Paramount, Dreamworks dropping Blu-ray in favor of HD DVD exclusivity
By Richard Lawler 
posted August 20th 2007 1:17PM
posted August 20th 2007 1:17PM
Affiliations in the HD DVD vs. Blu-ray format war have been pretty clearly defined for nearly two years now -- despite a hybrid player here and some international releases there, most of the players involved have not switched support since the early days. Well that's all about to change, as Paramount Pictures and Dreamworks Animation -- which started off HD DVD only before deciding to go both ways -- have officially announced plans to release movies exclusively on HD DVD, dropping Blu-ray support entirely. This means that hits like Transformers, Shrek the Third and Blades of Glory won't follow Mission: Impossible III as cross-format releases when they debut this holiday season. Paramount has released about 30 movies on Blu-ray so far, but those days have come to an end: apparently cheaper HD players trump a 2:1 sales advantage. We can't wait to see how the Blu-ray camp responds to this.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Yet another example where the consumer gets screwed!!! I wanted Transformers on Blu-ray. :(
I'll take Transformers on HD-DVD :)
What would have been nice was all companies releasing all their movies on both formats, and letting the consumer choose the next format.
Blu-Ray fanboys... no need to get mad at the supposed payoff for Paramount -- it's part of the game. I'm sure Disney, Lionsgate, etc didn't just latch on to BluRay without some sort of gimme.
Everyone knows Blu-Ray (including PS3) are well outselling HD-DVD. This story is FUD.
This is a story about two studios staying on one side. How is that FUD? Your post is the only thing that's FUD
Why it is FUD?, Sony created a format, started saying it will ignore every format that has not been created by itself, and other companies won't support it... not new.
There never was a clear winner in this war because of this single fact : some publishers will only release movies under one format. As long as publishers takes sides, both formats will exists (I even think Sony would support BD for a while even if they we're the only one releasing movies for, like they did for MD and UMD).
For us consumers : the future is about multi-format readers, for publishing corporations and some idiotic fanboys, its about a format war..
uhm, and you get your facts where?
Sony = BetaMax
Good luck with that.
brenda_ciccone at paramount dawt com
What a stupid ass move. This will likely kill both formats. The industry (consumer) will NOT support two formats. DVD, here we come. F*ck.
STICK THAT IN YOUR PIPE AND SMOKE IT, BLU-RAY FANBOYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HD-DVD FTW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
For those who say Sony = Betamx I can only say
Sony = CD
Sony = 3 1/2 floppy with a hard shell
Hey look Sony = DVD as well!
Conclusion? References to past corporate choices do not contribute any insight to who is going to win the HD format wat.
hahaha holy shit...here we go again with the HD-DVD fanboys vs. Blu-ray fanboys. I wish both formats would die and and completly new format would emerge so we don't have to deal with this.
No kidding. I was JUST starting to warm up to the fact that Blu-Ray was going to be the dominant format and planning what movies I should start with. This most definitely throws in a monkey wrench.
I'll be honest, I wanted HD DVD to succeed for various reasons, but more than that I just want a clear cut victor so I can start buying stuff again knowing that it won't become obsolete.
Man...I just want A winner.
Ah yes, skewed reporting, the new hallmark of Engadget. Also, I believe Blades of Glory will be out tomorrow, or next week. Holiday "season", indeed.
so, if engadget sucks so much, what the FUD are you doing here?
Right. They totally skewed those numbers. TWO studios? More like, 1.9 tops, amirite? I mean, really, Paramount? Who cares??
get the fuck off this site, this article didn't even have any of the subtle fanboyism that pervades the apple/MS posts... all it said was "hey look, these guys are (definitely) doing something". It even mentioned how blu-ray discs were outselling HD DVD. Stop trying to make people think you're smart by trolling, or at least do it where people are dumb enough to fall for it, jackass.
Ah, children.
That is TOTALY NOT COOL. Paramount.... BIG MISTAKE!
grrrrrrr
Why is this totally "NOT COOL"? What's your stake in BD over HD-DVD? I don't know anyone who is seriously too concerned with this format war (unless they have money/job/stock riding on it). How will it effect you life in any way if either of these formats are adopted as standard?
...just curious
You were a big mistake.
@ newgalactic,
Perhaps mcirca just bought a Blu-ray player under the assumption that it had the support of Paramount and/or Dreamworks. I'd be kinda miffed, too, if that were the case.
Purchasing a single-format player is the only "investment" one need make in order to care which format prevails.
Um, perhaps he has a blu-ray player, duh?
haha, "miffed"
You try dropping that much on a brand new entertainment system and then having one of the largest production firms saying they're only going to release their movies on HD DVD....dont get me wrong... Im all for HD DVD too but i figured all studios would produce both BD and HD DVDs... I also retunred my player today just because of this Mess Paramount made! Im gonna continue building my "old fashion" DVD collection for a while untill we find a HD BD DVD player or untill one wins over the other... Paramount is just complicating things in my eyes.... i hope this cures your curiosity
nice one I brought that hd dvd player for a reason
where did you bring it?
And the winner is... no one.
I really want to see when HD-DVD gain enough popularity that blockbuster will go "oh, crap, we goofed, we will start storing HD-dvd again for rental"
It won't be the first time either. I remember back when DVDs first appeared: the local Blockbuster told me that they would never be stocking them. Lo and behold, what happened a few months later? DVDs!
