False alarm: Target's not giving up on HD DVD

As noted on Engadget HD the other day, and further clarified by Major Nelson this morning, that story about Target going exclusively Blu-ray was false. Turns out they're just installing Blu-ray aisle end caps, thanks to a new promotional deal with Sony, but HD DVD isn't going anywhere. Hopefully you haven't chucked out your HD DVD collection just yet in a concession to defeat at Thursday's "news," but if you have it's always good to know you can score replacements at your local Target, just like always.

[nizzy1115 @ Jul 28th 2007 5:55PM]

the news was all over this the other night. it really made hddvd look as if it was the nail in its coffin. however they surely wont post a correction to this story and all everyone will remember is hd is failing because the news said target isn't selling it anymore.

[Evan @ Jul 28th 2007 8:19PM]

Yep, I sent the information to Engadget a couple of days ago from the HD DVD Promotions Group. Apparently the affirmation from Major Nelson finally settled the issue.

I work at Target and can say for my store that we are moving the HD DVDs at a much better pace than the Blu Ray discs. We have already sold out of Bourne Identity after a few days and the HD DVDs are currently understocked because we have not ordered enough.

I do wish this "war" would end soon, but it won't. With so many people who don't even know how to use their HDTV set I think we are still at least a year away from any hi-def discs catching on.

[Castle @ Jul 28th 2007 8:54PM]

Seriously, retailers need to just end this stupid HD-format war. Basically the outcome is just which mulit-national Japanese electronic company you're going to pay royalties to to watch movies.

When Walmart picks a winner it'll be the end; since 40 percent of all DVDs sold in the U.S. are sold at Wal-Mart.

[eddie2010 @ Jul 28th 2007 10:45PM]

The original article did not say that target would not carry HD-DVD disk. It said that Target would only carry Stand alone Blu-Ray players not stand alone HD-DVD players, but would still carry the Xbox 360 HD-DVD add on player and the Playstation 3 which also plays Blu-Ray movies. The main point of the article was that Target will not carry stand alone HD-DVD players. Glad to see that the HD-DVD camp are keeping up there end on making misleading statements.

[Bobarama7k @ Jul 28th 2007 6:16PM]

i dont really watch enough movies to really care about HD DVD or BD movies, but then again, my first and only DVD player we have ever owned (yay for raffles!) does just fine. maby when we buy that high def TV ill care, but my '96 Panasonic works fineish, all the buttons fell out and the plastic logo fell off years ago, hah. maby next year

[Forest @ Jul 28th 2007 6:34PM]

I have no idea how blue ray even took off, the quality is the EXACT same as HD-DVD and the players are hundreds of dollars more

[michael @ Jul 28th 2007 6:44PM]

Yeah, I agree.

HD-DVD appealed to me, more because the discs/players were usually cheaper, and they include more interactive multimedia features in them.

Plus, I barely notice a difference in picture. They both look great. Although people say that BluRay can has more capacity, I've heard that HD-DVD can add extra layers to match up with that.

But if the market picks one side soon, we'll at least get somewhere.

[funtownarcade @ Jul 28th 2007 11:11PM]

How it took off? Its called the PS3. Also blu ray movies are generally cheaper.

[E71 @ Jul 29th 2007 7:29AM]

You forgot to mention that since Blu-ray discs are superior to HD-DVD discs capacity-wise, they'll probably start stuffing a lot more into each disc. Hell, just think of the home user who'll be able to stuff several movies into one BD.

[WL @ Jul 29th 2007 7:43PM]

@ funtownarcade

It's also called Sony Pictures

[Josef F @ Jul 28th 2007 6:43PM]

Tactile media is dying anyway. Inside of 6 or 8 years, most people will download all their content and people who still buy the 'antiquated' HD-DVD or BluRay will be like those dinosaurs today who still buy VHS and cassette tapes.

[Jo @ Jul 28th 2007 7:25PM]

People will still need a physical way to archive data for a long time to come. I don't believe the market for local storage will expire until a low-cost, ultra-high speed, omnipresent network is established.

[E71 @ Jul 29th 2007 7:31AM]

That's right Jo, but that's what hard drives are for... and if you wanna move them around, I'm sure by that time USB flashdrives will be in the 100s of GBs!

