One major company, Digital Playground, plans to release its first four HD-DVD titles this month, and plans four new ones each month. In March, Vivid plans to release ?Debbie Does Dallas ... Again,? its first feature for both HD-DVD and Blu-ray.
Vivid, like Digital Playground, has been shooting with high-definition cameras for two years to build up a catalog of high-definition movies. Both studios have released the movies in standard definition but plan to make the high-definition versions available as compatible disc players and televisions become more popular.
seems while a lot of people on this thread have been fingering their egos...
the REALITY is that LG has brought out their dual player EARLIER than expected
If you're through stroking yourself, would you mind explaining how this doesn't prove my case? "Blu-ray is too expensive!" cry the naysayers. So it's better to buy a $1200 LG than a $500 PS3 plus a $400 Toshiba player or even a $500 360/HD DVD combo? Wow, that makes sense! You're right, why would anyone anyone in their right mind buy two machines that can do more (i.e. play next-gen games as well) instead of one machine that costs $300 more and only plays movies? The only downside might be having two players and only one HDMI port on the HDTV, but that's nothing that an HDMI switchbox (which costs a lot less than $300) can't fix.
If you're through stroking yourself, would you mind explaining how this doesn't prove my case? "Blu-ray is too expensive!" cry the naysayers. So it's better to buy a $1200 LG than a $500 PS3 plus a $400 Toshiba player or even a $500 360/HD DVD combo? Wow, that makes sense! You're right, why would anyone anyone in their right mind buy two machines that can do more (i.e. play next-gen games as well) instead of one machine that costs $300 more and only plays movies? The only downside might be having two players and only one HDMI port on the HDTV, but that's nothing that an HDMI switchbox (which costs a lot less than $300) can't fix.
im NOT trying to DISprove your case... just point out that A COMPANY has brought out a player that plays BOTH disc types.
was that unclear?
the LG is avalible NOW, so in a years time will it be the same price? NOOOOOOO.
will there be cheaper variations on it?
will in a years time joe bloggs look at the "format war" and opt to buy a player that is agnostic?
Basically you don't know how I think, you don't know how I came up with my guess, and you ASSUMED that the numbers I did mention were the ONLY input to my aforementioned quess!
Go back to my original post and READ the part about "and plenty of room to grow this year" at the end.
So basically, you made the WRONG assumption about how I arrived at my quess!
if YOU put figures in your post... that add up WRONG then you have to take responsibility for them being wrong, otherwise anyone can assume that you INTENDED them to be wrong.
--
ok, i dont know the magic things that go on in your head... only what you write..
you have your view, fine. i feel that it doesnt add up with the figures that you DID give.
i feel ive made my point, and you've made yours.
lets BOTH agree to wait to see what way the REAL ACTUAL figures pan out at the end of the year? sound reasonable?
or indeed follow the trends and see what things are like in june/july.
i'll agree to eat humble pie at the end of the year if im wrong at point, if you agree as well cos if we keep at this its just gonna get silly. {offers hand}
I'm not sure yet whether I'll make this an annual ritual, but after taking a stab last year at doing a little crystal-ball gazing and coming up with six tech predictions for 2006, I figured I'd give it another shot for '07. Granted, my prophecies for '06 weren't terribly bold or outlandish, but the idea--my idea, anyway--is to go out on a limb a little bit while remaining somewhat grounded in reality, so I might actually impart some semi-useful information while standing a chance at being correct come year's end. (For those keeping score, I basically did well with five of six of my picks, and fell down only on my video iPod prediction).
Without further ado, here's what I have for this year, and as usual, if my forecasts seem trivial or moronic, feel free to add your own by clicking the TalkBack button.
1. Sixty-inch plasma for $2,000 by year's end
At CES, Vizio announced it would begin selling a $3,000 60-inch plasma by the end of February. We expect to see that price erode throughout the year and quite possibly close in on two grand by the holiday season. We can't say if the set will by any good, but it will be big.
2. Digital photo frames take off
Digital photo frames were hot for the holidays and they only stand to get hotter as higher quality, more affordable frames with expanded features hit the market in early '07. However, only when David Pogue or Walt Mossberg finally does a column reviewing several frames will the category officially be declared "hot."
3. Better games breathe new life into Sony PS3 by midyear
It's going to take several months, but expect to see plenty of articles late in the year about how things don't look so bleak for Sony and the PS3. Yes, Sony still has problems, but a handful of impressive games--such as Lair and Metal Gear Solid 4--and updated features (via downloadable system updates) will help fuel a PS3 revival.
4. HD DVD surrenders by September
OK, this probably won't happen, but it should. With sales for both HD DVD and Blu-ray stand-alone players remaining tepid throughout the year, the biggest number of players will actually come in the form of game consoles--or in the case of the Xbox 360 and its HD DVD external drive, game console accessories. According to the numbers we're seeing, there are 175,000 HD DVD players out there (with 92,000 of those being Xbox 360 HD DVD players) and around a million Blu-ray players in homes, most of them PS3s. As Sony ramps up PS3 production, we expect that 5:1 ratio to hold, and perhaps even increase. Add to that the fact that sometime very soon the number of available Blu-ray titles will top the number of HD DVD titles, with the gap continuing to widen as the year progresses, and things don't look all that good for Camp HD DVD. Personally, I don't care who wins or loses, and I'm not rooting for either format. But unfortunately, if someone doesn't bow out gracefully, both formats risk going nowhere, especially with various forms of downloadable HD content in the works.
6. No SED televisions before 2008
SED (surface-conduction electron-emitter display) is supposed to be the next big thing in flat-panel TVs. Prototypes have been kicking around for a couple of years, and from the demonstrations we've seen, the picture looks good--damn good. But neither Canon nor Toshiba could build them cheap enough to compete with plasmas or LCDs. After a no-show at CES 2007, Canon's bought Toshiba out and will go it alone. But don't expect to see a commercially available SED model in 2007. Maybe 2008.
7. iPhone gets rave reviews despite serious flaws
Good: The iPhone is a groundbreaking smart phone that features an impressively user-friendly touch-screen interface, sexy design, terrific multimedia functionality, plus a nifty e-mail client and Web browser, PDA functionality, a built-in camera, and a nice collection of useful applications, including one-touch weather reports and Google/Yahoo Maps. The device doubles as a video iPod, and also automatically switches from landscape to portrait mode with a flick of your wrist.
Bad: Expensive; screen is fingerprint and facial-oil magnet; no expansion slot for additional memory; can't add additional applications; non-user-replaceable battery doesn't deliver as much juice as promised; no support for true 3G networks; definitely requires a protective case; need PC or Mac to download media--no direct access to iTunes Store.
