Rumor: Warner Paid $500 Million To Go Blu-Ray

According to campaignhd.com, Warner was set to go HD-DVD exclusive and so was Fox. However, they were paid a heaping pile of cash from BDA to go Blu-Ray. Here's the quote from the mysterious report of the payoff:

"According to a trusted source that was close to the negotiations, Warner and FOX were working on a deal to go Exclusive to HD DVD as recent as last week. Our source tells us that Warner was only willing to go to HD DVD if FOX would go with them. Their thinking was if they just went to HD DVD by themselves, it would not end the format war. Early this week FOX was paid an undisclosed amount to remain exclusive to Blu-ray. With the FOX deal falling through, Warner had no choice but to accept the BDA's $500 Million offer to go Blu-ray exclusive. We do wonder if FOX was just playing the HD DVD side, while having no intentions of ever switching."

[scrillakiller]

payed or not who gives?point is hddvd is done and finally we havea winner.now everyone be happy and go get ur bluray player or ps3.her come the wounded xbox nites.rememmber toshiba/microsoft did it

[xhi4]

http://www.n4g.com/industry...

"In addressing the oft-rumored "marketing compensation" paid to studios for switching high-def sides (aka payola), Tsujihara laughed and joked that he had heard these rumors too and was anxious to see such a check. "It's not a bidding war," he said. "It's all about what's best strategically for us." That said, he curiously didn't outright state that no payment had been received by Warner for dumping HD DVD. Not that it matters, I suppose. All's fair in love and home video."

he says.......no. loley i luv ma blu

[InMyOpinion]

All large companies use lobbyism. Microsoft, Sony, Warner, Toshiba, Enron, Halliburton etc. It would be ignorant to believe otherwise.

[TANOD]

WARNER constantly said this:-

Warner: No Payoff for Move to Blu-ray

In a post-announcement conference call, Tsujihara flatly denied rumors that studio had accepted anywhere from 250M to $500M in exchange for dropping its HD DVD format support.

According to the exec, Warner's sole motivation in dropping its HD DVD format support was to ensure growth of the "category" and the long-term health of the industry.

http://www.n4g.com/industry...

[cloud360-7th_account]

What pile of sh8t is this now.

Everyone know Sony Own 20th Century Fox. So what crap are they talking if they went as well

[rofldings]

Let's see... am I going to trust Warner or some backwater blog run by HD-DVD fanboys ...

Looks like someone's a little butt hurt about their format losing.

[cuco33]

Both sides offered big money for Warner. I've read more into it and WB apparently was set to go HD DVD exclusive since HD DVD was also paying off Fox to switch. WB wouldn't switch unless they knew a format victory was soon to follow. BDA paid Fox to stay (apparently) and paid WB to go BD exclusive.

$500million and the tarnishing of the Playstation gaming brand is what it cost to win the HDM war. Anyone who thinks WB wasn't paid off... lay off the crack pipe.

[Nuclearwinter]

Even if this was true, Paramount gets paid 150m and all you pro HDDVD people say it's good business blah blah. Then this rumor starts and you all act like they should be lined up and shot over it because your format is effectively dead

[sonarus]

i find this questionable. Blu ray association might have paid warner but Fox trying to switch sides raises eyebrows and makes the whole rumor questionable. Fox has been a really huge blu ray supporter. They are memebers of the blu ray association and then funny how the figures were 250 mill then doubled to 500mill anyway who cares. game over blu ray wins too bad

[marinelife9]

LOL there goes that reliable internet source spilling the beans again. I heard from a reliable trusted internet source that Warner was given a free Blu-Ray bag and pen and the execs got taken out to Cracker Barrell to seal the deal. You can find the source here.

http://www.n4g.com/tech/New...

[marinelife9]

They ignore what the exec himself says and just make up their own story.

[BrianC6234]

This sounds like a lame rumor started by the same people who paid off Paramount. I doubt Bill Gates would do this to help Sony. He did it to help Toshiba and try to hurt Sony. Face it, only Microsoft can afford to do something like this.

[ITR]

You guys kill me.
Most of you that say there was no pay off are the same ones that condemned the HD group for paying for Paramount. Who had execs saying we did not get payed off. lol
If you guys don't think money changed hands your very naive.
Once Paramount set the precedent WB and others followed.
WB and Fox went with the highest bidder.

I know for the last two months Fox and Disney have gotten courted by the HD group.
(Or at least that's what was rumored on many sites)
So you know money was flashed.

I guess if you threw a billion at each studio they probably change sided right now. lol
As it would be seed money for 1-2 big movies for any studio.

HD Group should've bid higher. end of story.

[robep3]

LOL a report on FORMAT WAR CENTRAL that sounds a reliable site!!!
Have a look at the buget for a blockbuster movie, $150m (Paramount)
or $500m (WB, which has been said to be lies) wont cover the costs of
many movies.Once the Paramount deal expires and they start to release on Blu-ray again HD-DVD really has nowhere to go.
Blu-ray sells more copies of a movie its that simple thats why they went with the format which will make more money for them, AND before the HD DVD bots reply production costs are about the same and in the UK both formats cost the SAME!!!!!!!.

