Will Xtravision now start renting HD-DVD's with Paramounts Announcement??

Snake Plisken

Hi

I was wondering if some of the lads who work for xtravision could check to see if they are going to change their policy of only stocking Blu-Ray's with the Paramount/Dreamworks announcment? I still can't see why they dont stock HD-DVD's when you can even buy the 360 addon in most of the stores.
I for one hope they change their policy and stock both formats.

Snake

tvnutz

Most likely not. Blockbuster in the US has said they will back Blu-ray only,and they own Xtra-Vision so expect the same.

Snake Plisken

tvnutz wrote:

Most likely not. Blockbuster in the US has said they will back Blu-ray only,and they own Xtra-Vision so expect the same.

But didn't they say that before the Paramount announcement? I suppose watch for any Blockbuster update stateside and that will apply to Xtravision.

Snake;)

kaisersose77

Xtravision have always being a pro-sony store and rented sony products straight away (they would be stupid not to, seeing as most ppl have a ps2,psp,ps3) .Took them ages to even start renting xbox 360 games so very doubtful they'll rent hd-dvd's (what % of 360 owners in ireland would actually have a hd-dvd drive................not a lot). And ppl with a normal hd-dvd player would be even less.

stereo_steve

Its very annoying.... I'm going to write them an email. If they got a lot of emails i'm sure they might trial it in a store... hint hint

BTW I am fairly confident that Warner will be crossing to HD DVD soon. They receive some royalties on HD-DVD's and the fact that they have released a much greater number of HD-DVD's to Blu-rays shows were their interest lies!

I expect them to announce exclusivity at Cedia (September 3rd) or just after Christmas. If that happens Disney is a real possibility.

savemejebus

When you combine the fact that HD rental accounts for a miniscule amount of rentals, and the fact that Paramount haven't scheduled much for release on HD-DVD over the next few months (Blades of Glory, Zodiac, Shrek 3 and Transformers are their standouts with Shrek and Transformers not out for months) I don't think that the paramount move would be enough to convince Xtravision to bring in HD-DVD. I'd say that they feel that their Blu-Ray investment hasn't started paying off yet so they'd be hesitant to shell out for another non-profitable (at the moment) format.

As for Warner going HD-DVD exclusive it's very hard to say. Looking at the analysts reaction to paramount (panning of the move), the bad publicity paramount received in the media (papers such as the New York Times reporting that Paramount had been bribed to the tune of $150 million) and the fact that Warner are members of the Blu-Ray Association (receiving royalties on all blu-rays sold) I don't think that the decision will be very clear cut.

Like it or not Blu-Ray is currently outselling HD-DVD everywhere, even Paramount movies are selling more on Blu-Ray as people scramble to get them before stocks run out. So from a financial point of view neutrality seems to be the way to go. Also one of the biggest HD-DVD supporters in Warner (Steve Nickerson) recently stepped down so the waters are muddied even further.

User45701

I spoke directly with one of the head extra vision people a while ago on this issue, although it is owned by blockbuster it has its own directros and x-tra vision does look after itself and the decision is up to its own directors

Xios

xtra-vision sucks balls, i work for them and the last thing they'll do is make it convienant for customers, it's gonna be blu-ray all the way. Unless they get into the pr0n industry, then it's gonna switch roles

Snake Plisken

Well at least Xtravision gave hd a shot, don't see chartbusters renting any HD material certainly here in Lucan. Just on another point would it kill a store just to test the waters and rent out one or two big releases like Transformers on HD-DVD when they come out? They could then guage the interest in the format. A less painful way would be to run a survey with a competition attached just to get their customers opinions on HD equipment owned or when they plan to buy and if they would be interested in HD-DVD rentals?

Snake

savemejebus

When there is demand the shops will do it, but for now they have enough trouble getting people to rent DVDs rather than download from the web.

a little OT: Was in gamestop (limerick) at lunchtime and noticed that while they still have a decent display of blu-ray their HD-DVD section is just about gone. HMV have done the same, while Virgin have equally tiny selections for both with the Blu-Ray one having more titles. It isn't looking good for raising awareness of the HD-DVD format.

godtabh

Snake Plisken wrote:

Well at least Xtravision gave hd a shot, don't see chartbusters renting any HD material certainly here in Lucan. Just on another point would it kill a store just to test the waters and rent out one or two big releases like Transformers on HD-DVD when they come out? They could then guage the interest in the format. A less painful way would be to run a survey with a competition attached just to get their customers opinions on HD equipment owned or when they plan to buy and if they would be interested in HD-DVD rentals?

Snake

What store have you seen them rent HD-DVD? If people rented HD-DVD i'd by the HD0-DVD add on for the 360

tvnutz

The selection of rental Blu-Ray dvds we have hardly ever rent. There might be about 40-50 blu ray dvds for rental and you might have a max of 5 rented each week. And some that have rented have been rented by people who don't have a Blu-ray player or PS3 and come back complaining that the dvd doesn't work. Can they not see the completely different boxes?? :rolleyes: Anytime someone comes up with one I ask them if they know it is a blu-ray dvd and half of them still think it was a normal dvd. They don't sell that well either.

