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By the way, while we're talking about Fox titles, we've got an update for you on the studio's forthcoming Live Free and Die Hard Blu-ray (due on 11/20). We've confirmed that the disc will include only the PG-13 theatrical cut of the film. This has upset some fans, who are aware that the studio is releasing an uncut version of the film on DVD the same day. The reason for the decision is that the uncut version was finished by the director only AFTER completing all the theatrical press junkets and promotional appearances for the film. Unfortunately, this was too late to complete compression and authoring for the Blu-ray version in time to meet street date. So the studio was basically faced with the choice of delaying the title or releasing the theatrical cut only day and date with the DVD. So that's the reason it's PG-13 only.

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In the case of Live Free or Die Hard.... this was the word as to why... I'll leave it up to you to believe or dismiss.

Quoting: The Digital Bits (9/5/07)

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By the way, while we're talking about Fox titles, we've got an update for you on the studio's forthcoming Live Free and Die Hard Blu-ray (due on 11/20). We've confirmed that the disc will include only the PG-13 theatrical cut of the film. This has upset some fans, who are aware that the studio is releasing an uncut version of the film on DVD the same day. The reason for the decision is that the uncut version was finished by the director only AFTER completing all the theatrical press junkets and promotional appearances for the film. Unfortunately, this was too late to complete compression and authoring for the Blu-ray version in time to meet street date. So the studio was basically faced with the choice of delaying the title or releasing the theatrical cut only day and date with the DVD. So that's the reason it's PG-13 only.

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Quoting Calidain:
This is my take on the PS3 gaming console.  Upon its much anticipated release, hardcore gaming enthusiasts and SONY fanboys flocked to retailers to spend an exuberant amount of money on the shiny new PS3 and grab as many release titles as they could afford and find at launch.  Within a couple weeks, etc, etc,etc/blockquote]

Quoting Ascended_Saiyan:
You have some solid points in this post!  Some of your points are slightly of base...numbers and dates wise.  For instance, the PS3 owners getting boring after a period of NO games statement.  The PS3 was first sold around mid-Nov. etc, etc,etc.

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Well, we know for a fact that the Paramount contract supposedly indicates they WILL be HD DVD exclusive for 18 months.  Like the article said, that seems to contradict what they are saying.  We know that FOX wants as much security as possible on their titles.  That would seem to indicate a Blu-ray only situation for them.  We ALL know where Sony Pictures stands on this thing.  Therefore, that leaves Weinstein Company, Lionsgate, Universal Studios, and Disney.

Hard Boiled (Weinstein Company title) has already been contracted to be a Blu-ray exclusive as a double feature Stranglehold game and Hard Boiled movie on a 50GB disc.  The RUMOR is that the contract has already been completely to bring Grindhouse (a Weinstein title) to Blu-ray.

So, do you guys agree with this article that Universal, Disney, and Lionsgate might go neutral in 2008?

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Quoting Calidain:
This is my take on the PS3 gaming console.  Upon its much anticipated release, hardcore gaming enthusiasts and SONY fanboys flocked to retailers to spend an exuberant amount of money on the shiny new PS3 and grab as many release titles as they could afford and find at launch.  Within a couple weeks, etc, etc,etc/blockquote]

Quoting Ascended_Saiyan:
You have some solid points in this post!  Some of your points are slightly of base...numbers and dates wise.  For instance, the PS3 owners getting boring after a period of NO games statement.  The PS3 was first sold around mid-Nov. etc, etc,etc.

I think Calidain has good points as well, and A_S sometimes you can let go the use of hard numbers.  His use of numbers is not critical to his statements, so with that said on to my comments.

These posts are bridiging the console/ hi def threads but  I think they mostly belong in the hi def thread. I think the PS3 is a better blu-ray player then what's out there. In fact once they have a dozen or so games that are actually desinged to push the PS3 i think they should market it much differently.  The 360 should have put a HD-DVD drive in their elite version. I think it's a huge mistake on their part.  I think it would have helped HD-DVD a lot. When my console died (RoD) I took it back to the retailer because I had purchased an ext warranty I had the option of buying the Elite and payin g the difference. Had it came with an HD-DVD drive I would have done it.

