at dvd, one format and low still prices...

comtar @ Jan 4th 2008 6:38PM

@Non Hippy Hippy

I don't think there ever was a Laserdisc / DVD war. Pretty much as soon as DVD came out, Laserdisc was dead. When Laserdisc was huge around the early 90s. Everyone and their brother wanted Laserdiscs that were the same size as normal CDs, but the technology didn't exist until about 2 years later after Laserdisc finally became popular.

My mom though was an early adopter of Laserdiscs though, she has some from like 1984 when it was new technology. But yeah, around 1992 (or whenever Terminator 2 was a new movie) that's when Laserdisc really picked up speed. But everyone wished they weren't so big and small like CDs without the flipping the disc over aspect of Laserdiscs. So when DVDs happened, Laserdisc died fast.

I would agree this is more along the lines of VHS vs Betamax though. The announcement of Warner going Blu-Ray only is a huge kick in the nuts to HD-Dvd. As soon as Batman Begins is on Blu-ray, it's bought. Maybe the first Matrix movie too... I just try to pretend the second and third movies never happened.