Rob.

[godofthunder10]

I never cared who won but at least we have a winner now.what i don't understand is that when microsoft so called did the same thing you were acting like they broke the law but now that sony did it it's alright,you are a hypercrit if you think like that.i'll buy a br player when it hit below $200 or less but i still will buy regular dvds because there is no way in hell that i'll pay $30 to $35 for 1 damn movie when i could buy 2 or 3 regular dvds for the same price but when they get around the same price as regular dvds i'll be happy to buy them.the majority of the people still want buy a br player or movie because of the price and who could blame them.
i like to know what in the hell does the 360 have to do with a movie war format,the truth is not a damn thing.when they have a good article about a product that has nothing to do with the 360 or ps3 people like you still have to mention them like you are getting paid.now i'm going to answer you back because your coment doesn't make any since.
the 360 and ps3 are both good systems and they will be around as long as people want to play games.the ps3 always had a br player in it and the 360 never had a br or an hd dvd player in it and it is still selling well. the reason that the 360 didn't have a br or an hd dvd drive is because microsoft said that they will never put a hd dvd or a br player in the 360,they said that they will wait and see who will win the war but they are supporting hd dvd but if br win they said that it's no big deal they will just use the br drive.
what i can't under stand is why is people saying that the 360 is finished and hopeing that it is.first the 360 made money for microsoft this year and the ps3 didn't(but it will).second if the 360 or ps3 fails then every one will lose because they wouldn't put half the money into makeing a game like they are now and they will sux and they will still sell them for the same price.
people have to admit that microsoft was smart when they didn't put any of the new drives in the 360.microsoft figured that the dvd-9 will still be good for %98 of the games that will be coming out and so far they are right because only a few games uses more then 1 disc and the games that are planed for the next few years will work fine with the dvd-9 disc.when microsoft released the 360 1 year ahead of the ps3 they knew that they had to make it cheaper then the ps3 and they did and it didn't hurt them at all because the way it's going the dvd-9 disc will be good for another 3 years just as microsoft said and by that time the 360 would've been out 5 to 6 years like microsoft said and when they released the new xbox it will have a br drive and the price will be around $400 or less because the br drive would be a lot cheaper and then by that time the br disc might be needed for games but right now dvd-9 will be good enough for games,hell just look at the games that's out now and they don't have that many that need more then 1 disc,hell the ps2 had games that had more then 1 disc and ps3 fans didn't complain then but now they act as if it's a big job just to change a disc and it's no big deal.
the truth is that the 360 is no better then the ps3 and the ps3 isn't no better then the 360.it depends on what a person like more and if you don't own a certain system you shouldn't even be saying sh*t about it like you are because it doesn't concern you one bit.if people worry about the system that they have instead of the other then every one will get along.then we could talk about the games because that's what'it's all about,it's not being childish and hopeing one system fail like you do.
i know that people will disagree with me because every time i say that both systems are good i get a lot of people disagreeing with me.this shows how people are childish and think that the system that they have is great and the other one sux and no matter how many disagreement i get i will still say that they both are good systems because they are and the people that disaree are just fanboys not game fans.

[aaquib5]

Bluray did what Bluray has to do. Bribe every company. That's good for us, that's good for the movie studios. As long as the war ends soon, Im happy. And, owning a Bluray player isnt too shabby either.

[EZCheez]

I don't care what they had to do. It's obvious now that it's been done just how important having WB goes exclusive really was. Even if it is true, that just means it took $500 million to get rid of HD-DVD. If that's what it costs, then so be it. It's not like any of it came out of my pocket.

This isn't even important anymore.

[Raptors]

Well Hd did it with Paramount so its no surprise this happened as well. Well in the end, I own a ps3 and opted to wait to see if Id get the hd dvd add on for the 360. Good judgment on my part. Kinda funny how all the sony fanatics (Tanod especially) are downplaying the bribe story when they were ready to hang someone about the original bribe with paramount.

[vloeistof]

cool lol

[Shadow Flare]

Ok, it sounds plausible. Maybe, but theres one thing that just sounds like a load of crap to me. "Warner and FOX were working on a deal to go Exclusive to HD DVD". Why? Why. Warner were staying neutral for ages to see which format came out dominent. Bluray came out dominent. Warner goes bluray exclusive. And from the official press statement Warner released, it sounds like they went bluray for the right reasons. I don't deny maybe some payent was involved to further attract them, because im sure Toshiba were also making some offers. But i just don't see why Warner and FOX(???) would WANT to go HD-DVD when it sells alot less and is losing. Paramount only went to HD-DVD because Toshiba held a $150,000,000 carrot in front of their donkey ass face. And all companies know that the war needs to end sooner rather then later, Warner knew that better then anyone. Still, none of it matters because the war is over. This article just sounds like a carefully contrived HD-DVD supporter whose got a bad taste in his mouth. Most probably vomit from reading the news yesterday.

