Warner Explains Its Move to Blu-ray in Interview

Yahoo! Tech, Fri Jan 4, 2008:

Today Warner Bros. became the latest (and final) studio to pick a side in the high-def DVD battle. Warner Home Entertainment president Kevin Tsujihara spoke to a handful of tech bloggers today to further explain why WB made the decision it did.

[Shaka2K6]

Why settle for 2nd best?

Blu-ray is the superior format with the best technology and exclusive movies, you cant defy Sony or you will get owned just like microsoft and toshiba.

[Marceles]

Other: (10 minutes ago)
i agree with you RP --MY LOVE
Reported by: TANOD

uh...that's creepy *backs away from TANOD*

Back to the story...they're even delaying HD-DVD releases? wow...just beat them into a puddle why don't you. Go Blu!

I want to hear what Michael Bay is gonna say now

[ktchong]

Freaky sh!t.

[TriggerHappy]

Both of ya all need to get you heads out of the gutter. I dislike Tanod for been too fanboyish but I believe what he is trying to say is that, PEG is actually posting positive PS3 news....which is MEGATON..

[TANOD]

from now on you are my life

[rofldings]

It seems a single format has brought RP & TANOD together. ;)

[Zool 08]

It was only a matter of time. I can safely say it's over for hd dvd but then again it's not suprising, given the fact that Bluray was outselling Hd dvd by 2 to 1 one in the U.S and dead to the rest of the world.

[Zool 08]

It was only a matter of time. I can safely say it's over for hd dvd but then again it's not surprising, given the fact that Bluray was outselling Hd dvd by 2 to 1 one in the U.S and dead to the rest of the world, now it's only a matter of time when Universal and Paramount will follow suit.

[Meus Renaissance]

Ok, no more articles about this now please unless there is one with Bill Gates b!tch slapping Tsujihara in protest of this decision. I approved this one as it has somewhat of an interview.

ENOUGH.

[REbirth]

halo 3 was worth!! but you're right...this is still a game site, not a cinema forum...

[Rybnik]

Agree Mues, enough is enough. And to those that want to gloat about Blu-Ray winning, thats your perogotive, but don't attack members who may have bought into HDDVD, as the real blame should fall to the HDDVD companies that have been trying to prolong the inevitable.

I do feel sorry for those who bought into HDDVD, though as this has hurt them greatly. I'm just glad it happened now because, had Warner waited there would have been an even greater loss to the consumer, even to the point of purhaps no viable HD format other than DD.

[RecSpec]

Six or seven of the last news stories have been about this. I'm tired of this. Was there this much complaining when Betamax was around?

[Rybnik]

The Web didnt exist when Beta-Max lost, LOL

[Rexysgod]

Non Ps3 owners don't know what they are missing. i can confidently tell everyone in this forum that, ignorance will let any one compare xbox 360 to Ps3. I am an Xbox360 owner but after taking the Ps3 for a test drive i Can't wait to send my Xbox360 to the Pawn Shop. Microsoft can keep my Xbox live accounts and Points. I'm Done!
PS3=MERCEDES BENZ XBOX360=FORD CONTOUR AND WII= GEO METRO. END OF STORY

[socomnick]

Ps3=early 90's Japanese ricer - all flash no real performance.
Xbox 360= American muscle car - no useless addons just pure power.
Wii= Toyota Camry = Everyone and their grandma drives em.

[Gaara_724]

i think u meant thins?? (seams a more realistick one)

ps3 = bugatti veyron (y fastest road leagil car ahould go with the FASYEST COMPUTER IN THE WORLD soz for caps)

wii = vauxhall corsa (nice when u're yung boaring when u're older)

xbox 360 - The much-maligned AMC Pacer breaks down........alot

@ person below me lol actualy it was 2 mins lol

[rofldings]

Negative.
PS3 = Bugatti Veyron.
360 = Ford - (Reliability)
Wii = Toyota/Honda Corolla/Civic

edit: lol damn, @above, beat me by 1 minute. ;(

[Bathyj]

Ha Socomnick, thats so funny.

Xbox 360= American muscle car - no useless addons just pure power.

You mean nothing but power. No class, no finesse. No reliability. Prone to breakdown and not sold anywhere but the good ol' USA. Sounds like that car in Futurama, the ThunderCougarFalconBird.

Thanks for the laugh, like today wasn't a good enough day already.

PS
As of today I think the HDDVD for XB officially classifies as a "useless add-on."

