Blu-ray beats HD DVD in Europe

[Zeus]

Blu-ray has outsold rival HD DVD in Europe this year, breaking the 1 million barrier and constituting 73 percent of all HD movie discs sold. The Blu-ray camp have been blowing their own trumpet and said that if they included Blu-ray games the total would be exceeded 21 million units (which would be a tad misleading). They went on to say that Blu-ray said the best selling titles were 300, Spider-Man 3 and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.

<center><img src="http://www.maxconsole.net/content_img/brayeuo.jpg"></center></a>

News Source: <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSL2738108420071127" target=_blank">reuters</a>

[felixm477]

ok with that comment about adding bluray games you can see they are counting what is sold to retail stores, not to customers because i doubt there has been a combined sale of 21 million games and movies sold in europe alone. forget the shipped number i want to know how many bluray movies were actually purchased by customers.

as for spiderman its a good movie but its no surprise thats a bundle movie so most of its totals are shipped with ps3 units most likely in shelves waiting fo rhte xmas last minute shopping rush.

[yusky03]

I should go to my local movie gallery and take a picture of the HD selection. The Blu-ray selection is exactly 2 times the size of the HD DVD selection.

Also the local walmart has way more Blu-ray on the shelves then HD DVD

PS
as for the comment above. M$ had the chance to use HD DVDs in the 360 but they chose not to... Also I would count the total discs sold not just the Movie discs... This shows that the Disc is more usefull in tern better

[PitViper401]

I should go to my local movie gallery and take a picture of the HD selection. The Blu-ray selection is exactly 2 times the size of the HD DVD selection.

Also the local walmart has way more Blu-ray on the shelves then HD DVD

PS
as for the comment above. M$ had the chance to use HD DVDs in the 360 but they chose not to... Also I would count the total discs sold not just the Movie discs... This shows that the Disc is more usefull in tern better

barring the horrible spelling, you're trying to say that movies are the same things as games? ..... that ..... that ..... is to be expected with your spelling ........

[Gav_]

At the moment Blu-ray to HD DVD comparison is totally irrelivent compared to DVD film sales. Give it another year until main-stream take up of HD players and come back.


...Also I would count the total discs sold not just the Movie discs... This shows that the Disc is more usefull in tern better

Ehm.... I think if you counted the total number of "game discs" too, 360 game discs would be a mighty bit higher than PS3. And besides, game disc sales are not relevant to HD film sales.

[daps83777]

I should go to my local movie gallery and take a picture of the HD selection. The Blu-ray selection is exactly 2 times the size of the HD DVD selection.

Also the local walmart has way more Blu-ray on the shelves then HD DVD

PS
as for the comment above. M$ had the chance to use HD DVDs in the 360 but they chose not to... Also I would count the total discs sold not just the Movie discs... This shows that the Disc is more usefull in tern better

so games are movies now?

every store i have gone to has a little tiny blu-ray section. until recently best-buy only had a handful of blu-ray titles. the hd-dvd sections at every store i have gone to is bigger. the only thing i have seen a little more, but not much more, is blu-ray sections on end caps with it showing movies playing from blu-ray. but i have seen this from hd-dvd as well, just have seen it a little more from blu-ray.

[aries2k]

No, games are not movies. Blu-Ray doesn´t need to count games to show they are beating HD-DVD in media sales.
The article is accurate in saying that Blu-Ray is beating HD-DVD in Europe.

[yusky03]

i did not say movies are games i am saying that they use the same format and it is a battle between HD DVD and Blu-ray not between only discs with Movies on it

and yes i do spell like 5th grader:p

[sigma8]

Ehm.... I think if you counted the total number of "game discs" too, 360 game discs would be a mighty bit higher than PS3. And besides, game disc sales are not relevant to HD film sales.

I agree they're pretty irrelevant, but if they were relevant, the 360 wouldn't really count because those are just DVD's, not a next-gen disc format.


No, games are not movies. Blu-Ray doesn´t need to count games to show they are beating HD-DVD in media sales.
The article is accurate in saying that Blu-Ray is beating HD-DVD in Europe.

I believe the US has the same basic ratios of disc sales. 2:1.