Bottom line: Like the original iPod, the first-gen iPhone is a revolutionary product with an unbeatable cool factor. But before you shell out 500 or 600 bucks, just remember, the next iPhone will have double the memory and double the battery life for the same price next year.
I gotta say I totally agree with 3 and 4 (7 too, that iPhone rocks). I think we'll probably see Universal capitulating and going Blu-ray by '08 too, putting the final nail in the coffin of HD DVD.
Do you not expect people to click in links and actually read them?
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The data, from Media Create, put PlayStation 3 sales at 25,531 units for the week ending January 14. Overall the entire market for newly launched consoles was poor, with total sales of the PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360 hitting an estimated 128,274 units. That's the lowest week in sales since Nintendo's Wii launched in Japan on December 2 and made the market a three-console race.
Wii sales for the week were estimated at 93,708 units, the second-worst week of sales since the 85,439 units sold during the week immediately after the Wii's launch.
Gee...folks stopped buying consoles after Christmas because everyone is broke. Stop the presses.
Same as previous...post XMas sales sucked for all three consoles. PS3 is hurt by the fact that it wasn't all that available pre-Christmas so post XMas availability is now a glut (since if you had to put a console under the tree it was likely a 360 and not a Wii or PS3).
Note the title is actually "NPD Group: Sony sold 490,700 PlayStation 3 game consoles in the United States in December". Nice addition of "only".
According to this article they sold 687,700 PS3s in the US in Nov-Dec. They shipped 1M in 2006 but that number includes Canada and Mexico. Wii sold 604,200 units in Dec. The 360 1.1M.
Quote:
The demand for the PS3 is ALREADY waning clearly. The Wii is still red hot.
Which is why Wii sales slumped too? Because it was red hot?
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I see the battle working out like this.
Toshiba will sell 2 million players worldwide this year. Sony will have 6 million BD players primarily through the PS3.
Mkay...Fujii told Reuters they expected less than 500K sales through March. They do claim they expect to hit 3M/year starting April. Right.
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I don't think the PS3 is a bad gaming console. In fact it's great but it simply doesn't have enough games to drive additional demand after the first wave of consumers have purchased.
Yes, the PS3 won't see enough new games to grow because is the only console with real room for growth.
When the PS2 started most games fit on CD-ROM. Now there are titles that are on DVD-9. Growth from 700MB to 4.7GB+ (assuming that folks would ship DVD-5 if they were less) Both the 360 and PS3 can crunch 4x as many verticies, handle larger textures, and cutscenes wont be 480 but 720 or 1080. Photosourced textures will have to be larger too to look as good. Plus every PS3 has a HDD which means every PS3 game can depend on having one there and not be limited to the speed of 12xDVD if streaming become an issue.
360 is great today. Wii is okay today. For Wii it wont matter (since its a last gen console updated) but for the 360 eventually titles are going to hit that 8.25GB no HDD limit. Then PS3 will have titles that are ported to the XBox and look worse even though today the Xbox is the dev platform of choice and games are ported from the 360 version.
Eventually the market will favor the games that look better then the others because whatever we say about gameplay its eye candy that always seem to rule in the end. Lowest common demominator is great until the competition releases a title in the same genre with more eyecandy on the PS3 than yours because you limited yourself to what was available on the 360.
That said, there's nothing overwhelmingly compelling about the PS3 as a game platform in early 2007. On a personal level I'll buy a 360 just because of Bioware. Well...I'll buy a 360 eventually anyway...I finally broke down and installed WoW and that's been a timesink.
Gee...folks stopped buying consoles after Christmas because everyone is broke. Stop the presses.
The xbox and Wii aren't expected to carry the fortunes of the nexgten HD hardware. The PS3 is is.
At any rate I think the PS3 will hit 6 million consoles this year but it doesn't seem impervious to downturns in the market as compared to any product. It certainly hasn't lived up to expectation as a gaming console IMO.
The xbox and Wii aren't expected to carry the fortunes of the nexgten HD hardware. The PS3 is is.
Well certainly the Wii wasn't and wont. The xbox is. So will the PS3 but it has longer legs at the cost of a much delayed launch. Nice movement of the goal posts though.
In any case you claim the Wii is HOT HOT HOT and the PS3 is NOT NOT NOT based soley on after the Xmas slump that ALL platforms suffered. Plus Sony, despite the fact no one really expected them to, actually turned out roughly the volume they said they would which certainly doesn't help the post-XMas glut.
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At any rate I think the PS3 will hit 6 million consoles this year but it doesn't seem impervious to downturns in the market as compared to any product. It certainly hasn't lived up to expectation as a gaming console IMO.
Name a product invincible to downturns? Not the HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT Wii either.
As far as living up to expectations that will take a while. This generation of consoles have just started and Nintendo isn't even playing. As HOT HOT HOT as you think the Wii is, it isn't outselling the PS2 which is in the category it really belongs to and the Wii has no legs because Nintendo didn't make a 7th gen console but spruced up a 6th gen one. Nicely spruced up but still not a real competitor.
Crap, I'm not even buying the PS3 anytime soon (perhaps never) but this stuff is just nonsense and Wii's success means far less to Sony than it does to MS. There may be a good number of PS3s in the channel but there were a ton more 360s available this Christmas. 1.1M 360s vs 680K PS3s (constrained pre-Christmas) is not a knock out punch. There was no way for Sony to increase sales prior to Christmas...wanna bet that meant every Wii sale was MORE likely a lost 360 sale prior to Dec 25th than a lost PS3 sale?
if YOU put figures in your post... that add up WRONG then you have to take responsibility for them being wrong, otherwise anyone can assume that you INTENDED them to be wrong.
--
ok, i dont know the magic things that go on in your head... only what you write..
you have your view, fine. i feel that it doesnt add up with the figures that you DID give.
i feel ive made my point, and you've made yours.
lets BOTH agree to wait to see what way the REAL ACTUAL figures pan out at the end of the year? sound reasonable?
or indeed follow the trends and see what things are like in june/july.
i'll agree to eat humble pie at the end of the year if im wrong at point, if you agree as well cos if we keep at this its just gonna get silly. {offers hand}
Agreed, BTW the data I presented was by it's nature very limited in scope, and I never ment for anyone to take that data literally in projecting future sales, to many unknowns. That data could suggest a lower bound, but who knows. I picked 1M units/year because it was a really nice round order of magnitude number, .1M is to low, and 10M is to high.
