With the format war now coming to an end (for all intents and purposes), there's a whole new batch of discussions starting up. Some of these are reasonable, and some of it is just the last cries of the fans of a dying format. I'll try to wade briefly through the facts on the ground, and make a couple of proposals to (maybe) begin the healing process.
First things first: the war is over! There is no mysterious super-secret plan in place to save HD DVD at this point. Microsoft has given up. Bill Gates has now made the claim that Microsoft is format neutral. Warner's deal is signed, sealed, and released to the public. Petitions and email campaigns won't change anything.
The last dominoes to fall (Paramount and Universal) will be falling soon. Major news outlets and Hollywood insider's are reporting that Paramount's contract with Toshiba called for the HD DVD camp to receive the exclusive support of Warner Brother by the end of Q1, 2008, as well as the backing of another Tier 1 consumer electronics manufacturer. Since both of these events failed to occur, an escape clause was triggered, giving the studio the option of getting out of their contract.
Universal, long HD DVDs biggest supporter, reportedly isn't bound by any such contract any longer. Both studios are in negotiations with various companies within the Blu-ray camp trying to exert "deals" to make their defection from the HD DVD-camp more palatable. Given that neither studio wants to be left out in the cold, however, they both may be forced into a position of releasing Blu-ray discs anyway. But it never hurts to beg, I suppose. Both defections could become official at any time now, though Universal seems to be holding out a bit more, and may hold off on an announcement for a few weeks yet.
Corporate executives from Best Buy and Circuit City have gone on the record with reporters in the last few days, expressing their desire to see Universal and Paramount make this move as soon as possible, in order to bring this nonsense to a rapid conclusion. Best Buy, at least, intends to start phasing out HD DVD discs as soon as all the major studios are releasing titles on the Blu-ray format.
So, where does that leave HD DVD owners, who bought into the format on the advice of salespeople, online forums, etc? Well, it's important to realize that your players will continue playing your existing collection of HD DVDs for the foreseeable future. If you only have a few titles, then it may be best to get the collection up on Ebay sooner rather than later. If you're still within the store's return window, then packing that player back up and making the store eat the loss probably will take a lot of the sting out of it.
There are also discussions taking place as to whether or not to make a kind of "peace offering" to HD DVD owners... in the form of disc trades or player rebates. For those with a more substantial HD DVD collection, it may be worth looking into this, if a proposal is finally agreed upon. I wouldn't hold out significant hope on the BDA coming to the rescue of HD DVD owners, however. In the end, though, I would imagine at least Toshiba will continue producing "combo" players for some time to come, so it's not as if your existing discs will stop playing.
Also, there is a lot of misplaced anger at Warner and the BDA at the moment. Threats of lawsuits or skipping high-definition altogether in favor of digital downloads have been making the rounds on internet forums ever since Warner's decision was released.
Now, I understand feelings of loss and abandonment... however, Warner let it be known in the fall that they would be looking at 4th quarter sales, and making a decision as to which format to exclusively support once that data was in. While the typical consumer may have been shocked by the news, those complaining on online forums should have known this day was coming for some time now. Some of them attempted to "read the tea leaves" and came to the conclusion that Warner would go HD DVD exclusive... but the sales numbers have never supported that logic. In the end, they wanted a single format, and unless at least one other major Blu-ray studio went over to the HD DVD side, going that way really wasn't an option, as it would have done nothing to bring the war to a close.
Truthfully, if fans really want to place the blame on someone, it should be on Toshiba and Microsoft, who kept this "war" going on far longer than it should have. Toshiba's "fire sale" pricing on players also brought a lot of people into the HD DVD camp who weren't typical early-adopters -- people who likely had no idea of what was going on behind the scenes, and that the HD DVD format may not be supported for that much longer. Microsoft, for their part, touted HD DVD only as long as they felt it necessary to keep the rival format from reaching mass adoption before they could get a digital download system in place. Before the Warner decision was even made public, their "insiders" had moved on to talking up digital downloads as the future. In their eyes, all high-definition media was dead... and it doesn't bother them in the least.
But I don't kid myself. The most rabid HD DVD fans are fans of the format either because they love Microsoft... or because they hate Sony. And, if you're in that mindset, nothing I, or anyone else says, is likely to sway your opinion. I don't intend on being a Sony apologist... they're a company out to make money, like any other. But if you think it was Sony that screwed "the consumer" with this war, then I have a bridge in Redmond, WA to sell you...
As for digital downloads, if you absolutely HATE Sony and Blu-ray, be my guest. Take a pass on Blu-ray and wait on digital downloads... with NO extras, subpar picture and sound, and everything else that goes with it. True film fans certainly won't do this, and are mostly relieved to have this stupid format war over with. But if your allegiance is to a corporation -- one that you really feel has YOUR best interests at heart -- then skip Blu-ray and download movies to your XBox 360. I'm sure Microsoft won't mind.
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