Target targets Blu-ray as the way

by Alexander Sliwinski on Jul 26th 2007 8:17PM

According to Reuters, retail mega-chain Target announced today it will only carry Blu-ray disc players. They will begin in October and go "at least through the holiday season." This comes a month after Blockbuster, the U.S.' largest brick-and-mortar video rental chain, said they would be going Blu-ray exclusively too. Heavens to Murgatroyd, is Sony actually going to win a format war? Blu-ray shall avenge its cousins Betamax and MiniDisc if it emerges victorious against HD-DVD.

The Reuters information is currently being further explained by Universal Home Entertainment. Universal would like to clearly point out Target will continue to carry the Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive and movies, they also say that Target is still currently selling HD-DVD players. Well, yes, because it's not October yet.

Universal has a right to feel defensive. Target's declaration probably shouldn't be taken too lightly -- although, when Wal-Mart declares Blu-ray, it's all over. So, even with the HD-DVD attachment price drop for your Xbox 360, plus five movies, is it worth getting? Umm, might want to put that money aside for now. It's a nice $179 dent in the cost of the PS3, which comes with Blu-ray playback built in. The holiday season is approaching and that'll be a pretty big indicator of what's to come. The last thing any consumer wants is to have an expensive machine which plays a dying format.

Update: Added Universal statement info to story.

Source

Tags: blockbuster, bluray, hddvd, PS3, target, walmart, Xbox-360

Reader Comments (62)

You guys know that this is not entirely accurate right?
http://gear.ign.com/articles/808/808350p1.html

They will still be selling the Xbox 360 HD DVD add on at Target and will still be selling HD DVDs. Also, Target has never actually sold any high definition players in store before, and have only agreed to do this until the holiday season. The announcement is more like they have agreed to introduce Blu Ray players first.

Last, but not least, they are still selling HD DVD players online.

Elite $480
HD-DVD $180
WiFi $100

Total $760... PS3 looks pretty good!

(minus 60gb of storage and RRoD problems)

i myself would much rather have $100 off the price than wifi, which is too unreliable for a lot of online gaming anyway.

You can get a D-link wireless adapter that works the same for about $30-$40.. so you don't NEED the $100 one.

um, or a 400$ premium which is about to go down in price and no accessories. wow would you look at that, buying a game system for games instead of movies? and it comes with HD cables? Hot damn!

Your price breakdown doesn't include all the money I would save on games since the PS3 doesn't have any worth buying!!

LOL

Hi everybody! I'm arguing on the internet about wich console is better.

You're a moron if you think all 360 owners want wi-fi and HD-DVD playability.
I sure as hell don't and my 360 only cost 300$ for a premium.

Total 300$...360 looks pretty good!

The PS3 does look good and you'll save even more money not having any games to buy!

@ Ian Von Porter...
Its useless to reason with these little kids. They will defend the 360's inherent flaws and hidden costs with the most ridiculous immature arguments and in the next breath will shamelessly bash anything negative (and postive) about the ps3. For chuckles, take a look at the MGS4 and heavenly Sword threads for the most biased, silly comments against these amazing games and you will find the same people here defending HD-DVD and bashing the ps3.

Schools really should stop kids trolling the net!!!

@repaermirg

Hey brain surgeon. I think Ian was the first one to even mention the 360. It's fanboys like you who point the finger at everyone else while taking cheap BS shots in their comments at the rival console and then trying to come off as above the fanboys. You are the most pityful of fanboys there are. People are happy with their 360 purchases however you try and spin it. I think the comments are pretty clear, third party Wifi is like $30 and not everyone wants an HD movie player on their game system, I sure as hell don't. So maybe you need to go back to school and learn to read a little better.

I think you need glasses mate! I was refering to most of the comments on the 'whole' thread (quite a lot of anti-sony sentiment as I was writing ). Your a prat :))

I have to wonder why gaming blogs are all reporting this - this really has more to do with movies than games and on top of that (as a poster mentioned above with the link to IGN) it's inaccurate - Sony simply bought an end-cap, Target will still carry HD-DVDs.

It's relevant to games because Sony has pretty much hitched their wagon to the Blu-Ray horse, and they're depending on it in order to survive this leg of the console wars.

Basically, as long as Blu-Ray is a viable video media, Sony can continue to highlight the fact that their console is also a HD video player, and people will still continue to buy them based on the fact that they're getting a Blu-Ray player *and* a console for less than the cost of most other Blu-Ray players.

If HD-DVD gains mass acceptance instead, and the retailers (and thus movie publishers) dump Blu-Ray Sony now finds themselves in the uncomfortable position of selling a console that is more expensive than the competition, and that it is so strictly because they've locked *themselves* into a dead and proprietary format that they *also* spent a lot of time and money to develop.

Basically, as goes Blu-Ray, so goes the PS3 (and probably Sony's future as a home console manufacturer). And that makes Blu-Ray news relevant for a gaming blog.

Thank you.

Target is still carrying HD-dvds, The xbox 360 HD-dvd add on drive (which is the only way this article relates to the site) AND is still selling both hd-dvd players (standalone) and software on their site.

