HD DVD Player Sales Take a Huge Hit

HD-DVD will not win the war, simple as that. And all PS3 games are on Blu-ray, so that drive has plenty to read.

Yeah just need to keep adding 6 months to the release dates to all the games, as they cant actually make any of the games work for it on time.

I for one am glad Xbox did the add on drive cos ( I'm not going to say it will happen ) but for some strange reason if HD-DVD wins the war the ps3 is stuck with a drive that will not be able to play anything, were as the Xbox you can just buy the add on for it. Its just a shame this battle has been dragged out for so long,. Why do we the consumer have to suffer for all the industry's misstakes

Sony has exclusives just not anything as big as Halo, no matter how lame that game is. We have MGS4, Killzone 2, Gran Turismo Prologue, SOCOM: Confrontation, God Of War 3, The Getaway 3 and lets not forget the soon to be breathtaking Resistance 2 with count 'em 2 single player campaigns, 8 player online co-op and massive 60 person online gaming.

People can hate PS3 as much as they want but lineups don't get more awesome than that. Those are just the exclusives, not to mention other multi-platform games coming out. 2008 is gonna be one hell of a great year to own a PS3.

The way I see it an XBOX is great for younger kids. A PS3 is a powerhouse all in one system. I'm 20 years old, I'm not playing video games all the time. The PS3 is a top of the line HD home cinema on top of having top the line gaming. So I'm covered. I could care less that it's at the bottom of the sales charts, those are Sony's woes. Blu-ray won the format war so I'm good. Lack of games or lack of quality games is not the issue at all. Microsoft beat Sony to the market and infused a pretty good gaming system into it and went competition free for one full year. That's a long time. In any scenario that would be hard to compete. Imagine if HD-DVD jumped Blu-ray a year ahead? I'd be owning an HD-DVD player right now probably and be saying goodbye to Blu-ray despite it being the superior format.

I'm sure that anyone who bought a 360 doesn't regret it one bit. Just like I don't regret buying a PS3 one single bit. I am also saying that there is a reason why 360 outsells PS3 by a longshot and it's not because it's a better system. Just because everyone saw Transformers and no one saw No Country For Old Men doesn't make Transformers the better movie. ;)

Sony has exclusives just not anything as big as Halo, no matter how lame that game is. We have MGS4, Killzone 2, Gran Turismo Prologue, SOCOM: Confrontation, God Of War 3, The Getaway 3 and lets not forget the soon to be breathtaking Resistance 2 with count 'em 2 single player campaigns, 8 player online co-op and massive 60 person online gaming.

People can hate PS3 as much as they want but lineups don't get more awesome than that. Those are just the exclusives, not to mention other multi-platform games coming out. 2008 is gonna be one hell of a great year to own a PS3.

The way I see it an XBOX is great for younger kids. A PS3 is a powerhouse all in one system. I'm 20 years old, I'm not playing video games all the time. The PS3 is a top of the line HD home cinema on top of having top the line gaming. So I'm covered. I could care less that it's at the bottom of the sales charts, those are Sony's woes. Blu-ray won the format war so I'm good. Lack of games or lack of quality games is not the issue at all. Microsoft beat Sony to the market and infused a pretty good gaming system into it and went competition free for one full year. That's a long time. In any scenario that would be hard to compete. Imagine if HD-DVD jumped Blu-ray a year ahead? I'd be owning an HD-DVD player right now probably and be saying goodbye to Blu-ray despite it being the superior format.

I'm sure that anyone who bought a 360 doesn't regret it one bit. Just like I don't regret buying a PS3 one single bit. I am also saying that there is a reason why 360 outsells PS3 by a longshot and it's not because it's a better system. Just because everyone saw Transformers and no one saw No Country For Old Men doesn't make Transformers the better movie. ;)

Agreed the biggest reason for 360's dominance over ps3 to this point is the lack of exlcusives for Sony. That, and as Kaya said the 360 has been out a year longer. Therfore, at least in my age range, most of my friends have 360's so that's why I got a 360. I wanted to play good games with my friends. I honestly didn't care at all about which HD player it supported at the time I bought it because at the time I didn't have an HDTV. I believe that is the viewpoint of 70% of the people who buy Next-Gen systems. they want a GAMING system, and they want the one with better, more, and cheaper games that they can play online with their friends. And right now thats the 360. PS3 is going to have to do something dramatic to turn the tide, and that doesn't mean continuing to wait for MGS4. Because as Mark said, Bill Gates is no dummy and he has recognized his mistake and is correcting it. The next wave of 360's will be either exclusive Blu or support both HDDVD and Blu.

