I think this holiday season will REALLY determine how this format war will proceed. HD-DVD is putting on a strong sales push, and with sales of the PS3 stalling out (albiet that the system had strong sales from price drop), and the serious price cuts on the HD front, this battle is far from over.

betamax also had an early lead. remember that.
first cheap player easy piracy in asia = win
piracy drives player sales/price drops
bluray is too locked down

We should have a number of movies released in both formats at the same time. If more HD disks are sold, so be it. IF more Blue-ray disk are sold, than Sony wins.

The format war could be over well before Christmas.

$34.99 is a lot more than $29.99 so basic economics says more people will pass on buying it. Demand is VERY elastic for things like this. I know a lot of the AVS members with both formats wanted the HD-DVD but got the BD due to price. I'm sure if the price were the same you'd see 60-40 or 55-45. Regardless, both sold very well so HD-DVD isn't going away any time soon...there's obviously an audience (that reports say is growing faster than Blu-Ray although BD is still the leader).

Also, many stores, Amazon included, understocked the HD-DVD and it sold out with many preorders delayed a week (outside the window of this report!)

A more valid comparison would be an identically priced title like Shooter.

BTW I own both formats so I'm not spreading FUD.

Does Mark Raby work for Sony? Please nearly 2 to 1 isn't dominate. Dominate would be if HD-DVD only sold 10,000 and the only reason they have that small lead is because of the random PS3 owner that buys a blu ray movie every once and a while. The only people building a collection of Hi Def movies and playing them on stand alone players are HD-DVD owners. So when is the blow out that Sony is promising Disney and the other studios going to happen???? If HD-DVD gets Disney to back both formats look out. There's allot of money to be made on the HD-DVD side. Theres just so long Disney is going to be able to ignore that money.

The Blu-Ray version was cheaper by a few bucks. If you have both players, you would still opt to get the Blu-Ray version because it cost less money. So it wasn't an Apples to Apples comparison. Let them both sell a major title that releases at the same time for an equal price. I'm sure Blu-Ray would come out on top, but the difference would narrow.

I really don't care which format wins, but it's pointless to buy one or the other until the general populous buys them this holiday season. That's when the winner will be determined. Right now it's all enthusiast which is going to favor blu-ray, just as they did beta and some other losing formats. The enthusiast always go for the more supiror product as they should.

(Naote: I'm not saying either is better or worse.) Usually people with more money buy more expensive products (Blu-Ray in this case) because they think they are better simply because they cost more (which is true sometimes but not always). Those who can't afford to spend more on a Blu-Ray player will buy an HD DVD player. The end result is the person with less money, who bought the HD DVD player, will have less money to spend on movies since they make less money. I hope I'm making my point clear.

THIS IS SONY!!!! (humor)

Not! holy crap, they sold 250,000 copies to nearly 300 million people. High definition isn't going to be here until those start climbing into the millions.

Microsoft is too greedy. Inclusion of HD-DVD in that Z Box 180 thing would have given HD-DVD a chance... Similar to PS2--In its initial release, DVD players were not wide spread. PS2 was attractive to buyers because of this feature, which aided DVD player saturation. Microsoft deserves to be in bed with HD-DVD

Every store near me was sold out of HD-DVD the day after it went on sale, while still having some blu-ray left on the shelf. I was told that most stores expected higher blu-ray sales and were shipped twice as many discs. It seems to me that these sales figures were impacted significantly by available supply.

Not surprised...

Hard push campaign my azz, I couldn't find the HD DVD version.

And had to go to virgin music to get the combo disk version (hd dvd on one side and reg dvd on the other).

The numbers aren't surprising... And I think the people running HD DVD are pure jack azzes.

The HD-DVD has been hyped as the cheaper, but the content is being sold more than blu ray. And I can't figure out why they are so greedy.

The blu ray version listed for 34.99 and hd dvd 39.99. Amazon for example sold the blu ray for 23.95 street and hd dvd for 27.95.

Who is pocketing the money if the HD DVD media is 5 to 8 times cheaper than blu rays?

They are burying themselves with greed and it's not making sense to advertise as cheaper, have cheaper sold components and then have an equal movie cost more on much cheaper media.

Some one should be fired over there, they have to be some sony bribing one of the hire ups because it doesn't add up buy a long shot.

HD-DVD has been on death row practically since it was announced. Stay tuned for its execution shortly. No reprieve will be granted.

blue ray is gonna win!!hd dvd will soon fade out

Is easy to outsell a product when is not there for sale!!! I went to 4 Hastings, 1 Best Buy, 1 Circuit City, and other stores last saturday to get my hands on a copy. But the copies available were sold out (around 20 or so for store). In my opinion there were more copies of the Blu ray version than the HD DVD version of the same movie. Also the comedy "Hot Fuzz" was completely sold out everywhere I went and other customers were looking for this particular movies in this particular format( dual HD and DVD). Some people just bought the blu ray version just because it was there others (like me) just special order those movies.

