backtop

Print E-mail del.icio.us 85 comment(s) - last by jadedeath.. on Jun 2 at 6:06 PM
PS3 significantly helping European Blu-ray Disc cause

The Sony PlayStation 3 isn’t only a powerful piece of gaming hardware; it’s also one of the best Blu-ray Disc players currently on the market. PlayStation 3 owners are well of this fact, and may likely be using the console as a part-time HD movie player.

Following the North American release of the PS3 in November 2006, Blu-ray movie sales surged significantly – making up for ground lost to the more economical HD DVD standard. A similar trend is now occurring in Western Europe, where the PlayStation 3 launched on March 23.

According to data from the Blu-ray Disc Association, as cited by Pocket-lint, HD DVD comfortably outsold Blu-ray Disc up until the launch of the PS3. In the week immediately after the console’s European launch, Blu-ray discs accounted for almost 87% of all HD disc sales, and not since trailed HD DVD sales.

Recent weekly figures from Europe put Blu-ray sales three times greater than that of HD DVD, with the now-leading format accounting for 64 percent of the total volume in 2007. The quick turn of the tide, however, reflects how easily it is to sway favor in a still relatively small niche market.

Comments     Threshold


This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled
There is no format war
By Proteusza on 5/29/2007 9:14:23 AM , Rating: 2
This whole format war thing is a farce. It is a non issue.

The reason I say this? The cheapest way to be able to playback either format, at least in the UK, is to buy a 360 with the HD addon, or a PS3. You cant get BD or HD readers for PC, only burners, which cost twice what they do in the US. Blu ray players for TV's cost more than a PS3.

I'd be surprised if the adoption rate is higher than that of the PhysX addon card even among hardcore gamers. Its price simply makes it not an option for the majority of people who want to watch movies at home.




RE: There is no format war
By FITCamaro on 5/29/2007 9:41:42 AM , Rating: 2
Exactly. Honestly, with how soon movies are put out on DVD/HD today, its cheaper to just watch it on an HD premium channel 2-3 months after the movie comes out. I'll wait until the players are down to $100 and the media is the same price as DVDs.


RE: There is no format war
By h0kiez on 5/29/2007 9:49:55 AM , Rating: 1
No it's not. Assuming you already have a 360, buying the add-on is the cheapest way to get HD, but for those that don't, it's not. You can get the Toshiba HD-A2 (2nd gen, well-reviewed) for much less. It was $237 on Amazon all weekend, plus the 5 free movies that Toshiba is offering.


RE: There is no format war
By Xavian on 5/29/2007 10:06:13 AM , Rating: 2
Did you not notice "In the UK" in his statement?


RE: There is no format war
By mars777 on 5/29/07, Rating: 0
RE: There is no format war
By Chaser on 5/29/2007 12:04:27 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
For most americans only america exists... or matters. Sad but true.


And presumptuousness comes from where?


RE: There is no format war
By FITCamaro on 5/29/2007 12:09:42 PM , Rating: 1
No. Just a lot of us "ignorant" Americans are just a bit sick of Europe. I know I am. Especially the EU.


RE: There is no format war
By Rollomite on 5/29/2007 1:01:57 PM , Rating: 1
That's because, as you've proven in previous posts, you're a racist.


RE: There is no format war
By bubbacub616 on 5/29/2007 8:21:41 PM , Rating: 4
Why are you sick of the EU?

Whats it done to you?


RE: There is no format war
By DocDraken on 5/29/2007 2:13:42 PM , Rating: 5
By modding his post down and "FitCamaro"'s post up you're actually proving Mars777 right...


RE: There is no format war
By h0kiez on 5/29/2007 11:10:29 AM , Rating: 4
Actually, I didn't, but I'm not sure that matters. Looking at Amazon.co.uk, the same pricing holds. The HD-A2 is 231 pounds, the XBox 360 (the core for argument's sake) is 190 pounds, and the HD DVD addon is $110 pounds, or roughly 300 for the combo. Unless there's somewhere to get the 360 much cheaper, and nowhere to get a discount on the HD-A2, my argument holds.

As for those that think that Americans think nothing outside of the US exists, you're just retarded. This is a site that ends in ".com" which unless I'm mistaken is by percentage an almost entirely American domain. I should start going to websites that end in ".eu" and complain about their non-America-centric points of view...that'd be fun.


RE: There is no format war
By Xavian on 5/29/2007 11:36:04 AM , Rating: 1
£237 is over double what the it costs in the US and you are saying HD is "cheap"?

HD in the UK is too expensive to be worth considering right now. That was the point of his post in the first place.

.com is not .us, .com if you really want to get into it, means .commercial as in commercial business. .com isn't a US domain, its a worldwide domain.


RE: There is no format war
By h0kiez on 5/29/2007 3:52:04 PM , Rating: 4
Wow...I just don't even know where to begin dissecting how wrong you are.

1) $237 was dollars...not pounds, and referred to American pricing, not UK. Once someone pointed out that he was talking about the UK, I edited the pricing...which was 231 pounds...which I then compared to the cost of a 360 (190) + HD DVD add-on (110) = 300 pounds. I was simply refuting his statement that an Xbox combo was the cheapest way in the UK to get HD DVD. I don't live there, so I could be incorrect, but when amazon has a 2nd gen HD DVD player for 231 and the Xbox combo for 300ish, you're gonna have to provide some evidence to support that. Ready...go!