Also, since it's only a guess, I"m not about to lose any sleep over what actually plays out, and if I'm "right" I won't be back to say so, as I've seen too much of that here on AI, and like I said earlier, if enough people guess, someone is bound to be "right" in their guess.
DVD was a big commercial success. Lots of people, for the first time, went out and bought movies to collect. It was better than buying VHS tapes, which were crap.
And I am sure that the electronics & movie industries view this new generation of DVDs as an opportunity to do the same thing over again.
It ain't gonna happen because the future is not physical media.
Film is dead. CD sales are declining. Customers want digital content, not DRM-infested, region-locked, works-only-on-players-with-an-S-in-the-name chunks of plastic.
More and more people are building media servers: A computer with a bunch of hard-drives that houses a collection of audio and TV and Movies (SD and HD). We have network links to media playing set-top boxes. We can find a movie without having to root through a cupboad full of messed-up boxes. We don't have to worry about scratching little disks. We don't have to insert the disk manually into a little tray. We are not forced to watch trailers for other movies or listen to lectures on not-pirating disks. We are not retricted by region-locking.
This is the future.
Not wax-cylinders, not vinyl platters, or even polycarbonate disks. Of either variety.
Agreed, BTW the data I presented was by it's nature very limited in scope, and I never ment for anyone to take that data literally in projecting future sales, to many unknowns. That data could suggest a lower bound, but who knows. I picked 1M units/year because it was a really nice round order of magnitude number, .1M is to low, and 10M is to high.
Also, since it's only a guess, I"m not about to lose any sleep over what actually plays out, and if I'm "right" I won't be back to say so, as I've seen too much of that here on AI, and like I said earlier, if enough people guess, someone is bound to be "right" in their guess.
agreed im not about to lose any sleep over it either.
it IS fascinating though to watch the thing unfold, im a bit to young to have been involved in the beta/vhs thing, i was aware of it going on, but wasnt in a position to buy either format. DVD was a single standard, and this time round there is SO much info freely avalible via the net its "wow im living in the future" crazy
the P0rn thing seems to be a repeat mistake from sony but then M$ being involved with the consoles make it anyones guess, dual players being a reality sooner than (i think) anyone expected will also ad a fair degree of uncertainty, LG wont sit on that they will be looking for re-badgers to help spread the cost and "make a new standard for HiDef players" IMO
the level of studios on the Blu-Ray side seems from the outside to make it CLEAR that bluRay will win. but would i put my money on it JUST yet?
no.
but thats a small reserved "no"
id be more likely to make a decision after the Euro launch of PS3 has died down say May at the earliest. assuming a mid march release!
Name a product invincible to downturns? Not the HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT Wii either.
im in agreement
maybe he ment the (strangely omitted figures for the) 360 in the same week had "Sales of Microsoft's Xbox 360 totalled 9,035 units, according to the data"
now if the headline of that piece was "PS3 has worst week" i can only extrapolate from that. that the 360 has had a week ALREADY where its sales were LOWER than the 9,035 units mentioned? OUCH!
interesting to know how many HD addons were sold that week
it cant be thru a LACK of avalibility that the sales were so low... can it?
Quote:
Originally Posted by vinea
1.1M 360s vs 680K PS3s (constrained pre-Christmas) is not a knock out punch. There was no way for Sony to increase sales prior to Christmas...wanna bet that meant every Wii sale was MORE likely a lost 360 sale prior to Dec 25th than a lost PS3 sale?
Vinea
what does all this prove? well...
that you can make figures say what you want and might as well take the BIGGEST sounding headline you can? yeah!
360 outselling PS3 by 1:1.61 BEFORE XMAS
PS3 outselling 360 by 1:2.82 AFTER XMAS
{if anyone wants to correct me on those figures, please do}
so from that the PS3 is outselling the 360 by almost 3 to 1 and that the 360 has had some SERIOUSLY bad weeks of sales abysmal you might say!
Official hardware statistics reveal that despite the addition of new hardware to the market, Sony's PlayStation 2 was still the biggest selling home system, clocking up 1.4 million units for December, and 37.1 million to date in the US.
Microsoft's Xbox 360 added another 1.1 million units in December to a total of 4.5 million units since launch, while Nintendo's Wii sold 604,200 units for the month - with year end sales at 1.1 million.
Although Sony recently announced it had shipped one million PS3 units to North America, NPD data reveals the new console has only sold 687,000 of those, with 490,700 units sold in December.
Official hardware statistics reveal that despite the addition of new hardware to the market, Sony's PlayStation 2 was still the biggest selling home system, clocking up 1.4 million units for December, and 37.1 million to date in the US.
Microsoft's Xbox 360 added another 1.1 million units in December to a total of 4.5 million units since launch, while Nintendo's Wii sold 604,200 units for the month - with year end sales at 1.1 million.
Although Sony recently announced it had shipped one million PS3 units to North America, NPD data reveals the new console has only sold 687,000 of those, with 490,700 units sold in December.
C.
Which was quoted above. In any case it was noted that the 1M PS3s to NA included Canada and Mexico (and others) but the 687K were US sales. There weren't some 200K units in the channel in December as the figures might suggest unless nearly zero sales were made in Canada and Mexico.
I guess Wii also stole sales from the PS2 as well but I really do wonder had it been a 2 console race if the 360 would have sold 1.5M units.
Which was quoted above. In any case it was noted that the 1M PS3s to NA included Canada and Mexico (and others) but the 687K were US sales. There weren't some 200K units in the channel in December as the figures might suggest unless nearly zero sales were made in Canada and Mexico.
I guess Wii also stole sales from the PS2 as well but I really do wonder had it been a 2 console race if the 360 would have sold 1.5M units.
Vinea
Well, that's what competition does. It competes with every aspect of the market. PS2's not only competing with Wii and x360, but also competing against PS3 as well or vise versa. However, M$ and Sony are marketing their new products as a next generation gaming category where in the PS3 and Xbox360 space is also taken by Wii which technically isn't a next gen gaming console. I'm sure when more Wii's are available, they will be sold out for sometime, but I don't think same can be said about other competing gaming consoles. I do agree that historical sales trending is important, but the sustainable/increasing demand of Wii is outpacing all competition and this potential can't be ignored.
Well, that's what competition does. It competes with every aspect of the market. PS2's not only competing with Wii and x360, but also competing against PS3 as well or vise versa. However, M$ and Sony are marketing their new products as a next generation gaming category where in the PS3 and Xbox360 space is also taken by Wii which technically isn't a next gen gaming console. I'm sure when more Wii's are available, they will be sold out for sometime, but I don't think same can be said about other competing gaming consoles. I do agree that historical sales trending is important, but the sustainable/increasing demand of Wii is outpacing all competition and this potential can't be ignored.