[Xavier Gill @ Jul 28th 2007 6:44PM]

poor dog

[NineT9 @ Jul 28th 2007 8:40PM]

rofl holy sh*t that was hilarious, nice comment

[Lee Stretch @ Jul 28th 2007 6:55PM]

What is it with all these stories lately which are always talking down to HD DVD as if blu ray have 'won'? It makes me sick, firstly hd dvd is never going to go away as both formats are making money, secondly the only reason that they may be 'beaten' is thanks to posts like this and others which portray blu ray as victorious and superior... what is sony funding engadget now? I buy and enjoy both formats like any true fan of film, they are equally mindblowing and the titles on each are just as good, in fact I have way more hd dvds than blurays! Am I the only one sick of hearing about blu ray 'winning'? And for goodness sake all those fanboys who seem to have sided with one format, GET A LIFE! Cos as soon as your favourite movie is exclusive to the other, your screwed! ...retards

[CharlieX @ Jul 28th 2007 7:53PM]

One of these formats must die. You realize this, don't you? I don't give a rats ass if it's HD-DVD or BluRay - as soon as we're down to 1 option ALL those movies will be remastered for the victor. The sooner this happens the better. A long drawn out battle will only results in slow sales for BOTH formats. Savvy consumers are sitting on the sidelines with their pocketbooks in hand.

[Mr. Vage @ Jul 29th 2007 1:25AM]

Yeah, the faster the better. I also don't care which one wins. If it's HD DVD I can laugh at Sony's failure with pushing Blu-Ray. If it's Blu-Ray then I can laugh at M$ for...wait I can't laugh at them, they could just start making a Blu-Ray addon drive instead of an HD DVD one...

[Stealth @ Jul 29th 2007 8:42AM]

To Mr. Vage: No MS can't just change formats now, if they did they will lose alot more money than what there already losing now. Not to mention All there games are HD-DVD, Besides Blu-ray is actually under Sony, and getting Blu-ray to there xbox is nearly impossible. Also when Blu-ray wins which it will, Xbox will be Shit out of luck and will no longer be able to be in this business. So thats why the format war is so important to MS.

[NoK610 @ Jul 29th 2007 11:27AM]

@Stealth

You really think if HD-DVD fails the Xbox360 will fail? The games are pressed on DVD's, not one game is pressed on HD-DVD.

At any rate, both formats have to exist for competition. If it wasn't for HD-DVD, Bluray players will still cost $1000. What I hate the most is the fanboyism. Why do people swear buy a company, did they bribe you? Instead of worshiping them, why don't you open your mouth and demand them updated firmware so you can enjoy interactive content? Reimburse for your outdated player? Stop being a zombie and following what your friends, media, and manufacturers tell you. Biased articles and comments are what's wrong with people. They set their mind to one thing and thats it. People comment that bluray is cheaper to burn discs to and the only option. Your impatience is your only restriction. BD burners are over priced and so is the media. HD-DVD burners are being released out to market soon, so BD will have some competition.

To all fanboys out there, stop bickering about which format's better, and stop swearing by your PS3 and your BD. $500 is a little too much money for HD content when the lesser priced HD-DVD have the same quality. Yea, I know, BD has more storage space. How much more content will studios include? Didn't Toshiba prove they can add more layers for more storage space? So what's the difference now? Both company's "theoretically" have large amounts of storage, but neither one is using that much space to begin with.

This format war isn't over yet. Give the formats some time to soak in with average consumers, not only with tech savvy users. Another note to mention is Samsung making dual format players. Why are they doing that if HD-DVD is dead? At the end, one will be the victor and if it is BD, then fine, so be it, but it would only beneficial for consumers if it weren't so expensive, and yes the PS3 is too expensive for bluray as well.

[Noshino @ Jul 29th 2007 7:13PM]

Yes, HD-DVD can add extra layers, but I think there is already a 200GB Blu-Ray Disc...so yah, HD-DVD can't get to that capacity :(

[Eric @ Jul 28th 2007 7:49PM]

This is exactly why you should take any "news" posted by engadget as speculation. What is even worse is that major network news outlets are starting to use blogs as reference to air stories to the masses. What ever happened to verifying facts before writing news?

