Report concludes PS3 saved Blu-ray Options

[PS3Scene]

Report concludes PS3 saved Blu-ray Posted by XanTium | 5-7-2008 21:44 EST

From ps3fanboy.com: [QUOTE] The annual report of the Entertainment Merchants Association released recently stated that PS3 is "the primary driver behind Blu-ray sales, with 87% of PS3 owners watching Blu-ray movies on their console." With 3 million units sold by the end of 2007, the PS3 easily outsold the HD-DVD add-on for the Xbox 360, which sold 316,000 units. The EMA feels Blu-ray was the losing format in 2006, but thanks to the PS3, it rebounded in 2007 to become the de facto winner. Their prediction is the PS3 will be "the main force behind Blu-ray disc sales until 2009, when standalone Blu-ray players are expected to outpace the sales volume of the PS3." [/QUOTE] Full Story: ps3fanboy.com

[colt45joe]

cool beans

[adem-101]

Yeahh. i agree

[Verity]

Somehow, I'm not convinced that Blu-Ray has been "saved". Certainly Blu-Ray managed to sink HD-DVD, but ever since it hasn't managed to take any commanding presence in the video market.

[Zod5000]

I bought the ps3 specifically for a bluray player (and because it can be continually upgraded). Since none of the other standalones can do that, and they continually change the specs for bluray, i'd have to agree.

at the time the ps3 was the cheapest bluray player as well. Would I have bought a bluray player if I knew it couldn't be updated, or the price was higher? probably not.

It still seems odd to me though, that standalones are still relative close in price (or higher) than the ps3. I got the added bonus of a game console with the ps3.... it really doesn't leave anyone a reason to buy a standalone?

[crapoid685]

In other news.... Microsoft douches HD-DVD by only having its player as an add-on. If MS would have put an HD-DVD player in every Xbox360, we wouldn't even be talking about blue-ray. Xbox360 for $600 during the first year w/ HD-DVD player, and then lower the price to like $500 when PS3 launched and then the 360 would have an insurmountable console sales lead and would have won the format war with HD-DVD. I'm definitely a PS fanboy but does anybody really disagree with my statements? If anything I'm basically saying that MS sucks and if they could make the right decisions, then they would be way out in the lead in this console war. (they basically gift wrapped a win for Sony)

[HotKnife420]

It still seems odd to me though, that standalones are still relative close in price (or higher) than the ps3. I got the added bonus of a game console with the ps3.... it really doesn't leave anyone a reason to buy a standalone?

Almost every console released is sold at a loss at launch time, to help grow the installed base. The PS3 was no exception to this rule. This also seems to debunk the theory of the "report" stating that PS3 saved Blu-ray. I'm sure that many PS3s sold because the value was greater, tho they may have no interest in games. Sure, one could argue that anyone who bought a PS3 for games is getting a free BD player, and therefore added to the BD installed base, but I believe many other reports stated that most people who bought the PS3 for games haven't really gotten a BD movie collection, and vice versa.

In other news.... Microsoft douches HD-DVD by only having its player as an add-on. If MS would have put an HD-DVD player in every Xbox360, we wouldn't even be talking about blue-ray. Xbox360 for $600 during the first year w/ HD-DVD player, and then lower the price to like $500 when PS3 launched and then the 360 would have an insurmountable console sales lead and would have won the format war with HD-DVD. I'm definitely a PS fanboy but does anybody really disagree with my statements? If anything I'm basically saying that MS sucks and if they could make the right decisions, then they would be way out in the lead in this console war. (they basically gift wrapped a win for Sony)

MS' whole strategy has been very price focused. They come up with a sweet price point, and give you the minimum, so you'll feel comfortable dropping the next price point on something else (ie, no matter which version 360 you get, you gotta get more shit anyway). If they had an internal HD-DVD drive at launch, it may not have sold as well (being a higher price), and the RRoD fiasco could've given HD-DVD some bad flack by association (though it wouldn't be warranted, but you know how people can get sometimes), if the primary installed base of HD-DVD owners were 360s.

I'm sure, to say the least, that HD-DVD would still be battling BD at this time had that happened, but it didn't. I don't know why people miss HD-DVD so much; as it stands BD 2.0 matches all the features people liked about HD-DVD, and has greater bandwidth, storage, and durability.

This post has been edited by HotKnife420: Jul 6 2008, 08:05 PM

[Ranger72]

Rumor has it that WalMart will have a $99 Blu-Ray player by Christmas. This will help kill regular DVD pretty fast.

[Chancer]

In other news.... Microsoft douches HD-DVD by only having its player as an add-on. If MS would have put an HD-DVD player in every Xbox360, we wouldn't even be talking about blue-ray. Xbox360 for $600 during the first year w/ HD-DVD player, and then lower the price to like $500 when PS3 launched and then the 360 would have an insurmountable console sales lead and would have won the format war with HD-DVD.

Sales of the console would have been hampered by having to raise the price, so the 360 would have had less sales.
The number of huge manufacturers behind BR would have always made it difficult for HD-DVD. As for the obvious next comment coming that HD-DVD had cheap stand alones. That was a closing down sale.

[Elemino]

Hampered? I almost didn't get a 360 because I thought the cost was outrageously high.. I bought one... then the PS3 came out. Not so outrageous anymore.

Blu-ray almost sank PS3 at the same time because of the resulting higher price.

For those who think Bluray isn't going anywhere, you haven't paid much attention to the US's largest retailer. Wal-Mart's near my home now have exclusive blu-ray aisles. They also sell a Magnavox blu-ray player for $298. The also sell older movies now on bluray for as little as $15. I saw the old childhood favorite (of mine) Short Circuit on bluray for $10 on Amazon over the weekend.The point is, the move to bluray is happening WAY faster than the move to DVD. By Christmas next year, I bet people who don't even have HDTV's will be buying bluray players... to go along with their digital converter boxes.

[chronno]

It wasn't just the PS3 that "Saved" Blu-Ray it was the fact that Blu-Ray has multiple layers of DRM that HD-DVD did not. Bad for the consumer but good for the MPAA who made the decision to use exclusively Blu-Ray.

[Chapel0203]

I think the relationship really goes both ways in this case. Lots of people justify spending the high price on a PS3 because it is also a Blu Ray player and PS3 provided for a larger market for Blu Ray movies. This one-hand-washes-the-other is hardly surprising as they are both Sony products. Now, if Microsoft had released an HD-DVD integrated version of the xBox 360 (some kind of Elite HD SKU), then things may have gotten a bit hairier for Blu Ray and Sony. As it stands now, Microsoft is free to develop an add on for blu ray discs if they want.

Now, I don't think they will. Bill Gates (who isn't involved as much anymore) has said that he thinks Blu-Ray/HD-DVD will be the last physical medium. Maybe the next console from Microsoft will be entirely based on DLC.

Either way, you can't deny that this bitter competition between the game departments of the two companies is, for the most part, great for gamers. We get all sorts of cool new features to play around with and, in many cases, the features are free because the companies want to establish a better base.