Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2008 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/Wal-Mart goes 'exclusively' Blu-rayhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/15/wal-mart-goes-exclusively-blu-ray/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/15/wal-mart-goes-exclusively-blu-ray/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/15/wal-mart-goes-exclusively-blu-ray/#commentsFiled under:


Wal-Mart declared today that it will "exclusively" back Blu-ray in the high-definition movie format war. We know there's a lot of emotions about this issue still out there, but when Netflix, Blockbuster, Best Buy, almost all of the major movie studios and WAL-MART go Blu-ray, can we finally say this is the end for HD DVD? Wal-Mart stated that "in less than 30 days" customers will see the alpha-dog of retailers go predominantly Blu-ray.

Wal-Mart's release to Joystiq also states that the company is moving "exclusively toward Blu-ray ... players." We've requested clarification as to whether this means they will no longer carry the Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on player. We'll update when we get a response. What we can say is that the 10 Wal-Mart stores we did call either had no idea there was an HD DVD add-on for the Xbox 360 or said they haven't had them for a while.

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]]>blu-rayblurayhd-dvdhddvdsonywal-martwalmartAlexander Sliwinski2008-02-15T20:30:00+00:00Netflix, Best Buy boosting Blu-ray; HD DVD responds [update]http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/11/netflix-best-buy-boosting-blu-ray/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/11/netflix-best-buy-boosting-blu-ray/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/11/netflix-best-buy-boosting-blu-ray/#commentsFiled under: , ,


Good evening internet faithful, Gossip Girl here, your only source into the scandalous lives of today's hottest format war. Top story on my home page? Turns out Reuter's saw Netflix proposing to Blu-ray today. Too bad for HD DVD, which was also on Netflix's play-list until today when it sent out an email explaining that the two were splitsville from here on in. Not only that, but Netflix cooed that by the end of the year all HD DVDs "will be changed to standard definition DVDs" on subscriber's queues. Meaning Netflix isn't just kicking HD DVD out, but burning all the memories in the bathtub too.

Netflix isn't the only company amorous about Blu-ray today. Best Buy also sent hugs and kisses in the form of an announcement that it would "recommend" Blu-ray from now on. Although the retail chain isn't choosing a definitive side just yet, Best Buy will "prominently feature Blu-ray hardware and software beginning in March."

There's nothing Gossip Girl likes more than a good cat fight, but sadly this one is looking almost done. With HD DVD taking hit after hit, not to mention the recent clearance price-drop of the Xbox HD DVD player, it's getting tough to imagine dear sweet HD DVD can stage a comeback. Blu-ray is working its magic and those with the power to decide the format war are following.

Update: Peep this sorry response from the HD DVD camp: "We have long held the belief that HD DVD is the best format for consumers based on quality and value, and with more than 1 million HD DVD players on the market, it's unfortunate to see Netflix make the decision to only stock Blu-ray titles going forward. While the Best Buy announcement says they will recommend Blu-ray, at least they will continue to carry HD DVD and offer consumers a choice at retail." [Via Engadget]

Read: Netflix chooses Blu-ray.
Read: Best Buy to recommend Blu-ray.

[Thanks to all who sent us their Netflix letters!]

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]]>blu-rayblurayhd-dvdhddvdnetflixAlexander Sliwinski2008-02-11T23:25:00+00:00Xbox 360 HD DVD player price dropped to $130http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/06/xbox-360-hd-dvd-player-price-dropped-to-130/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/06/xbox-360-hd-dvd-player-price-dropped-to-130/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/06/xbox-360-hd-dvd-player-price-dropped-to-130/#commentsFiled under: ,


Effective immediately, the Xbox 360 HD DVD player add-on is now priced at $130 in the US and Canada. Even better, early birds managed to nab the player for a steal this morning on Amazon (though the $80 offer is now sold out). Depending on your perspective, today's price-drop either signals that HD DVD isn't about to go down easy or that it's grasping at building a user base amidst major setbacks.

For the last half year Blu-ray has had some high-profile victories. Now, we're not choosing sides, just saying that those who haven't pledged their allegiance to an HD movie format may want to wait a little longer (but Blu-ray is totally the winner, right?).