[n_n]

perfectly said... it's fine when the side you chose does one thing but it's not if the other side follows suit... if BDA paid anyone off that's awesome.. it's karma.. and karma isn't sweet

[Odion]

why would Xbox people care? I am just happy people won't be posting stupid HD format news crap anymore

[captainpwn]

Mad that HD DVD lost, Odion? No more sucking Billy? Going to make your own decisions, huh Odion?

[Odion]

what Jealousy lol, I don't own a HD-DvD or a blue ray player and I don't care about about the format war, its people like you who are angry cause because your all up and arms celebrating, and no one else cares.

[tatotiburon]

they have to be happy my friend because in the gaming world they just finished a horrible 2007 with lack of games (PS3)

[aiphanes]

Warhawk, Uncharted, Ut3, Ratchet and clank, super stardust HD, motorstorm, ninja gaiden sigma, heavenly sword, oblivion, COD4, velocity bowling...

that is only 2007...

You wanna be xbots do not want to look at this year 2008....because the PS3 releases are gonna be of the chain!

[HarryEtTubMan]

tatotiburon...can keep just lieing... and saying the same thign over and over... because there is nothing left for Xbotx to LIE about...but the Playstation 3 has plenty enough games for a 1 YEAR OLD CONSOLE. If it looked like this... and only had 140 titles released at the end of year 2....yes something would be wrong. We know that isnt the case. There are plenty of PS3 games. When wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy more coming by the end of 2009. ALOT OF GAMES ARE COMING. You know this. You just play dumb and pretend ur little HD DVD drive didn't just get fvcking shot down in one day. Get over it bro. Sony is here to play. For 9 more years. The Blu Ray playing PS3 is gonna win. And it's not gonna take 9 years LOL

[n_n]

lmao... the ps3's been doing awesome having 2 others to rival while ms had on new gen to rival for a year and yet all the 1st gen ps3 games look as good as the 2nd gen 360 games... no games? lmao... keep lying to yourselves to make yourselves happy...

[Jack Bauer]

this makes no sense to me... sounds like the last dieing breathes of the HD DUD fanboys.

Edit: why would Fox and Warner go to HD DVD exclusive, both were already on board with bluray (had facilities for Blu) and Blu sells better with like ~60/40 in favor of blu according to nielson... and blu arrived later than hd dvd...unless it was a bluff to get a payoff from BDA, which if rumors of a payoff are true, it worked.

This would have just put the format war into more of a stalemate then it was in, and WB said that they were looking at the best interest of the industry, which is what i believe is right.

Emphasising... LAST DIEING BREATH OF HD DVD FANBOYS, they need something to justify their poor investment.

[gdguide]

LOL! So these companies said they would wait and see sales during the holidays... So BR wins like 69 to 31, and these companies decide to go HD DVD until they get bribed to choose the by far most popular format during the holidays? Talk about a sour grapes story. BR won the support because of sales, plain and simple.

[ActionBastard]

If it's good enough for HD DVD, why not?

[v1c1ous]

but i'm still not gonna buy an hd player until they stop costing an arm. the leg part is gone but...you know

[hotshot127]

this is just some poor excuse so you guys can feel better.

all it would have done is stalemated it, even more. you guys are pathectic and and are sounding more pathectic as each new day comes in 2008.

[PS3n360]

I don't see any tears being shed. I think Sony fanboys are making a bigger deal out of this than is neccesary. Nobody really cares. So this is a victory for sony. I am happy cause now I can justify keeping my PS3 bluray player, but honestly I play games on my 360 and watch movies on my ps3. As gamers Sony fanboys should be as embarrassed as anyone to be wrapped up in all this. To each his own. I am glad the war is over now I can start building a collection.

[MK_Red]

While Warner did deny this, with stronger and rather evidence news of Fox being paid in the first place, this doesn't seem too unreal.
Still, I believe that Fox is the one that got paid long ago (Fox was with Sony from the start and back then there was no advantage for Blu over HD-DVD) while Warner did this mostly because of Blu's success.

[MrSwede]

Shall we post a "Rumor Debunk" story? :)

[Maddens Raiders]

after, "the quote from the mysterious report..."

[EZCheez]

You read that much.

[jorellpogi]

I continued reading until, "According to a trusted source ..."

Sore losers I say

[Bnet343]

bubble for EZCheez, god that was halarious LOL!!!!

[Anego Montoya FTMFW]

i`m not even gonna read it. LOL.

on topic:

Who cares?

Not me.

[predator]

ill still be buyin hd dvd movies till thay stop selling them alltogether

Edit: i have both formats but i did prefer hd dvd so intill they dont make films for it il still buy them, i prefer the picture on hd dvd, tho rush hour 3 was good on blu

[Jandre02]

No joking or sarcasm at all in this. It would be cool to show your kids in a few years an antique HD-DVD player.

I think I am going to keep mine to show my son in a few years
(He will be born next March.)
Whoops I mean this March, I keep forgetting its 2008 already.

[TripleTags]

now just give me the matrix collection on blu-ray!