[Lee @ Jul 28th 2007 7:59PM]

Why must one format 'die'? If one was going to die it would have happened by now, and why would Samsung be releasing a dual format player, and I guaruntee others will follow... as soon as dual players are on the market, what's the need for any 'war'? I personally cannot wait for samsung's combo player, means I can lose the sub standard hddvd add on for the 360, and sell that lousy PS3!

[BrettB @ Jul 28th 2007 8:21PM]

They already make at least one combo player. Although I guess they probably have new ones in the works. Until all players are combo players, however, we're doomed to keep hearing about the war. I don't really care. Whether one format wins, or all players become universal, eventually high def will be the standard. My question is "then what?" Companies continue to try to push forward with new technologies, but when will enough be enough. Super High Def? Triple High Def? At some point it will look as good as it can possibly look, at least to the human eye. I'm just starting to wonder what may be around the corner that will be even better. In my opinion, they've messed up the high def revolution. 720p, 1080i, 1080p. Too many variations all under one name. People that bought 720p sets thinking they had true high def now are outdated, even before most people have any form of high def. The industry needs to get their act together and figure out what a "STANDARD" really is so we can be done with this mess.

[Sam @ Jul 28th 2007 8:53PM]

My question is "then what?"

Smell-o-vision.

[Mike @ Jul 28th 2007 9:30PM]

I thought I read here or at least some where that ultra vision...or ultra hi def was next and i think 1440P or 1400P if i remember correctly.

[why not the LS2LS7? @ Jul 28th 2007 9:34PM]

The original story was overblown, that's for sure. It has two parts.

1. Sony is buying endcaps. Big whup, companies buy endcaps all the time.
2. Target will be carrying Sony's standalone BluRay player. This is a bit bigger as Target doesn't carry any standalone HD-DVD players, and will continue to not do so.

So this is pretty big. Target was staying out of the HD player market, and now is entering it. That shows that Target is backing a side, even if they aren't turning off the taps for the other side.

All this is water under the bridge. HD-DVD isn't going to take off with the limited hardware company and studio support it has. BluRay may not either, but it has a lot more support (and a lot more PS3s in the field than HD-DVD has sold players of any sort) so it has much more of a chance.

[SilentBliss @ Jul 28th 2007 10:32PM]

For everyone who keeps implying everything HD is going Digital... meh.

I can understand SD going Digital mainstream-wise very easily. HD on the other hand, the full 1080, not 720 offered by many current services (like XBox Live), stored on HDD's via broadband speeds offered at current market speeds = meh.

Let alone, store all your (HD) goods on HDD's and watch the HDD make the ominous clicking noise since you'd keep them on as long as a standalone HD-Player and use them as frequent; you've just lost your entire collection. Awww...

So quit with the cliche response of everything going digital. It just makes you look like an arrogant ass. I personally enjoy having physical media. Don't know why you wouldn't. Maybe because everythings just so easy to get (for free), via the internet.

[Aussiedude @ Jul 29th 2007 1:23AM]

Second that.

