Sean_Melb Posted October 7, 2008 Posted October 7, 2008 (edited) Hi all, BR blues....and scalling down not up....!!! just joined my local POINT COOK Video Ezy last night - yer yer before you say WHAT i should be buying all my DVDs off some website - well i do but i only collect War and Scifi titles but still watch regular dvds which i rent. +++++Firsty check my equipment list i neither own HD DVD or BR formats just denon dvd player so bias free.++++ Chatting to the lovely lady owner in point cook Video eZy on joining last night just general chit chat and she has a rather small BR section at the left of the shop as you come in the store surrounded by the BR promo cardboard cutout stuff. Seemed about 20ish titles of which none id ever consider even hiring, let alone buying, if i had a BR player that is. I asked "why the small BR section she said she has owned many video stores and is still the owner of 2 other Video Ezy stores one more in Caroline springs. She said she lost $5000 in the last 6 months alone loss on the BR titles in her Caroline springs store after purchasing alot of first release and no one hiring them. So she said she cant afford to loose the same in her Point cook store so scalling down in both her stores. She said she goes to local owners meetings for Video Ezy owners and allot are doing the same as before we all get into format wars which is better etc etc etc she said she simply couldnt afford to hold that kind of losses. She said when she switched from VHS to DVD in her old store this was not the case and although DVD was slow to catch on once it did she switched completely over in 6 months to renting only DVDs. Has any one else talked to store owners in other states??? Any comments or gossip from store owners?? ALSO THIS IN TODAYS PAPER Sony, the main backer of Blu-ray, says there are about 2.3 million HDTVs in Australian households but only 400,000 Blu-ray players have been sold, including the PlayStation 3 games console, which has Blu-ray built in. The company said 370,000 PS3s had been sold in Australia so far, indicating only about 30,000 households had picked up a stand-alone player solely for the purpose of playing Blu-ray discs. Edited October 7, 2008 by Sean_Melb
MrC Posted October 7, 2008 Posted October 7, 2008 Hi all,She said she goes to local owners meetings for Video Ezy owners and allot are doing the same as before we all get into format wars which is better etc etc etc she said she simply couldnt afford to hold that kind of losses. She said when she switched from VHS to DVD in her old store this was not the case and although DVD was slow to catch on once it did she switched completely over in 6 months to renting only DVDs. ALSO THIS IN TODAYS PAPER Sony, the main backer of Blu-ray, says there are about 2.3 million HDTVs in Australian households but only 400,000 Blu-ray players have been sold, including the PlayStation 3 games console, which has Blu-ray built in. The company said 370,000 PS3s had been sold in Australia so far, indicating only about 30,000 households had picked up a stand-alone player solely for the purpose of playing Blu-ray discs. This is what I have been concerned about for some time ... but the 'luminaries' on this forum keep quoting statistics to suggest that lots of BD titles are being released. Where are the forum 'luminaries' now ? Please attempt to explain away the Video Ezy stores taking the action they have ....
Reidstah Posted October 7, 2008 Posted October 7, 2008 I read the same article this morning. There are comments from Blockbuster who sound like they're stocking a biggish range of BR titles in all stores, but they admit to the slow take up. Apparently 2009 will be the year, although it's only the first of 5 they reckon. It's as if the article was written by someone here. It reminded me of this forum in a big way, as if someone had collated a number of these threads and sent them to the Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/news/home-entertainm...3145318783.html
MrC Posted October 7, 2008 Posted October 7, 2008 I read the same article this morning. There are comments from Blockbuster who sound like they're stocking a biggish range of BR titles in all stores, but they admit to the slow take up. Apparently 2009 will be the year, although it's only the first of 5 they reckon.It's as if the article was written by someone here. It reminded me of this forum in a big way, as if someone had collated a number of these threads and sent them to the Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/news/home-entertainm...3145318783.html Interesting article ... but it doesn't really talk about the lack of titles and the associated COST of buying BD. There are lots of people out there who want good quality titles.
