The Death of HD-DVD?

Oh crap.

I spent $500 on the HDA1 HD-DVD player when it first came out. My goal was to be the coolest kid on the block, though I didn't go door to door to confirm. Not too long later, Microsoft created the HD-DVD drive for the XBOX 360. Once again, I rushed out to get it. $179.

Since then we have ammassed a pretty good collection of HD-DVDs. In fact, 8 of them came in today due to a BUY 1 GET 1 FREE sale at Amazon. I ended up with Dante's Peak to round out the bunch, which I'm not proud of.

Ah, heck... why not. Here's the list of 8
- Fearless
- Breach
- Meet the Fockers
- Dante's Peak
- Knocked Up
- Assualt on Precinct 13
- Traffic

Dante's Peak is easily the weakest of the bunch, but the special effects should be pretty good in HD. Meet the Fockers was a hesitant choice, but its funny.

Anyhoo, I'm going to guess that we now have approximately 20 HD DVDs. That's a few bucks.

So, I'm invested. I knew there was a format going on, and due to my rabid hatred of Sony, I backed HD-DVD. I doubt my investment in the technology caused any perceivable ripples, but I did my part.

I never agreed with the "lets see who wins" approach to the format war. HD-DVD players got pretty cheap, especially if you own an XBOX. Rather than wait for a winner, people should jump in the ring and fight. A lot of people can't due to the cost, so we'll leave them alone, but if you're a technology nut with the means of picking one, then pick one.

Ah, the War. At the beginning of the summer, it felt like that BLU-RAY was winning. By the end, it felt like HD was winning. Paramount and Dreamworks signed exclusively with HD-DVD. Michael Bay made a ruckus about this, then retracted his comments the previous day. (That was actually kinda cool. He didn't try to pass it off as misunderstood, or something lame. He put it down as a rash remark, and moved on.)

Somewhere along the way, there were some stories stating that Blu-Ray wasn't going to allow adult movies. If that turned out to be the case, then I'm confident that HD would've won. The adult industry is a billion dollar industry. (Or more. Maybe less. I don't know. I'm obviously just making up numbers as I go.). Say what you will and object all you like, but porn drives industry.

I have been a little bit envious about Blu-Ray. I would like to get Spiderman 3 on Blu-Ray, for one. The Incredibles would be something special too. The standard "Resident Evil: Extinction" dvd came in today... The Blu-Ray version would be better. But, that's the way it goes. You pick a side and you get the good and the bad, and you miss out on some of the good. I'm ok with it.

Warner Bros supported both formats, until now. Today they announced that they will drop HD-DVD in May. Most of the "analysts" say that that's the end of the format war. It will be over in a matter of weeks at the most. I don't know if that true or not. I'm not familiar with the qualifications of the said "analysts", but I'm the trusting sort so I'll assume they know what they're talking about.

Christmas just passed. I know of one co-worker who got an A3 for Christmas. Another one is going to buy one this weekend, though maybe he'll change his mind now. I don't know. Either way, it feels like then beginning of the end of an era, and I don't know that his purchase (or lack thereof) will have an impact either way. C'est la vie. (I don't know what that means for sure, but it seems to be contextually accurate).

If this is the end of the format war, then lets make it a quick end. They're saying days or weeks. Let it be so.

Supposing that Blu-Ray does win, how does that affect moi? As already covered, I'll have to buy a Blu-Ray player. I won't buy a PS3 because I still rabidly hate sony. Nor will I buy a sony Blu-Ray player for the same reason. There are enough others to choose from.

I just jumped onto CircuitCity.com to look at the prices on Blu-Ray players. Then I realized it doesn't matter, so I stopped looking. If Blu-Ray wins, we'll have to buy a player, so it doesn't matter what they cost. If the time comes, it comes. Lets give it some time and see if the analysts are worth their salt. (Again, I don't know what that means. Is salt a currency?)

The focus of my website will have to change somewhat, too. When I add movies to the database, I have to choose an image. My current priority is HD-DVD, BLU-RAY, STANDARD. I'll have to reprioritize. (In a related story, I also have to change the site to store images per product format rather than per product.)

And that's it. Damn Warner Bros. If this were an actual war, they'd be the French. (I know I'm not being fair to Warner Bros or the French, but that's ok. This is a rant. I'm not required to be fair, accurate, or even cohesive. Be grateful that I'm using complete sentences.)

The end.