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]]>Blu-raybluraybreakingnewsHD-DVDhddvdAlexander Sliwinski2008-02-06T13:23:00+00:00Don't even trip, Financial Times -- Paramount is sticking with HD-DVDhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/01/13/dont-even-trip-financial-times-paramount-is-sticking-with-h/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/01/13/dont-even-trip-financial-times-paramount-is-sticking-with-h/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/01/13/dont-even-trip-financial-times-paramount-is-sticking-with-h/#commentsFiled under: ,


If you just bought an HD-DVD player attachment for your Xbox 360, don't feel completely discouraged about the recent movements in the home entertainment industry. While it definitely seems as though Blu-ray has soundly won the format war, Viacom Inc. owned Paramount Studios recently issued a statement saying they would continue producing HD-DVD movies.

The statement was a correction to a recent Financial Times article saying that the company was following in the footsteps of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., and adopting Blu-ray as their sole HD format. Following a brief plunge in the stocks of Toshiba (the company most invested in HD-DVD technology), Paramount issued a statement pledging their allegiance to the format less blue. Looks like it's time to hunker down for the long haul, people -- it might be a while before the clear victor for the Battle of the Formats is decided.

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]]>blu-rayblurayformatHDhd-dvdhddvdtoshibaGriffin McElroy2008-01-13T12:45:00+00:00HD DVD group cancels pre-CES press conferencehttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/01/05/hd-dvd-group-cancels-pre-ces-press-conference/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/01/05/hd-dvd-group-cancels-pre-ces-press-conference/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/01/05/hd-dvd-group-cancels-pre-ces-press-conference/#commentsFiled under: ,


In the wake of the recent announcement of Warner Bros' new allegiance to the Blu-ray format (and, as result, sister company New Line Cinema's similarly adopted format loyalty), the HD DVD group has canceled their pre-Consumer Electronics Show press conference. We're not sure if the announcement will impact the HD DVD Promotion Group's booth at the show, though we imagine it will create an atmosphere for their visitors with a level of awkwardness similar to that of a nursing home.

In a mass email to CES attendees, a representative for the group said they are "currently discussing the potential impact of this announcement with the other HD DVD partner companies and evaluating next steps." If these "next steps" don't include lining the pockets of every remaining film publisher on the market to convince them your format's still viable, HD DVD could go the way of the Betamax with a quickness.

(Via PS3F)

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]]>Blu-rayblurayCESHD DVDHdDvdWarnerBrosWBGriffin McElroy2008-01-05T18:30:00+00:00HD porn studio swayed to Blu-ray by PS3 ownershttp://www.joystiq.com/2007/12/22/hd-porn-studio-swayed-to-blu-ray-by-ps3-owners/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/12/22/hd-porn-studio-swayed-to-blu-ray-by-ps3-owners/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/12/22/hd-porn-studio-swayed-to-blu-ray-by-ps3-owners/#commentsFiled under: ,

Any respectable connoisseur of the erotic arts can tell you that in this day and age, watching lo-def pornography is about as un-erotic as watching reruns of Murder, She Wrote. Once you've seen an unclothed bathing suit area at 1080p, lower definition skin flicks just seem to lose their appeal. Many porno purveyors have already made the leap to high definition formats -- such as Digital Playground, which publishes movies exclusively in HD-DVD, much to the chagrin of pornstars left with pockmarked skin after years of spite and heroin abuse.

However, Joone, the company's single-named founder, has recently reconsidered his position in the resolution war, agreeing to publish Digital Playground pictures (starting with their 2005 award-winning blockbuster Pirates) in Blu-ray as well. Why the change of heart? According to Joone, "A lot of people were e-mailing that bought a PlayStation 3 and they were basically saying, 'When are you guys going to release Blu-ray?'" Pornophilic PS3 owners can buckle their swashes when Pirates is released January 4th -- we suggest watching the timeless classic American Bangster to tide you over until then.

