360°

Paramount's CTO on Why His Studio Is Dumping Blu-ray

PCW: Will this exclusive period [of commitment to HD DVD] extend for a limited time, or is this an indefinite arrangement?

Bell: At this moment in time, [HD DVD exclusivity is] an indefinite commitment. The core of this announcement comes from our experience, and what our consumers are looking for. We hope this will influence consumers' choices.

s8anicslayer6109d ago

150,000 million will make me eat elephant dung too! now that they commited to hddvd they have no choice but to rave the format for increased sales

BIadestarX6109d ago

Ok... Sony fanboys and blu-ray leg humpers... no use on crying over this... move on into another topic. You can kick... and scream.. and cry.. and pull your hair.. and it will not go away...

How about you go find some RROD article and post it on this site... It will help you feel better.

It's not healthy to punish yourself over this... There are other studios and movies you can watch on your blu-ray player.

synetic6109d ago

WOW already 1 xbox 360 fanboy in this article .. that fast ..

MarioFromTexas6109d ago

Let's see how long that exclusive lasts. Paramount is doing for the money since HDDVD basically paying them for the profits they would had made selling blu ray. Blu ray is going to take off this holiday season, I don't know why would anyone want to buy an HDDVD player since all the blockbuster hits are on blu ray and not on HDDVD. I know some xbots will stand up for the format, but numbers don't lie. With PC and Hollywood backing blu ray why ?

Zhuk6109d ago

i'm still fairly skeptical and on the fence about 'HD' formats, but I think that this will promote competition and this can only be a good thing for the consumer in the end. From what I gather, there seems to be more than meets the eye than just storage space when looking at these formats.

Bloodmask6109d ago

It is cheaper to produce for the Motion pictures industry. HDDVDs can be stamped out on regular DVD lines with minimal upgrades. Not to mention all of the added features and internet options are standard on every HDDVD player.

With the decrease on HDDVD players in price to a starting pricepoint of only $299 it makes no sense to pick Bluray. Why pay more for the same thing??

And as stated in the article by Paramount the extra space of 50 gigs on Bluray isn't even being used most of the time. And if bonus features don't fit they will simply add it on in another disk.

This sounds strikingly familiar to the console DVD9 vs. Bluray debate. Kind of makes you wonder.

DiabloRising6109d ago

I hate this format war crap as a CONSUMER, but what? The obvious choice for... why? BluRay has more space. BluRay has better anti-piracy measures. BluRay has more studio support. BluRay has better sales. They had to BRIBE these companies to support a losing format. The fact that I can't watch both Die Hard in HD and Transformers in HD on one player only makes me want to stick with DVD for even longer.

As for not using the space? "People at Paramount...they discovered the 30GB HD-DVD disc didn't have enough space to do what they'd wanted to do. So they were planning to include this feature exclusively on the Blu-ray version. Now, of course, that's all changed... Apparently someone didn't tell that to the guys actually WORKING with these formats at the studio." From Digital Bits.

All this does is one thing... confuse consumers going into the holiday season and keep HD formats from taking over DVD or coming close to it. MS's plan to skip right to digital downloads is working, where do you think all of Paramount's movies will be by Xmas? Live.

bootsielon6109d ago

In the subject of Blu-ray and HD-DVD costs.

Part 1
http://wesleytech.com/blu-r...

Part 2
http://wesleytech.com/blu-r...

Seriously bloodmask, cut the crap. HD-DVD is NOT (significantly) cheaper to make than Blu-ray. Eventually the already too small gap will be even smaller. What's more expensive are the players. Who wants to bet that this move will backfire on HD-DVDs face? THat'll only make the Blu-ray band come with a very cheap player for holiday season. Seriously, it's not like Blu-ray association is suddenly going to sit back and relax. Sony, MGM, FOX and Disney already announced a few big guns.

Bloodmask6109d ago (Edited 6109d ago )

Converting existing DVD manufacturing plants to HD DVD is far cheaper than setting up for Blu-ray. That's only one part of the equation, however. The "hybrid" support in HD DVD means that a single HD DVD disc can contain both standard definition content playable on existing DVD players, and high definition content for next-gen players. The upshot of this is that almost the entire DVD market would move to HD DVD, because the format would allow users to buy discs without worrying about whether or not they'll play on their players.