[Captain Tuttle]

Blu-Ray won. Congratulations. Now let's get back to gaming news on this site.

[Anego Montoya FTMFW]

great comment.

so simple, so true.

bubble.

[Bnet343]

I see I'm not the only one here who wants the same thing.

[Bnet343]

I see I'm not the only one here who wants the same thing.

[Ashta]

This is a hit piece set to try and attack the BDA. After the whole stink applied to the Paramount/Dreamworks deal to go HD-DVD )despite its losing numbers) this must be the "evaluated steps" that the HD-DVD group was talking about when they cancelled their CES event.

Also, Warner already debunked this and said they didn't take any payoff to switch to BR exclusive. However, despite the claims that Toshiba/Microsoft paid off Paramount they have NEVER denied those claims.

[niall77]

they say the most silly things

[agmsd]

Will microsoft Ship external xbox 360 BRD drive?!

[SW]

seen so many hypercritical scumbags as I do on this site. I mean really, most of the people saying so what are the same one's b1tchin about HD-DVD Paramount deal. It just show that the majority of the people with opinions on this site are incompetent. Myself included for coming back again and again to this fin site.

[Boldy]

Bubbles for you. Even if this ends up not being true, it sure brings out the hypocrites.

[EZCheez]

Or are you just generalizing people that are happy with this as the same people that were upset with the Paramount deal?

That's what it sounds like your doing when you don't specify.

[SW]

They should know who they are. And if they don't then it's ignorance on their part. It's same people who call themselves gamers but want scream about why one console is better than another.

[Sez]

yeah i was thinking the same thing. some people here was bashing MS for paying paramount just to go HD-DVD exclusive. now we get this and it's a whole diffrent thing. you guys can't say it's not ok for one. but ok for another. it should be the same all around.

[EZCheez]

Most people tend to do it with whatever they buy. I'm not trying to argue but your anger is pointless. It goes both ways and it will never end.

Besides, "gamers" don't have to just be interested in games. Especially considering this actually does relate to a console. It's okay to be interested in other topics. For example, I love college basketball!

[Dareaver1]

in then end, i'm looking forward to digital distribution. Give me a couple of terabytes and a crazy fast download speed and i'll be happy as all hell. I hate physical media as far as movies go. I want less clutter. Look at CD's, i'm so glad Apple made I-Tunes, you can purchase a whole CD from I-Tunes, and still show support for your favorite artist. I can't stand CD's, all they do is clutter my car, and when it comes to movies, i can't wait. No more DVD boxes all over the place, just one place that will store all your DVD's and you can just pick what you want to watch.

Digital Distribution, FTW!!!!

[n_n]

you'll be waiting a long, long time for digital distribution over the internet to become the norm... until they can compress HD quality audio/video to MB sizes and keep the quality.. the internet won't be able to handle GB's of data being downloaded by multi-million numbers of people... in a perfect world, sure, but not with the current internet that we have now

[Raptors]

Bubbles for you. Here is a part of my post written above. Im glad to see that there are people on this site who can point out the blatant hypocrisy on this site:

"Kinda funny how all the sony fanatics (Tanod especially) are downplaying the bribe story when they were ready to hang someone about the original bribe with paramount".

[Darkiewonder]

Someone spent more than rather go after each studios with $50 million checks.

[Bubble Buddy]

website looks unprofessional... plus look at the side of their website

"Please note - This web site was started and is maintained entirely by individuals who just love HD DVD. Unlike most "fan sites" on the Bluray side, we are NOT sponsored or bought by any of the companies involved in the "format wars". Your email address will not be given to any other party at any time."

[Ashta]

I'd like to point out that the "report" that the link site mentions is nothing more than a paragraph that states that an "inside source" came up with this information a day after Warner went exclusive.

No source given outside of a "mysterious insider". This is basically a hit piece.

[actas123]

So the article is saying that Warner and Fox broke the law by taking a bribe. Because you know, this is not like paramount deal w/ Toshiba. When Toshiba paid paramount, they had everything on paper and a deal was signed. However, if top execs at WB and FOX got paid, and there is even a small chance that there was some form of bribe, then the first thing you are going to hear Monday morning is a lawsuit by the HD DVD group. Companies are instructed by the US court of commerce to disclose any such deals to the public and specifically to the share holders.. Both Warner and Fuks are public and traded companies. My point is that the creator of this rummer is just an angry idiot who doesn't know anything about business law.

[Account deleted]

IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW WARNER SHIFTED SIDES, YOU CAN NEVVVVEEEEER KNOW, SO STOP SPECULATING AND RECEIVE THE NEWS LIKE A MAN: BE HAPPY,SAD OR INDIFFERENT but stop your analysis

and i have to say that the hd dvd camp poeple broke the "truce" here, well warner got bribed huuhh, remind of how paramount got hd dvd exclusive...

[THE_JUDGE]

This was already denied yesterday. People are a little late with the rumors. The freaking head of the company said there was no payoff.

[darthv72]

you would like to believe some high ranking official in a company when they say one thing to counter a rumor but it doesn't always work. Look at ubisoft denying ass creed for 360. They kept saying it was for ps3 and people didnt believe them until they came clean and said yes it was for 360 too.