I hardly call that going exclusivly blu-ray. In fact, if you head over to

http://www.target.com/gp/browse.html/ref=in_br_display-ladders/602-1708025-2575025?ie=UTF8&node=295368011

You can see exactly which HD-dvd players there selling, and it looks like aside from some webmaster moron who does not know what an HD-DVD player is, and a used A1, they are selling only ONE (1) HD-DVD player. So this big announcments of blu-ray exclusive action from target is infact, just the company saying

"Our stores no longer carry the Toshiba HD-A20"

Target is in love with the color red.
HD DVD would fit with their (lack of) style.

They failed to see this? :)

lol Xuse, you crack me up. hahahaha...not.

What a immature comment, then again, i dont expect much from 10 year old kids.

PS3 is like an investment -- put down a chunk of change in the beginning, and you don't have to spend a penny more because it has no games. Think how much money you will save in the long run! All financial planners recommend the PS3!!!

MiniDisc is NOT a fail format SLACKERS. MiniDisc is still used in Europe and Asia. Is still highly use for recording mixes by DJ's and such.

You're basically looking at a few orange trees in an orange orchard. You need to look at the big picture here. I believe Minidisc was a failed format just as the author has said. I thought it was a cool concept, but definitely was a failed format. Do you see people putting minidiscs in their PCs today to make music CDs to play in their car? Do you see people put data on minidiscs to lug around with them on a regular basis? I don't.

Just because a few people still use minidisc, doesn't mean it's a successful product. That's like calling the Dreamcast a successful console just because a million or two people bought the system (not hating on the dreamcast, I loved it!). Considering the Wii ALREADY sold over 7 million units and the DS sold about 45 million units (I've seen some figures online, but don't remember the link location), the dreamcast sales were a drop in the bucket comparatively. And unfortunately, the system didn't last.

What most people failed to recognize was that MiniDisc wasn't intended to replace CDs, but that it was intended to replace audio cassettes.

Probably would have worked, too, if a) the players/recorders hadn't been so damned expensive, and b) CD-R technology hadn't dropped in price so quickly. The advent of 1GB+ MP3 players pretty much put the final nails in MiniDisc's coffin.

I still have a few MDs sitting around, and have yet to list my portable MD player on eBay. It was a great -- if underappreciated -- technology while it lasted.

"According to Reuters, retail mega-chain Target announced today it will only carry Blu-ray disc players."

Can you guys read. Where in this article does it say that target is getting rid of hd-dvds? It in fact says they will not be selling stand alone players. They will sell the hd-dvd add on for 360 (not a stand alone player) the only stand alone HDdvd players will be on their website only. Toshiba is spinning the story idiots just like any good PR department. If you guys could read it wouldn't be so easy. I would say the fact that there won't be any stand alone players at Target through Christmas is a pretty big blow. can't play those HDdvd without a player and a 360 + player is still $579.99.

will Target be rescinding this when Wal-Mart starts selling $200 HD DVD players shortly? 'Cause last I looked $200 is less than $500.

Its like that Spike TV Commercial for KillPoint

"You stop supporting that brand, and this format war is over"
"No; That's when the format war begins"

Backed by the currently monopolizing DVD Forum, HDDVD won't go down without a long and brutal fight, but the first round has definitely gone to Blu-ray

This is one of those situations where you hear a story and perpetuate it further by not checking the facts.

While true that Target will carry a Sony Blu-Ray player, Target is still selling HD DVD movies and players.

I hope alot of blu-ray fanboys that complain about hd dvd surviving due to universal being the only hold out realize that if every movie studio went format neutral blu-ray would be out of it. That's right. If you could select the same movie for either format wouldn't it make sense to go with the cheaper hardware since they both use the same "blue laser" technology. So Sony definitely has made some deals under the table to ensure blu-ray's success. Too bad it might just cost them the next-gen gaming war.

Haha, what are you going on about? It already has cost them this generation in the gaming front. Their sales are dismal.

i think i just threw up a little in my mouth. reading the comments on this article makes me want to stick my penis in a food processor. grow up kids.

Yeah, sure. I think you're just looking for an excuse to stick your penis in a food processor.

rats, foiled again

"""If you could select the same movie for either format wouldn't it make sense to go with the cheaper hardware since they both use the same "blue laser" technology."""

No, not at all. You guys already choose cheapest hardware. That’s why half of Xbox owners just pack their units to repair and other half just waiting when they refurbish will be send to them back from MS.

Looks like I'll have to cut my support to Target...

Although I guess I could just not buy BluRay and instead lodge a complaint about the lack of selection.

I've never seen a stand-alone high-definition player in Walmart and Target.

target is overpriced, now if it were walmart...

I'm working on a super uber TrueRealLifeResoluationUberSuperMegaHD hologram projector cube that already has every movie ever made on its 400 Pitobyte solid-state harddrive.

Yours for only $12,999,999,999,999,999.99 plus Tax, Shipping, and Time Machine Travel fees.

We're in talks for a April 1st, 2543 opening retail date with Wal-Mart.

