Blockbuster to favor Blu-ray over HD-DVD

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June 18th, 2007, 00:30
DPyro

Blockbuster to favor Blu-ray over HD-DVD

The video retailer will not carry HD DVDs in 1,450 stores.

Washington, D.C. (June 17, 2007) -- Video rental giant Blockbuster will only rent HDTV DVDs in the Blu-ray format in 1,450 stores next month when it expands its high-def service. That's according to an exclusive report today from the Associated Press.

The retailer has tested both formats in approximately 250 stores for the last several months. But Blockbuster officials say 70 percent of the high-def rentals are Blu-ray. "The consumers are sending us a message. I can't ignore what I'm seeing," Matthew Smith, Blockbuster's senior vice president of merchandising, tells AP.

Blockbuster is expected to announce the decision to favor Blu-ray over HD DVD on Monday, AP reports. However, the retailer will continue to carry HD DVD titles in the original 250 test locations.

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June 18th, 2007, 03:20
jmendes

score sony!
June 18th, 2007, 04:49
mnuhaily22

lol^^^
June 18th, 2007, 07:23
pibs

doesn't look like a smart move because what problem would having both formats cause.....
June 18th, 2007, 08:36
lmtlmt

well it means more money spent by the video store to get the titles in and less profit with not as many people renting them pibster.
June 18th, 2007, 08:45
pibs

so its really the same case with beta vs vhs, except this time sony seems to have the upper hand.
June 18th, 2007, 08:55
lmtlmt

exactly ;)
June 18th, 2007, 10:38
mnuhaily22

VHS :rofl:
June 18th, 2007, 13:15
royvedas

sucks

Kinda sucks. I believe that HD-DVD is region free and Blueray is region locked. I would hate to see the regionlocked format win.

Correct me if I'm wrong concerning region free/locked.
June 18th, 2007, 13:50
mnuhaily22

^^^I do believe all PS3 games are region free, but I am not so sure about the movies...and HD-DVD is only for movies, games can't be played with it...
June 18th, 2007, 13:55
DPyro

Blu-ray is region locked but is different than DVD.
For example:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...s_with_key.png
A/1 North America, Central America, South America, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia.

B/2 Europe, Greenland, French territories, Middle East, Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

C/3 India, Nepal, Mainland China, Russia, Central and South Asia.
June 18th, 2007, 15:59
F9zDark

This, aside from the sales figures, is the first real world evidence that HD-DVD is losing the war. Now maybe the HD-DVD fanboys who blurt out shit like "Blu-Ray is the next Betamax" will clearly see that HD-DVD is losing.

Thank you Blockbuster. Format wars only hurt consumers in the end and hopefully, other companies will start to remove HD-DVD from their shelves as well. So this war can be over by Christmas.
June 18th, 2007, 16:19
iniquitous_beast

I wonder if we'll see an xbox360 expansion in a few years that plays blu-ray movies.
June 18th, 2007, 17:17
Elven6

Just because someone stocks them dosen't mean people will rent them. Besides they still said they will carry HD DVD's aswell, I live in Canada and my Blockbuster carried both before this was even announced.
June 19th, 2007, 03:56
mnuhaily22

Quote:

Originally Posted by $n!pR

Blu-ray is region locked but is different than DVD.
For example:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...s_with_key.png
A/1 North America, Central America, South America, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia.

B/2 Europe, Greenland, French territories, Middle East, Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

C/3 India, Nepal, Mainland China, Russia, Central and South Asia.

Does that apply to games??? Cause I heard games are region free...
June 19th, 2007, 04:00
Shadowblind

:rofl:

People en masse are stupid, right F9z?

I'll stick with DVD, heck with HD-DVD and Bluray! :rofl:
June 19th, 2007, 05:13
wolfpack

personally im not going to get hd-dvd or blu-ray because of the fact that theres a movie war going on right now on the formats, when one side wins, then ill start buying the next gen "dvd's" but for now ill sit aside and watch this one out. but if blockbuster supported both hd-dvd and blu-ray, theyd make more sales(in my opinion) because theyd be supporting a wide variety of formats. i dunno im just stating whats on my mind right now, i could be wrong but i dont care, this war is just kinda silly to me
June 19th, 2007, 19:45
Basil Zero

Forget movies on HD-DVD and blu-ray, I just want some games

Movies can stay on DVDs thank you.
June 19th, 2007, 19:51
Shadowblind

Quote:

Originally Posted by Basil Zero

Forget movies on HD-DVD and blu-ray, I just want some games

Movies can stay on DVDs thank you.

Words of wisdom you have spoken :D
June 20th, 2007, 17:20
F9zDark

Quote:

Originally Posted by Basil Zero

Forget movies on HD-DVD and blu-ray, I just want some games

Movies can stay on DVDs thank you.

Do you own an HDTV? If not then this line of thought is applicable at least to your situation. But considering that HDTVs are gaining in popularity, people aren't gonna want to watch SD movies on them.

I know I wouldn't.
June 24th, 2007, 20:24
freitax

Quote:

Originally Posted by F9zDark

Do you own an HDTV? If not then this line of thought is applicable at least to your situation. But considering that HDTVs are gaining in popularity, people aren't gonna want to watch SD movies on them.

I know I wouldn't.

specially if the hdtv is a lcd..dam lcds are crap...