Sean_Melb Posted October 7, 2008 Author Posted October 7, 2008 I read the same article this morning. There are comments from Blockbuster who sound like they're stocking a biggish range of BR titles in all stores, but they admit to the slow take up. Apparently 2009 will be the year, although it's only the first of 5 they reckon. It's as if the article was written by someone here. It reminded me of this forum in a big way, as if someone had collated a number of these threads and sent them to the Herald. from Sean again I cant speak for Blockbuster or for any store for that matter i dont own one or even work for one. Just mentioning here a casual conversation i had with an owner of 3 stores in melb. and to see if anyone else in other areas found the same. Not intending to start any aguement either way.....
ajm1503559545 Posted October 7, 2008 Posted October 7, 2008 It does highlight just how far off the mark the idea that the "war" was the the major factor holding back HDM really was, at least in this country. The US appears to be reasonably steady in terms of disc sales but this country seems stagnant.
Gutty Posted October 7, 2008 Posted October 7, 2008 You think you got problems... my local VideoEzy is about to shut the doors for good. Selling all old stock and moving all new stock to the sister store a few suburbs away.
digitalj Posted October 7, 2008 Posted October 7, 2008 The Video Ezy at Epping, NSW only has a few titles also, Civic Video in Carlingford on the other hand has got maybe 50 titles, while Blockbuster in Thornleigh has probably got over 100 titles now, I haven't been there in a few months, but it was definitely 80+ titles last time I was there.
tonyjg Posted October 7, 2008 Posted October 7, 2008 (edited) It does highlight just how far off the mark the idea that the "war" was the the major factor holding back HDM really was, at least in this country. The US appears to be reasonably steady in terms of disc sales but this country seems stagnant. more to read ... THOUGH - TAKE IT WITH A BIG GRAIN OF SALT - AS WITH EVERYTHING THAT WE READ : http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...8100400161.html At the Washington-based movie rental store Potomac Video, the standard DVD format is still the main offering by a wide margin, even for guy-friendly action flicks that seem designed to appeal to early adopters. The store recently stocked its shelves with 32 rental DVD copies of the summer blockbuster flick "Iron Man," but only one copy on Blu-ray. The chain used to buy two copies of new blockbuster releases on Blu-ray but found that those second copies stayed on the shelf. of course this is just a quote from a larger article..... found from this post ; http://forums.highdefdigest.com/high-defin...w-only-1-a.html We need to remember that the Rental Stores WOULD NOT BE PAYING ANYWHERE NEAR THE $40 for each Blu-ray - more double or triple. Then - they have to get them rented for a small return. Edited October 7, 2008 by tonyjg
SDL Posted October 7, 2008 Posted October 7, 2008 My local Civic Video has a reasonable collection of BD (well if JB can be considered reasonable). I borrowed my first disc/video of any type in probably 10 years a couple of weeks ago as I have given up spending $40 on tripe, and borrowed another last week. The store told me borrowing of BD is slowly moving up, they tried to tell me how it was due to the PS3 having a BD capability and asked if I knew that!!! In any event I think it may also have something to do with people like myself having had the initial awe of HD and getting anything they can moving toward the stage now of being picky and waiting to buy only titles that they want and refusing to pay $40 just to see a movie in HD.
Reidstah Posted October 7, 2008 Posted October 7, 2008 from Sean again I cant speak for Blockbuster or for any store for that matter i dont own one or even work for one. Just mentioning here a casual conversation i had with an owner of 3 stores in melb. and to see if anyone else in other areas found the same. Not intending to start any aguement either way..... I'm hear ya mate. My local Civic Video has a reasonable range of BR, maybe 30 titles. I've not spoken to them about how often they're renting though. back to the article, the 5% share in the US is actually pretty good I would have thought.