The internet has given power to the rumor people. That is why rumors of mgs for 360 STILL exist even though it has been said by konami themselves that it isnt. The rumor will still persist and eventually it will either come true or really be proven false. This rumor of warner getting some $$ could be true even though the top dog denies it.

My question to the rest of you is why does it matter so much? Big business is big business and there have been thousands of deals like this before and there will be thousands more to come. Why this, why now?

[The Brave 1]

This is probably some guy who cant handle the truth.Sour grapes anyone??
If anyone was going to bid that kind of money it would be Toshiba and Microsoft(Bill Gates)with his deep pockets.Fox going hd dvd?yeah right.Whatever anyone tries to make up,you lose Blu wins!

[titntin]

This is hysterically funny!

An 'undisclosed source' written by:
Please note - This web site was started and is maintained entirely by individuals who just love HD DVD.

Its obviously utter drivel and has no basis in reality...

[kidd2446]

THE FORMAT WAR NEEDED TO END DONT YOU GUYS THINK ONE STANDARD FORMAT IS BETTER FOR EVERYONE?...ITS OVER NOW SO LET IT GOOOOOOO.....LET IT GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[Ashta]

The site is now asking everyone to start emailing Warner and he has given a huge list of emails.

I think that all of us Blu-Supporters should take his advice and email Warner and tell them what an absolutely wonderful job they are doing by finally backing BR exclusively.

[riksweeney]

This is completely true.

I was in the pub last night and got talking to a bloke whose flatmate's step Dad's best friend works for Time Warner and was involved in the $500 Million deal.

He was telling me that it was a bidding war between Microsoft and Sony which ended up in both having to submit sealed bids and the one closest to the amount Warner wanted (without going over) would win the exclusivity.

[Bladestar]

true or not... I'm ok with microsoft making a blu-ray player for the xbox 360 if HD DVD is indeed dead... but if this si true that warner cheated... I hope they are saving that money for the layers they will have to pay when the HD DVD group goes after them. I have a feeling things are just not going to be let go; specially if warner already had a deal with HD DVD and last minute screwed them up. things can get entertaining from now on.

[Anego Montoya FTMFW]

your hilarious.

[mistertwoturbo]

Knowing microsoft, they probably had Blu-Ray add-on's pre-made just incase something like this happened.

That's also assuming Sony will even let Microsoft get a piece of the blu-pie. It's an important advantage to the PS3, and I highly doubt they're just going to hand it over to they're competitor.

[scrillakiller]

actually i think they are indeed honering whatever contract they have between them and hddvs as they will not totally stop hddvd until may which is when i suspece that contract expires

[Bladestar]

"That's also assuming Sony will even let Microsoft get a piece of the blu-pie." lol.. yeah.. if that's the case.. you don't think microsoft can do the same against Sony and tell them not to use windows OS on their laptops and computers? how about Sony phones that use windows Mobile? how about MP3 players that use Media Player? Dude you are forgetting that these companies are in it for the money.. and they rather have microsoft help them with blu-ray than to have them resist them.. they make more money that way.. overall... you know all the royalties Sony can make selling movies if microsoft release an addon?
That's not even legal.. Sony can't stop microsoft from making an addon... or even over charge them compare to others... there are rules you know...

[Clinton514]

I love how you make up information as you go along in regards to every piece of news. You come up with the wildest claims.

first of all, Sony doesn't control Blu-Ray.

[Lumbo]

So Warner "cheated" , lol.

Warner stated in PUBLIC before the x-mass sales season that they will decide which HDM format to support based on their OWN X-Mass sales 2007.
Now after the X-Mass frenzy has gone down they remained at a 2:1 sales lead of Warner-Blu vs Warner-HDDVD. And that was gonna convince them to DROP BluRay in favor of HD-DVD? The format that for the last 52 weeks sold way less?

Now what would a cooperate manager decide from there..

A retarded fanfanatic would say "HD-DVD sold grossly worse than BluRay, hence we shall support HD-DVD only so both formats die and we get cut out of the business by DigitalDownload fans the likes of Microsoft"

Warner management obviously said "As we stated before, the sales data now convinced us that it is critical to have only ONE HDM to kill consumer-confusion and allow mass market adaption, and based on OUR sales BluRay is the better of the two.

You want to know what a cheat is?
A cheat is someone who is loosing and uses shody tricks to steal the victory. So tell us again how paying Paramount $150M to get them to drop the format that was selling TWO TIMES the discs for them in favor of the format that did not is reasonable business?

Claiming that going with the format that makes you LESS money in sales is sound business while going with the format that makes you two times the money is cheating is something only you could have come up.

[n_n]

blind fanboyism aside, if you think what LUMBO wrote isn't rational you're an idiot. LUMBO just explained things perfectly.

[big0]

Who cares most just wanted it over they could give a crap about how.

[MaximusPrime]

now on to another news, Warner Brothers gave Universal studios couple of suggestions on how to move to Bluray exclusively.