[grd94533]

HD DVD is just plain annoying. It's obvious that BD is better. Why would anybody want a smaller format disc when bigger is always better. HD DVD will never have as much capacity as BD. Transformers is a prime example because they had to leave out the best audio sound because they didn't have enough room on the disc for it. I wish they would give up already so that Paramount and the rest will start putting their movies on BD instead. Stop holding back progress with your inferior format already! DIE HD DVD!!! DIE DIE DIE!!!!

[felixm477]

I should go to my local movie gallery and take a picture of the HD selection. The Blu-ray selection is exactly 2 times the size of the HD DVD selection.

Also the local walmart has way more Blu-ray on the shelves then HD DVD

PS
as for the comment above. M$ had the chance to use HD DVDs in the 360 but they chose not to... Also I would count the total discs sold not just the Movie discs... This shows that the Disc is more usefull in tern better

MS didnt use hd-dvd for games because they didnt want to get their games devision caught up in a video format war. MS made a good choice keeping the hd-dvd drive as an addon, it saves them the headache of having to tell who buys their console for games and who buys them for hd-dvd video. where as song can skew those sales figures anywhere they want because bluray movies and bluray games apparently factor into the same numbers for them and its hard to tell who is buying a ps3 for movies and who is actually making use of the technology outside of gaming

[felixm477]

No, games are not movies. Blu-Ray doesn´t need to count games to show they are beating HD-DVD in media sales.
The article is accurate in saying that Blu-Ray is beating HD-DVD in Europe.

the article would be pretty true if their later comment on games adding 20 milloin to the count leading to the obvious that sony once again has their own definition of "shipped" and "sold" because its obvious europe hasnt sold 20 million games if you take into acount actual ps3 sales and their attach rate.

[felixm477]

HD DVD is just plain annoying. It's obvious that BD is better. Why would anybody want a smaller format disc when bigger is always better. HD DVD will never have as much capacity as BD. Transformers is a prime example because they had to leave out the best audio sound because they didn't have enough room on the disc for it. I wish they would give up already so that Paramount and the rest will start putting their movies on BD instead. Stop holding back progress with your inferior format already! DIE HD DVD!!! DIE DIE DIE!!!!

transformers was a great movie the sound was great to me but then again most ppl dont know how to chose audio equipment to make the best out of even the lowlyest of sound formats. i would hate to have seen you around durring the betamax and vhs battle you would have hanged yourself with that outcome ;) its not always the bigger disc its the FEATURES that do it. bluray just recently adopted features that hd-dvd has had on day 1 including its codec. features HD-DVD has that bluray doesnt that make it more consumer friendly let me spell it out for you.

BACKWARDS COMPATIBILITY WITH DVD PLAYERS

meaning anyone can buy an hd-dvd now and worry about the player later. bluray disc will just sit there till someone ponies up the cash to buy a ps3.

[hawke12]

Are these actual Movie SALES? or does this figure include the "Free Movie" Giveaway??

[aries2k]

the article would be pretty true if their later comment on games adding 20 milloin to the count leading to the obvious that sony once again has their own definition of "shipped" and "sold" because its obvious europe hasnt sold 20 million games if you take into acount actual ps3 sales and their attach rate.

Well that´s why I didn´t mention games :rolleyes: I said the article was correct in saying that Blu-Ray is beating HD-DVD in Europe.



BACKWARDS COMPATIBILITY WITH DVD PLAYERS

meaning anyone can buy an hd-dvd now and worry about the player later. bluray disc will just sit there till someone ponies up the cash to buy a ps3.

WTF, does that mean????:confused:
Don´t tell me your another person who thinks Blu-Ray players don´t play dvds.
Are you for real:eek:


Ps. you can edit posts you know. triple posting could get you in trouble, but since your an X-box kind of guy, they´ll just look the other way.

[felixm477]

Well that´s why I didn´t mention games :rolleyes: I said the article was correct in saying that Blu-Ray is beating HD-DVD in Europe.