So overall from my store anyway (which is a big store) Blu-Ray isn't even doing that well yet,so I doubt they would try HD-DVD on top of that.

tvnutz

tvnutz wrote:

The selection of rental Blu-Ray dvds we have hardly ever rent. There might be about 40-50 blu ray dvds for rental and you might have a max of 5 rented each week. And some that have rented have been rented by people who don't have a Blu-ray player or PS3 and come back complaining that the dvd doesn't work. Can they not see the completely different boxes?? :rolleyes: Anytime someone comes up with one I ask them if they know it is a blu-ray dvd and half of them still think it was a normal dvd. They don't sell that well either.

So overall from my store anyway (which is a big store) Blu-Ray isn't even doing that well yet,so I doubt they would try HD-DVD on top of that.

They don't sell well in shops here because they are usually over priced. I got all mine online from america. A hell of a lot cheaper than getting them here. I got 300 for $23 which worked aut at about €16. When it comes out over here it will probably be at least €30!

stereo_steve

savemejebus wrote:

Like it or not Blu-Ray is currently outselling HD-DVD everywhere, even Paramount movies are selling more on Blu-Ray as people scramble to get them before stocks run out. So from a financial point of view neutrality seems to be the way to go. Also one of the biggest HD-DVD supporters in Warner (Steve Nickerson) recently stepped down so the waters are muddied even further.

Now that people have faith in the format, I think it'll change.

http://www.hdgamedb.com/amazon/history.aspx?TYPE=100&SPAN=45

tvnutz

Deleted User wrote:

They don't sell well in shops here because they are usually over priced. I got all mine online from america. A hell of a lot cheaper than getting them here. I got 300 for $23 which worked aut at about €16. When it comes out over here it will probably be at least €30!

Partly,also because a lot of people just don't have Blu-ray players or PS3s. The PS3 isn't selling that well. For the last month we have sold about 1-3
PS3s a week whereas we have sold over 10 Wii's a week and over 5 360's. Obviously the price in consoles is a factor but it still means not a lot of people have Blu-ray.

I was also talking to some guy who was renting a normal dvd and a ps3 game at the same time. I asked why he didn't rent the same movie in blu-ray. Turns out he doesn't have a HD ready tv and wasn't prepared to pay several hundred euro more for one.

HD tv's are getting cheaper all the time. My brother works in dunnes and according to him they sell out of them every week. They get about 4 50 inch 1080p lcd tv's instock every week and they sell out straight away. I don't know the make or model though. They also sell Sony Bravias and they sell quite well too.
HD tv's are getting cheaper and more commonplace. If only Sony would cut the price of the PS3.

Snake Plisken

TVnutz thanks for giving us a shops prespective on the issues for xtravision, so looks like HD isn't really taking off yet from a rental prespective, just wondering what are the sales of 360's like compared to PS3's in Xtravison?

Snake

savemejebus

Worldwide 360s are at around 10.51 million sold while ps3s are around 4.32 million sold (sold not shipped http://www.vgchartz.com/news/news.php?id=508 & http://www.pro-g.co.uk/news/26-07-2007-6094.html)

However, sales of the HD-DVD add on are much much lower

savemejebus

stereo_steve wrote:

Now that people have faith in the format, I think it'll change.

I don't think people have faith in either of the formats, something that is evident when you compare the total HD sales vs DVD. The Paramount move could have been something good but news getting out about the 150 million bribe they took means that all their protestations about market research being the basis of the decision, which could be true, are worthless as the bribe will be what is focused on.

Microsoft are not helping the situation either, as they see downloadable content as the future and as such are happy for the format war to continue so they can push their downloadable vision of the future (video marketplace etc.).

It really is a case of wait and see.

Even if HD DVD becomes the leading format, blu ray won't disappear. Sony will still use it for games and they will still put their own films out on blu ray even if other studios don't.
The next 18 months will be tough for blu ray. HD DVD players are generally much cheaper. Despite this blu rays have been performing better but I wonder if they can keep this up until paramounts deal is over? If they do however, paramount may switch sides and maybe even universal might start releasing on blu ray. Sony needs to keep disney on side and get warner on board also. They still haven't released batman begins on blu ray ffs.

savemejebus

Deleted User wrote:

The next 18 months will be tough for blu ray. HD DVD players are generally much cheaper.

The above x10 - Blu-Ray just got a bloody nose in the US
http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/28/venturer-announces-shd7000-low-cost-hd-dvd-player-for-holidays/

BKtje

I wouldn't call it a bloody nose just yet, sure we don't even have a price or working review of it. Good to see more entry-level players coming however, competition is rarely a bad thing.

as they see downloadable content as the future

I'm gonna be honest here and agree with microsoft, downloadable media is the future.