I'm not a blu ray hater I do own bluray movies but I'm more into good movies and awesome special content you give me both and I buy the movie regardless of the format that is on. as a consumer I'm (hopefully I'm wrong) not into artificial shortages of a particular format just to make it look better than the other in sales by special interest corporate zealots. YOU GIVE ME WHAT I WANT AS A CONSUMER (for 20.00 at least) AND YOU WILL HAVE MY HARD EARNED CASH!!!!

Haha. Well guess this will finally shut up some fanboys.

I purchased the combo HD DVD of 300 but would MUCH rather have purchased a simple HD DVD without the extra cost of the combo. The added cost of combo HD DVDs is adverse to the best interest of those who favor the HD DVD format. I certainly would not pay the extra bucks for a combo if there was an option.

because HD DVD will win the format war if they dont go dual formats...you heard it here first!

I bought 300 on Blu-ray and I know a few other that did the same. I did see something funny when I was picking mine up. Some guy picked up the HD-DVD version of 300 and was like lets get this to his wife. She then proceeded to yell at him that it was the wrong format and that blu-ray is the one he wants and that blu-ray is soooo much better. I find it funny when a guy is clueless about technology and the woman is all tech savy. Also, I think she is absolutely right on the blu-ray comment.

HD-DVD needs to concede already. That way the only company still on their fence (Universal) will give up on the horse that is still stuck in the gate.

You people bitch about how Blu-Ray isn't going to survive because it's priced higher, yet when movies are put on sale and blu-ray outsells them you bitch BECAUSE Blu-ray movies are cheaper and it's not apples to apples. Are you fanboys that retarded or what?

Secondly, people bitching that there is not enough supply so the numbers aren't accurate. HELLO welcome to a format war. Obviously suppliers (ie retail stores) are pushing and supporting blu-ray more than HDDVD, yea guess what, that's what happens when you start to win a format war, people stop stocking your crappy format.

I saw both versions of 300.

There is no difference... non. same xfer process

So why keep posting this stuff as a fact that blu ray is better?

And to Roberto please explain how and why you'd travel to over 6 stores for the HD DVD version and then go ahead and purchase the blu ray version.

Common sense says if you owned both drives or the dual drive you'd simply pick up the cheapest which unfortunately was blu ray.

Not calling you a liar, just the story isn't coming together. How can you say there were more blu ray copies than hd dvd copies if you were looking for and purchased a blu ray copy?

possibly typos???

I keep reading stores did have the movie etc.. etc.. sounds like the Blu Ray camp was better prepared for the release making more copies available everywhere, which for a consumer is a good thing. With HD DVD totting its own horn left and right, it was their fault for and shortage or missing copies.

Also above someone stated HD DVD as a poor mans HD format. While the statement holds some weight it isn't entirely true. HD DVD is cheaper to get into yes, but that doesn't mean the rich man doesn't want a deal when he see's one.

With Blu Ray selling more copies of this movie it shows that they are ready to meet the demand for top ranked movies & HD DVD isn't. If HD DVD had the same amount of copies I still think Blu Ray would have out sold in the current market, mainly due to PS3's...

Either or the market has room for both formats but it looks like the ship is headed to Blu Ray. Sony might just get a win (MIGHT!)

How about the millions of people who have the Xbox 360 that bought the HD-DVD player. Why would they go buy the Blu-Ray player for a more expensive price and get the same result? If the format goes Blu-Ray in the future, they can buy the Blu-Ray players for even less than they are now. They will have both formats for the price of buying the Blu-Ray player today. It's called being smart with your money not being cheap or poor. Besides a lot of HD-DVD's come with DVD content on the other side. Great plus for people with portable DVD players and those of us with DVD in our vehicles!
Side note- Movie companies and manufacturer's that don't produce both formats are losing money that is waiting to be spent by consumers. Why not access the whole market and not just a portion of it if you have the means to do so. Look at Sirius and XM as a model. Both are struggling and FCC controlled radio stinks and needs to become extinct for music lovers. The talk radio people can keep the FCC.

that the "video-gamer" hardware format (BluRay) sold more copies of a movie that looks like a video game. As for technical superiority, HD DVD has the edge right now as far as actually using it. The HD DVD of 300 can be watched as a simultaneous "blue screen picture-in-picture" version, while BluRay can't. The BluRay has better tech specs on paper, but what is the point if you can't use them? All the other features are the same, including an identical video transfer and Dolby TrueHD sound.

