Japan <3s Blu-ray
by Jem Alexander 
{ Jan 21st 2008 at 1:00PM }
High definition players made up 35% of the total value of DVD player sales during the three month period. Of that, 90% of HD player sales were Blu-ray. Keep in mind that this doesn't factor in PS3 sales and took place before Warner's big bombshell earlier this month. The Japanese have been voting with their wallets and it seems they're backing Blu.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
kuzeth @ Jan 25th 2008 1:22PM
i read somewhere (dont ask where) that M$ is ready to back blu-ray if hd dvd goes ass over heels which is quite obviously that it will...so i will now air the question on all our minds....new xbox with blu-ray sized data for games?...HOLY FUCK!!!! :D
look at what the ol' xbox 360 is pulling out with its 8gb limits..now just imagine what the future holds when it can support up to 60gb (or whatever blu-ray holds), that ladies and gentleman, is going to be the future of gaming
Tim Parsons @ Jan 21st 2008 1:06PM
Clearly HD-DVD is DEAD! STONE DEAD,. time for a burial People it's long over due
Eddie @ Jan 21st 2008 1:21PM
HD DVD isn't dead, it's just waiting fo profile 2.0
Random1448 @ Jan 21st 2008 1:31PM
from Sun Tzu "Art of War"
"19. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable;
when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we
are near, we must make the enemy believe we are faraway;
when far away, we must make him believe we are near."
Never let your guard down because you think your enemy is weakened.
kingofwale @ Jan 21st 2008 1:36PM
>Never let your guard down because you think your enemy is weakened.
I agree, we must watch out for those evil Betamax as well now. *sighs*
;), This isn't a war, it's economy, a trend is hard to turn, unlike in a battle.
Tim Parsons @ Jan 21st 2008 1:31PM
Profile 2.0 ,. ahh dude aren't you referring to Blu-Ray Profile 2.0 ?,.
HD-DVD is DEAD,.
The Future is BLU
bs6268d @ Jan 21st 2008 1:45PM
I love my ps3 but I really think microsoft will pull out the big bucks to keep hd DVD alive.
Just my thought
Josh @ Jan 21st 2008 2:05PM
Hell no they wouldn't. They could care less who wins the format war. As long as digital distribution takes off soon then that's all that matters to them. They would be retarded to plug money into a failing format, which is why will never put a HD DVD player into the 360. If they truly supported HD DVD then the 360 would have came with one built in.
Tim Parsons @ Jan 21st 2008 1:52PM
why would it M$ has nothing to lose or gain regardless of who wins/loses the format war they,. as a software producer they should back the superior Media which is hands down blu-ray,. the only thing HD-DVD had going for it was cheaper production cost(in the beginning)
Darkdrium777 @ Jan 21st 2008 7:59PM
VC-1, the codec used for video encoding of the files on the HD-DVD, was developed by Microsoft, and is the one that is mostly used today. Also, they have developed the whole software interactivity of the platform, as well as content protection protocols and whatnot. Don't believe they've not invested in this. They have, and probably will continue to invest in it for some time, even though they recently announced they wouldn't. Warner Brother's turnaround to blu (Which is good news for us), has only tipped the scaled in favour of blu-Ray. Before this announcement, HD-DVD and blu-Ray where neck to neck in terms of the movie studios that supported them when you looked at the box office revenues of these studios. Warner chose this side because of the more widespread adoption of the platform (Every PS3 is a potential player) and the constant 2:1 worldwide sales ratio. And while these are sufficient enough arguments, keep in mind that the blu supremacy was not extended to all areas until very recently(cf box office revenues of supporting studios).
In short I don't think Microsoft and Toshiba will drop the ball just yet. After all they've still got Paramount.