SDL Posted October 7, 2008 Posted October 7, 2008 I'm hear ya mate.My local Civic Video has a reasonable range of BR, maybe 30 titles. I've not spoken to them about how often they're renting though. back to the article, the 5% share in the US is actually pretty good I would have thought. Mine has probaly a few hundred titles - as I say most of the titles at JB.
SDL Posted October 7, 2008 Posted October 7, 2008 It does highlight just how far off the mark the idea that the "war" was the the major factor holding back HDM really was, at least in this country. The US appears to be reasonably steady in terms of disc sales but this country seems stagnant. back to the article, the 5% share in the US is actually pretty good I would have thought. Except ajm has hit the nail on the head, the market for HD was 6% when the "war" was on. The "war" ending was supposed to end the confusion, sales appear to have gone backwards on the face of it rather than forwards.
tb1231503560936 Posted October 7, 2008 Posted October 7, 2008 same with our local Blockbuster, maybe 40 titles of which I've seen maybe 15, dont care much for the others, nothing new really coming in either. Dont find too many for sale at places like Target, Kmart, BigW etc either. You would think with all the punters out there buying "FULLHD" TV's that more people would be buying BD players and demand would be higher than what it appears to be. Maybe people dont really care about PQ all that much, they just want their 60" big TV to impress the friends...? Seems to be the sentiment of a few people I know.
ajm1503559545 Posted October 7, 2008 Posted October 7, 2008 Except ajm has hit the nail on the head, the market for HD was 6% when the "war" was on. The "war" ending was supposed to end the confusion, sales appear to have gone backwards on the face of it rather than forwards. I would love to be able to google the number of time the words "wait" and "Blu-ray" have been used in forum posts and blogs in the last 2 years. They seem to have become synonymous. "Just wait for the PS3/wait for this specific title/wait for the next Christmas period/wait until there's one format/wait for the next Christmas period/wait for the next profile to be released/wait for the next generation of players/wait for the next Christmas period and things will take off, you'll see". It would be nice to know that there's a bright future for the BD format but I think a lot of people got a little carried away with the idea that the "war" was the only stumbling block that mattered and forgot about real world.
the_wonderchild Posted October 7, 2008 Posted October 7, 2008 (edited) Haven't had any particular issues with selection from my local Video Ezy, and they've been quite good for rentals. Next time i go i'll be sure to have a count, but there were a stack of shelves full. Edited October 7, 2008 by the_wonderchild
John_Melbourne Posted October 7, 2008 Posted October 7, 2008 (edited) It's all simply still too expensive for mass uptake and I'd hazzard a guess that most peeps are more concerned about paying their mortage, getting to and home from work and keeping food in their mouths than how good a HD movie looks and sounds. Our local BB has a decent selection but I must say during my reasonably frequent visits there that you could take your pick of the entire selection most days - doesn't help that they rent them out for more than a new release DVD though! Roll on the sub $200 players and the same disc purchase price of a DVD - until then... Edited October 7, 2008 by John_Melbourne
tonymy01 Posted October 7, 2008 Posted October 7, 2008 I noticed on Ten on the weekend a number of BR adverts, essentially saying "you got the HD TV, now get the HD experience, buy BluRay" of course put out by Sony. But they had Aussie actors (Craig McGlauchlin I think in one) saying how he would love to see himself in full HD res... I was like "wow, if you were in anything recent then you have a chance, but fat chance being in mostly 80s & 90s stuff!!". Regard
ritzav Posted October 7, 2008 Posted October 7, 2008 And then they had this in the sydney tabloid today http://www.smh.com.au/news/home-entertainm...3145318783.html
momaw Posted October 7, 2008 Posted October 7, 2008 BD = Laserdisc. But so what? Who cares if it doesn't supplant DVD. Laser disc was an even more niche market and it had all major releases and many many back catalog and classics (in fact some films are still only available on an old LD floating around somewhere). Once the studios realize this, they can shift the focus to where it should be and that is quality to justify the higher price. As to video stores, I don't see too many with many BD's but even if there is a BD copy, half the time I grab the DVD in case I run out of time (no I don't don't copy and keep, just backup watch once and delete - if it's worth keeping I'll buy it). I am sure many with BD players don't rent BD's at all or if they are renting pick up the DVD instead for more nefarious reasons. Rented St Trinians on BD yesterday and wasted 2 mins finding out the disc was region locked and restarting the player in Region B mode (no big deal, just annoying). Some can't be bothered with the hassle at all.
