Recent Comments:
Engadget HD destroys Format War Central in AVP challenge {Engadget HD}
Jan 10th 2008 4:36PM Haha, I'm loving the article Ben.
Nielsen VideoScan High-Def market share for week ending November 25th, 2007 {Engadget HD}
Dec 1st 2007 2:07AM I think you need to revisit my post, because I think you'll find that we agree on a number of things that you went on to outline in your own post. I was merely attempting to make the point that the sales data is a non-issue at this stage in the game.
I'm not claiming that either is victorious, and I even went so far as to speak sarcastically of the "sales lead" for either format at this point in the war.
I never said content didn't play a major role in the format war. I merely said that there is obviously a lot of buying power on both formats. If a good title comes out, or one that the mass consumer audience values, they'll step up and buy it. On top of that, I think that HD DVD has even more buying power potential as of late with the addition of the 90k players, that didn't have any effect on the Transformers sales when it debuted in mid-October. I'm not discounting the PS3 effect either, mind you. Yes, when you factor in the PS3 there are vastly more blu-ray capable units in the wild, but it's just a matter of convincing the PS3 owners that they need to buy Blu-ray media, and that's proving a bit more difficult than they had previously imagined. Perhaps then the PS3 will finally have it's desired effect as the trojan horse in this format war. However, I think that it's entirely possible that the lower priced HD DVD hardware could become the true trojan horse and ultimately pull the rug out from under blu-ray's feet once the install base for standalone players gets up into the millions. Sure, there are millions of PS3 units in the wild today, and more will inevitably be sold, but you are kidding yourself if you think major film studios are going to back a format solely on a gaming console. If the standalone sales for Blu-ray don't match/surpass HD DVD in the long run, we will definitely be faced with a dual format future, which isn't all that bad, or perhaps one sole format.
It doesn't matter all that much to me. I'm just happy to have HD movies, and I really think that people should stop investing so much into these weekly sale figures because as you say they don't mean crap. The YTD numbers are far more telling, and they have only shifted a mere percent since EHD started covering them. I personally don't like to celebrate the numbers, even when transformers was kicking ass back in October, for the very reason that these numbers are so volatile and fickle. All I was trying to do with my previous post was to make the point that people can't have it both ways, whether it be Blu-ray or HD DVD fanboys. They can't cheer when they're in the lead, and then turn around and discount the sales data when it's looking dim, or is not in their favor.
The bottom line? It's best to stay clear of these figures until we start getting into the "millions sold" era for HD disc media. Otherwise it'll just be a never-ending pissing match. That is something I'm sure you can agree with.
Nielsen VideoScan High-Def market share for week ending November 25th, 2007 {Engadget HD}
Nov 30th 2007 5:39PM For all of the Blu-ray fans that are touting these sales figures like it's some major achievement, you should revisit the sales data from the month of October. It's not all that long ago, and the numbers were drastically different than they are now.
My point is that these numbers are far too volatile and irrelevant because they not only exclude other retailers as others have pointed out, but they also lack impact because these individual titles have yet to sell anywhere near as many units as their SD counterparts.
Everyone is getting worked up over nothing at this point. Just sit back, relax and enjoy your HD format of choice.
Oh, and here are the links to the weeks to the sales data showing HD DVD within striking distance of taking Blu-ray's "sales lead" away from them. Whether or not you choose to acknowledge it, there is buying power behind HD DVD, and the same is true for Blu-ray, but until they start selling millions of discs per title, there won't be a victor, if ever.
http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/10/26/nielsen-videoscan-high-def-market-share-for-week-ending-october/
http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/02/nielsen-videoscan-high-def-market-share-for-week-ending-october/
Nielsen VideoScan High-Def market share for week ending November 25th, 2007 {Engadget HD}
Nov 30th 2007 3:23PM Open Season? Really?!
Spider-Man 3 didn't break any records on Blu-ray its first week {Engadget HD}
Nov 8th 2007 3:53PM @Ben
Zealot? That's a good alternative, no?
SlySoft's latest AnyDVD beta cracks BD+ {Engadget HD}
Nov 8th 2007 2:08PM "I bet they're regretting their lack of ethernet about now."
Yeah, you better believe that the 2.0 players are being fast tracked as we speak. I can't imagine them taking longer to get the 2.0 players out, than it is taking them to release the 1.1 players.
Terminator 3: I'll be back, in a couple of weeks {Engadget HD}
Nov 8th 2007 1:58PM I don't think he was saying that Blu-ray looks better than HD DVD. I think that it was a poorly worded jab at Blu-ray in order to say that Blu-ray is only a better looking successor to DVD, but that HD DVD has an equal, or better, picture quality compared to Blu-ray, and that it bests Blu-ray by including all of the interactivity/web connectivity as a standard from day one.
That's what I took from it anyway.
90,000 HD DVD players sold in one weekend {Engadget HD}
Nov 7th 2007 2:08PM D@n:
"HD-DVD has hardware by Toshiba, Sanyo, and Microsoft."
Don't forget about Onkyo, Integra, and Venturer. :)
90,000 HD DVD players sold in one weekend {Engadget HD}
Nov 7th 2007 12:38PM @Ben
"The only stat I had access to is the BD-S300 and that isn't enough to be a good comparison."
I would argue that the entry level player for Blu-ray and the entry level player for HD DVD would be more than a good comparison. In fact, I think it's one of the most logical comparisons you could make given the circumstances.
No?
Blu-ray standards: Profile 1.0 vs. 1.1 vs. 2.0 {Engadget HD}
Nov 6th 2007 6:11PM @domerdel
"First off, I wouldn't recommend any format to the "random" consumer, because the prices aren't ready."
I'm not so sure about that. $199 for an HD-A3 (third gen Toshiba) sounds just right to me. I don't think that Blu-ray prices are low enough yet, but this again brings us to the issue of them lacking features that are present even on the cheapest HD DVD player. When a Blu-ray standalone drops below $200, will it be a 1.1/2.0 compliant piece of hardware, or will it simply be a 1.0 player? At that point it is up to the consumer to weigh their options, as it should be. The debate would be in that particular instance: Do I value 1080p more than I do advanced interactivity/web enabled features and downloads?
Surely the market will be split on those two things, but just how much remains to be seen. For the majority of people that don't have 1080p sets, the decision will be a clear one, at least in my opinion.
