The Blu-ray Thread v1.0

Septimus_Prime · November 14, 2008, 3:28am

http://homemediamagazine.com/high-def/report-wal-mart-replacing-music-with-blu-ray-13819

Report: Wal-Mart Replacing Music with Blu-ray

By Erik Gruenwedel | Posted: 03 Nov 2008
egruenwedel@questex.com

Wal-Mart Stores is rapidly downsizing shelf space for music CDs while increasing availability of Blu-ray and consumer electronics in select locations, according to a new report.

The Bentonville, Ark.-based retail behemoth, citing a 23% drop in CD sales during the first four weeks of the fourth quarter, continues to scale back inventories of music packaged media; supplanting it with electronics and movies.

?We believe Wal-Mart is increasing its exposure to consumer electronics, video games and Blu-ray, and reducing floor space devoted to CDs and standard DVDs,? said Richard Greenfield, analyst with Pali Capital, in a note.

Greenfield said the chain?s floor space devoted to DVD, including Blu- ray, ranged from up modestly to down slightly.

Pali reported that an accelerated rate of sales decline for CDs combined with the slowing of digital unit sales had resulted in Q4 total unit sales declining 11.6%, compared to a 11.3% decline during the previous year period.

Total music sales fell 5% to 7% in the first three quarters of 2008.

In an analyst meeting last week, John Fleming, chief marketing officer with Wal-Mart, said electronics would be getting space expansion in stores due to the decline in physical packaged media.

?In electronics, where all the digital products are getting space expansions, and some of the physical packaged media, CDs, movies, are coming down dramatically so that we can space the growth categories,? Fleming said.

Greenfield said Wal-Mart?s continued exposure to music would be limited to exclusive CD releases such as AC/DC?s Black Ice & No Bull, which included a Web site and sales opportunities for related content such as DVDs, video games and gear.

?As packaged media continues to fade, Wal-Mart is focused on acquiring exclusive rights to music content, which enables it to sell multiple products to a consumer at one time; not just an $11.99 CD,? Greenfield wrote.

He said Wal-Mart?s scaled-back interest in music coupled with the potential bankruptcy of Circuit City Stores, a top music CD retailer, portends a bleak 2008 holiday season for the music industry.

Edward Woo, analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities in Los Angeles, concurred and said consumer demand for physical CDs would continue spiraling downward.

?The demise of specialty music stores gives you a good idea that the market is shrinking fast,? Woo said.

Interesting.

Pablo_the_Mex · November 14, 2008, 3:35am

For some reason, I am much more compelled to buy the physical media for a movie, than for music even though I listen to music much more than I watch movies. Then again, that means I would have thousands of CDs laying around.

bokchoy · November 21, 2008, 10:07am

Me too. I guess it’s becuase it’s important to me that music is very portable and convenient. More important than having the best sound quality.

Septimus_Prime · November 21, 2008, 10:19am

Amazon does us one better: PS3 as low as $200

Posted Nov 20th 2008 6:30PM by Majed Athab
Filed under: Deals and Bargains

So the UK may be getting a pretty sweet deal with an 80GB “Blu-ray entertainment” PS3 pack for 300 quid, but for us Americans, we’ve got something even sweeter … potentially! Why potentially? Because some of you out there will get the deal, while others will not. This is how it works: Amazon is offering three different discounted packages to its members; however, they will have to vote for only one of these as the one they want.

Casting a vote enters you in a chance to buy the items at the discounted price, BUT only if the majority votes in favor of your bundled set. If your choice wins, then you have a chance to be one of the lucky 500 who can snag a PS3 at that amazingly low price. Seriously, a full functioning PS3 with built-in Wi-Fi and an HDD (plus extras) for the price of the stripped down Xbox 360 Arcade? It’s a good value and worth trying if you don’t already have a PS3. The voter’s bundle winner will go on sale by Friday, Nov. 28. So, just what are the choices? The image above shows it all, though we’ve written everything down after the break. And, of course, hit Amazon to vote!

For those of you who don’t have one yet, now would be a good time.

DS · November 21, 2008, 10:30am

Wall-E looks incredible.

Septimus_Prime · November 21, 2008, 12:32pm

IGN launched a Blu-ray channel today.