Wii is like a $99 red-laser HD-DVD9 player with a LOTR, Austin Powers and other New Line movies released on HD-DVD9. Sure its 1080p/24. Sure it looks great for 6Mbps CBR HD. Sure it clobbered Blu-Ray and HD-DVD for XMas 2006. Austin Powers is FUN and LOTR is a AAA exclusive francise like Zelda.
How long is that going to last? And with respect to HD-DVD and Blu-Ray Wii means what? Not a whole lot if its stealing share from both the 360 and PS3.
In what are sure to be three of the biggest-selling titles yet on either next-gen format, Disney has set Spring street dates for the Blu-ray releases of the blockbuster 'Pirates of the Caribbean' films, and the first Pixar release to hit high-def, 'Cars.'
Just in time for the theatrical release of the third 'Pirates' epic, Disney has set a May 22 voyage for 'Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl' and 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.' These guaranteed huge sellers will be followed on June 5 by 'Cars,' the Pixar hit and current favorite for this year's Best Animated Film Oscar.
The dates recently began filtering to online retailer outlets earlier this week, and Disney has trumpeted the news in a full-page ad in the print version of this week's Video Business, the industry trade paper. The Official Blu-ray Group, of which Disney is a member, today also added the announcements to the upcoming release schedule on their official website.
Though no official press release has been issued as of yet, word to High-Def Digest from the studio is that full details are on the way soon. So we'll certainly keep you posted on tech specs, bonus features and box art as soon as word arrives on these highly-anticipated releases.
In the meantime, we've updated the listings for all three titles to our complete Blu-ray Release Schedule.
MCE Announces User-Installable Blu-ray Drives for Macintosh
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MCE Technologies, LLC has announced the immediate availability of user-installable, internal Blu-ray optical drives with 50 GB capacity for Mac Pro and PowerMac G5. The announcement came on Wednesday.
Fitted with a blue front tray-bumper to distinguish it from ordinary optical drives, the drives are pre-configured for the Mac Pro and Power Mac G5 and come bundled with Roxio Toast 8. The drives support reading and writing Blu-ray write-once and rewritable 25GB and 50GB single and dual-layer discs. The MCE Internal Blu-ray drive also records to all other standard DVD and CD recordable media.
"We are pleased to be one of the first companies to bring the capacity and convenience of Blu-ray technology to the Mac platform at a reasonable price," stated Arnold Ramirez, president of MCE. "50GB on a single Blu-ray disc represents a tremendous increase in storage capacity and with it welcome relief to users whose archival requirements have grown exponentially since the advent of recordable CD and DVD media."
The MCE Internal Blu-ray Recordable Drive for Mac Pro and Power Mac G5 comes bundled with Toast 8 Titanium and a 25GB rewritable Blu-ray disc. It is priced at US$699.00.
Ohh yes, we are one step closer to Blu-ray goodness built-in to our Mac Pros!
Sony steps away from MPEG2 for the first time, delivering an AVC/MPEG4 encoded presentation that rivals, if not exceeds the best animation we've seen in high definition to date. I've seen, if not reviewed every animation title released to high definition from both formats, save one. And, despite being extremely impressed with several, even giving The Wild a perfect score, from memory, none have looked this amazing.
This is a virtually flawless video encoding. The CGI video has all the depth of Ice Age 2, but with a far finer resolve and none of the severe posterization that has plagued some animated titles....
Before Blu-ray, I couldn't imagine animation improving that much over DVD. The finite amount of detail seemed too limiting, leaving luma and chroma as the principle areas that could benefit from a high definition video encoding. Boy was I wrong. Some animations are a lot more intricately detailed than you'd ever expect based on DVD. BD has shown meticulousness in animated design I would have never thought justifying of the effort, if even possible in some cases. This disc is another that surpasses expectations in visual design. It's utterly stunning in depth and dimension - as close to 3D as 2D gets. Check out the tiny insects swarming around Boog sleeping in the twilight just after his release into the wild. It seems incredible to me they'd even bother.
Richly saturated with a wonderful sense of color and contrast, there's not one shot in the entire show that isn't capable of dropping your jaw.
Even the audio is noted as better on Blu-ray discs than HD DVD...
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Unlike their competitor, BD exclusive studios seem to be intent on making lossless audio a standard feature, as it should be. And to date no next generation audio stream has performed as profoundly as PCM. I still have hope that lossless DTS HD will sound just as amazingly once the hardware catches up. But I've all but given up on hoping TrueHD from Warner, Universal, and Weinstein can deliver the same utter sense of transparency and detail as PCM.
To someone that hasn't heard PCM, I know that sounds crazy. How can PCM sound better, if they're both lossless? I don't know, but all indication so far is that it simply does, and not by the narrow margin of improvement you hear going from 640kbps DD+ or DD to TrueHD. Maybe the lesser stream Warner and others are using are compromising Dolby's lossless codec, or maybe it's being compromised prior to compression to fit in too tight a space, opting for extras over sound quality. Your guess is as good as mine. But I've never judged a book by its cover, rather a disc by its specs. The proof is in the listening. But don't take my word for it. Hear it for yourself.
With Pirates I and II coming, and with Cars,...man, 2007 will be Blu most assuredly. 8)
Wii is like a $99 red-laser HD-DVD9 player with a LOTR, Austin Powers and other New Line movies released on HD-DVD9. Sure its 1080p/24. Sure it looks great for 6Mbps CBR HD. Sure it clobbered Blu-Ray and HD-DVD for XMas 2006. Austin Powers is FUN and LOTR is a AAA exclusive francise like Zelda.
How long is that going to last? And with respect to HD-DVD and Blu-Ray Wii means what? Not a whole lot if its stealing share from both the 360 and PS3.
Vinea
Honestly, I wouldn't know how long the demand would sustain for Wii. I'm not much of a gaming console fan. I do my gaming on a pc. However, I do have couple of co-workers who had promised their kids to get Wii for X-mas and still unable to find one. One guy used to wait in line prior to store (BB, target and walmart) opening on the way to work, but he still hadn't found one, yet.
On that note, I've seen PS3's on the store shelves which I was very close to picking up 60GB one. There aren't BD exclusive movies that is worth the PS3 price yet. Maybe in May for June,....but I can barely keep up with HD-DVD releases in the states....or some BD exclusives are availabe in europe or asia as HD-DVD with improved PQ in VC-1 codec.
Comments
One major company, Digital Playground, plans to release its first four HD-DVD titles this month, and plans four new ones each month. In March, Vivid plans to release ?Debbie Does Dallas ... Again,? its first feature for both HD-DVD and Blu-ray.