WTF, does that mean????:confused:
Don´t tell me your another person who thinks Blu-Ray players don´t play dvds.
Are you for real:eek:


Ps. you can edit posts you know. triple posting could get you in trouble, but since your an X-box kind of guy, they´ll just look the other way.

its not editing posts that has nothing to do with it. MC should upgrade their forum to one that allows you to flag multiple quoted posts to respond to at the same time. not my fault i shouldnt have to copy paste and open up 2 windows to check back. anyway the point i made was that you can stick the majority of the hd-dvd movies into a regular dvd player and it will play the movie, making it backwards compatible and i believe its standard now in most of the studios so its a great selling feature. stick a bluray disc into a dvd drive and what do you get? a tired laser that wont read.

[daps83777]

well hd-dvd has had sales spikes recently because of price drops and what not as of late. one reason i don't like blu-ray is because of java. java is a pain, its slow and just didn't seem like a great way to go. blu-ray does have better capacity. and i like the protective layer on the blu-ray discs to prevent scratching. i don't like the blu-ray player prices though.

also if by chance blu-ray loses and sony puts out a PS4 then they will have to create a drive that reads blu-ray as well as whatever kind of drive is in it, or they will just omit backwards compatability all together with PS3 games to cut costs. that is probably why microsoft didn't add hd-dvd drive to the 360 other than the external one. that and the price increase in manufacturing it would have cost on day one.

[EliteStance]

MS didnt use hd-dvd for games because they didnt want to get their games devision caught up in a video format war. MS made a good choice keeping the hd-dvd drive as an addon, it saves them the headache of having to tell who buys their console for games and who buys them for hd-dvd video. where as song can skew those sales figures anywhere they want because bluray movies and bluray games apparently factor into the same numbers for them and its hard to tell who is buying a ps3 for movies and who is actually making use of the technology outside of gaming

I disagree a little on that. I think MS failed to back Toshiba fully with a drive because in truth they want downloaded content to win and would prefer BR and HD to remain locked in stalemate hurting each others sales while demand for on demand and downloads grows. I accept keeping costs to a certain level was also likely part of their focus.

If you really read comments from MS its clear that they would prefer you to buy hard drive and go for content rather than disk based media. They were also playing it safe for themselves of course in case BR does becaome dominant as they can simply release a BR player to add to 360.

I wonder how Toshiba felt when MS failed to commit to HD as standard for 360... not too happy I suspect.

[felixm477]

I disagree a little on that. I think MS failed to back Toshiba fully with a drive because in truth they want downloaded content to win and would prefer BR and HD to remain locked in stalemate hurting each others sales while demand for on demand and downloads grows. I accept keeping costs to a certain level was also likely part of their focus.

If you really read comments from MS its clear that they would prefer you to buy hard drive and go for content rather than disk based media. They were also playing it safe for themselves of course in case BR does becaome dominant as they can simply release a BR player to add to 360.

I wonder how Toshiba felt when MS failed to commit to HD as standard for 360... not too happy I suspect.

that does make sense, i myself prefer downloadable contant since the mojority of pc's these days can already output 1080p and most of the 8series geforce cards can output via hdmi, even if its slow sadly in the states 10mbs is the fastest the average joe can download at around here. that is untill Verizon's FIOS becomes enough of a threat for the other major companies to roll out their competition. i wish i had FIOS right now =\

[aries2k]

its not editing posts that has nothing to do with it. MC should upgrade their forum to one that allows you to flag multiple quoted posts to respond to at the same time. not my fault i shouldnt have to copy paste and open up 2 windows to check back. anyway the point i made was that you can stick the majority of the hd-dvd movies into a regular dvd player and it will play the movie, making it backwards compatible and i believe its standard now in most of the studios so its a great selling feature. stick a bluray disc into a dvd drive and what do you get? a tired laser that wont read.


Ah Ok, now I see what you mean my BC.
Though IMO, I don´t see it as a great feature because it usally means the movie disc is going to be more expensive. Your paying to have the movie in both formats. I believe they would sell better if it were just in HD and cheaper. Didn´t some movie studio say they were going to stop doing that? I could be wrong though.
I kind of snapped at you because I thought you were trying to tell people that Blu-Ray players don´t or won´t support dvd format. My bad. :o

[grd94533]

Only about 2% of all the HD DVD has both formats contained on them. Superman Returns is a prime example. You pay $34.99 for the HD DVD/DVD combo version and $24.99 for the BD version. If I want Superman Returns in HD (which I don't because the movie sucked), why would I want to pay extra for the DVD version on top of that? If anything they should make both sides capable of HD so they can compete with BD for capacity. But then again, who would want to keep pulling out discs and flipping them over to continue like we do with DVDs? I would love to have all three movies of The Lord of The Rings Extended Edition on single sided discs in HD with the best audio sound possible and you just can't do that on HD DVD.