Hey, look, there’s a channel for HD DVD too: http://sorry.ign.com/ignsorry/404.html?svr=linapp5.in.snowball.com&when=Thu+Nov+20+23%3A36%3A48+PST+2008&rqst=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ign.com%2Ferror%2F

SNAAAAKE · November 21, 2008, 12:36pm

yeah so I am watching dark knight on blu ray right now :smokin:

post of the year?

1 · November 21, 2008, 12:44pm

I’m looking forward to this actually. If the live action SF can get released on Blu Ray, anything is possible for the format. I also hope we can get the MK movies on BD next.

I’m gonna be HD less for a while while my LCD is returned for a new Panasonic Plasma. No blu rays for me until then.

Septimus_Prime · November 21, 2008, 12:45pm

What the fuck? Where did you get it?

SNAAAAKE · November 21, 2008, 12:51pm

take a WILD guess :tup:

pre ordered the limited edition already though. DN totally deserves my money.

1 · November 21, 2008, 12:53pm

My bro picked me up a copy from here he said. I know there are other retailers that are shipping them now though. Kind of pricey. I did get to watch a bit before I had to pack my TV up and head off to work. The video is pristine. I mostly skipped to random chapters but everything just looks awesome. I don’t have my home theater hooked up so I didn’t test the sound but I’m sure it’s great too.

bokchoy · November 21, 2008, 12:55pm

I agree with and trust most of IGN’s video game reviews, but so far I think IGN’s Blu-ray reviews are pretty bad. The actual content isn’t very good and pretty inconsistent, kinda like bluray.com. The scores are inconsistent too, and I don’t agree with a lot of it. Maybe it depends on the reviewer, but I didn’t pay attention to that. They’re also missing reviews for a lot of high-profile Blu-rays, but have reviews for a bunch of crap Blu-rays that came out around the same time. Weird. That Top 25 article was really bad too.

I still think the site I trust and agree with the most is http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/reviews.html.

Septimus_Prime · November 21, 2008, 1:25pm

I used to like HDD, but it got trolled up really hard by AVS rejects and HD DVD heads. Its staff tended to suppress BD scores too, as most of them preferred HD DVD during the format war (I also didn’t really like their taste in movies). I don’t know if it’s changed much.

I believe, also, that IGN actually favored HD DVD back then, too, and called Blu-ray a “failed format.”

RoninChaos · November 21, 2008, 1:27pm

Wall E and Kung Fu panda should be arriving today so I have something to watch with my son. Looking forward to it. Still haven’t seen WallE and saw KFP on a fucking air plane.

Septimus_Prime · November 21, 2008, 1:30pm

KFP is that good? Should I buy it?

MiLky · November 21, 2008, 1:33pm

It’s actually pretty decent and probably looks great on Blu-ray. I will pick it up eventually. I really just want The Incredibles, I wish they at least had a release date for it.

System_1 · November 21, 2008, 2:08pm

I just got KFP from Blockbuster so I guess I’ll be watching it tomorrow or Saturday

Dios_X · November 21, 2008, 2:23pm

KFP and Wall E are both Top tier Blu rays in content and audio/video.

But i still stand by my statement that Sleeping Beauty will get Blu Ray of the year.

DS · November 21, 2008, 2:34pm

The Dark Knight will be Blu-ray of the year. By default. And because it’s Batman.

bokchoy · November 21, 2008, 10:45pm

Yeah, I really don’t like the HDD forums, and I’d hate to say it but it does give off a “AVS reject” vibe. I really like their reviews, though. They really go into detail and they’re really consistent. I think they only have two reviewers.

As for taste in movies, I more or less ignore what BD reviewers say about the movies. It’s just way too subjective. I like RT and Metacritic for movie reviews, even though I just read the scores. That’s another problem I have with IGN, btw. Their opinion on the movie is heavily factored into the overall score, but there’s no way to sort by video or audio.

In my opinion: The movie is pretty well-done, the visuals are a step below Pixar, and the plot is pretty unoriginal. It’s a good movie, but nothing spectacular. I don’t have the BD yet, but I heard it’s reference quality.

Good choice for Blu of the year. I’m picking up Wall-E this weekend. I think it’ll probably come down to Wall-E, Dark Knight, Transformers and Sleeping Beauty for me. 2007 was Blade Runner.