[Mikey_Gee]

LAST PLACE my 360 will be going is a pawn shop.

Admit it or not ... 360 has some KILLER KILLER games on it. And even with a $60 price tag, XBL is well worth it for the online function it gives over PSN.

I look forward to putting a PS3 next to my 360 tommorow. I was just waiting to see who would come out on top in the HD war. Now that BR is pretty much in the bag in regards to winning, a PS3 for me is a no brainer.

Now, my HD-DVD drive ... well maybe I will visit the pawn shop (LOL)

[n00dl3s]

I find it funny that two different people just cited the 360 for reliability... when it is easily the least reliable system ever made. Highest defect percentage combined with the whole "LIVE randomly kicking people every once in awhile" just goes to show that MSoft can't make anything reliable.

[gamesblow]

I love how everyone is still trying to put the "paid" spin on this. As if when Toshiba did it to paramount it was alright... if blu-ray camp did it to Warner, it's allllllllllllllllll wrong! "GASP"

Whatever!

The best man won this war... Blu-ray. Call it a damn day!

[mesh1]

i had a ps3 then i got an xbox 360 and saw what i was missing all the games i had on the ps3 that were muliplat olook way better on the 360 and i didnt really find the ps3 exclusive fun i rarely played warhawk.uncharted.rachet so i returned the ps3 and have never looked back the 360 is a much better gaming machine .also this is a site for games not dvds

[TANOD]

YOU never had a PS3.

You had an X360 which yoiu returned to the store since you got bored

And why not since there are NO GAMES on X360

PS3 has UNCHARTED,MOTORSTORM,RESISTANC E,NGS,RATCHET,HS,WARHAWK,UT3

the only 2 good games on x360 are BIOSHOCK and GEARS ---but i could easily play them on PC so why buy x360 that dies within days after purchase

[Heaven_Or_Hell]

J'attends juste de voir ce que Universal vas faire, devenir exclusif au Blu-Ray ou faire du multiformat ?
Bref, on peut deja dire que le HD-DVD est mort, ou tout du moins mourant et c'est pas plus mal...

[IGNFTW]

UNIVERSEL VIENDRA A BLU-LE RAYON, JE VOUS GARANTIS QUI BEAUCOUP.SI EXCLUSIF OU PAS, IL N'A PAS D'IMPORTANCE : LE RENARD, DISNEY, ET LES COPAINS DE WARNER, SONT ASSEZ D'OBTENIR LA VICTOIRE POUR LE BLU-RAYON.

LES CADRES SUPREMES DOIVENT SE SENTIR COMME LA DROITE DE L'ANE DE MAINTENANT, LE SOUTIEN DU MAUVAIS FORMAT BLESSERA LEURS VENTES DE HD-DVD MEME MORESO QUE MAINTENANT.

[Darkiewonder]

The announcement appeared right before CES and couldn't do it AT CES.

[Heaven_Or_Hell]

Post it on N4G before ^^ We don't have enough news about HD-DVD and Blu-Ray today

[Darkiewonder]

N4g. Week of Jan. 7. Every article will be about blu-ray/hd-dvd. I can see it now xD

[diatom]

Because Warner was scheduled to speak at the HD-DVD press conference. Pulling out there, while funny, wouldn't be very nice...

[vloeistof]

just thinking but the hobbit and all other batman films will now be blu-ray exclusive .

o and Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins is blu 2

[harv052]

"the company had already been selling 60 percent of its high-def titles in Blu-ray format in the U.S. But that figure was 70%-plus in Europe and 90%-plus in Japan."

Why is it that North America is always behind? We're always last to jump into new technologies, like we're afraid or something...

[J@D]

I might that myself too :oS

[icechai]

America is a BIG country. Its easier for Europe, Japan, and Korea to adopt the latest tech because getting the advertising out to your population is very very fast. You can also wire the whole country for internet much better than USA. Also people can blame our government or the mindset of the people, but really, its just a geographical problem, oh well live with it.

[neela]

Europe is bigger than USA...

Do you think companies drive home to people and tell them about their product ? Geometric size has nothing to do with it.

[icechai]

Europe is not a country, its a continent. When you release things for the U.K., it is specific regarding that. In Germany, many things are released in German. When France does marketing, it is very different than that of the Netherlands. I am including Europe in the reply as a general area regarding countries. That's why we see posts with the U.K. sales charts, and that's why mobile carriers care what French people are using for their cell phones.

[harv052]

Also, yet still no comment from Zhuk, the Mart and their posse...