Vivid, like Digital Playground, has been shooting with high-definition cameras for two years to build up a catalog of high-definition movies. Both studios have released the movies in standard definition but plan to make the high-definition versions available as compatible disc players and televisions become more popular.
seems while a lot of people on this thread have been fingering their egos...
the REALITY is that LG has brought out their dual player EARLIER than expected
If you're through stroking yourself, would you mind explaining how this doesn't prove my case? "Blu-ray is too expensive!" cry the naysayers. So it's better to buy a $1200 LG than a $500 PS3 plus a $400 Toshiba player or even a $500 360/HD DVD combo? Wow, that makes sense! You're right, why would anyone anyone in their right mind buy two machines that can do more (i.e. play next-gen games as well) instead of one machine that costs $300 more and only plays movies? The only downside might be having two players and only one HDMI port on the HDTV, but that's nothing that an HDMI switchbox (which costs a lot less than $300) can't fix.
If you're through stroking yourself, would you mind explaining how this doesn't prove my case? "Blu-ray is too expensive!" cry the naysayers. So it's better to buy a $1200 LG than a $500 PS3 plus a $400 Toshiba player or even a $500 360/HD DVD combo? Wow, that makes sense! You're right, why would anyone anyone in their right mind buy two machines that can do more (i.e. play next-gen games as well) instead of one machine that costs $300 more and only plays movies? The only downside might be having two players and only one HDMI port on the HDTV, but that's nothing that an HDMI switchbox (which costs a lot less than $300) can't fix.
im NOT trying to DISprove your case... just point out that A COMPANY has brought out a player that plays BOTH disc types.
was that unclear?
the LG is avalible NOW, so in a years time will it be the same price? NOOOOOOO.
will there be cheaper variations on it?
will in a years time joe bloggs look at the "format war" and opt to buy a player that is agnostic?
do LG make tech for other companiers to re-brand?
will the world end?
who is hong kong phooey?
Dude,
Basically you don't know how I think, you don't know how I came up with my guess, and you ASSUMED that the numbers I did mention were the ONLY input to my aforementioned quess!
Go back to my original post and READ the part about "and plenty of room to grow this year" at the end.
So basically, you made the WRONG assumption about how I arrived at my quess!
if YOU put figures in your post... that add up WRONG then you have to take responsibility for them being wrong, otherwise anyone can assume that you INTENDED them to be wrong.
--
ok, i dont know the magic things that go on in your head... only what you write..
you have your view, fine. i feel that it doesnt add up with the figures that you DID give.
i feel ive made my point, and you've made yours.
lets BOTH agree to wait to see what way the REAL ACTUAL figures pan out at the end of the year? sound reasonable?
or indeed follow the trends and see what things are like in june/july.
i'll agree to eat humble pie at the end of the year if im wrong at point, if you agree as well
http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6449_7-...?tag=cnetfd.mt
I'm not sure yet whether I'll make this an annual ritual, but after taking a stab last year at doing a little crystal-ball gazing and coming up with six tech predictions for 2006, I figured I'd give it another shot for '07. Granted, my prophecies for '06 weren't terribly bold or outlandish, but the idea--my idea, anyway--is to go out on a limb a little bit while remaining somewhat grounded in reality, so I might actually impart some semi-useful information while standing a chance at being correct come year's end. (For those keeping score, I basically did well with five of six of my picks, and fell down only on my video iPod prediction).
Without further ado, here's what I have for this year, and as usual, if my forecasts seem trivial or moronic, feel free to add your own by clicking the TalkBack button.
1. Sixty-inch plasma for $2,000 by year's end
At CES, Vizio announced it would begin selling a $3,000 60-inch plasma by the end of February. We expect to see that price erode throughout the year and quite possibly close in on two grand by the holiday season. We can't say if the set will by any good, but it will be big.
2. Digital photo frames take off
Digital photo frames were hot for the holidays and they only stand to get hotter as higher quality, more affordable frames with expanded features hit the market in early '07. However, only when David Pogue or Walt Mossberg finally does a column reviewing several frames will the category officially be declared "hot."
3. Better games breathe new life into Sony PS3 by midyear
It's going to take several months, but expect to see plenty of articles late in the year about how things don't look so bleak for Sony and the PS3. Yes, Sony still has problems, but a handful of impressive games--such as Lair and Metal Gear Solid 4--and updated features (via downloadable system updates) will help fuel a PS3 revival.
4. HD DVD surrenders by September
OK, this probably won't happen, but it should. With sales for both HD DVD and Blu-ray stand-alone players remaining tepid throughout the year, the biggest number of players will actually come in the form of game consoles--or in the case of the Xbox 360 and its HD DVD external drive, game console accessories. According to the numbers we're seeing, there are 175,000 HD DVD players out there (with 92,000 of those being Xbox 360 HD DVD players) and around a million Blu-ray players in homes, most of them PS3s. As Sony ramps up PS3 production, we expect that 5:1 ratio to hold, and perhaps even increase. Add to that the fact that sometime very soon the number of available Blu-ray titles will top the number of HD DVD titles, with the gap continuing to widen as the year progresses, and things don't look all that good for Camp HD DVD. Personally, I don't care who wins or loses, and I'm not rooting for either format. But unfortunately, if someone doesn't bow out gracefully, both formats risk going nowhere, especially with various forms of downloadable HD content in the works.
6. No SED televisions before 2008
SED (surface-conduction electron-emitter display) is supposed to be the next big thing in flat-panel TVs. Prototypes have been kicking around for a couple of years, and from the demonstrations we've seen, the picture looks good--damn good. But neither Canon nor Toshiba could build them cheap enough to compete with plasmas or LCDs. After a no-show at CES 2007, Canon's bought Toshiba out and will go it alone. But don't expect to see a commercially available SED model in 2007. Maybe 2008.
7. iPhone gets rave reviews despite serious flaws
Good: The iPhone is a groundbreaking smart phone that features an impressively user-friendly touch-screen interface, sexy design, terrific multimedia functionality, plus a nifty e-mail client and Web browser, PDA functionality, a built-in camera, and a nice collection of useful applications, including one-touch weather reports and Google/Yahoo Maps. The device doubles as a video iPod, and also automatically switches from landscape to portrait mode with a flick of your wrist.
Bad: Expensive; screen is fingerprint and facial-oil magnet; no expansion slot for additional memory; can't add additional applications; non-user-replaceable battery doesn't deliver as much juice as promised; no support for true 3G networks; definitely requires a protective case; need PC or Mac to download media--no direct access to iTunes Store.
