Quote Originally Posted by Mr Peabody
The MS deal is only for 18 months, do you all think this being temporary, possibily, makes any difference?

I for one have not downloaded music and I won't DL movies either, it's a royal pain in the butt.
Supposedly, there are a lot of exemptions and loopholes that Paramount can use if they choose to do so, and this agreement specifically exempts Steven Spielberg (who is on record as a Blu-ray supporter, and has prohibited Universal from releasing any of his movies on HD-DVD only), so titles like Saving Private Ryan and War of the Worlds might still come out on Blu-ray.

As for the difference that 18 months makes, I think a lot in this market can change in 18 months and 18 months is definitely long enough for HD-DVD to force Blu-ray into a dual format compromise (or for Blu-ray to maintain its market lead). Right now, Warner's holding a lot of the cards, and they've been trying to steer the market towards dual format support. The current situation gives them a lot of leverage particularly with the Blu-ray Association, because if they drop Blu-ray, they would basically force the market into an impasse.

This Paramount deal basically ensures that HD-DVD will survive another 18 months, but what happens thereafter is anyone's guess. I think that without Paramount going HD-DVD exclusive, that format would have been a goner inside of 18 months.

I used to think that HD downloads were the wave of the future, but if the tight time and use restrictions on Xbox Live HD downloads are typical of how these HD downloading services will work, then it will have minimal impact, except with rentals and PPV. Just think of all the pissed off parents who'd have to pay yet another fee when their kids want to watch Finding Nemo for the 30th time! Downloads won't compete in the same space as disc media unless they have no time and viewing limits.

But, I gotta disagree that downloading will be a pain. Except for the downloading time, it's not much different than using a DVR, and once you get a set-top box configured for your internet connection, it should actually be simpler than using a PC application. The only drawback is that with most household broadband speeds, it's far from "on demand" and in a society of instant gratification, waiting one to four hours for a file to download before being able to watch a movie might be enough to keep HD downloading from taking over the market. And even then, users are still constricted by their drive space.

Quote Originally Posted by Mr Peabody
I wonder if Onkyo's new HD-DVD player will still be out at the price of $899.00 and in light of current events, I wonder if Denon's BR players will still hit at $1 & 2k.
Considering that Toshiba's still selling an $800 HD-DVD player model, Onkyo's player would not be too far out of line pricewise if it has some compelling features or performance improvements. It would not surprise me if Denon sticks with that price structure for their Blu-ray players, considering that models from the mass market models from the likes of Sony and Philips are only now hitting the $500 list price. How long Denon will keep those players at that price I think is the real question. Five years ago, Denon only had one DVD player model that sold for less than $800, and even now, their two flagship models still sell for more than $1,000. So, there is room in the market for higher end Blu-ray players (that is the market can grow fast enough to support a wider variety of models and price points).