[JCDenton]

Well, some people have problem with BD winning this war because it'll probably make PS3 sales jump. That's OK IMO, 'cause in business as large as this one, (almost) everything is allowed - bribery, "trojan horse" tactics (PS3)... It doesn't matter as long as you don't kill or threat. Sony corp. really has some very smart people. EXAMPLE: Maybe PS2 wasn't that better then Dreamcast, but it certainly LOOKED that way (you get a console plus a DVD player).

[sajj316]

Warner on Blue Ray. How much did it cost? You think the BDA isn't going to make it all back. I'll tell you one thing, they got a lot of testicular fortitude if this was the case.

[Gaara_724]

this is fXXkXXg news how who cares if they did or did't the pont is they went blue-ray now the rummers will fly every where from hd-dvd fans and xbots fans y was paramounts pay cheak not news? y was bill gates get a pie trowing at his face not news but news is BDA paid $500 million for WB waw im so shocked i realy care about this stuff this site gets worse every day

[ApocalypseShadow]

the last huffs of breath is going to be HILARIOUS.

HUH...HUH...HUH......we got our @ss kicked..........the bluray group ....huh......must have cheated.....huh.....must fight back with FUD......uuuuuu.....HUH!!!.... ......

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAAHAH A!!!

where was all those microsoft sacks of money to win this one hmmmmmmmmm???to all the hd-dvd supporters:

bladestar(microsoft stock holder)-mike tyson @ss whooping.

the mart(where art thou mart the fud spreader?)Ali @ss whooping.

first knight(supporter of mart)sugar ray leonard @ss whooping.

power of green(supporter of anything not sony)george forman @ss whooping.

jason360(microsoft troll)delahoya @ss whooping.

zuck(fud spreader master)godzilla @ss whooping.

to sony4you-real deal-top gamer-elite gamer(WHERE EVER YOU ARE)

GALACTUS AND ULTRAMAN @SS WHOOPING.

no regrets.but then,i already have a bluray player built in my ps3.sucks to be you and those soon to be obsolete hd-dvd players.

mag lev..................see this?it's train tracks.and you got run the f#ck over.when we said,"get out the way."

[n_n]

those losers you listed are re-writing their awesome future post about the awesome 360 Ulitmate with HD-DVD built in to be announced Sunday...

[mistertwoturbo]

damn it's time to buy me a buttload of HD-DVD's. Who knows how much those rare things will be worth 20 years from now.

[EZCheez]

$0.01 Just try to find out how much a Betamax is and you'll have your answer.

[mistertwoturbo]

Nah, it's probably going to be $10,000 a piece. You just need to find the right buyer. Someone like a HD-DVD lover or a PS3 hater. They love HD-DVD more than they're own lives.

So i'll be looking for TheMart around that time.

[Coke-a-Cola]

We are a massive stack of speculation .

It is possible to read every article published on this topic and still be in the dark as to details.

Hence the Rumor mill and all its strength. I don't doubt so much as I am pleased to see
definition on this format war.

BLUE RAY AND PLAYSTATION smacks me up the side of the head with a good feeling.

[Pika-pie]

OMG I have never heard of campaignhd.com before, after spending the past 15 minutes reading through its news articles I would not believe a single word of this recent post.

Every news article is riddled with BS trying to convince its HD supporters that the state of BR has been in total ruin since the very start.. They have ignored anything negative towards HD-DVD and just fabricated rumors nonstop. Its just run by total fanboys who hate Sony, BR and the PS3.

Avoid!

[Bathyj]

Man this is just sad. The site has the tone of an 8 year old kid who lost hacky sak (you kids still playing that?) and is just crying about it.

Warner denied a payoff and Fox along with Disney would never switch. They've been the biggest supporters from the start. I remember Fox saying, we got off to a slow start on DVD, that not going to happen again on BR.

And I cant believe they are actually advocating that we SPAM Warner executives like that will change their minds now.

And despite what those cry babies say, the customer HAS chosen. For whatever reason BR has crushed HDDVD (glad I dont have to say that 5 sylible name much longer) sales since it came out over the whole world. And HD had the head start.

Pull your heads in HD group and join the BR group. I hear if you join this late in the fiscal year you get a discount on your membership.

[goodgameslover]

I'm glad the format war will finally be over soon.
But i can't believe the hypocrisy of many people here.
When HD DVD bribed Dreamworks many (especially Bluray) people talk of the outrage of this travisty. But when Blu ray does it, now it is ok and perfectly normal? Djeez talk about downright hypocrisy.
Don't get me wrong i couldn't care less wich format won, i just rooted for a quick decision,because the ongoing situation is not healthy.
So to me bribes of moviecompany's is logical to get a advantage in the market. and now it seems blu ray had the deepest pockets, good for them. And so the confusion of the formatwar will soon be at an end.

[Devr]

Oh please... How did this get approved? This site is on the same level as Sony Defense Force.

[ElfShotTheFood]

I love how they act all shocked and outraged because *gasp* MONEY changed hands.

