Netflix drops HD DVD, goes Blu-Ray exclusive

by Xav de Matos on Feb 11th 2008 2:45PM

Our buddies at Engadget are reporting that snail-mail rental powerhouse Netflix has ditched HD DVD in support of the Blu-Ray format adding another nail to the coffin of the dwindling format. According to the story, Netflix justifies their decision on the majority of Hollywood studios taking sides behind the Sony-backed format.

Netflix will continue to offer HD DVD rentals until their current stock is phased out within the next year but with this news the chances of stocking new titles are slim to none. In the meantime, HD DVD owners can still get their fix from BlockBuster Online but it seems it's only a matter of time until that changes.

[Thanks, Bravo6]

Source

Tags: blu-ray, format-wars, hd-dvd

Reader Comments (37)

Well, looks like that format war is over

Indeed, it is over. Forget about a blu-ray add on and get a ps3. I owned an xbox 360 until last week when I traded it in and got a ps3. Xbox 360 has LIVE and thats all about it has over the ps3. Everything is going into the direction of blu-ray. Almost every movie studio has gone blu except a few. I was really once a believer of HD DVD, but not anymore. Its only a matter of time till many of you realize that format is over, with blu-ray holding the belt.

No, DVD is holding the belt. HD-DVD and BluRay both pale in comparison to that behemoth. Everyone is getting all hot and bothered about a format "war" that collectively holds 7% market share. That's like discussing who's selling the most CPUs after skipping over Intel and AMD. The battle of BluRay vs DVD will probably result in BluRay losing.

That said, I do like renting both from Netflix and using them on my HDTV. But having an HDTV and a player for either HiDef format (let alone both) puts me well in the minority of TV owners and media disc users.

@Dude305 - So you're saying that because HD DVD is a failed format, you traded in your 360? Why the hell would I trade in my 360, which has tons of gaming hours into it (and many many more in the future), for a PS3 that barely has any games? I bought the 360 to play games, not watch movies. Have fun with your Blu-ray movie watching machine because that's all it's good for.

Wow, I now own a $179.99 paperweight...thanks Toshiba.

Yeah,because i'm sure you had no idea what you were getting into before you bought it,right?

Because the player magically stops working next month? Buying the player isn't the mistake. Some people bought $700+ in movies. That's the mistake. I've gotten plenty of use out of my HD-DVD add on with renting them off of Netflix. I'm sure the price of my player comes down to a few dollars extra per movie. What I feel is a "mistake" is buying 300 on HD-DVD because when my add-on player breaks I'm left with a $30 standard def DVD. But it wouldn't be the first movie I've bought twice.

When is xbox putting out a blue ray add on??????????

Hey, wait. What the Fuck? When the hell did you guys get two new writers? Totally skipped under my radar. Welcome, homies. Looking forward to this week's podcast...

Hopefully you guys will finally catch up with Jostiq on your weekend-news.Right now it's 3:1 ratio :(
Anyway enough bitching.

Good Luck Guys.

Does this mean a super-clearance sale is coming? I can't wait.

Looks like Universal is backing out too...it's about time. I don't care who wins the war just let it be over.

http://www.thegamersthought.com/2008/02/breaking-news-egm-confirms-universals.html

It is irony that the format that is better for the consumers is dieing because of the vote of the consumers?

Sigh...

I don't think the consumers had/have much to do with it.

You mean how VHS won over Beta Max....

How is HD-DVD better for consumers?

I'm trying to figure out why people choose the sides they do. I figure if BD has a higher capacity (50 vs 30 gigs for dual-layer, which seems to be where the companies are settling) for about the same cost (so says Wikipedia), go that way. Of course, I decided not to invest in either player until the war was over, so I don't have as much of a stake in it as some people...

@Josh

Ummmm...That article says nothing about Universal Going Blu-ray...Its just stating what was known last month. Universal's Contract is up, but they've already stated to support HD DVD exclusively till it's death, and its still breathing at the moment.
I love how it says breaking news, should be "Really Late breaking news".

Universal is not producing Blu-ray, till they official say they are, which I don't see happening for awhile.

"Everyone has already chosen the obvious winner of this format; apparently Toshiba has yet to come into realization that its format is no longer being considered by the media industry."
^^^^
Wow...That's not biase at all. >;>

http://www.betanews.com/article/Universal_Were_staying_with_HD_DVD/1199974983

well if hd dvd's start dropping in price for movies then this is something to reconsider...
$30-$40 for a blu-ray is ridiculous.

If you are buying Blu-ray movies for $30 - $40 you are buying at the wrong places.

"because of the vote of the consumers?"

