Paramount and Dreamworks go HD-DVD Exclusive, Uselessly Extend Format War

[Omniblast]

Re: Paramount and Dreamworks go HD-DVD Exclusive, Uselessly Extend Format War

I've never been obsessively into graphics, movies, and the like . Even watching two HUGE HDTVs play Standard Def and Blu-Ray side by side, I walked away rather underwhelmed. For all the drama around it, you'd think it was the greatest thing since the wheel. I'm not ignorant. I see the difference. But I don't see 'Pay this company thousands in players and TV upgrades' difference.

Maybe $200 more. Maybe.

So I'm waiting. I only own a handful of movies anyway. Star Wars, LotR, stuff like that. Once HD tech gets cheaper and more in my budget range I'll go for it.

I'd get a HDTV more for the games I play, though, rather than movies. I'm just not a big movie buff. :/ Most movies that people like these days I find boring as sin. But I bet Mass Effect would look damn gorgeous on a big HDTV.

Instead of buying a stand alone player, why don't you get a PS3 since it comes with BD anyways. You might as well jump on it. It's not the greatest thing besides the wheel. You don't "need" it. You don't "need" to play video games either, or post on the forums. You don't "need' the internet either.

[LyonheartLakshmi]

Re: Paramount and Dreamworks go HD-DVD Exclusive, Uselessly Extend Format War

Beta has been vindicated at last.

My 8-year-old sister-in-law recently convinced Mom to let her get a pet fish. So they bought her a Betta Fish. They decided to name the fish Max.

Apparently, it was a complete coincidence that they named him Betta Max.

Metal Gear Solid 4, Kill Zone 2, Little Big Planet, Final Fantasy 13, White Knight Story...

shall I go on?

The reasons for me buying a PS3 will probably be centered around some of those titles... once those games actually come out, that is.

[Telera]

Re: Paramount and Dreamworks go HD-DVD Exclusive, Uselessly Extend Format War

Because I refuse to buy a PS3. I'm unhappy with how they've handled a lot of the decisions surrounding the system. Nevermind that I only like Playstation for Final Fantasies and those have really lost their luster for me lately. Also not that hard-up to have Blu-Ray versions of Star Wars and LotR. It'd look nice but I barely watch the copies I own now. Just not a movie person. I watch them in theaters and again at home if I'm excessively bored, but usually no.

Not that into the other things I've seen for PS3, either. Don't care how pretty they are (because they do look nice), they didn't appeal to me as a game. And I have 360 for Assassin's Creed and Oblivion, soz...

Oh, that and I only have about $75 at the end of the month to spend on frivolous things. I'd rather spend it on books or save for a better PC for LotR:O and the Bioware/LA game that I hope is a KotOR era MMO. KotOR MMO =

[Feba]

Re: Paramount and Dreamworks go HD-DVD Exclusive, Uselessly Extend Format War

I personally have a few things against the PS3, it's price is just too high (No, you aren't paying for quality, you're paying for a gaming system. If the company wants to try to push bleeding edge technology into a console, that's fine, but don't pass the expense on to me), there's really only one game I might want for it that's actually out, and locking out hardware from linux just for the sake of locking it out is not cool.

[Raydeus]

Re: Paramount and Dreamworks go HD-DVD Exclusive, Uselessly Extend Format War

I see 3 main issues why people doesn't buy the PS3

- Money. People simply doesn't have the money to pay for the hardware. All the it's just a gaming console and all that is just an excuse to avoid paying the price tag. The same way a luxury car costs more because of whats in it the same the PS3 costs more than a console like the Wii.

So either you have the money or dont, and that's about it.


- Softare. While there are many games out nowadays and many good games that will come in 2008 the PS3 doesn't have a library as extense to make much of a difference between buying it now or later. People interested in Blu-ray and other features like backwards compatibility (some models) get much more out of the system than people only interested in next gen gaming.

Once the format war ends and Blu-ray players become as cheap and available as DVD (yeah I'm killing HD-DVD already ) then we'll see people going back to only consider the PS3 as a gaming console only. But by then the PS3 should have a strong library of games.


- HDTV market. Kinda tied to the first two, the HDTV market is still at a very early stage, so the amount of changes required to fully enjoy HD console gaming arent as simple as simply buying the console.

