It's really over, folks - Toshiba drops HD DVD

by Andrew Yoon { Feb 16th 2008 at 12:05PM }

Everyone, let's get together. This is (hopefully) going to be the last HD DVD/Blu-ray news you'll ever read (we're saving one post for when Microsoft joins the Blu-ray camp). After the obvious death bells were ringing, Toshiba has finally called it quits. Although HD DVD players will still be sold in stores for now, Toshiba will abandon all new production of players. Most likely, they will be quick to create a Blu-ray player of their own.

According to Reuters, "Toshiba is expected to suffer losses amounting to tens of billions of yen (hundreds of millions of dollars) to scrap production of HD DVD players and recorders and other steps to exit the business."

That's what happens in a high-risk all-or-nothing format war. Sony must feel pretty good right about now, especially after historic defeats with Betamax, ATRAC, UMD, and more. Blu-ray in PS3 was a risky gamble: it created a price point that many mocked, and generated a good amount of negative publicity for the Japanese electronics giant. However, it was also the Trojan Horse that allowed it to gain such a large percentage of the HD-aware mindset. With this victory, it appears that Sony's plans are finally coming together.

[Thanks, Jason B.!]

Tags: blu-ray, hd-dvd, toshiba

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)

emaxximus @ Feb 17th 2008 10:35AM

LOL. No. according to ACTUAL ACTUAL npd figures the PS3 sold 557,000,000 and the 360 sold -20. But seriously, you must be the only 360 fanboy who doesnt even read xbox360fanboy.com, or you would have seen the article that states the PS3 outsold the 360 in January. Not that it should matter, because I enjoy my games regardless of how many other people are buying them, but apparently you cant.

KidSqueek @ Feb 16th 2008 12:12PM

yeah hd dvd never caught my attention. it was always blu ray. so i can expect to see transformers on blu ray pretty soon? yes?

mattclarkie @ Feb 16th 2008 12:14PM

I am not saying that the PS3 is nothing to do with victory, but the fact that all the films that people want to buy, with a few exceptions, were Blu-ray exclusive must have been the major factor.

I for one welcome or Blu-laser firing over-lords.

Suck on that Toshiba.

ruibing @ Feb 16th 2008 10:16PM

I still believe it's the PS3 large install base that gave it the media sales ratio to attract the major studios.

Vincent @ Feb 16th 2008 12:18PM

Sony wins. Flawless Victory

emaxximus @ Feb 16th 2008 1:01PM

Fatality!

Sauvage @ Feb 16th 2008 1:57PM

Humiliation!

Mein Bratwurst @ Feb 16th 2008 2:19PM

Now lets queue the fanboys who have now switched to "Well I don't care, digital distribution is the way to go".

Efeez1986 @ Feb 16th 2008 9:42PM

Thank you! All the xbox fanboys have been saying that shit just to make up excuses for Microsoft like they always do. Digital downloads will never overtake dvd's.

klexam @ Feb 16th 2008 7:05PM

No matter about digital distribution because we are always going to need a good viable storage medium. Read my review on what I believe the next will be at www.layeredcontent.com

RazielDune @ Feb 16th 2008 12:17PM

*takes off hat* HD-DVD...we hardly knew ye... *walks off* YAY BLU-RAY

seansloan @ Feb 16th 2008 12:24PM

now i cant wait to get the bourne movies.Snap to it!

ballison_mt @ Feb 16th 2008 12:33PM

Yay! I had almost gone out and bought one of the the cheap HD DVD players as an insurance policy against Sony losing the format war. Now I don't have to as Toshiba's format will die on the vine like I had hoped when I originally bought the PS3. This is one time I went with a Sony proprietary format and was not hung out to dry (I actually backed Betamax over VHS because it had much better video at the time). All I can say now is "whew", as I wipe my brow.

Matt @ Feb 17th 2008 6:13AM

I think most people in this chat were not even alive to choose Beta or VHS. I was alive but my parents chose VHS.

but yeah, great thing blu-ray won, Sony really was gambling a lot on that. Had it not won, ps3 would have really suffered and it may not have reached its potential. Lets hope it does now :)

Bob @ Feb 16th 2008 12:27PM

*pops in CD....presses play*

CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES, COME ON!
*dances*

Haha, sorry, I had to. This makes me happy as my mom almost went out and got my dad an HD-DVD player for christmas. I told her the end was near soon, and Blu-ray would prevail. I cant wait for great titles like....Jurassic Park, Back to the Future, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and so many more.

