Blu-Ray Blockbuster Boost

[Mulboyne]

[floatr][/floatr]MSNBC: Blockbuster strikes blow for Sony
A battle for supremacy between two DVD formats swung sharply on Monday when Blockbuster, the leading US video rental chain, increased the number of its stores that stock Blu-ray discs. Blu-ray is one of two next-generation formats competing for market dominance. The other is HD-DVD. Blockbuster said it would offer Blu-ray, the Sony-backed format, in 1,700 stores compared with about 250 for rival HD-DVD, which is backed by Toshiba and Microsoft. Demand for Blu-ray was "significantly outpacing" rentals of HD-DVDs, the chain added. The decision is a blow for Toshiba, which last week said sales of HD-DVDs were falling short of expectations...more...

See also FG Thread: Hollywood supporting the rival HD-DVD disc format

[American Oyaji]

Well, I aint buying either until the prices come down.

[succubusqueen]

I rather watch the movies on line!...

[Kuang_Grade]

While the internet was all a titters about this, I don't think it is that big a deal. Given that both camps are primarily running exclusives to each format (want to see a HD Disney movie, you gotta have Blu-ray...Want to see a HD Universal movie, you gotta have HD-DVD...Warner brothers is the only one splitting both camps on most of their releases (although the recent Matrix HD Box set is HD-DVD only so far)..So this isn't necessarily declaring a winner in the format war, although it is useful from a PR standpoint...But both Netflix and Blockbuster's mail delivery services still offer both formats...and given the demos of HD users so far (pretty high end), it is more than likely that a very large portion of HD renters would be using those services instead of in-store rentals. Similarly, it is worth noting that blockbuster had something like 5000+ stores in the US a few years back and now they are operating with something around half of that number. And I seriously doubt that any HD format is getting that much business in the scale of Blockbusters overall operation. Hell, my local blockbuster is yet to start renting any next gen level games (PS3 or Xbox 360) and the 360 came out 18 months ago.

While PS3/Blu-ray units are selling slowly, Toshiba has been very aggressive with pricing with some of their HD-DVD hardware...Their entry level model HD-A2 (which only does 1080i) could be found at Costco and some online dealers for $250 and this includes a promotion of five free HD DVDs by mail. I actually picked one myself because while the HD picture is awesome, it does a kick ass job of up-converting the picture on standard DVDs as well. I was in need to a new standard DVD player, so I decided to make the next gen jump at that price level....after pimping off some of those free HD DVDs on ebay, my net cost should below that magical $200 price point for the US market.