[News] The Death of HD-DVD

We all saw it coming. Blu-Ray has demolished its competitors and companies are falling like dominoes in the wake. Not too long ago, retailing giant Wal-Mart announced that it would no longer carry HD-DVDs, deciding to align themselves exclusively with BR. That was just the beginning of the inevitable downfall.

Just yesterday, Microsoft had this to say on the matter ~

Quote:

We do not believe the recent reports about HD DVD will have any material impact on the Xbox 360 platform or our position in the marketplace. As we’ve long stated, we believe it is games that sell consoles and Xbox 360 continues to have the largest next-gen games library with the most exclusives and best selling games in the industry. We will wait until we hear from Toshiba before announcing any specific plans around the Xbox 360 HD DVD player. HD DVD is one of the several ways we offer a high definition experience to consumers and we will continue to give consumers the choice to enjoy digital distribution of high definition movies and TV shows directly to their living room along with playback of the DVD movies they already own.

LOL YA OK

Sure, they make a good point. It's the games that sell consoles. Still, this gives Sony a notable and clear advantage, despite their lack of choice in games. Microsoft can still compete, though.. Right? RIGHT?

Well, this morning Toshiba dropped the bomb ~

Quote:

TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Tuesday February 19 - Toshiba Corporation today announced that it has undertaken a thorough review of its overall strategy for HD DVD and has decided it will no longer develop, manufacture and market HD DVD players and recorders. This decision has been made following recent major changes in the market. Toshiba will continue, however, to provide full product support and after-sales service for all owners of Toshiba HD DVD products.

“We carefully assessed the long-term impact of continuing the so-called 'next-generation format war' and concluded that a swift decision will best help the market develop,” said Atsutoshi Nishida, President and CEO of Toshiba Corporation. "While we are disappointed for the company and more importantly, for the consumer, the real mass market opportunity for high definition content remains untapped and Toshiba is both able and determined to use our talent, technology and intellectual property to make digital convergence a reality.”

Toshiba will begin to reduce shipments of HD DVD players and recorders to retail channels, aiming for cessation of these businesses by the end of March 2008. Toshiba also plans to end volume production of HD DVD disk drives for such applications as PCs and games in the same timeframe, yet will continue to make efforts to meet customer requirements. The company will continue to assess the position of notebook PCs with integrated HD DVD drives within the overall PC business relative to future market demand.

Toshiba also intends to maintain collaborative relations with the companies who joined with Toshiba in working to build up the HD DVD market, including Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures, and DreamWorks Animation and major Japanese and European content providers on the entertainment side, as well as leaders in the IT industry, including Microsoft, Intel, and HP. Toshiba will study possible collaboration with these companies for future business opportunities, utilizing the many assets generated through the development of HD DVD.

Full Article

As if that wasn't enough of a kick in the pants, Gamestop also announced (today) that, "the major gaming retailer will no longer accept HD DVD items for trade-in. That includes used HD discs or Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on drives. The policy – which virtually ensures that your additional HD drive will become a dinosaur in your own living room – takes effect today." (sauce)

Man, M$ just can't catch a break! Personally, I think it would be astoundingly idiotic for Microsoft to continue the production of their HD-DVD players. It would be damn difficult to retain their market share without producing a Blu-Ray player.

How do you think they will respond to this coup d'etat? Will this finally give Sony the edge it needs to succeed?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

That was literally the first time I've ever used 'M$'.

You make a solid point, and one I considered mentioning. I definitely don't think there is a market for Blu-Ray yet, and there probably won't BE one for quite some time. Also, it is unlikely that game sales will increase, just sales of the console itself. In fact, I don't even know many people who exclusively use their PS3 or 360's to play movies, so it's likely that folks will just go ahead and buy the players.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Colonel Skills

This has so little to do with actual games that I'm very, VERY tempted to move it to Media Center.

That may not be a bad idea. I just noticed the 'HD-DVD and Blu-Ray Discussion' thread.

Overall, I doubt we'll notice the repercussions of all this anytime soon. Blu-Ray is still budding, but now it can do so unhindered.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.