Congratulations everyone and Sony! The future truly is Blu. :)

Tom @ Feb 16th 2008 12:27PM

At long last. HD-DVD was the inferior format by miles and it's great news that consumers no longer have to worry about which HD format to choose.

By the way, did you see this post comparing Blu-Ray, Apple TV, DVD and HD cable? It's worth a look. http://ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/apple-tv-20-vs-blu-ray-dvd-hd-cable-the-comparison/

Popfrogs @ Feb 16th 2008 3:01PM

To be perfectly honest, it was the superior format. They had their profiles set in stone from day one...all it was missing was capacity. The BR profiles are still evolving. Notice how spec 2.0 is mentioned here and there and the PS3 is one of the few BR players that will/can actually support it. And we *just* got profile 1.1 a few months ago on the PS3 for picture-in-picture that HD-DVD had all along.

Let's be fanboys but fair as well. It was a nice try Toshiba, even with Microsoft and your group buying exclusivity deals with studios and playing nice with the porn industry, it just wasn't meant to be.

Extinction @ Feb 16th 2008 4:23PM

To be perfectly honest, HD DVD was inferior.
Profiles mean jack.

Phoenix8387 @ Feb 16th 2008 12:31PM

VICTORY!!!!

Now, the PS3 just needs to keep its momentum going.

bAssackwards @ Feb 16th 2008 2:43PM

With the games it has coming to it this year, I'm sure that the PS3 won't have much problem gaining momentum.

Chris Rah Osiris @ Feb 16th 2008 12:31PM

Now for the celebration. *pre-orders ID4*

sean @ Feb 16th 2008 12:32PM

i think PS3 is one of the main reason blu ray won. but haveing disney exclusive from the start also had a big hand in it. plus sonys movies were only comin out on bluray obviously. well atleast now ill get to see some universal movies in HD

lee @ Feb 16th 2008 12:34PM

HD DVD just got PWND!!

emaxximus @ Feb 16th 2008 5:46PM

I but a bunch got PAWNED too!

starwarz24 @ Feb 16th 2008 1:05PM

It over! It's finally over! Im sooooo glad i bought a PS3!!!! OLE!!! OLE!!!!! OLE!!!!!!!!

Kspraydad @ Feb 16th 2008 12:57PM

Revenge of Krazy Ken.

We love you long time.

Tom @ Feb 16th 2008 3:05PM

Heh

bigd7387 @ Feb 18th 2008 4:30PM

Well I use to have a Betamax and JVC VHS and Beta looked alot better. But this time I've got both and HD-DVD looked better, had more features and was cheaper so unless you own Sony stock why are the Fanboys cheering. I've never been a Fanboy but it still doesn't change the fact that I play movies on the PS3 and play my games on the 360. Game systems are for gaming, right? I'll leave Motorstorm on the shelf and go back to Bioshock.

Mein Bratwurst @ Feb 16th 2008 2:16PM

Cause Motorstorm is/was the PS3's killer app.

Am I right?

/blatant sarcasm

TinyTim121 @ Feb 16th 2008 6:01PM

Yes but this is similar to that constant Graphics vs Gameplay in games.

In this format war, it was a decision between better Graphics (HD-DVD) vs better Gameplay (Well...movies: Blu-Ray)

Now because I always say Gameplay owns Graphics in gaming, its movies that own format quality in the format war.

If I haven't explained clearly think of it this way; Would rather own 10 different HD movies or 1000 different SD movies?

Movie difference and variation takes the win, which is why Blu-ray won; better selection of movies.

And of course Sony paid them to go exclusive to Blu-ray...it's not like Halo is exclusive to the 360 for free

sabotage187 @ Feb 16th 2008 1:06PM

coming from a 360fanboy...

it's over!!! thank God it's finally over!!! not that i've had any doubts over the past few months about which format would prevail but now it's nice to have just one format out there instead of worrying about what movie you want to watch is on what format.

DelSource @ Feb 16th 2008 1:13PM

This parrot is dead....

Anyway, who actually bought a HD DVD player to play HD movies? HD DVD hardware outsold BD hardware yet they couldn't even reach 30% of the disc market. Clearly they were bought as cheap DVD upscalers.......

mji245 @ Feb 16th 2008 1:15PM

Ok, so when is the funeral?

never$$hort @ Feb 16th 2008 1:16PM

Thank frickin god!! I was sooooo sick of arguing with HD-DUD fans who bought into the inferior fromat for the most part just to spite Sony.... Obviously the blu army was stronger and fought bravely against all the negative media attention and FUD being spread by the HDDUDs... they knew if Sony won this war that the PS3 and the whole corporation would reign supreme and dominate the market AGAIN... Well get ready M$ cuz here we come.. suckerz

Tim Parsons @ Feb 16th 2008 1:17PM

Go Blu-Ray!!!

asdaylightdies7 @ Feb 16th 2008 1:19PM

YES! Well, i don't think UMD Really was a lose. I mean, UMD's are better than what any other Handheled device uses. IE Nintendo DS. Pft

Well, w00t to blu ray!

