Paramount, Dreamworks dropping Blu-ray in favor of HD DVD exclusivity
By Richard Lawler 
posted Aug 20th 2007 1:17PM
posted Aug 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.
Skeevies! Who wants to see porn in hidef? Me thinks the breast augmentation scars, ass-pimples, byproducts of the brown-eye intrusions, stretch marks and wrinkles will create either the need for post-production cleanup costs, or reduce the porn-queen reign to 25 years of age prior to retiring.
Give me a combo player or give me 'def!
Maybe Blu-ray has porn industry some region, but I heard that HD-DVD has the US porn industry. And I have never of any "movies" on Blu-ray, but I do know one site that offers five different HD-DVD entertainment discs.
uhhhh WHAT?
Last I remembered the porn industry supported HD DVD because of the lower production prices. In other words, it was cheaper for them to put them on HD DVD.
You sir are an idiot. HD DVD has recieved the porn industry's loyalty at the very least, here in North America!!
Do a Google search. Infact, here'se a sample of the many links:
page and READ.
And thank you for tuning into this episode of morons say the darndest things!
There was an article a while ago, Sony said that they will not be allowing the porn industry to utilise the Blu-Ray format. Porn industry backs HD-DVD
:: Dances around the room ::
LOL.. sorry guys can't help myself.. :P
As an HD-DVD owner (with the 360 add on drive), I kind of wish HD-DVD would just die and everyone go Blu-ray. I mean if anyone is going to decide on HDDVD sure that'd be okay too. Ah screw it I'll just wait for HD Rentals over XBLM in Canada...
Why the shit would you buy an HD-dvd player if you want it to die n00b.
And that is why I don't own any HD player's yet...
Paramount has some movies I definitely want, TRANSFORMERS, BRAVEHEART, to name a few.
If NEW LINE decides to support HD-DVD as well, it's over for me. LOTR is all I need for HD movies. You can keep those crappy STAR WARS and SPIDER-MAN movies.
DAMN PARAMOUNT. This really screwed us all out of a single format.
That's right! I've got my original trilogy right here on Laserdisc. And that's the only way I'm keeping it.
Bribes works!.
This is huge news for HD DVD
Ah, Paramount....the only studio that has 'brand' value in my mind....almost all of their films suck....I'm sure the blu-ray camp is really going to be upset that they won't be able to see standard Paramount product like Coneheads or Next on their PS3s.
All of their films suck? Transformers has grossed $660,694,453 so far buddy ...
But of course, money doesn't mean everything. Transformers was good though! So shut your ignorant mouth =)
well duh. everyone knows that when a lot of people pay for it, it's awesome.
ya know, like top 40 music.
::jerk::
Yeah, you dont care about Iron Man, Indy Jones 4, or Star Trek. You were more interested in such stellar titles like Pink Panther 2, What Happens in Vegas and 27 Dresses.
wait, i already saw what i thought was a picture of both the hddvd release and the bluray release of blades. this truly sucks for bluray owners. i wonder what prompted this?
Sony probably pissed off Paramount by pushing their idea that "The format war is over"
Right, Paramount was on the winning side, and suddenly they want to head over to the guys who are losing in sales 2:1 because Sony claimed that they were winning. O..K..
"Paramount was on the winning side" Says who? Winning in Sales does not equal winning the format war.
If you read between the lines... It says... Sony pisses off Paramount by demanding better deal in contract when releasing BD (thinking they won), Paramount says F-U and opts out.
Sony probably pissed off Paramount by pushing their idea that "The format war is over"
This is why the HD format wars are for suckers and fanbois.
Fortunately, thanks to my mild nearsightedness, HD and SD look *exactly the fucking same* to me. When you throw in the fact that DVDs are getting cheaper and cheaper, life is pretty damn good.
I want three things. Lord of the Rings. Star Wars, and ..... hmm, not sure, but maybe 2001 if they did it really good. I will not play these games, and I will not buy any products (even DVDs) from companies that do. Lord knows that are alternatives to being their customers.
What will really kill HD-DVD is when all six starwars movies come out exclusively for Blu-Ray.
@Rick Person
It all depends on when they are released, but I'm not holding my breath. It took Lucas YEARS to finally bring the entire series to DVD! If you think for a second that he's given the green light to release his films on an HD format you're out of your mind.
He's going to wait until the war is over and there is a clear winner. He is a businessman first, and a filmmaker second, and as such he would never take that big of a gamble on his champion series.
There is simply no questioning this. At this time there is a better chance of Fox going neutral than seeing the Star Wars series released within the next year.
Too bad 3 of the movies suck and the others would have to be upscaled to HD so I think I'll just have my tv upconvert the good movies instead of buying them a 3rd time.
THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN. Speilberg has Lucas's ear. And guess what property Paramount has with SPeilberg and Lucas? INDIANA JONES. So when that comes out HD-DVD so will Star Wars.
Yeah Indiana Jones will come out HD-DVD and Starwars on Blu-Ray. Doesn't matter what Speilberg thinks and there isn't a chance in heck of a studio going neutral on a movie. Completely defeats the purpose of a studio promoting a single format. IMHO Fox has the best movie library out there and its all going to be Blu-Ray. Sorry guys....
@barry are you on f**king crack HD and sd do not look the same get an hdtv you f**king numnuts
Go back and read his post. HaHa...you just made yourself look like a complete dumb-ass.
heh. i have a ps3 and the 360 hd dvd player.
[enjoys media]
He said he was near sighted... learn to read.
The Godfather films exclusively on HD DVD... enough said.
