He giveth...and he taketh: No Transformers 2 for Michael Bay
Irony is a difficult thing to describe. Try it if
you don't believe me. See? The next time you find
yourself called upon to explain literary
abstraction, consider employing a little
paradigma; tell them the story of Michael Bayz,
Paramount, and the great Format War. Hot on the
heels of the Paramount/Dreamworks
announcement that they would stop
supporting Blu-ray and begin releasing
titles exclusively on HD DVD (and amid rumor
of a $100 million payoff from Microsoft),
clan Bayz entered the fray. Stating on his
official forums:
"I want people to see my movies in the best formats possible. For them to deny people who have Blu-ray sucks! They were progressive by having two formats. No Transformers 2 for me!"
God help me...I agree with him. This sort of decision wouldn't have surprised me 18 months ago. But now? It seemed like tensions in the format war were beginning to ease. What was once a bitter feud was settling into a simple difference of opinion. You like Blu-ray? That's cool amigo. I prefer HD DVD myself. Good thing our favorite titles are increasingly available day-and-date on both hi-def formats. But alas.
If the Microsoft rumors are true, it smells of one thing to me: fear. While HD DVD dominated the market last year, the introduction of the PS3 and lower priced Blu-ray players, shifted the balance in '07. It would also say a lot about Microsoft that they look at the turning tide of the format disagreement and decide the best course of action is to invest $100 million in tipping the board. They could've spent a fraction of that money on...I don't know, how about a Blu-ray add on for the 360? They add to their bottom line, give their fan base (and potential customers) one more reason why their system is better than the other guys, and manage to not prolong the most pointless economic struggle of our time. But no. Old habits die hard in Redmond.
So huzzah! Michael Bayz isn't going to direct Transformers 2. But at what cost? All the Blu-ray homies missing out on the Indiana Jones trilogy? I couldn't wish that on anyone. Could you?
"I want people to see my movies in the best formats possible. For them to deny people who have Blu-ray sucks! They were progressive by having two formats. No Transformers 2 for me!"
God help me...I agree with him. This sort of decision wouldn't have surprised me 18 months ago. But now? It seemed like tensions in the format war were beginning to ease. What was once a bitter feud was settling into a simple difference of opinion. You like Blu-ray? That's cool amigo. I prefer HD DVD myself. Good thing our favorite titles are increasingly available day-and-date on both hi-def formats. But alas.
If the Microsoft rumors are true, it smells of one thing to me: fear. While HD DVD dominated the market last year, the introduction of the PS3 and lower priced Blu-ray players, shifted the balance in '07. It would also say a lot about Microsoft that they look at the turning tide of the format disagreement and decide the best course of action is to invest $100 million in tipping the board. They could've spent a fraction of that money on...I don't know, how about a Blu-ray add on for the 360? They add to their bottom line, give their fan base (and potential customers) one more reason why their system is better than the other guys, and manage to not prolong the most pointless economic struggle of our time. But no. Old habits die hard in Redmond.
So huzzah! Michael Bayz isn't going to direct Transformers 2. But at what cost? All the Blu-ray homies missing out on the Indiana Jones trilogy? I couldn't wish that on anyone. Could you?