XBOX 360 also has more games and bigger titles. Halo 3 (even though I don't like the game myself) made 2007 the year of the XBOX 360.

PS3 was doomed when it lost its exclusives. That was the real nail in the coffin. Forget all the delays or how expensive it was upon it release. Forget the fact that there were no great games for it when it was first came out. Forget the fact that most serious gamers already had an XBOX 360. If GTA was exclusive for the PS3, people would have bought the system solely for that game and that one game alone.

And if 360 starts to offer HD DVD (or at this point, more like Blu Ray) integrated with all the new versions of their system (which it will) PS3 will end up being the biggest loser in next generation gaming.

Two years ago, if someone would have told me Nintendo was going to kick Sony's ass in a console war, I'd have laughed in their face.

360 has the advantage because its been out much longer and has established a larger market. Price is not the issue since in fact it costs more to own a 360 than a PS3 if you want premium gaming (but most people dont need it since most people dont have HDTV's and Microsoft knows it). What Microsoft does is separate all the add-ons so they are all separate purchases, which makes consumers think they are spending less money, but any person who wants the most out of their 360 is gonna want to get them (wireless gaming, online, HD-DVD playback, etc). The only thing you need to buy for a PS3 is the game and extra controllers.

It's really Nintendo that is jumping up in celebration, the Wii and DS are selling like crazy.

PS3 is gonna have a slow rise since its really more of an investment for the future being 1080p native and with Blu-ray capability while 360 is not full HD at only 720p. PS3's are selling great in Europe though.

The sales are behind because of the price. It's still too pricey to make the PS3. Plus Sony are still making the PS2 with games and people are still buying it for some reason. Only time will tell where this bullshit war will lead us...

PS3 still far behind:

"The yearly NPD numbers for 2007 are in, and to no one's surprise, the PlayStation 3 remains solidly in last place in hardware sales."

read more here:

http://videogames.yahoo.com/news-1180966

I have found this web-site helpful for High-Def video transfer reviews. (over-all Blu Ray & HD DVD reviews)

http://www.highdefdigest.com/

I'd avoid buying any High-Def disc before doing a bit of research, because a bad transfer is magnified in HD and so is the money you wasted.

The Rock - Blu Ray:

http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/636/rock.html

Yeah, the loading times on the Samsung players are very slow as well. (twice as long as the HD) The bad transfer is probably the major issue with nearly all the BD I have watched. Crash, Die Hard 2, Edward Scissor-hands and A Clockwork Orange all look awful. I don't see the point of having a huge catalog of blu ray titles available if they look no better or (in many cases) worse than a DVD up-convert.

I don't know if I have ever rented or watched a "combo" disc on HD-DVD, but if I have I didn't experience any problems.

I don't know what magic PS3 you bought, but my friend picked one up over the holidays and he claims "At World' End" don't work for shit.

I've had zero problems with watching Blu-rays. The only complaint I've heard from Blu-ray is loading times and the glitchy Pirates 3 release, which I had no problem with.

I have heard of many accounts from HD-DVD owners about the "Combo" discs freezing and skipping though. Although I have a friend who has an HD-DVD player and the only thing he complains about is the compressed audio being a letdown. Otherwise he's told me that watching HD-DVD at his place or Blu at mine looks identical. I think it varies based on the transfer, just like some DVD's have shit transfers while others have amazing ones.

Where did you see this comparison Comrade? At Best Buy? I own both formats (samsung 1400 & a 50" Panasonic Plasma) and I rent hd-dvd and blu ray all the time. And the best looking blu ray movie I have ever seen was the animated Ratatouille - it looked amazing - jaw dropping actually - it also took the longest any disc has ever taken to load - it was freezing up or slowing down constantly - I even had to re-start and chapter select once or twice - and that was my BEST blu ray experience.

Samsung says the next firmware update will fix all these problems... of course, that is what they said about the last one. (stupid disney encoding is suppose to be to blame)

I never had a issue with the hd-dvd's. I still have not updated the firmware (there is an update for the player) and still never had a problem. I have heard for certain BD titles the PS3 has the same problems.