[ASSPOP]

Only about 2% of all the HD DVD has both formats contained on them. Superman Returns is a prime example. You pay $34.99 for the HD DVD/DVD combo version and $24.99 for the BD version. If I want Superman Returns in HD (which I don't because the movie sucked), why would I want to pay extra for the DVD version on top of that? If anything they should make both sides capable of HD so they can compete with BD for capacity. But then again, who would want to keep pulling out discs and flipping them over to continue like we do with DVDs? I would love to have all three movies of The Lord of The Rings Extended Edition on single sided discs in HD with the best audio sound possible and you just can't do that on HD DVD.
And you can't on blu-ray either, 100 gb discs are not going to made widely available for another 2 years. 51 gb discs for hd dvd have been approved for hd dvd, so 50 gb discs for blu-ray are out now. This will make hd dvd and blu-ray equal, except that hd dvd has a better value. Don't spread your blu-ray fud.

[Ichinisan]

I should go to my local movie gallery and take a picture of the HD selection. The Blu-ray selection is exactly 2 times the size of the HD DVD selection.

Also the local walmart has way more Blu-ray on the shelves then HD DVD

PS
as for the comment above. M$ had the chance to use HD DVDs in the 360 but they chose not to... Also I would count the total discs sold not just the Movie discs... This shows that the Disc is more usefull in tern better

barring the horrible spelling, you're trying to say that movies are the same things as games? ..... that ..... that ..... is to be expected with your spelling ........Only a couple of things stand out to me (in bold). It's not like most of the people on this forum...

[please don't criticize me for participating in Internet culture]
"Overly critical much?" -This means a LOT, coming from me ;)

[Ichinisan]

so games are movies now?

every store i have gone to has a little tiny blu-ray section. until recently best-buy only had a handful of blu-ray titles. the hd-dvd sections at every store i have gone to is bigger. the only thing i have seen a little more, but not much more, is blu-ray sections on end caps with it showing movies playing from blu-ray. but i have seen this from hd-dvd as well, just have seen it a little more from blu-ray.

daps, you are delusional. Blu-Ray has a bigger selection and retail presence. This has been so for quite some time now, due to greater studio support. Only recently has HD-DVD been able to secure some *real* studio support, and the format is still lagging behind in the available movie selection at retailers. There are quite a few good movies, but not enough to make me risk the HD-DVD plunge when the format is clearly losing to Blu-Ray.

[daps83777]

daps, you are delusional. Blu-Ray has a bigger selection and retail presence. This has been so for quite some time now, due to greater studio support. Only recently has HD-DVD been able to secure some *real* studio support, and the format is still lagging behind in the available movie selection at retailers. There are quite a few good movies, but not enough to make me risk the HD-DVD plunge when the format is clearly losing to Blu-Ray.

i'm not delusional, im pointing out what my eyes see. blu-ray has had alot of studio support from the begining. the problem with the support is that the support isn't releasing alot of movies, some studios have hardly done anything. for the longest time my local best buy's blu-ray section was a joke. blu-ray for a while then had an end cap and still does but a couple months ago an hd-dvd end cap was added that was just as impressive.

the president or ceo, i don't remember which, called the format war a stalemate because of the last defections to hd-dvd, he then said he didn't care who won the format war but if he had been in charge when the talks about unifying the two formats was going on that he would have made sure they would have unified.

the late october, and then november and december sales will be interesting. movie sales have been spiking for hd-dvd and with all the price drops on the players they have been selling much more quickly. i could care less to which format wins as long as the prices are brought into line with dvd fairly quickly.

neither format is selling so amazing. it would take a short amount of time for hd-dvd to surpass blu-ray. they are both getting there butts kicked by standard dvd. and blu-ray keeps doing slightly stupid things that high tech consumers don't appreciate.

such as this the latest : http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/format-war/the-smell-of-fear-blu+ray-backs-out-of-open-format-war-debate-319696.php

[Mikeyy]

What you people are missing is that whoever wins, its going to be the norm for about 10 YEARS.