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]]>Blu-rayBlurayDigitalPlaygroundPiratesPlayStation3PornPS3SonyGriffin McElroy2007-12-22T13:00:00+00:00Michael Bay talks HD DVD and Microsoft's 'dirty secret'http://www.joystiq.com/2007/12/05/michael-bay-talks-hd-dvd-and-microsofts-dirty-secret/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/12/05/michael-bay-talks-hd-dvd-and-microsofts-dirty-secret/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/12/05/michael-bay-talks-hd-dvd-and-microsofts-dirty-secret/#commentsFiled under: ,

michael bay
Michael Bay has been sipping the "Kool-Aid" again. Several months after the director's infamous night with a band of Blu-ray owners and a few glasses of alternate-reality drink (ending in a brief holdout with Transformers 2 on the line), Bay is back to blasting HD DVD. Despite a sobering HD DVD screening of 300 in late-August and newfound acceptance of Paramount's decision to partner with Microsoft, Bay has fallen off the wagon, stumbling onto a trail of deceit leading to a "dirty secret," a corporate plot to annihilate all forms of our beloved polycarbonate discs -- with explosions, lots of 'em.

Bay writes, "Microsoft wants both [HD DVD and Blu-ray] formats to fail so they can be heroes and make the world move to digital downloads. That is the dirty secret no one is talking about. That is why Microsoft is handing out $100 million dollar checks to studios just [to] embrace the HD DVD and not the leading, and superior Blu Ray [sic]. They want confusion in the market until they perfect the digital downloads. Time will tell and you will see the truth."

While we can't verify just how many $100 million checks have been cashed (we know of just the one we received to ensure the Sony bias keeps flowing), we do know what Bill Gates told us nearly a year ago: "HD DVD is great ... It's neat. But over time, eventually online is going to be more important." That don't sound like no secret to us. Sony was early to the HD movie market and Microsoft didn't want its competitor to run away with a new format before it could get the proper digital distribution network and hardware in place. HD DVD certainly can be viewed as a stalling tactic, and two formats with varying Hollywood support is definitely confusing to consumers, but let's not mistake reality for Michael Bay's vision of Armageddon.

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]]>blu-rayblurayhd-dvdhddvdmichael-bayMichaelBayJames Ransom-Wiley2007-12-05T13:58:00+00:00Blu-ray sales dominate HD war in Europehttp://www.joystiq.com/2007/11/28/blu-ray-sales-dominate-europe/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/11/28/blu-ray-sales-dominate-europe/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/11/28/blu-ray-sales-dominate-europe/#commentsFiled under:

The PS3 may finally be getting around to being a good game console, but there's no denying it's been a great Blu-ray player since the beginning. Sony Europe released figures that 73% of high-def movie sales on the continent were Blu-ray. Sony says the "turning point" in Blu-ray movie sales, which they now say average two to five times the amount of HD-DVD sales weekly, was the release of the PS3.

Blu-ray has been having a pretty solid year in the US as well. It's certainly interesting to note how comparatively small the high-def movie market must be if the lowest selling console in the video game market makes such a massive impact.

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]]>blu-rayblurayhddvdsonyAlexander Sliwinski2007-11-28T19:30:00+00:00Toshiba says 'no comment' to HD DVD Xbox 360http://www.joystiq.com/2007/10/24/toshiba-says-no-comment-to-hd-dvd-xbox-360/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/10/24/toshiba-says-no-comment-to-hd-dvd-xbox-360/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/10/24/toshiba-says-no-comment-to-hd-dvd-xbox-360/#commentsFiled under:


Although the rumor started by Smarthouse that a non-Microsoft branded Xbox with built-in HD DVD drive sounds improbable, Stuff.tv got UK Toshiba to give a "no comment" on the matter. Despite the Stuff.tv headline saying, "Toshiba says no to new Xbox 360 HD DVD rumour," the word "comment" is actually missing between "no" and "to." Which, in essence, means we're actually right back to where we started -- with this rumor still floating out there.

An HD DVD built into the Xbox 360 is always possible, but even by the original rumor's timeline, the thing wouldn't even be announced until late next year. With so much extra stuff built into it and without Microsoft branding, it sounds like a load of crazy talk. Mind you, we're getting used to crazy talk around here, so anything is possible.