[Gaara_724]

thats because what will they say ok me have 2 studios the asoum power of the xbox 360 will bring back WB and even sony wil realese the mgs movie for hd-only yawn o what eva lol no realy zhuk will say its a lie and the 360 is the suprem council lol

[Bathyj]

Ritual suicide maybe?

We can only hope.

[cmrbe]

I really like their reasoning. It wasn't just for the money they are loosing but also for the customer and the industry as a whole. The exact opposite of Paramount. I mean HD-DVD was on it last legs and they were getting alot more money from blu ray sales than hd-dvd but they just defy logic and went HD-dvd ensuring the prolonging of this war and hurting alot of customers and the industry as a whole. I think Warner deserves a standing ovation.

[ApocalypseShadow]

was going to have bluray built in:

THE TRAIN'S COMING.GET ON BOARD-no.hd-dvd is better.microsoft backs hd-dvd.hd-dvd is going to win.bluray is expensive for ps3.

THE TRAIN'S COMING.GET ON BOARD.no.sony should take bluray out and replace it with dvd.

THE TRAIN'S COMING.GET ON BOARD.no.dvd is good enough.dvd is still winning.

THE TRAIN'S COMING.GET ON BOARD.no.hd-dvd has lower prices and better features.

THE TRAIN'S COMING.GET ON BOARD.no.paramount is backing hd-dvd for 150 million.

THE TRAIN'S COMING.GET ON BOARD.no.toshiba has a lower priced player for $99.it's a great deal.

THE TRAIN'S COMING.GET ON BOARD.no.microsoft is going to announce an ultimate 360 with hd-dvd backed by toshiba.

THE TRAIN'S COMING.GET ON BOARD.CES hd-dvd event canceled.

WE TOLD YOU THIS FROM THE BEGINNING.add-ons don't sell.and will never win unless it is built in.bluray is backed by more companies and sony has more movies they make themselves.

so,i'm not sad at all that we told you again and again bluray was going to win.the sony top dogs told you it was going to win.the insider,scrivener,said bluray was going to win.

do i feel sorry for backers of hd-dvd?hell no.we told you to get on the train or get out of the way.looks like you got ran the f#ck over fanboys.

mag lev........................... ...

[HarryEtTubMan]

aLL THE HOMOS GOT OWNED.

PS3's value just more than doubled. Its gonna be a LONGGGG 9 years for the Xbots.

[Maddens Raiders]

N4G is HOTTT right now all over. LOL

[rbanke]

Well to be honest, I havnt picked up transformers for DVD because ive decided to wait for my movies on blu-ray (i was prepared to wait the 18 months). There are also other movies i've decided not to buy on dvd because they are not yet available on blu-ray. I can imagine there were people on the hd-dvd side who felt the same. So i can see how someone who hasnt picked an hd side might be holding off on dvd purchases until they do pick a side, And i would suppose they were also waiting for more of a sure thing as far as who would win between hd-dvd and blu-ray

[trevscofield]

China picked HD-DVD (a variant of it but fully compat) as their NATIONAL standard...
Who makes the cheapest electronics?
Who has the World's LARGEST population?

HD-DVD is still NOT dead, this sucks for all consumers because all Warner Bros. did is make it so MORE consumers will sit on the fence....

Think about it, how does the consumer win with Blu-Ray? HD-DVD was already down to $199 (and $99 with promotion, some of you may like giving away your hard-earned $$$ but I don't)...

And one more thing can one of the fanboy's on here tell me how Blu-Ray is the superior tech? I am not doubting the power of the PS3 but the fact remains NO ONE has been able to state why one format is better then the other, this is the reason why we have had such a prolonged battle to begin with...

[Yenkaz]

Blu-ray has:
Higher bandwith
More Storage space/layer(25gB/layer vs 17gB/layer)
Integration into ps3

Hd-DVD has:
Mandatory internet support
Region free
Supports 30p
Cheaper players

I would add "plans for HD-DVD RAM" with 20GB/layer, but that's not really important at the moment.

[Lumbo]

Ah come on trevscofield, please do not make yourself look like a complete idiot.

So China, the land of bootleg and copyright infringement and with ZERO Movie studios that have any impact on the rest of the world chose some retarded down HD-DVD lookalike. So thats what will decide the future for western movie content? lol

Are you suggesting that the Vii (another of the great Chinese products, next to lead-paint on toys and toxic toothpaste) is better than the Wii cause its made in China? Let me educate you: the Vii is a ripoff and the toothpaste a danger to people, and the Chinese HD-DVD lookalike is a format that will only see the light in ... china, for playing bootlegs of the real stuff ...