In 10 years its safe to say, most people will have 7.1 Audio systems, If HD-DVD cant fit it now, and favors PIP Director bull-**** instead, then whats that say for an HD-DVD led future?

HD-DVD is missing the point of owning a movie, The MOST IMPORTANT THING Is Picture 1080P is a MUST! (this is a 10+ year format, like VHS or DVD) 7.1 Audio is a must! this HAS TO BE FUTURE PROOF.
AUDIO + VIDEO is infinitely more important than bonus crap.

HD-DVD is releasing cheap mainstream 1080i players and cutting 7.1 audio, the format is useless to us 4 years from now. its useless to some of us tech savvy right now.

HD-DVD use to be decent, now its just Cheap, Toshiba cut every corner possible to try to outpace Blu-ray and HD-DVDs package quality sufferend horrendously. Its a medeocre format now.

If HD-DVD wants back in this, they need to stop with the Hooker pricing, cut the BS bonus crap and get the FULL HD Video and Audio on there. Bonus features come last.

also stop with the Anti-Sony Vendetta you asshats get, SONY DOES NOT own Blu-ray, theres a whole bunch of companies that own it.

Blu-ray is just an allout superior format atm, and deserves respect. Blu-ray focused on whats important for an HD format.

/end rant, hopefully that soaks into somebody.

Remember, we have to live with whoever wins for the next 10+ years.

[daps83777]

What you people are missing is that whoever wins, its going to be the norm for about 10 YEARS.

In 10 years its safe to say, most people will have 7.1 Audio systems, If HD-DVD cant fit it now, and favors PIP Director bull-**** instead, then whats that say for an HD-DVD led future?

HD-DVD is missing the point of owning a movie, The MOST IMPORTANT THING Is Picture 1080P is a MUST! (this is a 10+ year format, like VHS or DVD) 7.1 Audio is a must! this HAS TO BE FUTURE PROOF.
AUDIO + VIDEO is infinitely more important than bonus crap.

HD-DVD is releasing cheap mainstream 1080i players and cutting 7.1 audio, the format is useless to us 4 years from now. its useless to some of us tech savvy right now.

HD-DVD use to be decent, now its just Cheap, Toshiba cut every corner possible to try to outpace Blu-ray and HD-DVDs package quality sufferend horrendously. Its a medeocre format now.

If HD-DVD wants back in this, they need to stop with the Hooker pricing, cut the BS bonus crap and get the FULL HD Video and Audio on there. Bonus features come last.

also stop with the Anti-Sony Vendetta you asshats get, SONY DOES NOT own Blu-ray, theres a whole bunch of companies that own it.

Blu-ray is just an allout superior format atm, and deserves respect. Blu-ray focused on whats important for an HD format.

/end rant, hopefully that soaks into somebody.

Remember, we have to live with whoever wins for the next 10+ years.

everyone having a 7.1 audio system? what a crock. thats not very likely. most people like uncluttered living spaces. most people i know even rich ones have 5.1 at best, but a majority of people have a 2.1 or 2.0 if even that. most people would rather invest in a good 2.1 or even 3.1 over having a cheap 5.1 or 7.1.

i really doubt that whatever wins will be the standard for 10 years. digital content online is becoming to popular. and at the pace both formats are going neither one is going to win unless something changes. they are doing poorly enough that a new format could come out and if it got studio support would be able to jump either format very quickly. like the guy from sony said, they really should have unified when they had the chance, because for now its a stalemate.

[grapeape]

What you people are missing is that whoever wins, its going to be the norm for about 10 YEARS.

In 10 years its safe to say, most people will have 7.1 Audio systems, If HD-DVD cant fit it now, and favors PIP Director bull-**** instead, then whats that say for an HD-DVD led future?

HD-DVD is missing the point of owning a movie, The MOST IMPORTANT THING Is Picture 1080P is a MUST! (this is a 10+ year format, like VHS or DVD) 7.1 Audio is a must! this HAS TO BE FUTURE PROOF.
AUDIO + VIDEO is infinitely more important than bonus crap.