...
HD wars = stalemate. Vast majority of consumers won't buy into it (recent economical factors aren't helping)
and it doesn't seem like a clear victory is in sight for either camps, thanks to this recent development.
I mean, with Universal being the only unique supporter of HD-DVD, I could've seen Blu-ray winning quite easily, but now? What the hell? Seriously.
Can't wait to start paying royalties to both camps!
I'm glad the studios are making the consumers choose between one format or another...
I'm saving money NOT buying either Blu-Ray or HD-DVD. Downloading movies is the most convenient option out there (legally or otherwise). Now only if Apple or Microsoft can make it easier, I'm in.
I don't need special discs and players to enjoy HD content.
Yes, not physically owning anything is the best way to go!
I'll start giving a shit when they come up with a system like Steam, so when my hard drive breaks I don't have to worry about losing over 100 bucks worth of software/media.
It's happened to me once, and I don't intend to let it happen again.
@AlexP, that's really a great idea. In the beginning I thought Steam was not a good thing, but after enjoying the benefits of having access to my games whenever I am I can see it's really great. The same would be awesome if applied to movies and other kinds of data. Specially the way everything today is in one electronic format or another. I understand also the position Apple is taking in treating the DVD as something that's going the way of the floppy or the dinosaurs. I own a PS3 and I'm happy with the few titles I own in Blu-Ray. Not planning to rebuild my whole DVD library, so the format war doesn't really matter to me.
It's really easy to download HD from MS. Have you tried the Xbox 360?
It's really easy to download HD from MS. Have you tried the Xbox 360?
Yes, we all have Xbox 360s and we're all willing to pay for Xbox Live.
"I don't need special discs and players to enjoy HD content."
Yes you do, if you're talking about downloading.
There's no such thing as a non-proprietary download-to-own service for HD content of any kind, whether it's movies, TV shows or anything else. Maybe trailers. That's it.
If you were talking about the Xbox 360 and Xbox Live, then yes, I'd classify that as a "special player".
Both BD and HD-DVD are way more "open" than any download service ever will be. And you own the content once you've bought it.
Actually the Xbox Live does remember what TV shows and games you bought so you can re-download them at any time. Can't do it for movies since they're only rentals, but that actually works out better. If you think about it though, rental is really the better way. Why pay 20+ bucks to buy a movie that you'll watch twice, when you can actually rent them each time you view it for 5 bucks. You'd have to watch it at least 4 times to get your monies worth for viewing. Of course, you're paying for packaging and extra material but if you don't care for that, then rental is the way. For the majority of the movies I own, the rental logic works out much better and could have saved me a lot of money.
Actually, AlexP, you only need a silver Live subscription to rent movies, which is free. You still, of course, have to pay for the film itself.
WHOA! This is BIG! I'm glad I waited.
Has anyone considered that by the time everyone has HD, so that HD movies will account for the majority on movie sales, the physical format will no longer be relevant? I think it'll all be downloaded by the time the majority of market share is looking at HD movies. Just my opinion.
microsoft has a pretty decient idea going now with the 360. They just need to move from rental to ownership. Honestly, a netflix type buffet system would be great, but I digress. Downloadable content is the wave of the future. As the ISP's keep increasing their speed, and compensate for the lack of bandwidth that is going to present itself, This will be a coutch potato's dream come true. That alone will account for about 99% of the population. Imagine sitting down on your coutch and firing up your future online HDTV box(whatever form it will take). Just browse through a nice catalog of movies, select the one you want to see, grab some popcorn and enjoy. All this at a reasonable monthly fee. Hmm, maby I should contact my local patent office.....
"Transformers" will only be out of HD DVD??
Sounds like Blu-ray dodged a bullet on this one.
I can honestly say this is a total surprise to me. I didn't see ANYONE dropping Blu-Ray support, I thought more and more studios would start going dual-format. Any reason to switch from dual-format support to single, and ESPECIALLY to HD-DVD exclusivity, is totally beyond me.
Big news.... I prefer Blu Ray as a storage medium just in terms of storage, but I really don't care which format my movies come on, as long as they're VC-1 and 1080p.
Rock on HD-DVD. This is the kind of news HD needed.
Paramount has issued a press release providing more details on the studio's just announced move to support HD DVD exclusively.
According the the press release, the studio will exclusively support HD DVD format on a worldwide basis, including all movies distributed by Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Nickelodeon Movies and MTV Films, as well as movies from DreamWorks Animation, which are distributed exclusively by Paramount Home Entertainment.
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The studio says it will launch its exclusive HD DVD program with the release of 'Blades of Glory' on August 28th (a release which was previously announced for both formats), and will follow with two of the biggest grossing movies of the year 'Transformers' and 'Shrek the Third.'
The press release attributes the decision to "an extensive evaluation of current market offerings, which confirmed the clear benefits of HD DVD, particularly its market-ready technology and lower manufacturing costs."
porn industry = blu-ray
winner = blu-ray
we're one group of horny bastards arn't we ;)
but seriously, BD is great for Data storage, and i hope that it's here to stay for that reason, i don't care about movie format, i don't watch movies, BD is the better disk, HD is probably better for movies since it keeps costs cheaper.
I don't care, but i wan't my BD! (btb, i was a supporter of beta...)
Nobody buys &/or rants porn anymore.