wars

HD DVD, just in case you didn't get the word, you're toast. The cosmetics industry says so, and would like to blow you a high-definition kiss goodbye. Mwah.

Well, sort of. Cargo Cosmetics has launched a new line called Blu_ray, designed for makeup artists who need to adapt to high-definition cameras. Design blog Notcot notes that it's marketed toward filming, photography, bridal makeup jobs, and other occurrences where high technology means that the camera really doesn't lie--those HD cameras can highlight any flaw.

In case you were wondering, it's able to skirt copyright regulations by … Read more

When Warner Bros. announced it was becoming a Blu-ray exclusive studio, most observers of the format war agreed that it was a mortal wound for HD DVD. The only remaining question was, how long is HD DVD going to last? Well, according to the latest NPD data (as compiled by Bill Hunt at The Digital Bits), not very long. During the week of January 5 to 12--the first week the market had to respond to the Warner announcement--Blu-ray absolutely trounced HD DVD in hardware sales, grabbing 92.53 percent of the high-def disc-player market. That's pretty ugly for the HD DVD camp, but it only gets worse. The most damning aspect of these numbers is that they do not include the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on drive--only standalone players. We previously thought HD DVD's only road to victory was by selling tons of cheap standalone HD DVD players, so the fact that relatively expensive Blu-ray players are starting to sell makes it seem like this format war has been officially declared over--by the consumers.

Of course, Toshiba slashed prices on its HD DVD players just a few days after this data ends… Read more

Last week, we brought you new details on two games from the Ubisoft press event held in New York City--Rainbow Six Vegas 2 and Far Cry 2. Today we wrap up our coverage with a look at Tom Clancy's EndWar, a new franchise from the publisher.

At first glance, we were quite skeptical of a real-time-strategy game on a console. However, after about two minutes of watching one of the developers play the game using only his voice, we were convinced that the team at Ubisoft Shanghai might be on to something here.

Let us clarify the whole voice control situation---there was barely any manual controlling needing to be done besides aiming with a crosshair and adjusting the camera angle.… Read more

Ubisoft held the company's latest press event in New York this week, and we were lucky enough to get in some time with a few highly anticipated new games coming from the publisher this year. Yesterday, Will Greenwald told you about Far Cry 2, with its Crysis-like physics and effects. Today, we'll shed some light on Rainbow Six Vegas 2.

Just when we thought we had enough of Las Vegas (CES can do that to a man), Ubisoft throws us right back into the mix of things in Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2. While the first Vegas had us running through casinos and garage lots at night, Vegas 2 takes place more during the daylight hours as you'll be seeing back alleys and the grittier side of the town. Rather than giving us an "add-on" to the first title, the team at Ubisoft Montreal has built a game worthy of being labeled as an official sequel. So rest assured, this is certainly not Rainbow Six Vegas: Out of Cash.… Read more

HD DVD is almost certainly dead in the water. The surprise move of Warner to move to exclusive Blu-ray support has sunk any hope the HD DVD group ever had for winning the format war. What's more, there are rumors that the last two HD DVD studios--Paramount and Universal--are both planning a similar defection. So, can anything save the format now?

It seems pretty unlikely. If Universal and Paramount stay exclusive to HD DVD, however, it's possible the format could survive in the short term. Of course, the moment one or other of those companies leave, … Read more

Many of us have been decrying the overall lack of gaming gear here at CES, but while there might not be much video game hardware on display at the Las Vegas Convention Center, several video game publishers are in town showing off their latest wares, including LucasArts, Eidos, Microsoft, and Namco.

The latter is perhaps the most interesting, since the title being shown off is the latest iteration of the fighting game Soul Calibur, which first hit living rooms via Sega's Dreamcast console back in 1999. The series features an eclectic cast of medieval Japanese characters battling over a … Read more

Just a month ago, home theater enthusiasts were clamoring Samsung's soon-to-be released BD-UP5000 HD DVD/Blu-ray combo player, which promised high-end features like HQV processing and the ability to decode DTS-HD Master Audio (after a future firmware update). But the BD-UP5000 was delayed, and now it's likely to face less demand considering Warner's decision to go Blu.

Watch the Samsung BD-UP5500 Duo HD Player video on CNET TV.

The same goes for Samsung's newly announced combo unit, the BD-UP5500. It appears that the main step-down from the BD-UP5000 is that it lacks HQV video processing, which … Read more

The big buzz today around CNET offices in New York is the news that Warner Bros. Entertainment has decided to stop making HD DVD discs and will become a Blu-ray-only studio at the end of May. Needless to say, this is a major blow to the HD DVD camp, which earlier this year struck a deal with Paramount to go HD DVD exclusive. You could say this is a tit-for-tat move by Sony and the Blu-ray camp, but it's actually more of a clubbing because Warner has a much bigger library of movies than Paramount.

While rumors of Warner … Read more