Confessions of a Format War Casualty: Why I Chose HD-DVD and Lost

By | January 25th, 2008 comments icon (5) Comments


blu ray hd dvd logoI must confess, when I entered this war, I did so with the youthful energy reserved for a 16 year-old boy who has just gotten his first car. I had picked my side, grabbed my gun and went straight into battle. When it comes to war, you tend not to think in terms of the future. You tend to focus on the here and now, and that my friend, is why I chose HD-DVD. At the time, it seemed like a good choice. Hindsight, however, is cruel in revealing truth to us.

I was recruited into this war early on, when there were still talks of guns being laid down before shots were fired. People were optimistic that this war wouldn’t start, as previous wars should have taught us a lesson. VHS vs. Betamax. DVD-R vs. DVD+R. Our history was littered with reasons for this war not to happen and yet, it still did. And once it started, sides were chosen and predictions made. Even though our side was predicted to lose, I still jumped on board. There were indications that we could actually win. Though we didn’t have the support of the big guns that Blu-ray did, we had lots of little advantages that piled up quickly.

For one, we were able to get our players out onto the field pretty quickly. They weren’t prepared for our assault. Not only that, but our players entered the field with a significant price advantage. At one point, the advantage was well over $500 per player – an advantage we were sure would build our support. We also were able to piggy back on a popular game console with an inexpensive add-on. How wonderful! But these advantages never built into the tactical advantages we were hoping for. People were still hesitant to take a side, as this war didn’t appear to be beneficial to anyone.

As time passed, we still saw glimpses of hope that gave us much needed encouragement. We heard rumblings that some of the big boys were considering crossing lines. We also were able to release dual-format discs, which gave consumers our product in both Hi-Def and Standard-def – something our competitors could not yet do. We also got some exclusive releases, like the Matrix Trilogy, which ultimately amounted to a big “nah-nah-nee-boo-boo.” All in all, though the war wasn’t going as we had hoped, there were reasons to believe it was not lost.

Then it came. The big shot that stunned us all. It’s amazing that a war would start so quickly and end this way. It was right before a big battle, no less. A partner we thought was fighting the good fight with us ultimately stabbed us in the back. Oh Warner! Why have you done this? You knew there was so much promise on this side. Was it to end the war? Was it about money? Well, no matter now. You’ve made your decision and it’s repercussions are too severe to ignore any further.

As many have decided to do, I’ve laid down arms. I may even go the route of others and embark on the path of eBay. I’ve not yet made up my mind, as there is still much that holds my heart in this unfortunate battle. Where I once proudly wore red, I now only see blue. And though I fought hard in this battle, I am but one man and am resolved to see a conclusion, even if it is a loss.





Filed in: Industry Buzz

  • http://www.ilovehddvd.com ilovehddvd

    At least you did not waste your money on a Profile 1.0 Blu-ray player that will not take advantage of features on Profile 2.0 discs. Your HD DVD player will play HD DVD movies and all their features for as long as the format is produced.

    Unlike the VHS/Beta this war will not be resolved simply by studio support. IN the 80s the only wat users could watch a movie in the home was through video. Today we have cable, HD cable, and VOD, etc. If a movie is not available on HD DVD users can still see the movie in HD with a VOD or OnDemand feature.

  • aperry

    I have had both formats in my house (I have a PS3 and the HD-DVD add-on drive for the Xbox 360). So, I’ve never had loyalty one way or the other. I still however want an end to this as soon as possible. I have several movies I haven’t bought because I don’t want to get stuck with too many titles of one format in case that’s the one that loses.

    Since the Warner announcement (which btw, according to Warner, they were not offered and did not accept any “bribe” to go with Blu-ray), I have been buying a few Blu-ray titles. Kind of taking a wait and see attitude on buying any HD-DVD titles.

    I agree that whichever format wins won’t necessarily have the same life-cycle that DVD’s enjoyed. With the upcoming availability of digital downloads and VOD, people may not be motivated to buy as many discs. I probably still will for some titles though, I want to OWN certain ones, not rent them.

  • Andrew McLaughlin

    Good story. I think the ‘war’ is really humorous and we will all look back on this and wonder why there was even a format war and why anyone really cared. The fact that each side managed to get consumers to ‘pick a side’ is hysterical to me. As I said in another post, I think that buying a low budget hd-dvd player is probably not a bad investment right now as they easily blow away other similarly priced sd-dvd players out there, which still sell surprisingly well.

    For me, I never chose sides and personally believed all along that this would play out as a multi-format solution — and I expect that dual-format players will still find their way into the marketplace once blu-ray has locked down their market position.

    Lastly, there was a time in my life where I obsessed about collecting DVDs as some sort of personal arsenal that defined my dominance over my friends’ collections. The reality is that I really never watch those DVDs all that much and the 200+ titles in my catalog are just a vestage of my past. Point is, I’ve become firm believer in the ‘subscription’ model. I subscribe to Rhapsody and I’ll eventually subscribe to whatever streaming digital HD video solution emerges in the marketplace. But one thing is for sure, sadly for the movie studios….the days of my building (or re-building) a collection are loooong gone. As an early adopter, I believe that this is the trend going forward.

  • http://www.ilovehddvd.com ilovehddvd

    aperry said: 
    Since the Warner announcement (which btw, according to Warner, they were not offered and did not accept any “bribe” to go with Blu-ray), I have been buying a few Blu-ray titles. Kind of taking a wait and see attitude on buying any HD-DVD titles.

    True, Warner di dnot accept any bribe, but considering the went to Blu-ray *because* Fox did not take a bribe is no less important. Here are the three reasons Warner gave for defecting:
    1) consumer preference
    2) high gas prices
    3) Fox did not sign an exclusive with HD DVD

  • http://www.ilovehddvd.com ilovehddvd

    Andrew McLaughlin said: Good story. I think the ‘war’ is really humorous and we will all look back on this and wonder why there was even a format war and why anyone really cared. The fact that each side managed to get consumers to ‘pick a side’ is hysterical to me. As I said in another post, I think that buying a low budget hd-dvd player is probably not a bad investment right now as they easily blow away other similarly priced sd-dvd players out there, which still sell surprisingly well.

    For me, I never chose sides and personally believed all along that this would play out as a multi-format solution — and I expect that dual-format players will still find their way into the marketplace once blu-ray has locked down their market position.

    Lastly, there was a time in my life where I obsessed about collecting DVDs as some sort of personal arsenal that defined my dominance over my friends’ collections. The reality is that I really never watch those DVDs all that much and the 200+ titles in my catalog are just a vestage of my past. Point is, I’ve become firm believer in the ‘subscription’ model. I subscribe to Rhapsody and I’ll eventually subscribe to whatever streaming digital HD video solution emerges in the marketplace. But one thing is for sure, sadly for the movie studios….the days of my building (or re-building) a collection are loooong gone. As an early adopter, I believe that this is the trend going forward.

    great comments, I think your line of thiking is where most consumers will go!