NPD Group Releases April, 2008 U.S. Console Sales Numbers

 

NPD has released their console sales numbers for the U.S., for April, 2008.  The next-gen console sales for the month were:

XBox 360: 188,000 

PS3: 187,100

Wii: 714,200

The Wii continues to sell at an astounding rate, clobbering both Sony and Microsoft's offerings in system sales.  Nintendo has definitely proven themselves the comeback kid of this generation.

Though Microsoft is "officially" excited as they have now passed the 10 million system sold mark in the U.S., both Sony and Microsoft have to be concerned that they didn't get more system sales out of the release of Grand Theft Auto IV.  Of course, this data only includes the first five days of that games' release, so its very possible that a system sales bump will occur next month, but its still rather disconcerting.

The above graph shows how well each of the three next-gen systems sold by month following release.  We're now at the one and a half year mark for both the PS3 and the Wii and we can definitely see some trends emerging.

First of all, all those who predicted that the novelty of the Wii would quickly fade, were shown to be very, very wrong.  The system has sold at an insane rate, trampling the trend lines for both other systems.  The PS3 continues to trail the XBox 360's U.S. trendline slightly, though it has been making a slight comeback lately.

Obviously, the XBox 360 has been out a year longer than the other consoles, so in the interests of fairness, here is a chart that shows the total sales of the consoles over their lifetimes.

As I mentioned before, the Xbox 360 has now passed 10 million units sold in the U.S., but with the Wii literally right behind it, that bulletpoint won't mean much by next month.  The PS3, meanwhile, has passed the 4 million system mark in the U.S., but has a long way to go to catch up with the other two.

While having 4 million PS3s in the U.S. is GREAT for the Blu-ray format, as a gaming machine Sony still has some work to do convincing U.S. gamers that the PS3 is as great a gaming machine as it is a media player.  With the first AAA title of the year for the PS3 just released (GTA IV), sales should be picking up in upcoming months, with the release of platform-exclusive titles such as Haze, Metal Gear Solid 4, and Final Fantasy XII.

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Criterion and Other Small Distributors Embrace Blu-ray

 

While all six major Hollywood studios have officially thrown their weight behind the Blu-ray format, the situation with smaller studios has been a bit more troubling. It's no secret that the entry price to put a title on Blu is higher than for DVD, while the potential revenue is currently lower.  However, as many consumers, especially home theatre afficionados, have started buying their titles on Blu-ray disc exclusively, there is still a good amount of additional revenue to be earned from a Blu-ray transfer.

This, of course, leaves smaller distributors in a fairly awkward position.  They want to make the move into Blu-ray, in order to start building a customer base among those who have already made the transition, but they don't want to pay the mastering costs for a title that will not sell.

With the format war over, though, many of the smaller distributors are starting to make the plunge. Over the last week, both Kino International (an independent and foreign film distributor) and Genius Products (distributor of Weinstien Co films on video) have announced their intentions to support the Blu-ray format.  Kino intends to bring "Fallen Angels" out as their inaugural title, while Genius has oddly decided to launch into the Blu-ray format with "Lonesome Dove."  Some may remember that initially Genius/Weinstien Co. were HD DVD backers though they haven't released any titles on that format in close to a year.

Perhaps even more exciting, at least for those who enjoy classic and avant garde films, The Criterion Collection has also announced their plans for the Blu-ray format.  Criterion first made a name for themselves by essentially creating the "special edition" laserdisc... and is often credited with the "invention" of director's commentaries, director/D.P.-approved transfers, and many other features that became commonplace on DVD years later.

While Criterion was able to release a number of high profile titles as Special Edition laserdiscs, their access to major films has deteriorated somewhat over the years as studios saw more revenue potential in releasing special edition DVDs themselves.  While Criterion does still have agreements to release selected major studio fare, the majority of their releases now are special editions of mainly smaller films that they deem important.  While Criterion's DVD releases almost always have an MSRP of at least $39.99 due to the extreme amount of bonus materials and costs involved in the remastering process, Criterion has surprised everyone by stating that their upcoming Blu-ray releases will be released at identical prices to their DVD counterparts!

The initial slate of Criterion Blu-ray discs is due to hit stores in October.  The scheduled titles are:

• The Third Man
• Bottle Rocket
• Chungking Express
• The Man Who Fell to Earth
• The Last Emperor
• El Norte
• The 400 Blows
• Gimme Shelter
• The Complete Monterey Pop
• Contempt
• Walkabout
• For All Mankind
• The Wages of Fear

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Site News: I'm Back

 

Just a head's up to those who've noticed and sent messages about the fact that I've been gone for awhile.  With the format war coming to an end, the Blu-ray news has been considerably slower than it was before, and with my school schedule being more hectic I definitely let the site slide a bit.