HD-DVD is releasing cheap mainstream 1080i players and cutting 7.1 audio, the format is useless to us 4 years from now. its useless to some of us tech savvy right now.

HD-DVD use to be decent, now its just Cheap, Toshiba cut every corner possible to try to outpace Blu-ray and HD-DVDs package quality sufferend horrendously. Its a medeocre format now.

If HD-DVD wants back in this, they need to stop with the Hooker pricing, cut the BS bonus crap and get the FULL HD Video and Audio on there. Bonus features come last.

also stop with the Anti-Sony Vendetta you asshats get, SONY DOES NOT own Blu-ray, theres a whole bunch of companies that own it.

Blu-ray is just an allout superior format atm, and deserves respect. Blu-ray focused on whats important for an HD format.

/end rant, hopefully that soaks into somebody.

Remember, we have to live with whoever wins for the next 10+ years.

Where do you come up with stuff? Have you even read the specs? 7.1 and 1080p are both part of the HD-DVD spec...some manufacturers are not adding them (some aren't adding them with blu-ray disks either) because there just isn't enough of a market for them to really bother yet. Current players are being sold to the market that's out there now not the market they hope to have 5 years in the future. Was your last DVD player the same one you had ten years ago? I've upgraded mine at least 3 times I remember in the last 10 years, how is this any different?

While your worrying about specs did you not realize that things like Secondary Video Decoders, Secondary Audio Decoders, Internet Support, Dolby TrueHD (loss-less) and Dolby Digital Plus are all mandatory on HD-DVD yet only optional on Blu-Ray. Did you know what Blu-Ray standalone features have already split into 3 feature sets that are not fully compatible with each other and many lack upgradability (Standard, BD-Live and Bonus View)?

I know you want Blu-Ray to win...but basing your argument in facts will help prove your point better than spouting some opinionated nonsense in the hopes that someone will buy it as truth.

[grd94533]

And you can't on blu-ray either, 100 gb discs are not going to made widely available for another 2 years. 51 gb discs for hd dvd have been approved for hd dvd, so 50 gb discs for blu-ray are out now. This will make hd dvd and blu-ray equal, except that hd dvd has a better value. Don't spread your blu-ray fud.

How exactly does HD DVD have a better value?

[daps83777]

How exactly does HD DVD have a better value?

while i don't really care which format wins because i am more than happy with standard dvd what makes blu-ray a better value?

blu-ray players are about $400 or more. hd-dvd players are available for $199 and have been found cheaper including the ones sold for $199. movie prices of both are about the same. some say that hd-dvd is not including things like 7.1 surround sound. so what, how many people does that really effect? it will never effect the mass market of people.

most backers of blu-ray haven't released finalized hardware, so while existing blu-ray players will be able to play movies later on they may not be able to do some of the additional features because they weren't implemented and probably won't be able to even via a firmware update. sony hasn't even released a finalized player yet. to me thats like paying a bunch of money for a beta hardware, when the final product comes out it will probably be the same price or cheaper in alot of cases. though there are a few finalized hardware players out now.

[CZroe]

MaxConsole: Might wanna pont out that Pirates:AWE is actually released in Europe because it isn't elsewhere.


i'm not delusional, im pointing out what my eyes see. blu-ray has had alot of studio support from the begining. the problem with the support is that the support isn't releasing alot of movies, some studios have hardly done anything. for the longest time my local best buy's blu-ray section was a joke. blu-ray for a while then had an end cap and still does but a couple months ago an hd-dvd end cap was added that was just as impressive.

the president or ceo, i don't remember which, called the format war a stalemate because of the last defections to hd-dvd, he then said he didn't care who won the format war but if he had been in charge when the talks about unifying the two formats was going on that he would have made sure they would have unified.

the late october, and then november and december sales will be interesting. movie sales have been spiking for hd-dvd and with all the price drops on the players they have been selling much more quickly. i could care less to which format wins as long as the prices are brought into line with dvd fairly quickly.

neither format is selling so amazing. it would take a short amount of time for hd-dvd to surpass blu-ray. they are both getting there butts kicked by standard dvd. and blu-ray keeps doing slightly stupid things that high tech consumers don't appreciate.

such as this the latest : http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/format-war/the-smell-of-fear-blu+ray-backs-out-of-open-format-war-debate-319696.php

Here is the way Best Buy has been set up since early 2007:

-Aisle shared with HD-DVD. Gradually, this aisle became more than 2/3 Bly-Ray except in the stores that leave their HD-DVD titles facing forward and their BD titles mostly sideways (to fit in the remaining area) to eat up more shelf space on the HD-DVD side and condense the BD shelf space so that they equal.