Bottom line: Like the original iPod, the first-gen iPhone is a revolutionary product with an unbeatable cool factor. But before you shell out 500 or 600 bucks, just remember, the next iPhone will have double the memory and double the battery life for the same price next year.
I gotta say I totally agree with 3 and 4 (7 too, that iPhone rocks). I think we'll probably see Universal capitulating and going Blu-ray by '08 too, putting the final nail in the coffin of HD DVD.
Snoopy
That's not how it's going down
PS3 sales had their worst week in sales
Do you not expect people to click in links and actually read them?
The data, from Media Create, put PlayStation 3 sales at 25,531 units for the week ending January 14. Overall the entire market for newly launched consoles was poor, with total sales of the PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360 hitting an estimated 128,274 units. That's the lowest week in sales since Nintendo's Wii launched in Japan on December 2 and made the market a three-console race.
Wii sales for the week were estimated at 93,708 units, the second-worst week of sales since the 85,439 units sold during the week immediately after the Wii's launch.
Gee...folks stopped buying consoles after Christmas because everyone is broke. Stop the presses.
PS3 sales dropping in Japan
Same as previous...post XMas sales sucked for all three consoles. PS3 is hurt by the fact that it wasn't all that available pre-Christmas so post XMas availability is now a glut (since if you had to put a console under the tree it was likely a 360 and not a Wii or PS3).
Playstation 3 missies goals by %25
This one supports your case. Hey, 1 out of 4 aint bad.
Sony only sold 490,700 consoles in December
Note the title is actually "NPD Group: Sony sold 490,700 PlayStation 3 game consoles in the United States in December". Nice addition of "only".
According to this article they sold 687,700 PS3s in the US in Nov-Dec. They shipped 1M in 2006 but that number includes Canada and Mexico. Wii sold 604,200 units in Dec. The 360 1.1M.
The demand for the PS3 is ALREADY waning clearly. The Wii is still red hot.
Which is why Wii sales slumped too? Because it was red hot?
I see the battle working out like this.
Toshiba will sell 2 million players worldwide this year. Sony will have 6 million BD players primarily through the PS3.
Mkay...Fujii told Reuters they expected less than 500K sales through March. They do claim they expect to hit 3M/year starting April. Right.
I don't think the PS3 is a bad gaming console. In fact it's great but it simply doesn't have enough games to drive additional demand after the first wave of consumers have purchased.
Yes, the PS3 won't see enough new games to grow because is the only console with real room for growth.
When the PS2 started most games fit on CD-ROM. Now there are titles that are on DVD-9. Growth from 700MB to 4.7GB+ (assuming that folks would ship DVD-5 if they were less) Both the 360 and PS3 can crunch 4x as many verticies, handle larger textures, and cutscenes wont be 480 but 720 or 1080. Photosourced textures will have to be larger too to look as good. Plus every PS3 has a HDD which means every PS3 game can depend on having one there and not be limited to the speed of 12xDVD if streaming become an issue.
360 is great today. Wii is okay today. For Wii it wont matter (since its a last gen console updated) but for the 360 eventually titles are going to hit that 8.25GB no HDD limit. Then PS3 will have titles that are ported to the XBox and look worse even though today the Xbox is the dev platform of choice and games are ported from the 360 version.
Eventually the market will favor the games that look better then the others because whatever we say about gameplay its eye candy that always seem to rule in the end. Lowest common demominator is great until the competition releases a title in the same genre with more eyecandy on the PS3 than yours because you limited yourself to what was available on the 360.
That said, there's nothing overwhelmingly compelling about the PS3 as a game platform in early 2007. On a personal level I'll buy a 360 just because of Bioware. Well...I'll buy a 360 eventually anyway...I finally broke down and installed WoW and that's been a timesink.
Mkay...back to the HD-DVD vs BluRay nonsense.
Vinea
Gee...folks stopped buying consoles after Christmas because everyone is broke. Stop the presses.
The xbox and Wii aren't expected to carry the fortunes of the nexgten HD hardware. The PS3 is is.
At any rate I think the PS3 will hit 6 million consoles this year but it doesn't seem impervious to downturns in the market as compared to any product. It certainly hasn't lived up to expectation as a gaming console IMO.
The xbox and Wii aren't expected to carry the fortunes of the nexgten HD hardware. The PS3 is is.
Well certainly the Wii wasn't and wont. The xbox is. So will the PS3 but it has longer legs at the cost of a much delayed launch. Nice movement of the goal posts though.
In any case you claim the Wii is HOT HOT HOT and the PS3 is NOT NOT NOT based soley on after the Xmas slump that ALL platforms suffered. Plus Sony, despite the fact no one really expected them to, actually turned out roughly the volume they said they would which certainly doesn't help the post-XMas glut.
At any rate I think the PS3 will hit 6 million consoles this year but it doesn't seem impervious to downturns in the market as compared to any product. It certainly hasn't lived up to expectation as a gaming console IMO.
Name a product invincible to downturns? Not the HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT Wii either.
As far as living up to expectations that will take a while. This generation of consoles have just started and Nintendo isn't even playing. As HOT HOT HOT as you think the Wii is, it isn't outselling the PS2 which is in the category it really belongs to and the Wii has no legs because Nintendo didn't make a 7th gen console but spruced up a 6th gen one. Nicely spruced up but still not a real competitor.
Crap, I'm not even buying the PS3 anytime soon (perhaps never) but this stuff is just nonsense and Wii's success means far less to Sony than it does to MS. There may be a good number of PS3s in the channel but there were a ton more 360s available this Christmas. 1.1M 360s vs 680K PS3s (constrained pre-Christmas) is not a knock out punch. There was no way for Sony to increase sales prior to Christmas...wanna bet that meant every Wii sale was MORE likely a lost 360 sale prior to Dec 25th than a lost PS3 sale?
Vinea
if YOU put figures in your post... that add up WRONG then you have to take responsibility for them being wrong, otherwise anyone can assume that you INTENDED them to be wrong.
--
ok, i dont know the magic things that go on in your head... only what you write..
you have your view, fine. i feel that it doesnt add up with the figures that you DID give.
i feel ive made my point, and you've made yours.
lets BOTH agree to wait to see what way the REAL ACTUAL figures pan out at the end of the year? sound reasonable?
or indeed follow the trends and see what things are like in june/july.
i'll agree to eat humble pie at the end of the year if im wrong at point, if you agree as well
Agreed, BTW the data I presented was by it's nature very limited in scope, and I never ment for anyone to take that data literally in projecting future sales, to many unknowns. That data could suggest a lower bound, but who knows. I picked 1M units/year because it was a really nice round order of magnitude number, .1M is to low, and 10M is to high.