Although the title, player, and drive lists (accessed from the top menu) have all been kept up to date), I really haven't been posting news.  I just finished finals, and am looking at updating the design of the site.  If you have any ideas for new types of content, etc, to report on, please send me an email or add a comment to this post. 

As for now, I'm back and will be trying to get a lot of news up in the next few days.  Stay tuned!

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Universal Announces Blu-ray Audio Plans

 

For those worried that formerly HD DVD-exclusive studio Universal planned to limit their Blu-ray audio to the Dolby Digital+ found on many of the company's HD DVD offerings, have no fear.

Universal announced today that they intend to use DTS-HD MA on ALL Blu-ray releases, providing both lossless audio for those so set up and 1.5Mbps DTS tracks for those without the equipment.

Universal didn't specifically mention what video codec they would be using for their Blu-ray releases, or if the initial titles would be direct ports of their HD DVD releases, but the inclusion of lossless audio certainly bodes well for viewers.

Source

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Paramount Back in the Blu!

 

For those shocked that Universal actually got onboard the Blu-ray train before Paramount returned, well there's some good news today... Paramount has not only announced their return, but will be streeting new titles even before Universal joins the Blu-ray ranks.

New titles announced by Paramount:

May 20:

• Bee Movie
• Face/Off
• Next
• Blades of Glory

June 3:

• There Will Be Blood
• Cloverfield

June 24:

• The Spiderwick Chronicles

 

Also, being reannounced on May 20 are several titles that became officially out of print when Paramount went HD DVD only last fall:

• Aeon Flux
• Babel
• Bee Movie
• Black Snake Moan
• Coming to America
• Disturbia
• Dreamgirls
• Four Brothers
• The Italian Job
• Next
• Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
• Sleepy Hollow
• Trading Places
• The Untouchables: Special Collector's Edition
• The Warriors: Ultimate Director's Cut
• U2: Rattle and Hum
• We Were Soldiers
• World Trade Center

Interestingly, "Shooter", the hardest to find Paramount Blu-ray title wasn't reannounced, presumably because that title is completely sold out even from Paramount's warehouses, and has to be replicated again.

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Universal Announces Initial Blu-ray Line-up!

 

Well, the day everyone has been waiting for is here!  Universal Pictures has finally announced their initial slate of Blu-ray Disc releases, starting later this summer.

The first Universal titles to hit Blu-ray are currently scheduled to be The Mummy, The Mummy Returns, and The Scorpion King, all to be released on July 22.  The first day-and-date title announced is Doomsday.  The hit TV series Heroes is scheduled to make it's Blu-ray debut on August 26, with the simultaneous release of seasons 1 and 2.

Additional day-and-date titles announced for release this year include The Incredible Hulk, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Wanted, Mama Mia!, and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emporer.

Catalog titles promised for release this year include American Gangster, Knocked Up, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Miami Vice, U-571, and Land of the Dead.

Making today's announcement was none other than Universal Studios Home Entertainment President (and former HD DVD shill) Craig Kornblau... who undoubtedly is getting a stomache ache from having to eat so much crow.

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PS3 DTS-HD HR and DTS-HD MA Decoding Arrives!

 

If there was any doubt that the PS3 is the most capable Blu-ray Disc player currently on the market, the latest System Software Update (version 2.30) has enabled DTS-HD HR and DTS-HD MA decoding within the the system.

This update allows for lossless decoding of titles (primarily Fox titles) that use the DTS-HD MA compression algorithm within the PS3.  The sound is converted to uncompressed PCM to be sent via HDMI connection to compatible receivers.

This update makes the PS3 far-and-away the most capable Blu-ray player on the market, allowing for the decoding of ALL advanced audio codecs while retaining BonusView (Profile 1.1) and BD-Live (Profile 2.0) capabilities already released in previous updates.

While standalone Blu-ray players will be coming out with competing features later this year (Panasonic BD50 and Sony S550 among others), at the moment, only the PS3 supports all the advanced features available on the Blu-ray disc format.

The new System Software Update 2.30 also enables access to the new and (vastly) improved PlayStation Store that now functions as a much better integrated system, as opposed to the old, HTML based system.

The System Software upgrade can be updated from an internet-connected PS3 directly using the included software update feature or the update can be downloaded to a PC and transferred via memory card or USB drive by\ following the directions here.

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Interview with SCE Engineers

 

In case you weren't convinced that the PS3 was the Blu-ray disc player to get, AV Watch has a new interview with SCE engineers where they discuss the current system software release as well as features that will be upcoming in the major summer update due to hit around June of this year.