Duscrom @ Jan 22nd 2008 9:05AM
Uhm... VC-1 is also used on Blu Ray movies too.
http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/890/jailhouserock.html
hiberphoptik @ Jan 21st 2008 1:50PM
OK seriously.. for all of you people who live in the states there is something you NEED to know about blue ray... I was in Japan about a year before we got blue ray here in the US and guess what, they already had blue ray and blue ray players over there! I was looking at a 500GB blue ray/DVR player and blank blue ray disks in every electronic store!
what they did NOT have was movies on blue ray, only blanks that you could burn your recorded movies or TV to
in short.. blue ray is not new, and was around long before HD-DVD even
:)
Tim Parsons @ Jan 21st 2008 2:00PM
very true both have been around about 5 or more years but everything lakes time to go mainstream,. Japan is lights years ahead of us in terms of Techology in all areas hell their toilets have more tech in them then our PCs as do their bubble gum and friggin' coke machines,..
NetLethal @ Jan 21st 2008 1:58PM
I got a PS3 (as opposed to a 360) because of a few exclusive games and the fact I prefer the Sony controlle, Blu-ray was just a nice bonus. I'm glad I apparently selected the right format for once.. thanks mini-disc!
Anyway, I just wanted to post and say if there's anyone who hasn't watched Ratatouille on Blu-Ray, please do yourself a favor and check it out. That is now my reference disc as to how amazing HD video can look. Absolutely stunning.
BananaBoat @ Jan 21st 2008 2:17PM
I'm looking forward to such hits as GTO and Densha Otoko on Blu-Ray.
Other than that, I could care less what medium they are watching content on =P
adamevex @ Jan 21st 2008 2:19PM
Let's hope prices for HDTV's fall to the point where upgrading to a new TV becomes more mainstream. Honestly, this is the only thing holding back BD adoption.
Frank @ Jan 21st 2008 2:18PM
Total value? Does that mean if they sold 3 dvd players at 50 bucks a peice, then 1 blu-ray at 400 a peice,
does that mean = "High definition players made up 73% of the total value of DVD player sales"??
50 * 3 = 150
400/(400+150) = ~73%
rawd @ Jan 21st 2008 3:43PM
Bluray logo is so cool
Philip Howard @ Jan 21st 2008 3:52PM
"35% of the total value of DVD player sales"
Could this be because high definition players are often 10 times the price of regular DVD players? Even the Xbox 360 dependent HD-DVD player is up to 5x more expensive than a bargain DVD player.
Well I've got the capability to play both formats, and so should any other wise adopter be it from a dual-format player or a (much more fun) Xbox 360 + PS3 combo. I couldn't give a monkeys who wins. At least if HD-DVD loses I can toss the big ugly drive into a cupboard and forget it ever existed.
Killer @ Jan 21st 2008 3:59PM
"Let's hope prices for HDTV's fall to the point where upgrading to a new TV becomes more mainstream. Honestly, this is the only thing holding back BD adoption."
Wrong, there are several things holding back BD/HD DVD adoption.
1. Content, 400 titles is 1/10 (or less) of what DVD has.
2. People not wanting to buy the same movies again at $30 (I'm not counting sales, MSRP prices only)
3. Cost of the Players. ($400 is alot of cash for a player that can play movies.)
4. No interest. When you can buy an upcoverting 1080p DVD player for $80, and most people have 5.1 channel sound. No one looks at "up to 7.1 surround sound" as a "that's what I need even though I don't have it". Another no interest point is that of adaptablity of the Blu-ray/HD DVD movies. DVD players are everywhere, Blu-rayHD DVD players are not. If someone buys a Blu-ray/HD DVD movie, it will only work with a Blu-ray/HD DVD player. This makes people hesitate. When DVD was adopted it made sense to them becuase a DVD and VHS looked completely different (inside spec and design), but Blu-ray/HD DVD look the same in player design and disc to the normal consumer when comparing it to DVD. The only thing that makes the formats different from DVD is the inside specs. It's difficult for everyone that have the HD formats to think this way, because we bought it. Other people though, don't really care about this format war. They're glad to stay with DVD. Its the one thing that is the HUGE STEP for whatever format wins this "3% war" to overcome. Like it or not, the majority population isn't technology aware as everyelse is here.
Go out and poll people to see how many know how much GB a single layer DVD holds. It won't be many, unless you're at a gaming convention.
Tru-blu @ Jan 22nd 2008 9:28AM
Tru-blu all for Blu-ray!
SKI @ Jan 22nd 2008 9:46AM
It's 90% of BURNERS not players, they are two different things.