Without having a full HD HDTV people will see little difference between the PS3 and Xbox or Wii, same with HD-DVD and Blu-ray. Since 720p is the most accesible right now, it's natural costumers will lean towards the less expensive hardware even though the PS3's potential for the future is far superior.

I hope that will change with time as 1080p gets much more market though.

[Celeal]

Re: Paramount and Dreamworks go HD-DVD Exclusive, Uselessly Extend Format War

Both HD-DVD and Blue Ray Movies are currently using H.264/MPEG-4 AVC or Microsoft's VC-1 for video codec anyway (and usually AC3 ~ Dolby Digital for audio codec).... different media to store the same thing >.>

Besides the difference of maximum amount of data that can be stored in the disc... really... not much of difference except the price and watch kind of HD-DVD/Blue-Ray movies are selling in stores, etc.

[Raydeus]

Re: Paramount and Dreamworks go HD-DVD Exclusive, Uselessly Extend Format War

Just because they both use the same codec it doesn't mean they will always have the same quality, the more disc space you have the less compressed the video/sound can be be, which will improve quality at higher resolutions.

Right now they are both kinda at the same lvl, but Blu-ray's potential in the long run far exceeds that of the HD-DVD.

[Caspian]

Re: Paramount and Dreamworks go HD-DVD Exclusive, Uselessly Extend Format War

Besides the difference of maximum amount of data that can be stored in the disc... really... not much of difference except the price and watch kind of HD-DVD/Blue-Ray movies are selling in stores, etc.

Which is where we're at right now. 70% of the major studios are BD only, HD-DVD only has 30%. Plus Paramount and Universal can now get out of HD-DVD only any time they want. I'd expect them to announce neutrality in about a month, probably less.

As for capabilities, before Paramount scrapped BD, they were making Braveheart for both formats. Limitations on HD-DVD were forcing the studio to leave out lots of extra material on the HD-DVD discs that was still going to be on the BDs.

Toshiba gambled that hardware would decide the winner and not titles. They lost.

[Malacite]

Re: Paramount and Dreamworks go HD-DVD Exclusive, Uselessly Extend Format War

Funny how ppl bitch about PS3's cost now, when Microsoft is apparently already at work on their next console (more proof that at least with Sony, you're investing for the long term)


I still don't understand why Toshiba helped build the PS3 (CELL) and yet backed the opposing format. WTF kind of business plan was that?

[jwalton]

Re: Paramount and Dreamworks go HD-DVD Exclusive, Uselessly Extend Format War

You seriously can't be that naive. Consoles are obsolete the day they are shipped. The hardware divisions don't get fired after they ship a console, they get started on the next project that won't see the light of day for years. Of course Microsoft's already at work on their next console. So is Sony and Nintendo.

I don't know why you persist on sucking Sony's flaccid dick. They're the dumbasses that wouldn't go with iHD because they have a beef with Microsoft, which if they HAD, would have secured an alliance between Toshiba and Sony, and there would have never been a format war to begin with.

[Anaki]

Re: Paramount and Dreamworks go HD-DVD Exclusive, Uselessly Extend Format War

locking out hardware from linux just for the sake of locking it out is not cool.

i'd think the locking out thing is more of a security issue. then a "lets be assholes" issue like your stating it is o.O

[Telera]

Re: Paramount and Dreamworks go HD-DVD Exclusive, Uselessly Extend Format War

I think this now calls for the 'I like where this thread is headed' image.

Unfortunately, I do not have it on my PC. So I leave that to someone else.

[jwalton]

Re: Paramount and Dreamworks go HD-DVD Exclusive, Uselessly Extend Format War

Here's some fun: more than 3/4 of the Blu-Ray titles that feature lossless audio through the LPCM track have inferior fidelity than the compressed audio tracks on both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD, 48kHz/16-bit versus 48kHz/24-bit. The studios downconvert it to 16-bit due to bandwidth constraints, because LPCM is outdated and a serious waste of space and resources, much like MPEG 2 is for video (though Sony quit using that with recent releases). Some of them have a TrueHD track, but because it's not mandatory on the Blu-Ray spec for players, most studios don't bother.