As for the current release, 2.20, support was added for LTH (low-to-high) BD-R discs, which should enable cheaper recordable discs to be released soon.  The update also added BD-Live (profile 2.0) functionality to the PS3's already excellent list of Blu-ray features.

For DVD upscaling, mosquito noise reduction was added to allow better scaling of noisy sources, and the other existing filters were improved to allow for better scaling of DVD discs.

The most exciting news, though, was of what is now expected to come.  The engineers confirmed that both DTS-HD MA decoding and 1080i deinterlacing would be coming in a future update.

As for gaming functions, 2.20 freed up additional RAM to be available to game developers... something badly needed in the PS3's RAM-starved gaming environment.  Even with the reduction in RAM usage, there is still substantive talk at Sony about providing the oft-requested in-game XMB access, though the engineers gave no timeframe as to when such a feature would be able to be implemented.

Certainly, there is a case to be made for the additional video quality provided by certain standalone players (especially high-end models such as the Denon DVD-3800BDCI), but for anyone looking for a BD player with with support for all the features available on the format, the PS3 just looks better and better.  Congrats to the SCE team responsible for the Blu-ray implementation... as it truly is WAY above and beyond what one would expect from a "gaming console."

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KU Wins!!!!

 

Although this has nothing to do with the topics I normally post about, as a Kansas City area resident, and a former KU student, I have a moral obligation to post this...

KU WINS MEN's NCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT!!!!

God, it feels great to say that again!  If you missed the final game between Kansas and Memphis, you missed a hell of a game.  Though KU was ahead for much of the game, they were down by 9 with a little over 2 minutes left.  A changed call, no small amount of luck, and an amazing run later, and they tied the game with less than 2 seconds left on the clock.  In overtime, KU ran all over Memphis... and the rest, as they say, is history.  I can finally replace my 1988 Tournament Champions shirts with some that are a bit more up to date.

Please excuse the drunken stupor I will likely be in for any posts coming in the next few days.

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Neilson Videoscan Blu-ray vs. DVD Results for Week Ending 3/30/2008

 

I stopped posting the Blu-ray vs. HD DVD Nielson VideoScan data as soon as HD DVD officially called it quits.  There really is no point in beating a dead horse, after all.  The real battle now for Blu-ray is to take on standard DVD, which is in nearly every home in U.S. and in the majority of homes worldwide.  This battle will certainly be far more difficult than beating HD DVD, but the sales data will actually be far more relevant as to how quickly Blu-ray is being adopted... and whether or not DVD sales are slowing as a result.

Comparing Blu-ray sales data to total DVD sales data is no easy task, however.  The sheer volume of DVDs available in the retail market makes it nearly impossible to hypothesize with any accuracy how many total DVD discs are sold in any given week.  Thus, Nielson VideoScan has chosen to compare only the Top 20 selling DVDs to the Top 20 Blu-ray Discs to track Blu-ray vs. DVD sales.  While this method results in interesting results for comparing the top selling discs on both formats, it is inherently biased towards Blu-ray as it is comparing an equal number of titles on both formats.  Whilst Blu-ray has nearly 500 titles released in the U.S., DVD has tens of thousands of released titles.

Still, here are the results:

Source: Nielson VideoScan via www.homemediamagazine.com

As you can see, at least among the top titles, Blu-ray actually represents a fairly significant chunk of sales already.  8% of unit sales is really nothing to laugh at, especially as the revenue generated by each Blu-ray Disc sale is considerably higher than that earned by each DVD sold -- both by the studio and by the retailer.  While many Blu-ray owners are upset by the higher cost of Blu-ray Discs at retail stores, the stores and studios are VERY happy with the current pricing situation.  As the popularity of Blu-ray grows, pricing will come down, but studios and retailers will do their best to avoid selling discs in $5 "bargain bins" for as long as possible.

Source: Nielson VideoScan via www.homemediamagazine.com 

 

Looking at the the Blu-ray bestsellers for the week, we can see that, as expected, the newest releases (I Am Legend, No Country for Old Men, and Enchanted) topped the list.  What is somewhat surprising, however, is how well much older titles (Pirates of the Caribbean 1 &2, Terminator 2, and Apocalypto) did last week.  Although it would certainly be best to see player sales data directly, this certainly implies that many new Blu-ray Disc player owners were buying titles to start their collections last week, a very good sign for the format. 

It should also be noted that the above chart technically represents the Top 10 Blu-ray and HD DVD discs for last week... however, the now deceased HD DVD format failed to get a single title into the Top 10 despite many stores offering titles at significant discounts on their remaining stock as they clear out remaining inventory.  Certainly, that could also be seen as a significant victory for Blu-ray, though continuing to beat up a dead format is not something I intend to continue doing.

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