SDL Posted October 7, 2008 Posted October 7, 2008 I noticed on Ten on the weekend a number of BR adverts, essentially saying "you got the HD TV, now get the HD experience, buy BluRay" of course put out by Sony. But they had Aussie actors (Craig McGlauchlin I think in one) saying how he would love to see himself in full HD res... I was like "wow, if you were in anything recent then you have a chance, but fat chance being in mostly 80s & 90s stuff!!".Regard Given the way they are releasing movies I would suggest he has more chance of being on Blu-Ray than any recent decent movie.
Hydrology Posted October 7, 2008 Posted October 7, 2008 This is what I have been concerned about for some time ... but the 'luminaries' on this forum keep quoting statistics to suggest that lots of BD titles are being released. Where are the forum 'luminaries' now ? Please attempt to explain away the Video Ezy stores taking the action they have .... As I never rent Im not too concerned about what the rental stores do locally. Also, as I import (being a Region A BR man and up until recently buying ALL my BRs overseas due to pricing) Im not too concerned about the local BR scene anyway. There are many BR releases (old and new movies) in the States and Europe that I would buy if I had all that disposable income to do so right now. Im sure BR in terms of release is possibly on a par with where DVD was at the same time in its life. I just think at the same time DVD was simply selling more units.
MACCA350 Posted October 7, 2008 Posted October 7, 2008 And then they had this in the sydney tabloid todayhttp://www.smh.com.au/news/home-entertainm...3145318783.html To drive awareness of Blu-ray, Sony on Sunday night kicked off a major advertising campaign on Channel Ten featuring Australian actor Craig McLachlan.As well, Disney and Panasonic this month began a tour of shopping centres in NSW, Victoria and Queensland, aiming to drive awareness of the advantages of upgrading to Blu-ray. First thing I though when I read this was "A good product will sell itself" It's funny that after 2 years they finally decide to do something instead of sitting on their hands............it's almost as if they are trying to stave off the undertakers BTW I've rented about as many BD's from Quickflix as I've bought. cheers
Guest jeffpr Posted October 7, 2008 Posted October 7, 2008 Mine has probaly a few hundred titles - as I say most of the titles at JB. what store has that many in blu?
tonyjg Posted October 7, 2008 Posted October 7, 2008 (edited) And then they had this in the sydney tabloid todayhttp://www.smh.com.au/news/home-entertainm...3145318783.html another article that doesn't help the product The $699 PS3 had been an effective Trojan Horse for Blu-ray but Hamilton said mass market adoption would start this year, following the introduction over the next few months of two new stand-alone Sony Blu-ray players, the cheaper of which costs $449. HELLO SONY - the PS3 is DAMNED OVERPRICED IN THIS COUNTRY TO START WITH !!! I'd like to see Sony 'review' this $449 price given the $A crash today against the Yen. However - as with most articles - there's little to no mention on the ACTUAL BLU-RAY DISC. Do corporations like Sony feel 'ashamed' to state that they are selling for around the $40 mark ??? further.. from THE managing director of Blockbuster and Video Ezy in Australia = However, he said he recently met representatives from a major studio that predicted 2011 would be a critical year for mainstream adoption 2011 ???????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lololololol edit - HEY AJM- lets wait for another 2-3 yrs :) :) Edited October 7, 2008 by tonyjg
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