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]]>BluRaydriveHD-DVDHDDVDinternalmoviesxbox360Alexander Sliwinski2007-10-24T12:24:00+00:00Xbox 360 HD DVD offers expanded; Heroes free with purchase at Best Buy starting Sundayhttp://www.joystiq.com/2007/10/19/xbox-360-hd-dvd-offers-expanded-heroes-free-with-purchase-at-be/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/10/19/xbox-360-hd-dvd-offers-expanded-heroes-free-with-purchase-at-be/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/10/19/xbox-360-hd-dvd-offers-expanded-heroes-free-with-purchase-at-be/#commentsFiled under: , ,


Cheapy D's army of frugal Fannies bring word that this week's Best Buy flyer (beginning Oct. 21) reveals Heroes on HD DVD is free with the purchase of an Xbox 360 HD DVD player. So, if we're grasping this properly, if you purchase the Xbox 360's HD DVD player from Best Buy you'll get King Kong (still bundled in), Heroes, and five free HD DVDs. The five free movies offer has also now been expanded to Europe. If the Xbox 360 HD DVD unit ends up being true, this ridiculous HD DVD vs. Blu-ray format war might actually be heating up rather than ending. All we know is that the consumers who wait for this mess to end are the ones who'll "win."

Read: Get Heroes HD DVD free with player purchase.
Read: Xbox announces free movies with HD DVD player.
Read: Free HD DVD offer extended, new movies too.

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]]>addonblurayhddvdps3xbox360Alexander Sliwinski2007-10-19T15:15:00+00:00Xbox 360 HD DVD getting Euro price cuthttp://www.joystiq.com/2007/09/04/xbox-360-hd-dvd-getting-euro-price-cut/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/09/04/xbox-360-hd-dvd-getting-euro-price-cut/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/09/04/xbox-360-hd-dvd-getting-euro-price-cut/#commentsFiled under: , ,

According to eFluxMedia, Microsoft announced a price drop on their HD DVD add-on for the Xbox 360 in the European market. It will drop from €200 to €180 -- which if you want to do the conversion would be around $244, the HD DVD drive retails in the States for $179.

According to reports last month, Blu-ray has been outselling HD DVD formatted discs in the States 2-to-1 in the first half of the '07. Manfred Gerdes, chief of Sony Germany, said to eFluxMedia that PS3 sales have totalled 2 million there, double the number of stand-alone Blu-ray movie players. The bundle of Blu-ray with PS3 is said to have helped create this widening HD DVD vs. Blu-ray gap. At least movie buffs get something out of the deal -- now about those games.

[Via X3F]

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]]>addonblurayhddvdps3xbox360Alexander Sliwinski2007-09-04T15:00:00+00:00Fox, MGM pledge more support for Blu-rayhttp://www.joystiq.com/2007/08/21/fox-mgm-pledge-more-support-for-blu-ray/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/08/21/fox-mgm-pledge-more-support-for-blu-ray/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/08/21/fox-mgm-pledge-more-support-for-blu-ray/#commentsFiled under: , ,

The high-definition format war was due for a shakeup. Following yesterday's news that Paramount will be ditching Blu-ray in favor of HD-DVD exclusivity, Twentieth Century Fox and MGM (whose video releases are, not coincidentally, handled by Fox) pledged more support for the Sony-backed Blu-ray, citing the format's dominant sales compared to HD-DVD.

That pledge totals 29 new Blu-ray releases by the end of the year, which breaks down as follows:
  • Six new films from Fox, including Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer and Live Free or Die Hard, that will be released day and date with the DVD version.
  • Four day and date (for U.S. only) Blu-ray and DVD new releases from MGM
  • 19 titles deemed "must have on Blu-ray" from the two studios' collection
Additionally, Fox has promised to bring television drama Prison Break to Blu-ray. According to the announcement (via GameDaily), Fox said it intends to release "at least one state-of-the-art title per month featuring numerous BD 'firsts.'"

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

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]]>blu-rayblurayformatfoxhddvdmgmparamountRoss Miller2007-08-21T13:25:00+00:00Blu-ray outselling HD DVD 2 to 1 this yearhttp://www.joystiq.com/2007/08/16/blu-ray-outselling-hd-dvd-2-to-1-this-year/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/08/16/blu-ray-outselling-hd-dvd-2-to-1-this-year/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/08/16/blu-ray-outselling-hd-dvd-2-to-1-this-year/#commentsFiled under: , ,

According to Home Media Research, Blu-ray outsold HD DVD 2-to-1 in the US during the first half of '07. If you want the big numbers, it's 1.6 million Blu-ray units compared to 795,000 HD DVD units. If those numbers are too big, just take a look at the recent release of 300, which sold 190,000 units on Blu-ray and 97,000 on HD DVD.