B-K-DzR

B-K-DzR wrote:

I'm gonna be honest here and agree with microsoft, downloadable media is the future.

Not until the broadband infrastructure is any good. I wouldn't be downloading any HD films any time soon. One HD film alone would probably send me over my download cap with eircom. Unless they use some savage compression!

Snake Plisken

Deleted User wrote:

Not until the broadband infrastructure is any good. I wouldn't be downloading any HD films any time soon. One HD film alone would probably send me over my download cap with eircom. Unless they use some savage compression!

Yeah with your typical hd/BR running between 25 to 50 gig I think I'd be getting letters from UPCrap about blowing my monthly quota.

Snake

BKtje

Not until the broadband infrastructure is any good. I wouldn't be downloading any HD films any time soon. One HD film alone would probably send me over my download cap with eircom. Unless they use some savage compression!

I somehow doubt that they will hold off on something just because Ireland is backwards when most of the developed worlds infrastructure is well on the way(or even there!) to supporting those kind of downloads...

Snake Plisken

nah outside of TV shows, I prefer too have a physical BR or HD-DVD then downloaded content that I have to pay for same goes for music I would rather buy CD's then download them due to the lower bitrate of MP3's I'm sure microsoft will use their own WMV-HD format.

Snake

Snake Plisken

Snake Plisken wrote:

nah outside of TV shows, I prefer too have a physical BR or HD-DVD then downloaded content that I have to pay for same goes for music I would rather buy CD's then download them due to the lower bitrate of MP3's I'm sure microsoft will use their own WMV-HD format.

Snake

+1

projectmayhem

B-K-DzR wrote:

I somehow doubt that they will hold off on something just because Ireland is backwards when most of the developed worlds infrastructure is well on the way(or even there!) to supporting those kind of downloads...

it's not a case of irelands infrastructure being backwards. we have a good infrastructure. a few upgrades here and there would really sort us out, but businesses (particularly in IT) get anywhere between 20-50mb lines. if we could get even half that into residential lines at a reasonable price we'd be a different country.

...having said that, no one's more advanced then japan, and discs sell more then digital media.

I just prefer to have a physical disc. I wouldn't be crazy about downloading movies even if we had super duper broadband.

Theboinkmaster

Me too I like to have a nice collection to look at on the shelf

BKtje

Just because you download them doesnt mean you can't burn them at some future date.
I can understand what your saying about prefering a disc but i still think its the way of the future.

tvnutz

Snake Plisken wrote:

TVnutz thanks for giving us a shops prespective on the issues for xtravision, so looks like HD isn't really taking off yet from a rental prespective, just wondering what are the sales of 360's like compared to PS3's in Xtravison?

Snake

In my store anyway, the 360 outsells the PS3 about 4 to 1 weekly. Now with the 360 after dropping another €50 we are selling even more. Not too much interest in the Elite yet which is interesting.

projectmayhem

tvnutz wrote:

In my store anyway, the 360 outsells the PS3 about 4 to 1 weekly. Now with the 360 after dropping another €50 we are selling even more. Not too much interest in the Elite yet which is interesting.

my old store was the opposite strangely enough. as for the elite, i think a lot of people don't know what the advantage to it is, or don't understand all the fancy lingo ("HDMI, ye wha?!").. or alternatively don't care less.

tvnutz

Its is probably different for different areas. Got another 10 Wiis in yesterday. I reckon they will be gone by this time next week.

qwertplaywert

Isnt the Elite just the premium with bigger harddrive and its black?[PS:Dont the new premiums have hdmi too]

Dont think there will be an outright winner in this format war ala video cassidette over betamax, But if I had to choose a side I would plump for hd-dvd, choosing the ps3 for blu ray was sucide for sony and blu ray[the jack up in price because of it,reducing sales therefore of the hardwere [ps3] and software[blu ray dvds]

qwertplaywert

qwertplaywert wrote:

blu ray was sucide for sony and blu ray[the jack up in price because of it,reducing sales therefore of the hardwere [ps3] and software[blu ray dvds]

Bollocks.
http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=459

qwertplaywert

But how much more would have the ps3 sold if It was on a price par with the 360?alas then further blu ray sales

The wii/360 will deliver the final coffin into sony and consoles in the next 18 months imo

stereo_steve

Deleted User wrote:

Bollocks.
http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=459

Wow...the blu-ray site says their winning.

savemejebus

I think that those figures are coming from Nielsen Videoscan information, not just blu-ray propaganda. http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ques...0207/index.php

An interesting point is that Walmart have said they're not going to stock this new $199 hd-dvd player this xmas http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6473655.html?nid=2705. That to me is kind of weird as I'd imagine they could shift a shed load of them.