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Aug. 11th, 2006 12:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
trinityvixenReally, you think? Stalemate, you say?
What worries me most about this goddamned format war piece of shit nonsense? It affects the next-gen console I would most want to own: the PlayStation 3. I could give a good goddamn what the XBOX 360 has, and the Wii will probably be in a non-DVD format so that doesn't even matter (friends of Nintendo, I predict you have another round of rebuying all your games--again--because Ninetendo doesn't believe in backwards compatibility; have fun with that, bitches!). Most of the movie studios have thrown in for Blu-Ray, and Sony is a powerhouse of electronics, so really, I shouldn't have to worry about it.
But Microsoft controls the PC industry. They just do, no matter what Apple wants (can?) to do about that, I think Microsoft isn't losing its control any time soon. When they have that much pull, they pull hard on everyone else. The PC gamers will definitely go for HD-DVD, then, as will other software providers, is my guess. People who want to record DVDs, say of home videos and the like, will still use regular DVDs until the HD ones drop in price, but when they do, they're going to want to use the format that best works with their computer. Since Microsoft will be on every 9 out of 10 computers, the manufacturers will have made them HD-DVD compatible. And, to watch them off of the computer (something "normal" people do, I'm told), they'll want the HD-DVD.
So, stalemate, yes. There are two routes: one, either HD-DVD or Blu-Ray dominates and the lesser format goes the way of the Beta and the Laser Disc, or, two, they are both dropped in favor of a compromise. The compromise could be a new format or dual-format computers/players/etc. But this won't come before the PS3 is launched, and it's already too late for the 360. Gamers are going to get screwed royally. If Sony loses, they can't play their HD-DVDs on the PS3. If Microsoft loses, the same is true with them of the Blu-Ray. If they compromise, both systems lose out on hi-def playing ability (unless they release new consoles, which will piss off everyone who got theirs early, I guarantee). Stupidity rules!
What's interesting to me is that Apple's been pretty quiet (far as I've heard) throughout this whole thing which makes me think that they, like everyone else, are hedging their bets. Unfortunately for the Mac Panthers out there, your "but it last a million years!" computer won't be able to play the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray discs, where as when my PC runs dead, I can get that upgrade. Then again, it's very possible the consumers will punish these electronics giants for being so fucking stupid about formatting issues that there won't be an agreed hi-def standard for DVD until your recent Mac purchasers need new ones. It's also possible that Apple's just a taaaaaad busy trying to get software to run better on their intel core duo machines to worry about this stuff.
What worries me most about this goddamned format war piece of shit nonsense? It affects the next-gen console I would most want to own: the PlayStation 3. I could give a good goddamn what the XBOX 360 has, and the Wii will probably be in a non-DVD format so that doesn't even matter (friends of Nintendo, I predict you have another round of rebuying all your games--again--because Ninetendo doesn't believe in backwards compatibility; have fun with that, bitches!). Most of the movie studios have thrown in for Blu-Ray, and Sony is a powerhouse of electronics, so really, I shouldn't have to worry about it.
But Microsoft controls the PC industry. They just do, no matter what Apple wants (can?) to do about that, I think Microsoft isn't losing its control any time soon. When they have that much pull, they pull hard on everyone else. The PC gamers will definitely go for HD-DVD, then, as will other software providers, is my guess. People who want to record DVDs, say of home videos and the like, will still use regular DVDs until the HD ones drop in price, but when they do, they're going to want to use the format that best works with their computer. Since Microsoft will be on every 9 out of 10 computers, the manufacturers will have made them HD-DVD compatible. And, to watch them off of the computer (something "normal" people do, I'm told), they'll want the HD-DVD.
So, stalemate, yes. There are two routes: one, either HD-DVD or Blu-Ray dominates and the lesser format goes the way of the Beta and the Laser Disc, or, two, they are both dropped in favor of a compromise. The compromise could be a new format or dual-format computers/players/etc. But this won't come before the PS3 is launched, and it's already too late for the 360. Gamers are going to get screwed royally. If Sony loses, they can't play their HD-DVDs on the PS3. If Microsoft loses, the same is true with them of the Blu-Ray. If they compromise, both systems lose out on hi-def playing ability (unless they release new consoles, which will piss off everyone who got theirs early, I guarantee). Stupidity rules!
What's interesting to me is that Apple's been pretty quiet (far as I've heard) throughout this whole thing which makes me think that they, like everyone else, are hedging their bets. Unfortunately for the Mac Panthers out there, your "but it last a million years!" computer won't be able to play the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray discs, where as when my PC runs dead, I can get that upgrade. Then again, it's very possible the consumers will punish these electronics giants for being so fucking stupid about formatting issues that there won't be an agreed hi-def standard for DVD until your recent Mac purchasers need new ones. It's also possible that Apple's just a taaaaaad busy trying to get software to run better on their intel core duo machines to worry about this stuff.
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no subject
Date: 2006-08-11 05:27 pm (UTC)Don't get me started.
Date: 2006-08-11 06:12 pm (UTC)Nope. When we got it home and set up, we found you also needed HD service on your cable/satellite. THEN you need a DVD player and DVDs that USE HD. The final kick in the ass: The cables that go between the TV and your components have to be HD cables. Between 2 consoles, 2 DVD players, a VCR (Yes, he's old school) and the cable box, the cables came out to almost as much as he paid for the TV itself.
Re: Don't get me started.
Date: 2006-08-11 07:45 pm (UTC)Re: Don't get me started.
Date: 2006-08-11 07:59 pm (UTC)And the industry explains it by saying, "You don't NEED HD." No shit, but what happens when everything goes HD? What if you're that poor shlub with a 19' color TV from 1980-something that still uses knobs?
Re: Don't get me started.
Date: 2006-08-11 08:17 pm (UTC)The industry is already going HD. Not only are they going HD, they're going flat-screen. No more CRTs pretty soon, not that the drop in plasma screen prices are anywhere near what they should be for that to be anything but a criminal move, but that's a rant for another day...