Blockbuster goes Blu-ray, HD DVD=beta?,

Well thanks for your post. I think we agree on most things. Blu Ray isnt going away anytime soon obviously. And sure there will be punches flying in both directions in one form or another to be sure.

The thing about 150 million though- thats more myth than reality. Nobody is saying that anyone specific paid anything--in other words, nobody is saying we paid this much money. Toshiba doesnt have 150 million dollars to pay a studio with as an FYI.

I do know its cheaper for astudio to get HD-DVD mdae than Blu ray discs, and thats better for everyone in the end.

I agree content is important, but in an even playing field which we now have, production and hardware costs will win out--its just that way.

The thing about 150 million though- thats more myth than reality. Nobody is saying that anyone specific paid anything--in other words, nobody is saying we paid this much money. Toshiba doesnt have 150 million dollars to pay a studio with as an FYI.

While, I agree that the $150 million came out of the Blu-ray PR dept and has been denied by Microsoft, and MS involvement has been withdrawn by the press, and unsubstantiated in regards to Toshiba. I disagree that Toshiba doesn't have the money. Toshiba has a lot of intellectual properties in DVD and it is estimated that those royalties are worth a billion dollars a year.

Newsday and the LA Times are now reporting a big check was written to Target for their Blu-ray deal. They are also reporting a bidding war for Warner Bros. to go exclusive.

Retailers also have contributed to the recent jockeying. Target Corp., the nation's second-largest retailer, announced in July that it would sell only Blu-ray players. Its decision followed a bidding war in which Sony and three studio partners reportedly paid Target what one rival described as a "jaw-dropping" sum for prominent display of its hardware at the end of sales aisles. It will continue to sell the HD DVD drive for Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 game console and HD DVD movies.

Newsday link