Sadly it's not the consumer, its the Studios and Retailers. The consumer never chooses anything. We're always lead to believe it, but in reality, its far from the truth.

It's all about the $$$$$.

Sony paid off a bunch of studios to go BR. F@CKERS!!

I hope Sony burns in hell!!

Life sucks. its not even a month since I got my HDDVD player. I love the HD. Guess I just might get a PS3. Lol isnt this ironical!! PS3 and a good studio backing caused Blu-Ray to win and now Blu-ray is compelling me to buy a PS3. *shakes fist at sony* . I saw HD movies and I cant go back to SD. Hopefully I can afford the PS3 soon enough.
Some fanboy I turned out to be *sniff*!!

I've always known I would get a PS3... I'm a gamer not a fanboy.. Just I wanted to hold out as long as possible because I don't like the way sony has been playing the game nor do they have any worthwhile games.

See thats the thing. My last line was of course a joke but the point was that I thought that I would get away by just buying one console. With the huge budget of games these days , few games can afford to be exclusives to one or the other console.
The reason I am pissed is that I will end up buying the PS3 for a reason not related to games.
I am not much of a gamer more of a semi-casual one so the media features are as important to me as the games themselves, more or less 50-50. I will end up getting only 50% enjoyment out of my PS3 which makes me sad and a bit pissed off.

Sorry for the long rant but just felt had to explain myself.

Wah wah wah!! It isn't just Sony backing Blu, it's a bunch of other companies . Do some research and you will learn something. It wasn't like MS wasn't paying people off either. Ironic that Ms is going to support BR in the end.

A few years from now (if not sooner) it won't matter. Digital download is the future - or the present, depending upon who you ask.

I have a question...

How does a comment hating sony on the Xbox360fanboy site, get voted down?

Do we have that many PS3 owners looking at this site?

It would be like going over to the PS3Fanboy site and seeing a comment hating Microsoft voted down. Which they usually vote up... >;> I'm just wondering...that's all.

God damnit, looks like im gonna have to keep my PS3 for Blu-Ray. Im so temped to sell that thing I can't remember the last time I played it. Well, hopefully a cheaper Blu-Ray player comes out so I can get some money back out of this.

@ 2 Big deal, so one format wins over the other. Pretty soon physical media is going away and we will download everything. And who wants to buy an expensive blu ray player with no games? So we don't get high def movies anymore, we still have a game machine. You guys need all the help you can get and good luck seeing a PS4.

I dont see why everyone thinks downloading movies will be the future anytime soon. Do you realize how long it will take to download a HD movie? Standard DVDs are 6-8GB. If you are going to go HD, you dont want a low quality downloaded movie. I download TV shows all the time because I just want something quick to watch. For my movies though I want the full quality, therefore physical media be it DVD or HD.

Here's the stats of the games so far from each home console calculated from every game at metacritic(calculates all the reviews from all the top critics)

Green= Great, Yellow=Average to High Average, Red=Horrid

Wii

Green 16.88%
Yellow 64.28%
Red 17.53%

PS3

Green 48.06%
Yellow 46.51%
Red 4.65%

360

Green 40.96%
Yellow 50.30%
Red 8.13%

But 360 has more games than both the Wii and PS3 combined. Here's the total for each system

Wii has 154, PS3 has 129 and the 360 has 332

So shut up you egotistical tards and do some research.

@101

Yeah, so what's your point?

(You DO realize that reviews are worth exactly what you pay for them, right?)

my point is to stop saying ps3 doesn't have any good games.

They got half 4-5 stars but 360 has been out for an extra year, if they released these games at the same speed then by next year the ps3 would have as many 4-5 stars as the 360 did when it was out for two years.

I own over 20 360 games and non for the ps3 but I do want to get one. To say it's not worth it is to say hd isn't worth it and what's good for it isn't worth it. I even love my wii and I only like 1 game for it and knowing more will come out makes me patient for the next great game. I don't like SMG or Zack and Wiki, I'm finding playing RE4 more enjoyable than it was for the gamecube. So if you think I'm a fanboy for ps3 by throwing out numbers, then go ahead and think that.

Drop Netflix, sign up with Blockbuster Online rental service - they still back HD DVD if you want to continue to rent the format.

Consumers have no say in it.

Industry realized if BD lost, SONY would be out of business. Sony could not stay in business if 95% of their money goes into the PS3. It is why the drive was included.

HD-DVD is the better format. Check the forums online, and you can read how BD fudged numbers to appear to sell more than HD-DVD.

Consumers lost, and had no say in it. Industry chose this round.

Thanks for the Post! Great info.

Keith
http://www.eBuyHD.com

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Netflix drops HD DVD, goes Blu-Ray exclusive

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