Update: Well, 9am has come and gone in Cupertino and we have not heard anything out of Microsoft. We’ll wait a few more hours before we declare this one dead. Until then, consider it as being on life support.
In what could be an attempt to steal the show from Apple right before WWDC, rumor has it that Microsoft will announce a new Xbox 360 SKU with a built in BD drive at 9am Cupertino Time tomorrow. This little nugget comes to us via CrunchGear, who reports that a tipster by the name of ‘JJ’ has informed them of the possible announcement. According to JJ’s ‘close friend at Microsoft’, the SKU’s pricetag will be below that of the current Xbox 360 Elite, but other than that details are apparently scarce.
You can read JJ’s full report to CrunchGear after the jump.
Continue reading ‘Rumor: Blu-ray Xbox 360 Announcement Coming Tomorrow [Update]‘
The new version of one of the greatest Sci-Fi films ever made will make its way to HDDVD and Blu-ray in two editions this Tuesday. You can pick up the Ultimate Collectors Edition (pictured above) or the slightly less flashy Complete Collectors Edition, which comes sans briefcase. Both are 5 Disc sets which include not only the new final cut of the movie but also the theatrical version, the international version, and the 1992 Director’s Cut, along with tons of commentaries and other special features.
This new version is fully restored and remastered, and is scanned at 4k resolution (that’s 4096 x 2160 pixels people). This may not only be one of the most anticipated High Def releases to date, but could turn out to be one of the greatest as well. Look for the Ultamate Edition to run you about $100 (around $70 on amazon), and the Complete Edition will retail for $40 (under $30 at amazon).
Now you just have to ask yourself, “Do I really need that briefcase?”. Come on, you know you do.
Paramount Pictures, which have released many top tier movies on both HD formats up to now, has decided to call it quits on their Blu-ray content and to only put out HD DVD flicks from now on. By switching back to HD DVD exclusivity, the company has ensured that big holiday releases such as Transformers and Blades of Glory will only come out on HD DVD discs at the end of this year. It isn’t just the Paramount branded movies which will only see HD DVD releases from now on though, as Dreamworks Animation movies will be coming to HD DVD alone as well. This means that movies like Shrek the Third will only be available on the red format this holiday season as well.
Home Media Research recently reported in a study that Blu-Ray Discs have sold 1.6 million copies, while HDDVD’s have sold 795,000 discs from the beginning of the year till July 1st. That puts the BluRay Discs outselling HDDVD’s 2:1 in the US. This can be attributed many exclusives that were present in the beginning of the year; however, the features-exclusive HDDVD of 300 seems to be lagging behind the 300 Blu-Ray even though lacks many of the features of the 300 HDDVD like picture-in-picture commentary. Many people believe this will also reflect the second-half of the year because of the various types of players available for BluRay, as opposed to the HDDVD’s players. Is this the last straw for HDDVD?
[via Electronista]
The Home Media Expo 2007 is underway this week in Las Vegas and HD DVD has used the forum to show off their latest sales numbers as compared to Blu-ray’s. According to Nielsen Netratings, HD DVD player sales are up 37% from Q1 to Q2 of this year, and software sales are up 20%. Blu-ray sales on the other hand have dropped significantly over the same time period however, with player sales dropping 27% and software sales down 5%.
Since HD DVD’s new marketing tactics have been applied, which include things such as price drops and movie offers, sales have been much better for the format. For the previously mentioned quarter, HD DVD dedicated player sales are up 183% and 80,000 players have been sold since April. This brings the total number of HD DVD player sales up to about 180,000.
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