The correct monetary unit is credits. I also believe you mean a petabyte as a pitobyte is a non-existant quantity at least according to every quantity of byte that I've ever heard of.

Wal-mart is bad for America. They will only sell the cheapest you can get. Past 30 days, you deal with a foreign manufacturer.....who claim you broke it.

If you want to roll the dice and get the absolute cheapest product possible, then you alerady shop at wal-mart.

Lol...Walmart hate...

I don't shop at Walmart myself since I buy clothes at real retail stores and I think its mostly low quality shit they have over there regardless of what they are trying to trick the average consumer into believing.

However I might go there for a few small things one in a while.

I just want BluRay to lose.

I just saw a Sony blu-ray stand alone player at my local Walmart, priced at $488. On Walmart.com that same player comes with 7 free movies. The Toshiba HD DVD is priced at $288, however I did not see that particular unit in the store.

360 owners, don't let Sony's spin tactics scare you aware from the HD-DVD add-on. It is a great deal at the price and the movies look great. As people have said, Target still sells HD-DVDs, the title is misleading.

I hope both Blu-ray and HD-DVD fail in the marketplace. Buyers would then end up with expensive DVD players.

My Wal-Mart already has all the electronics employees saying that HD-DVD is "Fake Blu-Ray" and Blu-Ray is the only true HD format. This is why I do not take store employee advice when choosing a product.

At my Mal-Mart, I overheard an associate tell a customer that the PSP was a HD Gameboy because she wouldn't buy it unless it was a Gameboy.
And these same morons want their minimum wage to go up...

Any "winner" in this format war will experience a bittersweet victory - the average consumer is not done with DVD yet, and the rest of them will be moving on to digital distribution, via the 360, Apple TV, eventually the PS3, and all the other emerging methods of delivering entertainment.

To be honest, I don't know why Target, Wal*Mart, or any of these stores even bother to carry HD-DVD or BRD movies - most people don't have a player, or don't have a qualified set-up to even experience the enhancements to the video and audio that these formats offer... and at the rate both formatas are going, I don't see that changing any time soon.

Just another sign that Blu-Ray is going to win this HD format war- and the more I think about it, the more this wasn't really a war at all- we should have all known Blu-Ray was going to win (50GB of storage, more studio support, PS3, etc)- but I think people's dislike of Sony made them blind to the fact that Blu-Ray is the better format and will have this "war" over in the very near future.

THIS MESSAGE IS INTENDED TO ALL 360 FANBOYS WHO CLAIM THE PS3 HAS ABSOLUTELY NO GAMES TO BUY:

http://www.metacritic.com/games/ps3/scores/

OMG THE PS3 HAS NO GAMES TO BUY?! WHY DO I SEE 57 PURCHASABLE GAMES?!

That list is obviously made up and is nothing but LIES!

See people, this is what the Sony fanboys will do, they will go to other peoples sites, and hack them, and make up a bunch of lies and put that online!

- Self-proclaimed, level-headed 360 Fanboy

PS. It's obvious that a 360 + HD-DVD-Addon is cheaper even though according to the numbers, the PS3 is cheaper, it's just a lie that math is creating. Math is LYING!

PPS. And remember, even though everyone wants HD-DVD, everyone does not want it too! Therefore choice is good, because they can choose to have HD-DVD and not pay for it at the same time! That makes the 360 cheaper even with HD-DVD since they can choose not to pay for it even though they want it! Have the cake and eat it too!

PPPS. The 360 will always be cheaper because even though I bought the 360-Elite with HD-DVD, charge and play, XBL Gold... I can always say that what counts is the core because no-one wants HDMI, HD-DVD, Online Play etc. well... except for an enormous part of the target audience and me... but that doesn't count. Only Core counts!

Yeah ma 360 is maw ef-fishiont than your stinkin p$3 caz im so afwaid to turn it on i save so much maw electwic innit so over a all my fingers in yeers my mummys bill is like $ zilionz cheeper so there

up yours Fony, you raped my kidyhood by making your con$-hole so damn teh fine dat i cant touch it coz tehn i need to get a job an all and get up in da monrnin and i cant paly GEARS all da live long day

So instead of dat i iz comin here to cry at and attak all da $ony people to tell tehm dat the p$twipleshite is teh shite to next 2 teh 360 so just shuta up coz i aint lessoninin to yaz and hd-dwd iz goin to kill bulray and bulray iz doomed coz it in da p$3 and p$3 got 2billonz % failore rate and 360 never breaks down eva eva eva coz its like betta tahn it and cell iznt good coz it who needs supa cmputa i jus wanna play GEARS OF WAR innit iz beta dan MGturd4 and hevenly shit and kill$one 2.5 and teh grandadtushtmo 4.5 and little shity planet coz dey iz no snatch for teh GEARS and teh FORZA and anyway MGS4 best gamw evea oh yeah is comin to 360 like next week coz my brofas sisters auntys grilfrends uncle asid so so there!!!

PAWNED!

Give up 360 owners, PS3 is ruling the format war; it will be the winner like it or no, stop expending your money for HD-DVD content, just give up please.......

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Target targets Blu-ray as the way

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