I hope to Jesus, Allah, Buddha, and Homer that movies can be bought at a store for at least the rest of my life time, I don't give a dam what people say: WE ARE NO WHERE NEAR BEING ABLE TO DOWNLOAD 1080P MOVIES TO SOME MAGIC HDD THATS CONNECTED TO A MOVIE PLAYER CONNECTED TO OUR TVS.
1. Internet speeds are no where near fast enough for that, YOU or I may be willing wait for a 7-20GB (40GB??) file to download... but for the average person who has 256kbps broadband and a attention span for download windows of about 30secs - they aren't. Lets also not forget that there is still people without the internet... no really theres places that don't have broadband, not even dialup. If you don't believe me then go on a world trip of all the countries... hell even just a trip around your own country, theres no country in the world where there is a 100% adoption rate of the internet, let alone highspeed broadband.
2. HDD's don't exist which are cheap enough to store 60-120 1080p movies. You'd need harddrives at least 500GB for that... thats 7GB per movie and only 60 movies... 20GB and 120 movies = 2.5TB's !!!!!! Find me a HDD under $200AUD for that price and I MIGHT consider downloading HD movies a possibility.
3. The movies companies don't even like the idea because they know that once your giving people a movie file which can be downloaded your just begging for piracy. Plus unless you want the same level of restrictions from DRM people have for iTunes then I don't think you would like the idea either. We and the movies companies are better off the way we are.
4. People LIKE having a disc or tape case to hold in their hands with a cool cover, which their can put in their CD collection and SEE and TOUCH. When you pay $35AUD on a movie you expect to get something out of it, you expect to be given something you can feel and say "I bought this"... not get a file you can open on only one player. It's also a lot easier to decide which movie to watch when you have a cupboard of DVD's to look and feel then a browser window filled with movie file icons.
5. Have you ever gone on a school bus trip and watched a DVD on the trip... maybe you've visited a friends house and spent the day watching videos you brought over from your house. You can't easily take a movie you downloaded to another place/player to watch, unless you... email it? can't it's too big... plus if it can just be copied to another player then that makes pirating even easier than it is now. Unless it's on a bluray or HDDVD disc which offers a slight hurdle to stop people from just copying and pasting the movie files, so it reduces the number of people who do movie downloading and sharing while still allowing the majority of people the freedom to use their movie anywhere.

Until movie companies can solve these problems there won't be a mainstream adoption of buying and download movies.

DISC's - they just make sense
Downloading - it just doesn't

but if I try to convince that to people who spend 23hrs a day surfing the internet and playing online games and going to online news site and talking and meeting people online and buying and downloading everything over the internet... they just say I stupid... The truth is the large majority of the world doesn't even understand the internet or even how to or even what is Google, those people will be the main thing which stops the world from going entirely digital.

[KC @ Jul 29th 2007 12:06AM]

"Tactile media is dying anyway"

If that's the case, then people still need a way to back up the media to some sort of high density format. If you bought all your music online, I'm sure you want to put them all on one 30GB disk instead of 6x 4.7 GB disks.

[Carl @ Jul 29th 2007 1:33AM]

Or better yet, one 50GB disc

[Carl @ Jul 29th 2007 12:46AM]

How can you "...score replacements at your local Target, just like always." ...when Target doesn't presently sell any HD DVD players at retail whatsoever?

No press release was issued saying Target was going exclusive - that was all in the minds of the Internet article authors when they originally hyped this story up. Now in the correction, they go too far in the other direction. So far, the Sony standalone is the only player slated for sale at Target this Christmas.

[Aaron @ Jul 30th 2007 1:06AM]

Well, they certainly have the HD-DVD add-on for the 360, if that counts. I've seen it in there.

[Logik @ Jul 29th 2007 2:41AM]

Whew. The reason why I like shopping for HD DVDs at Target is because of the pretty ladies that shop there. Pick up a flick, pick up a chick, and let's call it an evening. :)

[Revrant2394 @ Jul 29th 2007 4:28AM]

I'll be in my rocking chair, nodding softly as BD+ hits the fan(I.E. the public at large), then we'll see, won't we?

[badenglishihave @ Jul 29th 2007 1:16PM]

Thank goodness. I nearly deleted threw out all of my HD-DVD mkv's discs.

[Keith @ Jul 29th 2007 1:17PM]

Buying an end cap when your competitor doesn't IS exclusivity.

True or False: You be able to buy a stand-alone Blu-ray player in Target stores this year.
True

True or False: You be able to buy a stand-alone HD DVD player in Target stores this year.
False

Target could issue a press release saying that HD DVD is the format of the future, but if they show with their *actions* that Blu-ray is the only player in stores then that is what will sell.

Can HD DVD purchase an end cap as well? Sure. Why don't they? Who knows. I'm not Miss Cleo, but going on the *facts at hand* Target is going to sell Blu-ray stand-alone players exclusively.

[pixelriffic @ Jul 30th 2007 10:00AM]

I went with a Toshiba HD-A2 player, and am really enjoying it. The Big Lebowski looks awesome! At my local Target, the HD-DVD discs were partially sold down, as compared to the BD slots that were mostly full. HD-DVD players that cost less than half of BD units no doubt is a major reason.