Pretty big news I'd say - HD-DVD does seem to be the more rounded format, it has a proper specification, rather than the Blu-Ray "include what you want" spec. I suspect that cheap HD-DVD players around the corner is the major factor, and that HD-DVD is backed by the official DVD forum.
Wonder what Blockbuster will do, they now have a situation where they won't be able to offer some big movie hits in HD, whilst their competition can.
Blockbuster will have to change along with Target. Netflix is in a fierce price war with blockbuster. They haven't chosen sides and with Paramount can offer hundreds more than Blockbuster if they don't reverse their decision.
---HD-DVD does seem to be the more rounded format---What does that mean?
Bluray Disc has more capacity, Bluray can read data off the disc at a higher bitrate, Bluray stream video + audio at higher bitrate.
How many HDDVD Movies have Uncompressed PCM Audio Soundtrack --24bit 48kHz--, not lossless audio and yes Uncompressed does sound better.
I'm getting really sick of this pleb mentality, I can't understand why people prefer mediocrity instead of going for the best technology available not the cheapest, currently the best is Bluray - read the specs.
Paramount good luck with mediocrity.
Blu-Rays specifications are NOT solid, some players have some features others do not, an internet connection is not standard and missing on most players, how are you supposed to update the firmware or unlock new features in the future?
Most of the initial batch of blu-ray dics were very poor, featuring MPEG2, they have NOT re-released those movies, so blu-ray already has a stunted library.
It also features an extra layer of DRM and most importantly for myself is REGION LOCKED, whereas HD-DVD is not and so I can source movies from anywhere around the world.
HD-DVD has a much better interactive layer (UControl) and also features real-time interactivity via internet, Blu-Ray offers neither of these as standard.
I'd be VERY surprised if uncompressed PCM sounds significantly better than the other high def soundtracks.
A bit more un-needed space (although lots of blu-ray movie discs are actually shorter on storage space than HD-DVD) hardly makes it a format winner. There hasn't been a single movie that doesn't fit onto a HD-DVD disc at the highest resolution, its unlikely there ever will be.
ADDITIONALLY Blu-Ray players don't have to be able to play normal DVD's, Which is absolutely ridiculous.
I'm hardly a pleb, I install HD Home Cinemas for people for a living, you however sound like a typical Sony fanboy.
"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."
Um what? They're not the people that make the broadband infrastructure that is running out of space already. Those are the ISPs who are going to be hurting very soon as the amount of content getting transferred over the internet continues to grow. America is NOWHERE near ready to be downloading full HD movies in any sort of convenience. The HD formats will be around for a bit, until America can make it that I can download a full HD movie in under 30 minutes legally and make it so I can store ~100 HD movies without selling my house to pay for all the hard drives I would need.
Thank you for being a realist.
most easy is
1. Go to thepiratebay.net
2. search for axxo
3. sort by number of leech
4. click on top few, those are best movies.
why 30 minutes? I can't get in the car,drive to the store, buy the movie and get back to my house in 30 minutes...
Also, 100 HD movies would fit on a terrabyte drive. Currently about $290 (less if you get a good deal.) If you have to mortgage your house for that, you probably should not buy an HDTV set...
The sweet spot for player pricing will be $100. If the HD-DVD players can get down to that then people buying a new player for standard DVDs (or refreshing/replacing their older player) will buy the HD-DVD-capable device even if they don't have an initial intention of playing HD titles. This will counteract Sony's PS3 advantage in number of players shipped. Then, with these new players in their homes, people will slowly start renting HD-DVDs from their video store (oh yes - Blockbuster will reverse their decision favoring BluRay, and HollywoodVideo/MovieTime will probably start to stock HD-DVD exclusively).
And then BluRay will become the new BetaMax.
Awesome.
Why would you root for a storage medium that has less capacity?(honest question)
Stating the truth isn't rooting for anything fanboy. What he said is a fact, the first player to make it to $99 wins the game. End of story.
Personally I think the bogus PS3 advantage is just a big joke. If you are talking college kids then yes there are plenty of PS3's out there, but I bet very few who own PS3's are buying movies for them (is there anyone in college these days that believes in paying for media?), nor watching movies with them. HD-DVD players cost $199 with 5 movies according to an ad I saw last week. Blue-ray players are around $700 last I saw. If HD-DVD gets to $150 there will be big uptake, and if it gets to $99 the game is over.
One would advocate a lower capacity format when it provides sufficient storage for the content one wants to put upon it, and when that format is cheaper to manufacture.
And the winner for the most stupid decision EVER made goes tooooo....PARAMOUNT.
I wouldn't be as upset if i didn't love Transformers...damn. But ah well, we still have Fox and Disney.
SDF ASSEMBLE!!
And to think I just sold my 360 add on and some movies. I think I am more upset at Paramount than Universal over this. I can respect that Universal is sticking to their guns by staying HD DVD exclusive. But with all the good press about Blu ray sales, it just seems like stupid decision for Paramount to go HD DVD. Blu ray will still come out on top. As a home theater installer, I have never delivered or setup an HD DVD player. I have done many Blu ray setups though. Downloadable movies is not going mainstream for a while. It's a good idea in theory until you want to take a movie to friends house or in your car.
Actually, this means the three major studios all support HD-DVD--two exclusively. I don't understand how you can be convinced of Blu-Rays success in light of this news.
Which "three" main studios? Sony controls a bunch different studios, last time I checked (Sony, Columbia, Tri-Star, MGM) and Fox & Disney are still BD exclusive. Plus, WB is still format neutral. The format war is far from over...