Also, since it's only a guess, I"m not about to lose any sleep over what actually plays out, and if I'm "right" I won't be back to say so, as I've seen too much of that here on AI, and like I said earlier, if enough people guess, someone is bound to be "right" in their guess.
And I am sure that the electronics & movie industries view this new generation of DVDs as an opportunity to do the same thing over again.
It ain't gonna happen because the future is not physical media.
Film is dead. CD sales are declining. Customers want digital content, not DRM-infested, region-locked, works-only-on-players-with-an-S-in-the-name chunks of plastic.
More and more people are building media servers: A computer with a bunch of hard-drives that houses a collection of audio and TV and Movies (SD and HD). We have network links to media playing set-top boxes. We can find a movie without having to root through a cupboad full of messed-up boxes. We don't have to worry about scratching little disks. We don't have to insert the disk manually into a little tray. We are not forced to watch trailers for other movies or listen to lectures on not-pirating disks. We are not retricted by region-locking.
This is the future.
Not wax-cylinders, not vinyl platters, or even polycarbonate disks. Of either variety.
A plague on both your houses.
C.
Agreed, BTW the data I presented was by it's nature very limited in scope, and I never ment for anyone to take that data literally in projecting future sales, to many unknowns. That data could suggest a lower bound, but who knows. I picked 1M units/year because it was a really nice round order of magnitude number, .1M is to low, and 10M is to high.
Also, since it's only a guess, I"m not about to lose any sleep over what actually plays out, and if I'm "right" I won't be back to say so, as I've seen too much of that here on AI, and like I said earlier, if enough people guess, someone is bound to be "right" in their guess.
agreed
it IS fascinating though to watch the thing unfold, im a bit to young to have been involved in the beta/vhs thing, i was aware of it going on, but wasnt in a position to buy either format. DVD was a single standard, and this time round there is SO much info freely avalible via the net its "wow im living in the future" crazy
the P0rn thing seems to be a repeat mistake from sony but then M$ being involved with the consoles make it anyones guess, dual players being a reality sooner than (i think) anyone expected will also ad a fair degree of uncertainty, LG wont sit on that they will be looking for re-badgers to help spread the cost and "make a new standard for HiDef players" IMO
the level of studios on the Blu-Ray side seems from the outside to make it CLEAR that bluRay will win. but would i put my money on it JUST yet?
no.
but thats a small reserved "no"
id be more likely to make a decision after the Euro launch of PS3 has died down say May at the earliest. assuming a mid march release!
cheers frank
and thanks
Name a product invincible to downturns? Not the HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT Wii either.
im in agreement
maybe he ment the (strangely omitted figures for the) 360 in the same week had "Sales of Microsoft's Xbox 360 totalled 9,035 units, according to the data"
now if the headline of that piece was "PS3 has worst week" i can only extrapolate from that. that the 360 has had a week ALREADY where its sales were LOWER than the 9,035 units mentioned? OUCH!
interesting to know how many HD addons were sold that week
it cant be thru a LACK of avalibility that the sales were so low... can it?
1.1M 360s vs 680K PS3s (constrained pre-Christmas) is not a knock out punch. There was no way for Sony to increase sales prior to Christmas...wanna bet that meant every Wii sale was MORE likely a lost 360 sale prior to Dec 25th than a lost PS3 sale?
Vinea
what does all this prove? well...
that you can make figures say what you want and might as well take the BIGGEST sounding headline you can? yeah!
360 outselling PS3 by 1:1.61 BEFORE XMAS
PS3 outselling 360 by 1:2.82 AFTER XMAS
{if anyone wants to correct me on those figures, please do}
so from that the PS3 is outselling the 360 by almost 3 to 1 and that the 360 has had some SERIOUSLY bad weeks of sales abysmal you might say!
Home Consoles
Official hardware statistics reveal that despite the addition of new hardware to the market, Sony's PlayStation 2 was still the biggest selling home system, clocking up 1.4 million units for December, and 37.1 million to date in the US.
Microsoft's Xbox 360 added another 1.1 million units in December to a total of 4.5 million units since launch, while Nintendo's Wii sold 604,200 units for the month - with year end sales at 1.1 million.
Although Sony recently announced it had shipped one million PS3 units to North America, NPD data reveals the new console has only sold 687,000 of those, with 490,700 units sold in December.
C.
This is the best data I could find...
Home Consoles
Official hardware statistics reveal that despite the addition of new hardware to the market, Sony's PlayStation 2 was still the biggest selling home system, clocking up 1.4 million units for December, and 37.1 million to date in the US.
Microsoft's Xbox 360 added another 1.1 million units in December to a total of 4.5 million units since launch, while Nintendo's Wii sold 604,200 units for the month - with year end sales at 1.1 million.
Although Sony recently announced it had shipped one million PS3 units to North America, NPD data reveals the new console has only sold 687,000 of those, with 490,700 units sold in December.
C.
Which was quoted above. In any case it was noted that the 1M PS3s to NA included Canada and Mexico (and others) but the 687K were US sales. There weren't some 200K units in the channel in December as the figures might suggest unless nearly zero sales were made in Canada and Mexico.
I guess Wii also stole sales from the PS2 as well but I really do wonder had it been a 2 console race if the 360 would have sold 1.5M units.
Vinea
Which was quoted above. In any case it was noted that the 1M PS3s to NA included Canada and Mexico (and others) but the 687K were US sales. There weren't some 200K units in the channel in December as the figures might suggest unless nearly zero sales were made in Canada and Mexico.
I guess Wii also stole sales from the PS2 as well but I really do wonder had it been a 2 console race if the 360 would have sold 1.5M units.
Vinea
Well, that's what competition does. It competes with every aspect of the market. PS2's not only competing with Wii and x360, but also competing against PS3 as well or vise versa. However, M$ and Sony are marketing their new products as a next generation gaming category where in the PS3 and Xbox360 space is also taken by Wii which technically isn't a next gen gaming console. I'm sure when more Wii's are available, they will be sold out for sometime, but I don't think same can be said about other competing gaming consoles. I do agree that historical sales trending is important, but the sustainable/increasing demand of Wii is outpacing all competition and this potential can't be ignored.
Well, that's what competition does. It competes with every aspect of the market. PS2's not only competing with Wii and x360, but also competing against PS3 as well or vise versa. However, M$ and Sony are marketing their new products as a next generation gaming category where in the PS3 and Xbox360 space is also taken by Wii which technically isn't a next gen gaming console. I'm sure when more Wii's are available, they will be sold out for sometime, but I don't think same can be said about other competing gaming consoles. I do agree that historical sales trending is important, but the sustainable/increasing demand of Wii is outpacing all competition and this potential can't be ignored.