You fail to see the gain for the consumer with only one format left?
How about:
1) competition on a player market instead of a Toshiba monopoly as so far in HD-DVD
2) already existing Camcorders for HD filming with BDW media compared to not a single recording product related to HD-DVD
3) a broad support from all the mayor content providers
4) not constantly fearing you buy the format that will fail.
5) mass production of the players and other hardware resulting in lower prices due to the mass production effect.
6) no headache if the movies you like will work on YOUR player, only one format = they will be for that format
7) only one replication version needed to press the HD disks, resulting in lower per piece prices, resulting in lower retail prices.

Thats a load of gains for consumers. Now they can buy a HD player without fearing it will drop out next year. The rules of a free market will decide on the player prices, not some monopoly manufacturer like Toshiba.

I don't see you supporting multiple audio formats in the mobile player market, or do you actually suggest it would be BETTER for consumers if they had to choose between multiple audioplayers and certain songs only being available for certain players? Thats the most retarded thing i heard so far.

A single format will get us the same no nonsense situation we have with DVD, CD and mp3. You will be able to just buy any HD media and play it on your home system cause it will be all BluRay compatible.
Thats how it should be. Not some random bogus format so you are forced to buy TWO players instead of one cause the industry failed to agree on one format. The industry now decided on one format, and its BluRay, learn to life with that and spare us your sour grapes blabber.

Regarding superiority, there is NO discussion on the pure hardware/disc front: BluRay has the better discs, hands down:
higher data density = higher storage capacity per layer (more layers = more expensive to make)
higher maximum datarate for the content = better possible picture and sound

Maybe you mistook SOFTWARE superiority for overall superiority. HD-DVD has some software advantages right now, as in .. hmm, the only one left is web access from the player. strange, that does add nothing to the actual movie on the disk, its in fact a niche feature, like PIP. No one cares about the extra content on DVD's TODAY, what makes you believe they suddenly do for the extra trash on HD media?

People care about getting the best SOUND and PICTURE from the disc when they actually watch the movie. As the BluRay standard is already long finished considering the picture and sound for the main movie thats all what counts for the average joe. And surprise surprise the BluRay standard offers to highest storage capacity and bandwidth for exactly that. Hence BluRay has the edge over HD-DVD in possible video and audio quality. Sure there may be encodes sold that do not USE the offered specs, but that is hardly a fault of the format itself.

The next thing you will gonna try to stuff down everyone throat is prolly "BluRay will fail, too cause DigitalDownloads will win nananananaaana"

Sorry, but DigitalDownloads as a mass market solution are YEARS away.
a) the needed bandwith is not available even in the USA, most homes STILL have slow cable connections that are way to slow for DD being anything but a pain in the a$$.
b) Maybe you suggest that the M$ videomarket is the future, RIGHT, nothing better than a Saturday evening with friends, beer in the fridge, pizza ordered and then WHAM Life is down (like in the last few days, karma strikes back) and your planned movie night is reduced to annoyed friends cause of a wasted evening, cause you failed to have the physical media at hand.
c) Additionally the "HD" content on streaming services is grossly worse than what HD-DVD and BluRay offer today.

Sorry, but the disc based HD solutions are here to stay, for YEARS to come. There is neither the bandwidth to support widespread streaming nor the storage space affordable to store all your "bought" movies at home. And as a nice bonus feature your "bought" movie downloads are drowned in DRM so you can not play them ANYWHERE else, unlike disc based media. Nothing better as meeting at your friends, you bring the LOTR BluRay disc, they provide the food and drinks. Nice evening, and no life outage or network hassle is gonna disrupt that cause the disc is all you need, and as we will have only ONE format its highly likely your friends will have a BluRay player, as they have a DVD player today.

[darthv72]

i would think most will want to get rid of their player for the 360. I'll buy it...give you $50 for it.

[GITPWNED]

Who cares. They probably did it because they knew it would end the format war. Better to end it than if they had gone with HD DVD. Then it would have never ended. Now we all win.

[ReBurn]

Does this mean that The Matrix movies will be coming to Blu-ray? Because that would be sweet!

[name]

I need the matrix for blu. Nowish.

[GITPWNED]

Why? You could already have all of your favorite movies in crystal clear HD if you just download the torrents. Then just get a DVI to HDMI cable and enjoy!