Next, "and you are saying HD is "cheap"?

I didn't. Never used the word cheap. you completely made that up. Thanks for playing.

".com is not .us, .com if you really want to get into it, means .commercial"

Thanks for explaining to this businessman what .com means. For the record, I knew that. And no, I didn't think the letters .com were an acronym somehow pulled from "The United States of America". Again, if you actually read my post with your brain switched on, what I was saying is that the vast majority of .com names are registered and run by American companies and people living in America. While I could register a .eu domain and run it from the states, it would still be reasonable for people in Europe to assume that it was most likely registered and run from within Europe.

Also, unless exchange rates has changed dramatically from the last time I saw them (~1.8 dollars per pound), 237 pounds (or 231 which it actually is...your typo) is not more than double what it costs here: $237 on a holiday deal, or $299 currently.

Feel free to refute any of this, but can you stick a bit more to topic this time?


RE: There is no format war
By afkrotch on 5/30/2007 12:35:12 AM , Rating: 2
It's a completely different country. Don't try to match prices with the states from a different country.

For UK, it's normal pricing. Shoot, a new dvd there will cost you a little over 20 quid. Is that expensive? For an American it is. For a Brit, it's standard pricing.

Everything is like that there. They numbers match the states, but after conversion, it's expensive for an American. Like a Honda Civic there can cost you 16,000 pounds. In the US, you can buy a BMW for that price.

I've lived 18 years of my life in the US. I lived 3 years of my life in Burwell, Cambridgeshire UK.

I always hate when someone brings in the argument of "ZOMG, that's double the price in the US."

Here's something for ya. Someone at McDonalds in the UK can make 10 pounds an hour. ZOMG!


RE: There is no format war
By Proteusza on 5/29/2007 11:58:58 AM , Rating: 3
Thats pretty ironc, .com isnt an american domain at all, and by assuming it is you proved our point. Thank you.

Even so, thats double the US price, for no good reason, and about triple what most people would pay. I dont know why electronic things are so expensive in the UK, we seem to get the raw end of the deal.

I would really consider a BD player for my next HTPC, if there were more than just burners available, which cost as much as the pc itself.


RE: There is no format war
By Timeless on 5/29/2007 2:54:43 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
I dont know why electronic things are so expensive in the UK, we seem to get the raw end of the deal.


I thought that most European countries get taxed more than the US. If that is true, isn't that the reason that your prices are so high? Isn't that also the reason that you guys in Europe get a higher living standard than the people living in the US. I live in the US, so I have no clue why you guys get it so rough. It's just my guess.


RE: There is no format war
By bubbacub616 on 5/29/2007 8:19:35 PM , Rating: 2
Wealth is more evenly distributed across socioeconomic classes in Europe (and to a lesser extent the UK)- hence electronic companies can generally get away with premiums on their goods.

Whilst tax is higher in the UK/europe the price increase is much larger then the 17.5 vat + import duty.

Every so often the government/media can intervene to sort out ridiculous discrepancies - e.g. 3-4 years ago car prices in the UK were over 10-15% higher than elsewhere (and that's taking into account the cost of implementing right hand drive).


RE: There is no format war
By afkrotch on 5/30/2007 12:52:30 AM , Rating: 2
You're stupid and should stop talking. Everything in the UK is almost double the price of the states. They also make almost double the income we make in the states also.

You ever think of that?

Also how dumb are you guys? Blu-ray burners also read blu-ray discs. All you need is software to play blu-ray movies. Which they provide to you, when you buy a blu-ray burner.

Does a DVD burner only burn dvds? No, it reads them too. With the software, you can playback all forms of dvds, that the drive supports. Most now support all forms, including DVD-RAM.


RE: There is no format war
By Proteusza on 5/31/2007 9:33:32 AM , Rating: 2
Wow someone got the short end of the evolution stick.

Yes burners can also read, you must be quite the genius.

However, they also cost £600 - the same as a new PC, including screen. Or the same price as a fairly good HDTV. So, we are still left with a problem - a blu ray burner costs £600, while a normal burner costs £20. Why then, would I bother, if all I wanted a burner for is to play movies?

Please stop with the accusations of stupidity, when you are abundant in it yourself.


RE: There is no format war
By StevoLincolnite on 5/29/2007 12:08:28 PM , Rating: 2
No one actually owns the Internet, and no single person or organization controls the Internet in its entirety. More of a concept than an actual tangible entity, the Internet relies on a physical infrastructure that connects networks to other networks. There are many organizations, corporations, governments, schools, private citizens and service providers that all own pieces of the infrastructure, but there is no one body that owns it all. There are, however, organizations that oversee and standardize what happens on the Internet and assign IP addresses and domain names, such as the National Science Foundation, the Internet Engineering Task Force, ICANN, InterNIC and the Internet Architecture Board.

Thanks for proving the point that most Americans, believe that they are the only people that matter.