To upgrade an existing plant it is about $150,000 for HDDVD. For Bluray more like a million. You have to build an entirely separate plant. HDDVDs anf DVD-9s can be stamped out on the same lines unlike Bluray. Not to mention they can press both SD and HD on the same disk on HDDVD unlike Bluray.

DiabloRising6109d ago

Even if HD-DVD were to "win" and BluRay disappear, there would still be two formats. DVD and HD-DVD. These HD formats really do supplement DVD, they won't be replacing it in any meaningful way anytime soon. And I do believe the BDA is offering help with manufacturing, so the age old argument of "remaking" every plant doesn't hold up. Again, shouldn't we worry about ourselves first and not the companies taking our money? BluRay as a format, unrelated to anything corporate, is superior, and has the support. How are HD-DVD adopters going to feel now if the BDA decides to purchase exclusive rights to films like Star Wars? This format war never should have happened, and we consumers are the ones paying the price. I'd like to see BluRay win for the simple fact that it already has more support/sales and two formats = the suck.

bootsielon6109d ago

You seriously think every movie studio has a plant? With so few discs right now on the HD movie front, they don't need one. Hell, you'd think game publishers would have a plant, and I doubt they do. Considering how cheap discs are; if 1.5 dollars per disc on a few thousands package... hundreds of thousands would most definitely be cheaper. They could simply go to Sony or any other Blu-ray disc supplier, no need to buy an entire blu-ray facility unless you're EA (which is part of te Blu-ray association anyway, for a reason).

By the time HD becomes mainstream, perhaps big studios will need one. By then, the prices would have dropped (naturally, as it happens with technology always) to near HD-DVD levels and your point will be moot.

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100°

Former Dragon Age lead writer David Gaider pours scorn on EA's AI dreams.

"They want you to believe the devs under them are super stoked to work generative AI into their processes," continued Gaider, "but I assure you what they took as excitement was really a veiled wail of despair not unlike the time that team was informed of their new 'really cool' live service mandate.".

LordoftheCritics2d ago

Publishers see gaming as another stock market.

isarai2d ago

I think anyone with some common sense knew this, im glad i don't support their games anymore, what a sh!t company.

Psychonaut851d 17h ago

Friends don’t let friends buy EA or Ubisoft.

Chocoburger1d 16h ago

I said this yesterday. AI isn't what we want when it comes to crafting artistry. Alas, these soulless corporate morons don't care about their work, only about cutting corners as much as possible.

120°

Phil Spencer and the Battle for Xbox’s Soul

Has the rapid growth of Xbox made the ship too heavy? Following the closures of Tango Gameworks, Arkane Austin, and Roundhouse, we explore what the future of Xbox could look like.

LG_Fox_Brazil2d ago

This ship was never meant to sail, this ship was made from the get go to sink as fast as possible. It almost feels that they want to lower the standards of quality in the industry so that they can fit in

rlow11d 20h ago

I disagree, Xbox from the get go innovated and changed the industry. They did a lot of firsts and standardized a lot of others. It wasn’t till the beginning of the Xbox1 era that things started to go south.

Stevonidas1d 16h ago

Yep, although I’d argue it started going to shit when they tried to hock Kinect on their audience instead of continuing to invest in their studios and IPs. 2001-2010 Xbox was peak gaming, though.

rlow11d 14h ago

@Stevonidas
I agree they never should have focused on it after the 360 era. But you do have to remember they were faked out by the huge volumes of Kinects sold. To quote info on Wikipedia, “Project Natal, It was first released on November 4, 2010, and would go on to sell eight million units in its first 60 days of availability.” So if your Xbox and see these huge sales on a peripheral where are you going to put some money? Criticism in hindsight is worthless…..if only we could all see our future. In other wards they had no way of knowing. Plus they had engagement numbers and a lot of signs pointed to people wanting it.

Their biggest mistake wasn’t the Kinect, but unlike Sony after the PS3 debacle. They didn’t double on down on exclusive good games. The other huge mistake was letting Call of Duty go to Sony.

Hedstrom1d 23h ago

Phil wants Xbox to be as soulless as him!

Tacoboto1d 22h ago (Edited 1d 22h ago )

Xbox has no soul and Phil has no confidence, and it's impossible to say either do when they killed Tango and Arkane Austin.

Everything they've said since has only made them look worse to a point that they're actually less competent than Embracer.

