360 HD-DVD Drive Gets Price Cut

More news in the HD War that is video game related. Microsoft is cutting the price of their 360 HD-DVD player attachment by $50 making it a $129.99. So far this is only affecting North America.

I'm not sure if this will make a dent in the purchases of HD-DVD players because it has a limited market, the gaming market. No casual shopper looking for an HD-DVD player is going to buy a 360 plus the player just to watch movies. I was contemplating getting the unit when I bought my HDTV, but I decided to go with a standalone player because if I wanted to take my 360 over to a LAN party, then my family would still have a means to watch HD movies. Also I didn't like the fact that there was no HDMI input unless I bought a certain cable for my 360. It will be interesting to see the NPD numbers for this next month.

Paramount Breaks Up With Blu-Ray

Celebrity couples always seem to have it all. You see them smiling and having a good time together out at the awards ceremony and then BAM! Splitsville. That's how it is with Paramount/Dreamworks and Blu-Ray. One minute, Blu-Ray thinks its in a committed relationship, the next day they see Paramount/Dreamworks out with HD-DVD in the tabloids!

Don't feel too bad for Blu-Ray though. She's been seen with a lot of other production studios.

The only exception to the HD-DVD switch will be any movies directed by Steven Spielberg. Those movies will be released on both formats.

But all other movies released by Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Nickelodeon Movies and MTV Films will be HD-DVD only. That includes recent blockbusters like "Shrek the Third" and "Transformers."

Paramount says the switch is due mainly to the fact that HD-DVD players average about $200 cheaper than Blu-Ray players. And while technically, there are more Blu-Ray players in use in the United States, almost all of those are PS3s, and recent research indicates that gamers buy less movies than people who buy a stand alone DVD player.

Other reasons could include the fact that it actually costs distributors a lot less to convert their normal DVD factories into HD-DVD factories. They just upgrade certain equipment, but with Blu-Ray, they basically need to replace all their equipment.

With this announcement, Time Warner is now the only major studio to release movies on both formats.

360 HD-DVD Price Cuts

Microsoft is slashing prices at the Comic-Con in San Diego. Today Microsoft announced that it will lower the price of the "popular" Xbox 360 HD DVD Player from $199 to a whopping $179. Thanks Microsoft for the large savings. $20 off to help promote the movie 300 and Heroes: Season 1, both of which are coming to HD-DVD.

Xbox 360 owners and future owners will be able to future proof their systems on August 1st, when the price will officially drop. So if you were thinking of buying the HD DVD player wait a week and you'll be able to get it for nearly half the price plus $80. Boo yaka.

Retraction/Correction from Podcast 2

No, I am not retracting my prediction of the HD-DVD winner in the format wars. But we talked about an upcoming PC game called Crysis. While most of my description of the game was accurate, one main point was not.

When I said the article didn't mention anything about being able to jump into the game as an enemy or NPC, there was a good reason. Wrong game. The game which will allow players to jump into other people's games is called The Crossing. Josh takes the hit for this misinformation, and I will be punching him in the stomach later today.


The Crossing takes place in modern day France(or possibly future France). There's not a lot of info on it yet, but from the video I think you might be a cop or special forces. Anyway, in this reality, France is being overrun by crime and despair. At the same time, the Knights Templar society has survived all these years and existed in secret. Then it's also a little confusing. Possibly you fight them at first and then later join them? Like I said, not a lot of info available right now.

Pretty much the only thing they are saying is that it is a FPS and should be cross-platform(PC and Xbox 360). Their slogan for the game is "Fusing Single Player with Multiplayer." Looks interesting. But it'll probably still be a while coming out.