Target Goes the Blu-Ray Route

[Callisto]

Score 1 point for the PS3.

[DakAttack]

Re: Target Goes the Blu-Ray Route

Something is wrong with the link.

[Callisto]

Re: Target Goes the Blu-Ray Route

Probably b/c this got posted to FARK, the traffic may have crashed the site for a bit.

LOS ANGELES (AP) - For a department store chain whose color scheme is red, Target is getting ready to put a lot of stock in blue. That’s blue as in Blu-ray, one of two competing formats for high-definition DVD’s. Target says it will start selling a Blu-ray HD DVD player this holiday season. In addition, it will be displaying the player along with Blu-ray discs in store displays.

The move by the popular national retailer could turn out to be a blow to the rival HD DVD format. Neither format is compatible with the other, and that means consumers have been slow to adopt one or the other, fearing that they will be shelling out big bucks for a device could end up obsolete if the other format ends up with the upper hand. So far, some of the early skirmishes have gone to the Blu-ray side but it’s still too early to tell which format will end up being the dominant player in the consumer market.

Basically one of the top 5 retailers in the US(probably top 3 if you only count retailers that carry stuff like DVDs and video games) just decided that it's going with Blu-Ray as its next-gen DVD format of choice for the holiday season. It wouldn't be stretch to assume that they won't be carrying both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. So one of the largest US retailers is carrying Blu-Ray, and one of the more affordable Blu-Ray players just happens to be built into the PS3.

Not exactly getting exclusivity from a 3rd party dev or anything of that sort, but it definitely can't hurt the PS3, especially if Wal-Mart chooses to go the same route, which I have a feeling they may do(although they could probably afford to carry both formats).

[Pai Pai Master]

Re: Target Goes the Blu-Ray Route

Being a Target employee, I know what this move means. When Target decides to sell something like this, they push it. And people who shop at Target regularly will notice it, especially if they put it on display. From BD exclusivity at Blockbuster to this, major retailers are slowly but finally beginning to catch on that BD is the right choice.

Though it doesn't say which BD player they will sell. Sure, they already sell the PS3, but will they sell a Sony BD player? Pioneer? Samsung? I'm thinking something along the lower end, as there are apparently sub-$400 BD players coming out this holiday.

I'm moving this to the Entertainment section, as it relates to PS3 but is more relevant to the entertainment industry in general.

[Callisto]

Re: Target Goes the Blu-Ray Route

Though it doesn't say which BD player they will sell. Sure, they already sell the PS3, but will they sell a Sony BD player? Pioneer? Samsung? I'm thinking something along the lower end, as there are apparently sub-$400 BD players coming out this holiday.

Yeah I was thinking about that as well. My guess was that they'd carry at least one Sony player(seeing as how Sony is pushing Blu-Ray like it was BetaMax) and probably a lower-end or two, because it is Target, not Best Buy.

I wasn't really too interested in the subject until my birthday earlier this month, now that I have an HDTV that can actually make use of this stuff(no more 'crappy tv' switch for my 360!) I'm probably going to invest in a PS3 at some point in the near future. And if I do invest in a PS3 I'll surely be hoping that Blu-Ray wins the next-gen DVD war, since I currently use my game consoles as my DVD players, and I'd rather not have to buy a separate HD-DVD player just because that format won out.

Add: What I did forget to mention was how I think this could drive down PS3 prices. If Blu-Ray takes off, Sony will be pouring in resources to mass-produce Blu-Ray technology, buying more materials in bulk(thus likely getting discounts on them), and the savings would likely spill over to the PS3 side of the business, as a cheaper Blu-Ray device inside the PS3 would allow them to cut the cost down a bit. Just my thinking, I may be wrong.

[jwalton]

Re: Target Goes the Blu-Ray Route

I don't think either format will really die. And I'm OK with this because it's making my DVDs cheaper.

[Pai Pai Master]

Re: Target Goes the Blu-Ray Route

Indeed, that's already happened. Sony was losing over $250 per unit on PS3s when it launched back in November, and before the price drop at the beginning of the month, they were reported to be profiting on the 60GB PS3 at $599. Blu-ray technology, in addition to CELL production, has become vastly less expensive since the PS3's launch, which marked the first time both components were mass-produced. As BD continues to succeed and inches towards a possibility of being the standard high-def DVD format in the next few years, it'll only get cheaper and cheaper.

[Malacite]

Re: Target Goes the Blu-Ray Route

Go go Blu Ray ^^

[DieselBoy09]

Re: Target Goes the Blu-Ray Route

Now if only porn would go straight Bluray. The effects would be immense.

[Feba]

Re: Target Goes the Blu-Ray Route

Alright, but who the hell actually shops at target?

[ItazuraNhomango]

Re: Target Goes the Blu-Ray Route

I remember reading that HD DVD has much better yield rate (number of working vs. broken discs off the "press") than Blu-Ray, plus the "press" machine is a lot cheaper.

Don't understand why Blu-Ray is winning... Well, aside from the storage capacity and the slightly beefier looking DRM arsenal. I had figured the industry would gravitate to the cheaper solution. heh.

[Pai Pai Master]

Re: Target Goes the Blu-Ray Route

That was true back when HD-DVD had first launched. Now, apparently, BD is cheaper.

[Dymlos]

Re: Target Goes the Blu-Ray Route

I'm still waiting it out on the victor, mostly because my HDTV is only 720p and I won't get a 1080p for <long time>.

[ItazuraNhomango]

Re: Target Goes the Blu-Ray Route

That was true back when HD-DVD had first launched. Now, apparently, BD is cheaper.

How odd.

HD DVD uses nearly the same physical material and form factor as DVD, whereas BD uses different material (at least the surface coating) as well as different form factor (data layer is at 0.1 mm from surface--which is why it needs a special, tougher coating) as well.

I would have guessed that BD would have required tighter tolerance to function, and together with the special coating material would keep the price higher no matter what.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Target Goes the Blu-Ray Route

I'm still kinda baffled as to why there's a pointless format war when the existing format is still sufficient and streaming audio and video only gets better and better. I just see the same bullshit I've been seeing for the last ten years - companies wanting us to buy plastic discs and silicon chips.

Right now on PS3 I can download Namco's apology for Tekken 4, you can download demos of games just shown at E3 on your 360 or PS3.

Why am I going to the stores again? They didn't fill out the DVDs the last time around, you're not gonna fill out whatever formats you make up now.