Wii is like a $99 red-laser HD-DVD9 player with a LOTR, Austin Powers and other New Line movies released on HD-DVD9. Sure its 1080p/24. Sure it looks great for 6Mbps CBR HD. Sure it clobbered Blu-Ray and HD-DVD for XMas 2006. Austin Powers is FUN and LOTR is a AAA exclusive francise like Zelda.
How long is that going to last? And with respect to HD-DVD and Blu-Ray Wii means what? Not a whole lot if its stealing share from both the 360 and PS3.
Vinea
http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/news...-ray_Dates/448
In what are sure to be three of the biggest-selling titles yet on either next-gen format, Disney has set Spring street dates for the Blu-ray releases of the blockbuster 'Pirates of the Caribbean' films, and the first Pixar release to hit high-def, 'Cars.'
Just in time for the theatrical release of the third 'Pirates' epic, Disney has set a May 22 voyage for 'Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl' and 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.' These guaranteed huge sellers will be followed on June 5 by 'Cars,' the Pixar hit and current favorite for this year's Best Animated Film Oscar.
The dates recently began filtering to online retailer outlets earlier this week, and Disney has trumpeted the news in a full-page ad in the print version of this week's Video Business, the industry trade paper. The Official Blu-ray Group, of which Disney is a member, today also added the announcements to the upcoming release schedule on their official website.
Though no official press release has been issued as of yet, word to High-Def Digest from the studio is that full details are on the way soon. So we'll certainly keep you posted on tech specs, bonus features and box art as soon as word arrives on these highly-anticipated releases.
In the meantime, we've updated the listings for all three titles to our complete Blu-ray Release Schedule.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhw yeah!
MCE Technologies, LLC has announced the immediate availability of user-installable, internal Blu-ray optical drives with 50 GB capacity for Mac Pro and PowerMac G5. The announcement came on Wednesday.
Fitted with a blue front tray-bumper to distinguish it from ordinary optical drives, the drives are pre-configured for the Mac Pro and Power Mac G5 and come bundled with Roxio Toast 8. The drives support reading and writing Blu-ray write-once and rewritable 25GB and 50GB single and dual-layer discs. The MCE Internal Blu-ray drive also records to all other standard DVD and CD recordable media.
"We are pleased to be one of the first companies to bring the capacity and convenience of Blu-ray technology to the Mac platform at a reasonable price," stated Arnold Ramirez, president of MCE. "50GB on a single Blu-ray disc represents a tremendous increase in storage capacity and with it welcome relief to users whose archival requirements have grown exponentially since the advent of recordable CD and DVD media."
The MCE Internal Blu-ray Recordable Drive for Mac Pro and Power Mac G5 comes bundled with Toast 8 Titanium and a 25GB rewritable Blu-ray disc. It is priced at US$699.00.
Ohh yes, we are one step closer to Blu-ray goodness built-in to our Mac Pros!
http://www.hometheaterspot.com/htsth...?sequence=1818
Sony steps away from MPEG2 for the first time, delivering an AVC/MPEG4 encoded presentation that rivals, if not exceeds the best animation we've seen in high definition to date. I've seen, if not reviewed every animation title released to high definition from both formats, save one. And, despite being extremely impressed with several, even giving The Wild a perfect score, from memory, none have looked this amazing.
This is a virtually flawless video encoding. The CGI video has all the depth of Ice Age 2, but with a far finer resolve and none of the severe posterization that has plagued some animated titles....
Before Blu-ray, I couldn't imagine animation improving that much over DVD. The finite amount of detail seemed too limiting, leaving luma and chroma as the principle areas that could benefit from a high definition video encoding. Boy was I wrong. Some animations are a lot more intricately detailed than you'd ever expect based on DVD. BD has shown meticulousness in animated design I would have never thought justifying of the effort, if even possible in some cases. This disc is another that surpasses expectations in visual design. It's utterly stunning in depth and dimension - as close to 3D as 2D gets. Check out the tiny insects swarming around Boog sleeping in the twilight just after his release into the wild. It seems incredible to me they'd even bother.
Richly saturated with a wonderful sense of color and contrast, there's not one shot in the entire show that isn't capable of dropping your jaw.
Even the audio is noted as better on Blu-ray discs than HD DVD...
Unlike their competitor, BD exclusive studios seem to be intent on making lossless audio a standard feature, as it should be. And to date no next generation audio stream has performed as profoundly as PCM. I still have hope that lossless DTS HD will sound just as amazingly once the hardware catches up. But I've all but given up on hoping TrueHD from Warner, Universal, and Weinstein can deliver the same utter sense of transparency and detail as PCM.
To someone that hasn't heard PCM, I know that sounds crazy. How can PCM sound better, if they're both lossless? I don't know, but all indication so far is that it simply does, and not by the narrow margin of improvement you hear going from 640kbps DD+ or DD to TrueHD. Maybe the lesser stream Warner and others are using are compromising Dolby's lossless codec, or maybe it's being compromised prior to compression to fit in too tight a space, opting for extras over sound quality. Your guess is as good as mine. But I've never judged a book by its cover, rather a disc by its specs. The proof is in the listening. But don't take my word for it. Hear it for yourself.
With Pirates I and II coming, and with Cars,...man, 2007 will be Blu most assuredly. 8)
Wii is like a $99 red-laser HD-DVD9 player with a LOTR, Austin Powers and other New Line movies released on HD-DVD9. Sure its 1080p/24. Sure it looks great for 6Mbps CBR HD. Sure it clobbered Blu-Ray and HD-DVD for XMas 2006. Austin Powers is FUN and LOTR is a AAA exclusive francise like Zelda.
How long is that going to last? And with respect to HD-DVD and Blu-Ray Wii means what? Not a whole lot if its stealing share from both the 360 and PS3.
Vinea
Honestly, I wouldn't know how long the demand would sustain for Wii. I'm not much of a gaming console fan. I do my gaming on a pc. However, I do have couple of co-workers who had promised their kids to get Wii for X-mas and still unable to find one. One guy used to wait in line prior to store (BB, target and walmart) opening on the way to work, but he still hadn't found one, yet.
On that note, I've seen PS3's on the store shelves which I was very close to picking up 60GB one. There aren't BD exclusive movies that is worth the PS3 price yet. Maybe in May for June,....but I can barely keep up with HD-DVD releases in the states....or some BD exclusives are availabe in europe or asia as HD-DVD with improved PQ in VC-1 codec.