PS3 is expensive, but when put into perspective it isn't. The 360 would be put here if it had an HD drive, but it doesn't so i won't. A PS3 cost $600. If it had games that I liked and if most of my friends had one i would have bought one, but since they don't i haven't. For 600 bucks you can't get anything that comes close to what you get for that price.

I was a pc gamer before i bought my 360 and i based my decision on what my friends were moving to. I was tired of always having to upgrade my pc. I replace my pc about once a year as it is, but adding a video card to that gets $$$. The last video card i bought was $375. Almost the cost of 360 and really close to the cost of PS3. I opted to spend my $ on a console and not worry about my pc so much. So if you factor a new Video card every 18 -24 months that covers the cost of any game console on the market today. And with that you get the best of all worlds.

Besides most of the games are being developed for consoles anyways. now you can have a hi def player, a gaming machine and a mini pc all in one. So $600 isn't that much.

So damn MS for not supporting the Hi Def market, otherwise there would be one more HD-DVD customer out there. Still not pleased with Sony. Maybe the near future will wash it away... we'll see.

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In order to get back to the actual war, and back up my post about the business side of it all, let me quote an article I just finished reading. The entire article can be found here:

http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9689600

For a start, HD DVD is a cheaper system all around. Unlike Blu-ray, which has a much shallower (and therefore a more delicate) data layer, an HD DVD has its digital information etched deeper beneath the surface just like a conventional DVD—and can therefore be stamped out on much the same sort of equipment as a DVD. That translates into a larger profit margin for the studios.

Meanwhile, because of the robustness of the disc, HD DVD players have proved to be much cheaper to build. Models now start at $299, and are expected to fall to $199 by the coming holiday season. By contrast, basic Blu-ray players start at $449.

As far as stand-alone players are concerned, the price advantage has allowed Toshiba to outsell the Sony camp by a wide margin. More than 400,000 American households are expected to have HD DVD players by the end of the year, compared with less than 300,000 with Blu-ray players.

Why, then, have Blu-ray discs lately been outselling HD DVD versions by two to one? Because Sony cannily included a Blu-ray player in its latest video-game console, PlayStation 3. And while PS3 has not met expectations of selling 6m consoles in America, some 1.4m have nevertheless been snapped up since their launch last November. Market researchers reckon that most—90% by some reckoning—of Blu-ray discs are played on PS3 consoles. But Hollywood’s studios now realise they can’t pin the future of their precious video sales (today one of their main sources of revenue) on a game console that has failed to ignite widespread interest outside a dedicated circle of hard-core gamers.

That’s not all. Engineers who’ve worked with both formats say Blu-ray is a pig to program. While extremely flexible, its programming language, BD-Java, requires lots of low-level code for even the simplest of instructions. The highly skilled programmers needed to do the job don’t exactly grow on trees. And because of the program’s complexity, even the best produce their share of bug-ridden software.

By comparison, writing software for HD DVD using Microsoft’s HDi interactive technology is a doddle—with one simple command doing the task of scores of lines of BD-Java. More importantly, HDi is the key to HD DVD’s better navigation around menus, and its instinctive ability to interact with the outside world.

Thanks to the internet connection built into all HD DVD players, Toshiba machines allow users to do all sorts of nifty things—like re-edit films, participate in online polls and download trailers. Increasingly, it’s beginning to look as though, after the initial attraction of high-definition’s much sharper picture, interactivity is going to be the deciding factor that determines the outcome of the current format war.

DreamWorks, Paramount and Universal are betting that HD DVD’s powerful tools for interactivity will let them make a tonne of money out of selling all manner of online services to customers who buy their discs. That’s why, ultimately, Toshiba’s David could yet topple Sony’s Goliath in the current video wars.

Just something to ponder, unless of course business analysts also don't know what they're talking about...