The whole "LOSSLESS AUDIO GUYS" is marketing crap, highly overrated. The whole point of audio compression was to reduce the amount of disk space taken and reproduce the same result, throwing out data wasted on frequencies the human ear can't even perceive. We all listen to MP3s on a daily basis for crying out loud.

Long story short: wait for the next formats, Blu-Ray and HD-DVD suck.

[Feba]

Re: Paramount and Dreamworks go HD-DVD Exclusive, Uselessly Extend Format War

- Money. People simply doesn't have the money to pay for the hardware. All the it's just a gaming console and all that is just an excuse to avoid paying the price tag. The same way a luxury car costs more because of whats in it the same the PS3 costs more than a console like the Wii.

So either you have the money or dont, and that's about it.

Absolutely not true. That is a statement from someone who has absolutely no idea how to handle money, and is extremely likely to end up in debt, not a wise statement about the cost of an object. Just because you can afford something does not mean it is worth the price. The PS3 is simply not worth it's price to many people, regardless of whether they can afford it or not. I, for one, could easily afford a PS3 if I wished to pay that much, but I find the price silly. For the price I'd need to spend on a PS3, I could get much more enjoyment on another console.

The console war, as it is, is like three cars-- a small, sporty car, the Wii; a Jeep, the 360; and a big freaking Hummer, the PS3. The sporty car is a lot of fun on the roads you can take it on, but some people complain because it can't handle dirt roads well. The Jeep can go most places, but it breaks down a lot, and is more expensive than the car. The Hummer can go just about anywhere, in luxury and style, but it's very expensive, and many of the parks they advertise aren't going to open for another few seasons.

You can argue that the Hummer is more worth more than the sporty car because of the technology inside it, but when you look at someone who just wants to have a bit of fun driving, why in the world should I spend more than twice the cost of their other car just to have a bigger, less energy efficient one that doesn't have many more places to go?

The thing is-- people don't buy gaming consoles for the technology inside the console, they buy it for the games. Sure, all the power to PS3 if it has better games, if all that power under the hood somehow makes it more fun. But that doesn't make it worth more. It is not a computer where buying more power will let you run even newer games, it is a video game console. It's power doesn't matter-- it will run the games that have a "PLAYSTATION 3" label on their box.

The fact is, there are a lot of people, myself of course included, who just do not find that a video game console that is merely a bigger and more powerful version of an older console warrants spending what is easily twice what it's cost should be. If the Wii didn't have something new, I probably wouldn't have bought it either.

The fact that it has a BluRay doesn't matter if you don't care about HD media; the fact that it can have prettier graphics doesn't matter if you've been playing long enough to know that the shittiest graphics can hide amazing gameplay. The Cell Processor's biggest benefit is F@H, and what use is a video game console that is left intentionally idle?

Don't get me wrong-- the PS3 has some very cool things. Just not $600 cool.
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i'd think the locking out thing is more of a security issue. then a "lets be assholes" issue like your stating it is o.O

Any company that seriously thinks that trying to control hardware/software will actually provide security is just plain incompetent.

Furthermore, it just reeks of "Well, even though you bought the hardware, we still own it" which does not sit well with me. Once I buy hardware, I should be free to do whatever I want to it. Sure, if I rip the case open and screw things up, void my warranty, but don't do things to blatantly close off your hardware to harmless software. Especially considering the possibility of that REALLY opening up the PS3 homebrew market, Sony made a huge mistake as far as I am concerned.

[Raydeus]

Re: Paramount and Dreamworks go HD-DVD Exclusive, Uselessly Extend Format War

Feba: Nah, we've said it many times before, everything that's in the PS3 would be well worth $900 for the console.

And as I pointed out in the next part of my post it depends on each person if they will be able to take advantage of it or not, which is also a good reason not to buy the PS3. But the car is worth the price tag and more, there's no question about it.

I'm not saying "If people doesn't buy the PS3 that means they don't have money". What I'm saying is "If people complains about the price even though they want the PS3 then they just don't have the money".


Edit > And also, it is precisely because I try to take good care of my money that I try to get the best combination between functionality and lifespan. From all the 3 consoles the PS3 gives the most functionality and lifespan for the money, which will save me money in the long run. And that's not even counting how freaking cool the PS3 is.

/em hugs his PS3.