Perhaps these two formats can seek peaceful coexistence, but as things stand right now, Blockbuster has gone Blu-ray and so have some retailers. We really don't care who wins the movie format war, but we'd prefer people spending their money on a couple extra games instead of possibly throwing their money away on a console attachment for a dying not-selling-as-well format.

[Via GameDaily]

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]]>blurayhddvdps3xbox360Alexander Sliwinski2007-08-16T11:30:00+00:00Heavenly Sword packed with 10 GB of sound datahttp://www.joystiq.com/2007/08/15/heavenly-sword-packed-with-10-gb-of-sound-data/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/08/15/heavenly-sword-packed-with-10-gb-of-sound-data/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/08/15/heavenly-sword-packed-with-10-gb-of-sound-data/#commentsFiled under: ,

Ninja Theory's Heavenly Sword has some beautiful music -- anyone with the demo can testify to that. An interview with lead audio Tom Colvin has quantified the developer's focus on aural satisfaction: 10 GB of sound data is included in the game, according to Develop.

That sizable number includes approximately three and a half hours of music, sound effects and 4,500 lines of dialog. "There's an hour and a half's worth of cut scenes in eleven languages," said SCEE's Garry Taylor.

A dual layer DVD disc has an 8.5 GB capacity; will Sony be touting that its competition couldn't even fit the audio onto their discs? We'd be surprised if they showed restraint.

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

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]]>audiobluraydevelopheavenlyswordninjatheorysonyRoss Miller2007-08-15T14:25:00+00:00NPD survey says gamers unaware of their console's capabilitieshttp://www.joystiq.com/2007/08/10/npd-survey-says-gamers-unaware-of-their-consoles-capabilities/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/08/10/npd-survey-says-gamers-unaware-of-their-consoles-capabilities/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/08/10/npd-survey-says-gamers-unaware-of-their-consoles-capabilities/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

To most Joystiq readers, Blu-ray is synonymous with the PlayStation 3. According to a recent survey from the NPD Group (via ars technica), however, that connection isn't as widely known. In fact, the results show that just 40% of those who owned a PS3 knew it had a Blu-ray drive. Really?

Even more bizarre, the report states that just 50% of the gamers surveyed knew the PS3 had high definition graphics. That's, of course, a relative victory over Xbox 360, whose high definition prowess was only known by 30% of the survey takers. The survey was reportedly a culmination of 6,260 responses from console owners aged six to 44. Who are these people, though?

We're still confused by the PS3 / Blu-ray (dis)connection, given that the Blu-ray logo is placed prominently on the front of the box, in every commercial and advertisement, on the console itself. How did those other 60% miss that?

Curious about Nintendo's ability to inform the public, we conducted our survey today. It turns out only 35% of the Joystiq staff (and 70% of the NWF staff) knew the Wii had motion controls.

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

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]]>bluraymicrosoftnpdsonysurveyydkjRoss Miller2007-08-10T15:30:00+00:00BJ's Wholesale goes Blu-rayhttp://www.joystiq.com/2007/07/27/bjs-wholesale-goes-blu-ray/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/07/27/bjs-wholesale-goes-blu-ray/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/07/27/bjs-wholesale-goes-blu-ray/#commentsFiled under: , ,


Another blow to HD DVD came today as BJ's Wholesale Club will bounce the format from its shelves in the fourth quarter according to VB, a Variety company. Just like yesterday's news about Target going with Blu-ray players, if Wal-Mart's Sam's Club went Blu-ray it'd be a much bigger deal, but BJ's is a large company on the East Coast (particularly the North East). BJ's will continue to sell HD DVD format products on their website.

Although Microsoft previously stated they were standing by HD DVD, they may need to review their statements from January if they don't want to "charge customers $200 extra for something that may be the next Betamax." If the domino effect continues it might be at least worth considering an affordable Blu-ray attachment to the Xbox 360 -- despite Blu-ray being a Sony format. It's pretty simple, give HDTV consumers the option of a Blu-ray attachment for their Xbox 360, or have them thinking the PS3 is a game machine and an HD movie player in one affordable package (you know, further down that 10 year line). Then again, if direct digital content gains a foothold, it may all be a moot point anyway.