Suck it up, admit you chose the wrong format, and sell your HD-DVD player and HD-DVDs on eBay for a nice price before word gets out.

[Meus Renaissance]

I dont believe it. It would make sense if they got paid to go HD-DVD exclusive, but they simply went with the marketing leader which was the logical thing to do.

Only the hypocrites are going to fuel this rumour, to make Warners decision look stained. This war would have been over if Paramount had not accepted their own bribe, given to them ironically by the HD-DVD group. It's sour grapes because money this time didn't work.

[ApocalypseShadow]

if it's even true,what's wrong with it?payout or not,microsoft is doing its best to win.however it takes.passing out money.so when the other side might do it to win.....PERMANENTLY,i see nothing wrong with it.

it only bothered me when paramount took the money when bluray was winning.EVERY week.and after the BRIBE,bluray still kept winning.after the $99 dollar hd-dvd player sale,bluray still kept winning.after transformers,bluray still had the lead.after shrek3,whoopings was still being passed around to all hd-dvd fanboys.

they deserved to lose when all information pointed to bluray being the bigger format(didn't say better)and better technology(scratch resistant/more copy protection).and having more backing.coming out first,then getting beaten each week,means hd-dvd didn't have the legs to run with for the long haul.

reminds me of some other company that jumped out early at the starting line.but i won't get into that..........just yet.

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

[mighty_douche]

What a load of crap.....!!

eitherway, HD-DVD is f*cked, if you were stupid enough to ignore the signs and buy one, shame on you.

[Ju]

The only thought I have is "$500M". The numbers are getting more and more hilarious.

[Clinton514]

Reading through that site it reminds me how ridiculous fanatics can be. lol

[zakupilot256]

.... BullSh!T. Sounds like some PR spin to get sympathy.

[Brian5247]

Anti Blu-Ray making up rumors.

[Hagaf22]

this is dumb, even if they were paid off to go to blu-ray, its just payback for all the times microsoft has done the same thing in the gaming industry. look at gta4, ps3 exclusive till ms pulled out the check book. microsofts just reaping what theyve sewn

[zane_7849]

Warner has already stated NO PAYOFF, with this and the got to be months old gamepro huge news about MGS4 on 360 (which has also be denied and flat out called false by Konami) - some people seem to be getting desperate.

[demolitionX]

this rumour is crap as soon as i heard FOX going to HDDVD??? murdock month ago, talks about the idiots who join HD DVD campaign and now he joins them!!! very fcuked up rumour!!! whoever wrote this needs to get a life.

[sak500]

You should thank HDDVD people for bringing down the stupid bluray players prices. I will not pick any bd player till they become mainstream by 2009 and at 150$.

[Enigma_2099]

NO!!!! It's always been about the Benjamins... Common sense should tell you that!

[Firewire]

Total bullcrap! I laugh at those that fall for this bull!

[chfthnder26]

all i have to say is that you people that think hd dvd doesnt have movies cuz they have warner r wrong universal and paramount r the biggest studios of them all and they dreamworks which have a bunch of animated movies for kids like bee movie, antz, chicken run, madagascar, shreks123, a sharks tale, kungfu panda, el dorado, prince of egypt, and flushed away and these titles havent even been released on hd yet so it really isnt over yet

[mintaro]

100 mil!! holy shizzle

[moujahed]

Microsoft did it with ROckstar...they paid 50million for two extra missions right?? So im sure they would've paid more for Warner Bro. but they knew Blu-Ray was gonna win anyway, pluys 500million doesnt sound bad either.

[Awesomeo3000]

cry me a river they didnt pay them off and fox wasnt gonna go bluray this is the dumbest article ever they saw that blu ray has outsold every hd dvd movie on both formats so it was obvious that bluray was wat people wanted we made the decision for them live with it

[rbanke]

According to my sisters cousins aunt's nephew, Warner was payed 2.5 billion to go blu-ray exclusive... sound stupid? yea so does this news report. These companies are publicly traded, I'm fairly sure that any payments like this would have to be disclosed just like paramound disclosed their payment.

Edit: i just read some articles on 'campaignhd.com', I dont think i would believe much they have to say based on the 'news' links they have posted just on their front page.

[UltramanJ]

They should've never accepted the $150 million from HDDVD. Now they're stuck having to release movies on a dead format.

[Fighter]

These are probably the same people that said MGS 4 and FF 13 are coming to the 360.

[ben806]

They are? im going to update my blog!

[jackdoe]

Er, this site is not reputable. It is a campaign site for HD-DVD for christ's sake.

[Doctor Strange]

Didn't somebody from Warner debunked that they didn't get paid off? The truth is HD-DVD is on its way out, no rumor or anything is going to change that.

[wangdiddy82]

Who cares if they paid them?? If they did it was the best move the blu ray camp could have done this entire hd war.. You know why??? Because hd dvd is dead now. This has changed everything in favor of blu ray and hd dvd wont be able to do anything..

[Covenant]

Proof?

While it wouldn't surprise me if money changed hands--as it did when Paramount went HD-DVD exclusive--such an allegation requires proof.

