HD DVD vs. Blu Ray?? What about online distribution??

Which do you think will be the way things are done in the next 10-15 years?

I don't know the merits of HD DvD.
I know Blu Ray can store more info.
Online distribution has no size limit, only a limit on how fast a program can download.

 

Online distro is probably the future for most PC games (consoles are another story) especially from small developers.

Blue-Ray is likely to be the next the movie format, and in the long-term, the next optical disk format. That said, I don't think we'll see many Blue-Ray PC games anytime soon.

Case in point, I can point to dozens, perhaps hundreds of PC games available via download. I'm not aware of even 1 HD-DVD or Blue-Ray PC title. By the time we need those big disks, what's the average person's internet bandwidth going to be?---Maybe even enough to "stream" the game from a server with no need to install/play the whole thing on their hard-drive?

 

What is Oblivion stored on? Has to be HD DvD right?

-edit: nope. haha

 

Err...a joke? --Oblivion ships on a single layer (4.5GB) DVD

 

yah sorry didn't mean to put the hd in there -_-

But I'd say you're right about the bandwidth - by the time we would "need" larger discs, we'll be able to download games online quickly anyway.

 

I hope Blu-Ray. I always have preferred buying the traditional way and getting the box and manual. Digital distribution isn't bad (bought the Orange Box over Steam, and it was great), but seeing as it's not even cheaper for the consumer despite cutting out the publisher I don't really see any huge advantage for me. (no, I don't mind driving to the store) But I guess I could accept either way.

 

Don't really care, as long as they come with game inside the disc, I m happy..

 

This is another example of why I think online will win (NOT that I like it!!)

Steam games, instead of being cheaper than say, buying the boxed version with a physical disk, manual, etc on Amazon, or Best Buy, etc are usually more expensive.

More money for less product and no middlemen = more $$$ to the developer.

The only real advantage (to the consumer) in something like Steam, is there is no disk to lose or get scratched, as well as less of the PIA copy protection stuff---like having to play with the disk in the drive.

 

Also, it has been found that even cds kept in ideal conditions eventually wear down over time (they end up getting holes and what not in them, just through existing).

Cds aren't as permanent as people think.

(I'll look for a source, but right now I have Modern short stories. Boring as HELL)

 

You should make Blu-Ray and HD-DVD one category. They're both High Capacity DVD's and whichever one wins the format war it will be on.

That being said it wasn't until the last year or so that most games ship on DVD instead of CD.

 

God, I hope HD DVD wins. I don't understand why ANYONE would want Blu Ray to win. Take away movie support from both formats, and behind the BR curtain is SONY. Why anyone would want a Sony format to succeed is beyond me. Yay for high prices and limited supplies.

 

I know. But this should be a spec that will allow anyone to produce drives and media according to that spec. If Sony holds out on it for patent $$$ then forget it. Go with HD-DVD.

 

As far as Blue-Ray vs HD-DVD:

My thoughts are 50GB>30GB. With HD-DVD, it's almost not worth the effort to upgrade from DVD (strictly as a storage medium.)

As far as company politics, Toshiba has done far worse things than Sony--at least to an American.

 

The thing is, we really have nothing that fills up 50 GB. Hell, we don't even have anything that will fill up 30 GB. They add all kinds of crap on there, but it won't fill it up. The only thing that really takes up that much space is dialogue (in games at least) and most games won't ever be that big.

If we were talking about a format that will last for a very long time, then I'd agree with you on Blu-Ray, but right now most games can still fit on at least a DVD9. If space were the only concern, then DVD5s would be replaced by DVD9s, but DVD9s are still scarce.

I guess my point is, I don't really seea point in the format war right now (for games at least). Online distribution all the way for me.

 

And the flight simulator X?
It ships on 2 dvds!

And I bought my orange box on a store and brought it home! Best of 2 worlds!

 

Online Distribution seems to be the cheapest and fastest way for companies to make money.

 

I hope HD-DVD wins, much cheaper.

 

I think ( and hope) that online distribution will prevail, in all cases.

with games, I don't see anymore the drive to have the disks and manuals. In the days of beefy manuals, like Falcon 4.0, Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe, they were reason enough for it, but today... pfeh.

And I think that online distribution is the real chance to make the HD video format popular. It's not coincidence that all movie studios are with Apple in this. Itunes and apple TV are alreading solding and renting HD movies. With that, anybody with a computer with a reasonably good screen or linked to a HD TV can enjoy HD video. No necessity for buying aditional hardware or guessing which format will prevail.

 

In the US, online distribution will satisfy probably 75% of the consumers. The rest either have crap connections or download limits. I know Europe is big on capping GB's per month too. Considering games are upwards of 4-6 GB now, I don't know that that's the best distribution method.

And saying if we go to HD-DVD then we might as well stay with DVD makes no sense either. It's like saying there's no reason to go to DVD over CD. They both have about six times the capacity of the other. Triple layer HD-DVD is available as well, and consdiering almost nobody has a PC HD-DVD player yet, if that became the standard then it would have 51GB over the BR 50GB (lol).

In any case, I think it will be several years before publishers go to any high density format. Big publishers will continue to distribute through both DVD at retail stores and online. Whereas smaller developers can distribute cheaply through online through their own site if they need to. Bandwidth is a lot cheaper than paper boxes, DVD's, and cases, and these smaller developers usually have smaller file sizes as well.

 

What on earth? Do you people read the news only about computers?

BluRay is leading over HD-DVD for a long time, 95% of ALL the movie companies have chosen BluRay.
Only Toshiba and MS are supporting HD-DVD, and there are only like 2-4 movie companies still supporting HD-DVD because they were paid huge amounts to do that, but they have already annoucned that they will stop supporting HD-DVD as soon as possible. HD-DVD is DEAD format. It's 100% clear.

October 2007 : BluRay was leading 66 : 34 over HD-DVD. (USA)
BluRay is outselling HD-DVD in Europe (It's expired news and removed, but you can still see the headline : http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9584_22-6220221.html )

Warner Bros going BluRay exclusive (like the rest already) : http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/2008-01-04-warner-brothers-blu-ray_N.htm

Here's the support list right now :

Blu-Ray :

Sony/Columbia
Fox/MGM
Disney/Buena Vista
Lions Gate
Warner/New Line
Universal ( http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/006254.html )

HD DVD

Universal
Paramount/DreamWorks

Porn indrusty is also tired of HD-DVD and going BluRay only : http://formatwarcentral.com/index.php/2008/01/08/joone-says-to-hd-dvd-no-porn-for-you/

Don't forget, that HD-DVD has NO exclusve supportes anymore, and even it's last hope Universal Studios have accepted BluRay format : http://gizmodo.com/343730/universal...usively-blu+ray-victory-imminent-says-variety


So now do you peope understand HD-DVD is DEAD, they will stop releasing movies within this year to this format.
BluRay has won, world-wide.

 

Akuma, this probably isn't a thing to be happy about. Now we will have to pay a lot more for high definition equipment and content.

 

It won't even take a full year to have cheap BluRay players around, and right now they cost around 120~300 USD what isn't that much.
Movies are twice as much as DVD movies, but eventually they will be at the same level .. everything takes some time.

Remember when DVD's came? The writers were as expensive as BluRay writers are atm. : D

 

BluRay for movies, and Digital Distro for games.