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Message: <blockquote data-quote="John Crichton" data-source="post: 3186862" data-attributes="member: 4779">That is a stretch to make.  Betamax was a stand alone format whereas BR is packed in with every PS3 and your 360 be upgraded on the cheap for HD-DVD.  The investment, if you are a gamer (which is by no means a separate group of people) isn't that steep.  Personally, I'm worried more about HD-DVD than BR because add-ons typically have a tough time.  Your pricing is *way* off.  The cost of these products is not nearly as much as you are saying here.  If the prices were that high, they would never catch on.  The discs are approximately the same price which is about $20 for new release.  The highest priced player is $1000 and that price will drop, just like when DVD players first came out.  HD-DVD starts at $500.  And that's where the PS3/360 (with add-on) come in.  Gamers get the added bonus of obtaining the tech at a relative discount.  And I bought my HDMI, 1080i/720p Sony 32" HDTV over 2 years ago for $800 - brand new.  So you don't have to spend anywhere close to $2000 to get a HDTV.You are still working off of prices that are from years ago or just flat-out wrong.  I suggest looking around cnet.com or a local Best Buy/Circuit City to get current if you are interested.Yes, this is true and the HD tech is not completely mainstream.  Yet.  DVDs took quite a while to finally faze out VHS.  They were on the shelves at the same time for years.  HD-DVD/BR will be similar but I imagine a little more specialized.  There is certainly enough growing support and and products available to make the switch to HD a worthwhile one for people who want the best viewing experience.  You may think that HD is "fringe tech" but I would disagree.  More and more people are jumping on board and those people are driving sales plus the equipment is only getting cheaper.It's not fringe but it's also not mainstream.  It's simply growing and just like with DVD (I already have a VCR, why would I need this?) the new formats should catch on and sell.  It was about 6 years ago that the PS2 came out and DVD sales started to skyrocket.  I don't think the same thing will happen with the new formats but they will certainly have support.  And people who have HD setups will want the latest and best looking tech to view movies, TV and games.</blockquote>

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