-Endcap that comes and goes with new releases and promotions.

-Small shelf stand in the home theater section with a selection of movies.

-Two-sided self-standing "endcap" with one side entirely dedicated to BD.

-New release cardboard stands that contain the DVD & BD versions.

-New release and advertised special aisle (usually the aisle facing the doors when walking in the store with most store floor plans) usually has the BD versions of all the new releases when available. For example, this was the only place I could find Ratatoullie and Cars on launch week.

-On the media cart that holds CDs, DVDs, BDs, and games for all consoles and handhelds in interim (this is often where games sell out before making it on the shelf).

-In the back because there just isn't enough space until DVD popularity declines a little (fat chance) or other HD releases go out of print or HD-DVD gives up the half an aisle it is holding hostage. I had to wait an hour for Pixar Short Films Collection when I came to pricematch Ratatoullie and Cars. They gave up, but then surprised me with it just as I was finishing up the price-match.

Now, I'm not saying that you can't find HD-DVDs anywhere else in the store (I haven't seen it recently, if ever) but, because some stores separate the HD-DVD and Blu-Ray sections instead of sharing an aisle, you could easily pick out any one of those alternate locations that isn't the actual Blu-Ray aisle and start claiming that there is hardly any space dedicated to BD releases.

Now, here's the other thing that proves unquestionable bias on your part: If HD-DVD has so much more available and has so much more shelf space, how do you explain BD outselling it consistantly despite HD-DVD having more standalone player sales? If it sells more with less space, why do you think that that is a negative aspect and how do you explain it? Perhaps you think the section is "smaller" because it keeps selling down! If so, how is that a positive aspect for HD-DVD? Just what are you trying to say here? HD-DVD has FAR less studio support and less available movies, and yet you want to somehow pretend that BD hasn't won in that department. The only theatrical releases I miss on BD so far are on their way to BD soon (Batman Begins, The Matrix) except for The Big Lebowski (eventually, once BD is forced on Universal or someone else picks up distribution).

Also, your position on price is a laughable. Everyone knows that Toshiba players are heavily subsidized and that whatever format wins will eventually be cheaper due to the economies of scale. The fact that BD players are still expensive is a sign of economic health. You don't honestly think retailers will still be charging even $100 once the HD-DVD format is completely dead, do you? That's like saying that the Virtual Boy was a success once it was flying off the shelf at $29.99 instead of $179.99. It's simply what they would have to do once their fate is sealed with the same financial hit, but they are smartly doing it now, early, so that they can at least get the benefit of possibly turning things around for the format and staving off failure. That's precisely why they bought Paramount's exclusivity: a desperate maneuver to change things while there's still a chance because they are going to lose that money anyway if they don't. It DID buy them a chance, but it's clearly not enough. Sony came to this format war PREPARED by buying MGM to add to their own Columbia-Tristar and Sony Pictures. That's a trump-card they didn't have with Betamax. They came prepared with a trojan horse (the PS3) that was guaranteed to continue to sell BD players by the millions for many years, even in the worst-case-scenario. Any studio ignoring that BD is guaranteed to have an ever increasing install base regardless of consumer acceptance and is guaranteed to have the support of three major movie studios throughout this is just stupid. Refusing to support the stable and guaranteed format for a riskier and inferior format is just idiotic.

[koolio07]

Cause PS3 is the cheapest player out there ?

[Ichinisan]

Cause PS3 is the cheapest player out there ?

The 40GB PS3 matches the cheapest Blu-Ray player and is the best value considering that it will be updated to comply with profile 2.0's storage requirement.