The BluRay pulls ahead in terms of pricing, however. I can't figure out why HD DVD's cheaper manufacturing technique isn't translating to cheaper prices. The prices for single formant discs are almost always equal, or in the case of the combo format, HD DVD is higher. How much does it cost to produce the DVD half? Probably a few cents. Even with the combo format, HD DVD should have the pricing advantage, but it appears that they are greedy. As for the HD DVD players being cheaper by about $100, after buying only 20 combo movies @ $5 more each, the price is equalized. And really, in the long run, the savings are even more pronounced if you have a collection of any decent size (500 DVDs on my shelf). Which HD format do I own? Neither. I'm gonna sit this war out for a while longer.

I picked up the Blu-ray version of this only because the store was sold out of the HD-DVD version and I wasn't too impressed with it when I watched it on my PS3. The disc comes with a memo suggesting you need the current firmware (which I do) but I couldn't select any audio other than stereo.

I borrowed my brother's plain DVD copy and watched it upscaled with surround sound.... I almost sh*t my pants. The picture was actually better upscaled.

Too bad they were out of the HD-DVD version when I got mine or I would have just picked that one up. It's a combo disc and if I wasn't happy with the HD version, I could just watch it upscaled.

Get a new TV. Or do you actually think people are going to believe that the picture was better on a upscaled DVD than am HD native resolution media format? Yea...

As Jeremy mentioned, upconverting DVD players work really well. And they are cheap. Why spend hundreds right now on a format that could possibly lose this war? I dont know whos going to win. But I am not going to buy either format until I see who "wins." Is that so bad?

Yeah, $5 for someone who's spent a lot of money getting into the format wars early is really a big deal. Silly fanbois.

This story has been out for weeks. Why does it keep showing up as just posted 9 hours ago. Sounds like Blu-Ray is desperate to get into the headlines with old stories, since they have nothing new to post.

Just to put things in perspective.
http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/11084.html

The reason for that is your settings are not correct for blu-ray playback , i had same problem till i adjusted settings now it MUCH better on my ps3 playing back on my 24" 1080p monitor.

Picture quality is amazing so much detail.

To you out there saying 'Oh, the Bluray version was cheaper, therefore the greater sales'. You guys are fools. In order to use that argument you need owners with both players. Who the hell out there has BOTH players? What, 1% of 1% of 1% of total owners? The cost of the dics has NOTHING to do with total sales.
Now availability will have an effect if as some people have commented that HD-DVD versions were sold out.

Thanks for the info. It does look better now. I just figured the default settings were the optimal ones.

and B, yes I do expect everyone to believe the upscaled version looked better because they were both on the PS3. Not sure if it's just the way the movie was made or what but the first time I watched the Bluray version, I was pretty pissed off.

This is not good news for Blu-ray.
Reliance on the PS3 is turning out to be less than an impressive long-term strategy (despite the initial boost it undoubtedly gave Blu-ray).

3.7million PS3s/ sold verses under 400,000 HD DVD players and they're only showing 65:35?

That is underwhelming to say the least.

The idea that those pitifully tiny numbers mean anything much (never mind 'the war is over') is ludicrous.

That is untrue Sean F

The cost would deter some because I for one get pissed off when I see an HD DVD title costing more than blu ray.

The disk are cheaper so it's more of an insult that it cost more.

The writing is on the wall that they will try to pocket the max even in the fight of their lives to be a successfull format. AKA Fools

It like burying your product similar to AMD who refused to budge on the FX and high end processors despite the C2D kicking its azz in performance.

The simplay sat back and counted on fan boys to not switch. The reality is that the majority want the best product that we can afford. When intel was big headed and not budging on prices they lost ground. AMD and even back in the day other processor became an option.

So yes being the highest price on any facit will not only raise eyebrows but can turn people off and away.

HD-DVD is usually cheaper unless the movie is a combo disk. For the same reason I'm being forced into paying for a Bluray player when I purchased my PS3 and all I wanted to do is play games, people are also being forced to purchase combo disks in some cases when they only want the HD-DVD.

It's a great concept but if they insist on making a combo disk, they should eat the cost and not force the consumer into purchasing something they may not want. Same with the PS3, I don't want a $500 swiss army knife when all I really need is a damn pocket knife to get the job done.

Two formats are what killed SACD & DVD Audio (among other things). HD DVD has better software at the moment, and some Blu Ray players are quirky as hell. Doesn't matter tho. Unless you have money to burn its silly to buy into either one for movies, as many of the early releases (again especially Blu Ray) are crappy. There can be only one!

Of course more Blu-Ray owners bought 300. You have to be dumb enough to buy into Blu-Ray to think 300 is a good movie.