I've owned a number of Sony products over the years, and some of them were among the best of their type. The VX200 camcorder for example. In recent years, some of Sony's actions such as the famous rootkit CDs among others. I'd rather not line their greedy pockets with another dollar if I can avoid it. Not easy to do, but every dollar counts.

[Philip Alexander @ Jul 30th 2007 8:29PM]

Is it me or does Blu-Ray seem like a unfinished product, that was rushed to market? I say that because:

• Some poor quality MPEG 2 coded discs
• Lacklustre performance from some 1st generation BD players
• Confusion over regional coding
• Some 1st generation BD players lacking Ethernet ports for accessing online content.
• The BDA agreeing a new profile (version 1.1) from October 2007 meaning some BD players will be obsolete.
• Sony being sued over patent infringements over Blu-Ray Disc technology.
• News that the European Union is investigating the Hollywood studios exclusivity stance with Blu-Ray as possibly anti-competitive.

The last point is very interesting as seeing that the HD DVD format was agreed by the DVD Forum that includes the Hollywood studios it’s a bit odd that they should agree exclusivity with Blu-Ray.

With multi-format machines now on the horizon, I can see a point where studios will consider the cheaper HD-DVD option, as there will be no need to reproduce discs for the more expensive Blu-Ray format.

I’m not anti-Blu-Ray, but I do feel Blu-Ray has a lot more work to do if it wants to achieve the top spot that it thinks it deserves.

[NoK610 @ Aug 1st 2007 7:24PM]

@ Noshino

You're right, they do have an 8-layer 200GB Bluray, but who's to say that HD-DVD can't do the same thing some time down the road? I'm not even sure if the 200GB BD's been tested, so it might not work with all players. I hope they have a really thick protective layer on those BD discs since they burn so close to the surface. At any rate, this information has been circulating in the news since 2005, and I'm sure the DVD forum knew about this. So why did they continue to push HD-DVD knowing they couldn't compete? Keyword: Compete... the more competition the better. And I can't stress the fact that more dual format players are coming out soon, so that should broaden the field a bit, especially from Samsung who from day 1 released nothing but BD players.

A little off the topic, but till this day I have never purchased a dual-layer disc and that's because the price-per-gb isn't worth it to me. I guess that's my own problem, I don't mind having a lot of single-layer dvd+r's. By the way, who won that format war (+R/-R)? So I ask myself, and maybe you should to, but will the 200GB be worth the cost? I still don't think dual layer dvd+/-r's are worth it. Memorex 25-pack 2.4X dvd+r's DL for $49.99 at Bestbuy (by the way 2.4x is sloooowwwww)... yea right! One single 2x 25GB BD-R disc for $20.99... yea right! Let's all pretend that the 200GB BD-R was on a shelf right now, which by the way, it isn't. I can only imagine how much that would cost. I'm no genius but that would probably make 1 single BD-R disc over $100+. Of course the more they manufacture the cheaper, after x-amount of years on market, supply and demand, blah blah...

...I give up man...

Go broke and buy BD, I don't care. I guess storage does mean everything... more, more, more right? Less, less, less cash in your pocket. That's the way to go! I'm out.

[Blufactor @ Aug 3rd 2007 8:04PM]

I hate to break the news to every one, but Target indeed has chosen Blu-ray hardware over HD-DVD both in stores and on their web site. If you check out target.com and look in the category HD-DVD they list only 2 up converting DVD players where as last week the same location had some real Toshiba HD-DVD players. There is still the xbox360 add on, but thats all. Thus the news is officially confirmed that Target has indeed chosen Blu-ray hard ware wise

[TJ Spyke @ Aug 7th 2007 9:48PM]

Your name shows that you are just a Blu-ray fanboy (why you support it is beyond me). This whole format war is moot though since the facts are that neither one is gonna be dominant anytime soon, both formats are still being outsold by VHS (so they won't be beating DVD anytime soon). There isn't much reason to upgrade either since the only benefit they offer is that they look a little bit better than DVD, it's not the same jump that DVD offered over VHS.