HD DVD = Fission Mailed.

adamevex @ Feb 16th 2008 1:20PM

Damnnnn. HD DVD just got owned. Whew, i told my friends but they wouldn't believe me. Blu all the way baby!!

Kevin @ Feb 16th 2008 1:33PM

A Moment of Silence for those who are currently cursing because they bought a HDDVD player.............
And NOW...

BLUUUUUUU RAAAAAAAAAY FFFFFFFFFTTTTTTTTTTWWW!!!!!!

Tranando @ Feb 16th 2008 1:33PM

Time to laugh at all the idiots who wasted their money on the inferior HD DVD format, just to spite Sony.

PETEJOZ @ Feb 16th 2008 1:37PM

*Plays "We are the Champions"

Perverted @ Feb 19th 2008 10:03AM

I must be one of the only people who doesn't care about HD movies......Well it's good a winner has been chosen, most of my family will be sad though as they had HD DVD.......
Congrats PS3 + Blu Ray

Popfrogs @ Feb 16th 2008 3:03PM

I'm guessing you don't own an HDTV. When you get one, you will understand.

Paul @ Feb 16th 2008 1:50PM

The question I have now is; Is Toshiba going to hold their partners to their exclusivity contracts now?

The Sound @ Feb 16th 2008 1:51PM

I think we're going to see double the predicted PS3 sales for the year....

Ok, not really, but it will definitely be more.

Oh, and PS3 price drop in about a months time, just to shove the victory down M$ and Toshiba's face.

Tom Birch @ Feb 16th 2008 1:57PM

If this is true wow!!! I would be soooo happy, but i had a look on loads of other websites, including, blurayfreak.com, hddvdfreak.com and blu-ray.com and i saw nothing, and google has nothing to say about it yet either. This seems to be the only website with this news. I will start getting hyped when this news is everywhere.

B1gC72 - PSN: KillaKornbread @ Feb 16th 2008 2:03PM

way to go Sony! you actually won a format war! and in deciding fashion. its like watching Peyton Manning finally beat Tom Brady lol. (and im a Cowboys fan and like neither of them just for the record lol)

Manuel @ Feb 16th 2008 2:06PM

Sony did fail with betamax but who said they failed with atrac and UMD those aren't definetely dead most of my songs in my PSP are atract and I have tons of UMD movies with few music promo UMDs (for the music videos). Those are certainly not dead but they just haven't got universal yet. Maybe in the future we'll see cheap portable DVD with UMD players? THAT"LL BE GREAT!

The Aggie CEO @ Feb 16th 2008 2:11PM

Could people stop calling the PS3 a Trojan Horse???

I mean REALLY.......

Sony was no where near as decpetive as a Trojan Virus OR the Trojan Horse.......

everyone KNEW what they we getting when they got a PS3..........

therefore the PS3 is NOT a damn Trojan Horse

gibson355 @ Feb 17th 2008 1:50AM

Aggie,

The Blu-ray feature for the PS3 film content was indeed a Trojan Horse and a fairly gilded one at that. Sony gambled in placing the Blu-Ray drive in each PS3, ensuring that the installed base for Blu-Ray was 1:1 with PS3 installed gaming base, which numbers now in the many millions. If you remember, many were upset that the drive was in there, making the unit $200 more expensive: said they didn't want to watch movies on their game machine. But when netflix and blockbuster started offering HD, that all seemed to change. Though putting the Blu-Ray drive in seemed nuts at the time and Kenny K. got canned for it..it's the main reason Toshiba has capitulated today.

Sony is now going to reap significant dividends from increased PS3 sales and royalties on Blu-Ray royalties: it's a stunning victory.

Remember it was the Greeks ability to outmaneuver the Trojans by thinking "outside the box" (or rather inside?) by playing the Trojans egotistical desire for tribute.

We didn't want tribute, we wanted a gaming machine. But instead of getting our throats slit in our sleep like the Trojans, we got a really, really good movie player. A much better deal. Tragically, it's Toshiba that lays bleeding out into its beer this evening.