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]]>bjsblockbusterblurayhddvdsonytargettoshibaAlexander Sliwinski2007-07-27T16:52:00+00:00Target targets Blu-ray as the wayhttp://www.joystiq.com/2007/07/26/target-targets-blu-ray-as-the-way/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/07/26/target-targets-blu-ray-as-the-way/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/07/26/target-targets-blu-ray-as-the-way/#commentsFiled under: , ,

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.

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]]>blockbusterblurayhddvdtargetwalmartAlexander Sliwinski2007-07-26T20:17:00+00:00Dragon's Lair now bound for HD DVDhttp://www.joystiq.com/2007/07/04/dragons-lair-now-bound-for-hd-dvd/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/07/04/dragons-lair-now-bound-for-hd-dvd/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/07/04/dragons-lair-now-bound-for-hd-dvd/#commentsFiled under:

If you're like us, there was one primary factor in your choice of high-definition disc formats: the availability of Dragon's Lair. By that logic, we were siding with Blu-ray for awhile, but now we're just ambivalent.

An HD-DVD version of Dragon's Lair is coming August 15 for $29.99, the same price as the Blu-ray incarnation. O, what are we to do? We can't decide, so we'll just stick to our DS version, thank you very much.

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]]>blu rayBluRaydragons lairDragonsLairhd dvdHdDvdRoss Miller2007-07-04T13:00:00+00:00Gamers don't use consoles as DVD players [Update]http://www.joystiq.com/2007/06/29/sorry-sony-console-buyers-dont-care-about-watching-movies/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/06/29/sorry-sony-console-buyers-dont-care-about-watching-movies/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/06/29/sorry-sony-console-buyers-dont-care-about-watching-movies/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

A new research report by The Diffusion Group has found that only a small percentage of console owners actually use the inherent DVD playback capabilities of their PS2s and Xbox 360s.

According to the report, 80% of console owners have DVD playback options on at least one of their systems, but a staggering 70% didn't even realize that the feature was available. The report concludes that despite the best efforts of companies like Microsoft and Sony, consumers are still using video game consoles to play games, and rarely use them for non-gaming purposes.

For the Xbox 360 and PS2, this may be due in large part to the prolificacy of standalone DVD players, but that's not the case with the Playstation 3. Earlier this week, we reported that PS3 sales make up the bulk of Blu-ray disc players in homes, with less than 100,000 standalone players sold thus far in North America. If PS3 owners aren't using their systems to watch movies, or even aware that the option exists, that spells bad news for Sony's shiny blue format.

Update: We received a tip that clued us in to some inaccuracies in our original source for this post, specifically relating to Blu-ray discs. Though the report does bring up Sony's Playstation 3, the research only covers consoles with DVD playback, meaning that the numbers do not reflect Blu-ray sales or the PS3, contrary to our original assumptions.

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]]>bluraydvdgamasutravideoScott Jon Siegel2007-06-29T14:15:00+00:00Dragon's Lair coming to DShttp://www.joystiq.com/2007/06/28/dragons-lair-coming-to-ds/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/06/28/dragons-lair-coming-to-ds/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/06/28/dragons-lair-coming-to-ds/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,


Released on Blu-ray just a few weeks ago, a DS incarnation of the classic arcade/Laserdisc adventure Dragon's Lair has been announced by Digital Leisure. At first we thought the two would go together as well as peanuts and bubblegum, but after reading what developer Wizardry Engineering is doing to make the game fit the system, we might have to reconsider.

Dragon's Lair DS will be playable on one screen or split across two, holding the DS like a book. Touch screen control will be implemented, and there's even talk of voice recognition (blue ... BLUE!!!) and rumble pak support. Hey, if it worked on Game Boy Color, it should go over fine on the DS.

[Via DS Fanboy

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]]>adventurearcadebluraydigitalleisuredonbluthdragonslairdslaserdiscretrowizardryengineeringJohn Bardinelli2007-06-28T10:30:00+00:00