"Unnamed sources" stink of falsehood.

[Cyrus365]

I'll believe the news if NY Times or Reuters, reports on the rumor/offer like they did in the paramount deal. But having HD-DVD site stating this..doesn't speak volumes to me.

[whoelse]

Warner said that "they were not paid to go exclusive" so we can all relax now. AT first they didnt actually fully deny it but now they have.

[joemomma]

Hd dvd lost and nnow your spreading rumors? Grow up.

[Dogswithguns]

..... as always.

[Rims]

Its a HD-DVD fanboy site.do you really believe them?

[GITPWNED]

Will Sony stoop to no level?

[Xbox is the BEST]

worry Blu Ray will die next. 8 million Blu Ray players out and no movie cracked a million yet. There is even more BR players out that movies sold and the new 2.0 standalones will not be mass market price for another 3-4 years.

[whoelse]

You really have no idea what you're talking about do you...

[snoopgg]

will be the 360.

[winlonghorn]

This is rediculous. When are they going to cut the BS and join forces under the blu ray banner? They can all make profit from blu ray if they end this damn war and get off of their high horses.

[DJ]

Fox got a pretty good amount of money, but the Warner decision was just great decision-making. HD-DVD has been tanking for twelve straight months; no reason to keep supporting it.

[djroberts]

Lies. This is so dumb. Warner released an official statement that they were not paid. These are public companies, it would be easy to find out in the upcoming months. They know that so I doubt they'd lie about it.

What would be great is if MS announces an internal HD-DVD drive the 360 further adding salt to the wound of 360/HD-DVD fanboys who can't take the fact that Sony may win both wars.

[cartman313]

I seriously doubt they were paid off. If I was Warner, I would want the whole format war to end. Then consumers would finally say "Ok, it's safe to buy into a HD format."

EDIT @ ITR -

You're not making any sense man. HD-DVD has Universal/Paramount. Everything else is exclusive to Blu-Ray now. Do you honestly think they will survive with that?

You're still not making any sense with the Blu-ray players. Look at DVD players, there are several different brands. They are all competing. The same will happen with Blu-ray. It's not like one company will be making all of the players....

[ITR]

It's still not safe. Paramount still is on contract with HD for atleast 1 yr + and then you got Universal.
Uni will probably ask BDA for 1 billion buxs to ditch HD. I know I would.

Besides that HD and BD players are still slow as hell compared to normal DVD players.
Because not everyone wants a add on or a PS3.

I worried that if HD DVD dies...then who does BD compete against in price?
I'm worried when the next 2.0 profile players come out we'll see $500-600 price tags and they won't drop much or as quickly without the HD DVD players driving down prices.

[BlackCountryBob]

@1.1 OK, your logic is somewhat limited, Universal to demand $1billion to switch to BluRay? Why exactly, what on earth do you think puts them in a position to barter for a big pay off, now as it seems HDDVD is a dying format they will move on their own accord because the simple economics that they cannot afford to stay HDDVD and miss out on the millions of dollars of profit they would make on BD format.

Now, I don't buy this stuff about a $500m pay off for either Warner or Fox. Put simply Warner were looking to switch to be exclusive to one format or the other, why exactly does it need some huge conspiracy theory to believe they decided purely on business terms to choose the format that has the highest sales, most studio support and the PS3 as a trojan horse? This rumour is something peddled by sad fanboys.

As for Fox, what exactly is the motivation they have to switch formats? Being Blu right from the start it makes no sense for them to change. Granted that as a Murdock company they are out to make a fast buck but they are also complete bastards for protecting their investment. As they own a pretty substantial share in the BD format copyrights and trademarks it is in their interests for BD to succeed because then every disk sold gives them a share of profits. Alo, considering they make such a huge deal about region coding on disks, why change to HDDVD that doesn't have it.

Simply this makes no sense and sounds very very much like gossip and rumour, I'll believe it when the ceo of these companies show me the cheque.

[Bonsai1214]

regardless, we need to thank krazy ken for including a next gen drive..

if BDA bribed warner, wouldn't you think HD-DVD would do so too?

[tvo]

even if they did pay off warner, it's not any different than microsoft paying off paramount

[360_Rules]

I hope the government looks into this.

[Nameless]

Exactly tvo the Sony Droids are being hypocrites. I myself believe this choice was not made without some kind of money involved. This is the paramount switch all over again & a big move like this is no doubt done by greed & who offered the most money. Warner can say no all they want but they will be willign to lie to not make them look bad.

[WilliamRLBaker]

because we all know blu ray camp isn't capable of that..lol

[FirstknighT]

I'm glad HD is dead. Finally I can start to buy my bluray movies with confidence on my Sammy!

[n00dl3s]

I love how when Microsoft throws it's money around to grab more games it's "good business" but when Sony does it, it's "lame".

Seriously grow up, Sony should have been throwing their money around the same way this whole time. Good for them if it's true.

[Guardian0fPeace]

But hey, perhaps this'll bring a quicker end to the war...
http://www.campaignhd.com/0...