Markdn1d 22h ago (Edited 1d 22h ago )

Whe you release something like the series S and expect it not to hurt your business model, and developers have to have parity with games. Then you know Microsoft don't care. Series s is the final nail that broke developers,

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360°

Sarah Bond dodges questions on Xbox studio closures

While on stage with Dina Bass at The Bloomberg Technology Summit the President of Xbox, Sarah Bond, was asked about the Xbox studio closures of Arkane Austin, Tango Gameworks, Alpha Dog, and Roundhouse Studios

3d ago
ApocalypseShadow3d ago

Of course she did. She's part of the problem and will just tow the company line.

VenomUK3d ago (Edited 3d ago )

Bloomberg’s Dina Bass could barely read her scripted question without looking at her notes, whilst Sarah Bond who WAS expecting the question spoke without saying anything of substance or answering the question in any meaningful way. Clearly she’s had the same expert PR training as Phil, but this avoidance was disrespectful. In time the short-sighted decision to shut down Tango Gameworks will be seen as of the most notorious examples why Phil Spencer messed up his tenure in charge of Xbox. That’s a fully built out talented team that could’ve been put to work on any project.

Additionally, Phil Spencer should not be using Sarah Bond as a patsy for his mistakes- he should be answering that question.

gleepot3d ago

I think you are all really overselling Tangos value. Hi-Fi rush was a lot of fun. Ghostwire was incredibly dull. Evil within 1 and 2 were just okay.

lucasnooker2d ago

Evil within 2 was incredibly under rated. I thought that game was surprisingly good

NotoriousWhiz2d ago

Someone else said it best. I don't think it was a Phil decision. It was most likely a Satya decision. I think Microsoft is done giving out free money to Xbox.

Cacabunga2d ago

people please boycott Activision Bethesda next release and support Hellblade.
these people mus understand that they cannot treat their fans and employees that way.
scumbags.

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XiNatsuDragnel3d ago

Yikes you don't help Sarah 😬 making a problem worse

Christopher3d ago

She's playing her role. There's absolutely nothing any of them can say other than the truth, this is about profit margins and not quality, so they just don't answer anything and wait for gamers to forget.

shinoff21832d ago

I think news is coming of more ps5 release but they gotta be careful cause Xbox is still sitting on store shelves. They can't get left holding all that stock

Lightning772d ago

Come next month they'll flash nice looking games in our faces and expecting us to forget.

The only thing that'll be going through my mind at their showcase is how many of those studios will get shut down after release.

I'm not joking around either. MS probably expects every game to be like COD and do COD numbers. What a way to destroy gaming for the entire industry because they're dumb af at being realistic in what success means for each game.

-Foxtrot2d ago

Always feels she was brought in / promoted for this. Happened just before things started to be out in motion.

Phil and co have someone to throw under the bus and share the blame with

zaanan2d ago

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss

darthv722d ago

....won't get fooled again

Hofstaderman3d ago

Like a deer caught in the headlights.....

notachance3d ago

I always wondered why xbox had multiple leaders with similar titles like Phil Spencer, Matt Booty, and Sarah Bond, like, how many heads do you actually need?

Seems to me it would be more cost efficient to cut 2 of them instead of all those studios.

DarXyde3d ago

Frankly, I suspect she is the most competent of them. I don't mean that I like her more, I mean that she's the best at articulating herself and giving the talking points MS wants to give. The others are starting to sound more like her than her sounding like any of them.

Are any of these people "responsible" for what's happening? No. This reeks of Nadella. But that being said, I don't see any of the Xbox heads stepping down in protest.

"Don't shoot the messenger", sure, but at the same time, the messengers don't seem to take umbrage with the message. Not enough to remove themselves from it, anyway.

CS72d ago

I disagree. Nadella is looking for profit as a CEO should in my opinion.

The problem is Dr. Phil & Co. had 10 years to bring Xbox back on track and have been failing woefully.

Phil needs to sell to Nadella that if we are to make a profit, we need to make great games. And to do that we need employees here for the long haul and the freedom to work on creative projects.

But as Phil said himself he doesn’t believe great games sell consoles.

RpgSama2d ago

Dude, 100%, forgot Major Nelson and Aaron Greenberg, like what is the point for all these suits? They have more C-level executives than games released in a generation.

This is just so they can all pass along the hot potato one at a time and in between all of them can say a lot without actually saying anything, misinformation at its finest.

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