I'm all for hd-dvd waving the white flag so this stupid war just ends... maybe then blu ray can stop trying to pump out all the new titles and make their format less assy.

ComradeHenson, I understand your point and it's not that it's a bad one. Here's the problem though, Toshiba is not ready at this moment to toss in the towel of defeat. They have too much invested in time, talent and hard costs to let this format die. Were they discouraged at CES? Yup! But trust me on this, they are looking at the gaming industry salivating. They have some deal with Microsoft and the couple of big studios they still have are enough for them to justify one last foray into that Hi-Def format. This is what they will do. Look for prices to drop and a "one last push" to be made before this war is over. Sorry.

I love pie charts.
I disagree. I've seen HD-DVD used on the appropriate equipment, as well as Blu-Ray, and far from calling HD better, I would say that the sound was not as well mixed, and that their pictures are of equal quality/negligible difference. What kind of players were you using markdchapman? TV? Stereo equipment?

shadyln, Toshiba needs to look at what will bring in money, not hemorrhage it. Decommissioning HDDVD makes more sense than holding onto a format that has TWO OR LESS STUDIOS SUPPORTING IT. Tosjiba doesn't control this one nearly as much as Hollywood. Would you pay 800 dollars for equipment if you knew it would ONLY play UNiversal movies? If so, then you must shit money.

I'm as happy as anyone this lame-assed war is finally coming to an end. That XBOX360 guy is right though, and anyone who has used both knows which works and looks better. I have had countless problems with blu-ray and not a single issue with hd-dvd. hd-dvd looks better (sharper, clearer) and anyone that has both formats seems to agree. (anyone who has both and doesn't, please speak up)

And if you only have blu-ray and think freezing and bad encoding is normal for HD technology, you're wrong. You can actually watch a whole hd-dvd movie from start to finish with no glitches or interruption. I did I mention it looks better.

I'm still waiting for a 2nd firmware update for my stupid blu-ray player so i can watch certain titles glitch free...and maybe if I am lucky it will come just before hd-dvd is completely phased out.

Where is it written that Toshiba must rollover and die? We are looking at a large company who has invested countless dollars in research/development not to mention product and inventory. If someone thinks Toshiba will just apply a red pen after such a large investment they are crazy. No, the fight will be here longer, Toshiba may take a huge hit but the battle still rages. They have way too much money invested in HD-DVD to roll over and die. Sorry, as much as I like Blu-Ray the battle will go on longer.

I agree with BB, it's so clear that they are getting rid of what's left and running out their contracts. How the mighty have fallen.

For the record, I'm waiting for prices to level out to begin buying the Blu-Rays, which means I'm going to be waiting for a long time. I really don't mind plain old DVD's. Kaya's right, though, Blu-Ray is certainly something to love.

I hate blu-ray it doesn't look better than HD DVD. I also hate how theres so many glitches in all my Blu-ray disks. I can't hardly watch Pirates 3 because it starts slowing down half way through the movie and I have to skip throught the scene. HD DVD has played better, looked better, and been cheaper. I know Blu-ray has the greater chance of winning but i think I will no longer support Blu-ray format. I gues its good for me because if Blu-ray wins HD DVDs will be cheap. I will just have to download movies or still stay with DVDs because I just gonna end up sell my PS3 on ebay or something.

It's obvious that HD-dvd's are outta here. It's just a question of time and money. Converting all the HD-dvd's to blu-ray will be surely costly to the industry. Like I said befor, it's all about the money in the end. Another scam for big company names to get our cash for nothing. Eventually blu-ray prices are gonna drop like all other technology's. Just sit back and wait. It will surely pay off at the end. And for people who bought HD-dvd or Blu-ray players at a crazy price, that's your lost.

i think that blu-ray should just give up since they have an incomplete format and can not compete price-wise. the only thing they have going for them is the ps3 and who wants one of them beside their entertainment center? not me!!!

Universal and Paramount will be Blu soon enough, I'm sure at this point its just a matter of getting rid of current inventory.

No one here mentioned dick Kaya.

I love it.

Will Toshiba just concede already. That will force Universal and Paramount to have to go Blu.