Certainly doesn't help the HD-DVD cause, though I agree, online rentals have become huge and they're still going to be stocking them through their online service. Between that and downloading this probably isn't as gigantic a "blow" as that news article indicates it is -- or would've been years ago.
The reasons they cite for the decision are just hilariously funny given how few Blu Ray-exclusive discs have been released over the last few months and are due out in the next couple. Sure all these studios are lined up but Fox has done nothing for months now and Lionsgate is basically the kings of mediocrity when it comes to these formats. Just boggles the mind.
"Tech" Thread: Blu Ray, HD-DVD, Video Games, HDTV
Disney and Sony Pictures themselves most certainly have not been kings of mediocrity, however.AndyDursin wrote:Certainly doesn't help the HD-DVD cause, though I agree, online rentals have become huge and they're still going to be stocking them through their online service. Between that and downloading this probably isn't as gigantic a "blow" as that news article indicates it is -- or would've been years ago.
The reasons they cite for the decision are just hilariously funny given how few Blu Ray-exclusive discs have been released over the last few months and are due out in the next couple. Sure all these studios are lined up but Fox has done nothing for months now and Lionsgate is basically the kings of mediocrity when it comes to these formats. Just boggles the mind.
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AndyDursin
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AndyDursin
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Never said that they were...though I'm glad Sony is finally releasing a truly HD FIFTH ELEMENT since they've now admitted they "blew" the first Blu Ray release from a year ago.Eric W. wrote:Disney and Sony Pictures themselves most certainly have not been kings of mediocrity, however.AndyDursin wrote:Certainly doesn't help the HD-DVD cause, though I agree, online rentals have become huge and they're still going to be stocking them through their online service. Between that and downloading this probably isn't as gigantic a "blow" as that news article indicates it is -- or would've been years ago.
The reasons they cite for the decision are just hilariously funny given how few Blu Ray-exclusive discs have been released over the last few months and are due out in the next couple. Sure all these studios are lined up but Fox has done nothing for months now and Lionsgate is basically the kings of mediocrity when it comes to these formats. Just boggles the mind.
LG, with an exception here and there, has been the least impressive of the studios releasing on both formats I feel generally.
The other BD studios have done well but until recently I wasn't blown away with what they brought to the table. Fox did a generally good job with their first batch or two of Blu Ray titles, even if they added no "value" content to them (like HOOSIERS or KINGDOM OF HEAVEN) at all. To me that's just embarrasing given how much capacity is touted on the BD side. And it basically took PIRATES for Disney to include all the bells and whistles on titles they should've been included additional content on from the very start, though their presentations have been stellar on a visual scale no question.
It's like reading the Blu Ray guy on the Intrada board who told Doug Fake THE SAND PEBBLES was coming soon. If that were the case there's a bridge in Brooklyn I'd like to have everyone take a look at
Agreed, although I've been amazed at how flexible some people's definition of the phrase "coming soon" is.AndyDursin wrote:Never said that they were...though I'm glad Sony is finally releasing a truly HD FIFTH ELEMENT since they've now admitted they "blew" the first Blu Ray release from a year ago.Eric W. wrote:Disney and Sony Pictures themselves most certainly have not been kings of mediocrity, however.AndyDursin wrote:Certainly doesn't help the HD-DVD cause, though I agree, online rentals have become huge and they're still going to be stocking them through their online service. Between that and downloading this probably isn't as gigantic a "blow" as that news article indicates it is -- or would've been years ago.
The reasons they cite for the decision are just hilariously funny given how few Blu Ray-exclusive discs have been released over the last few months and are due out in the next couple. Sure all these studios are lined up but Fox has done nothing for months now and Lionsgate is basically the kings of mediocrity when it comes to these formats. Just boggles the mind.
LG, with an exception here and there, has been the least impressive of the studios releasing on both formats I feel generally.
The other BD studios have done well but until recently I wasn't blown away with what they brought to the table. Fox did a generally good job with their first batch or two of Blu Ray titles, even if they added no "value" content to them (like HOOSIERS or KINGDOM OF HEAVEN) at all. To me that's just embarrasing given how much capacity is touted on the BD side. And it basically took PIRATES for Disney to include all the bells and whistles on titles they should've been included additional content on from the very start, though their presentations have been stellar on a visual scale no question.
It's like reading the Blu Ray guy on the Intrada board who told Doug Fake THE SAND PEBBLES was coming soon. If that were the case there's a bridge in Brooklyn I'd like to have everyone take a look at
Shifting gears: Have you tried that Call of Juarez game yet? I'm itching to, despite the apparent sea of mediocre reviews for it.
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AndyDursin
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That's a very bad sign of poor gameplay right there.AndyDursin wrote:LOL that is true!
I rented CALL OF JUAREZ. I'm at the point where I'm not sure if I want to keep it going or return it. It looks VERY nice but when you spend 15 minutes in the tutorial figuring out how to do a routine jump across a ravine, that just kind of drives me crazy. (I hate jumping!! lol).
I guess I'll rent it sometime. I just don't understand why the Western genre can't easily inspire all kinds of kick ass games.
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AndyDursin
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It's weird, because from what I've read there ARE some good things in the game. I just don't understand why there's ever a need to include jumping mechanics. That's the kind of thing that has annoyed people for years in all kinds of games and I thought we were beyond that point by now...I mean, seriously, it took me an hour to figure out the whip/jump mechanic!Eric W. wrote:That's a very bad sign of poor gameplay right there.AndyDursin wrote:LOL that is true!
I rented CALL OF JUAREZ. I'm at the point where I'm not sure if I want to keep it going or return it. It looks VERY nice but when you spend 15 minutes in the tutorial figuring out how to do a routine jump across a ravine, that just kind of drives me crazy. (I hate jumping!! lol).
I guess I'll rent it sometime. I just don't understand why the Western genre can't easily inspire all kinds of kick ass games.
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AndyDursin
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Finally signs of life on the MGM/Fox front. 10-12 titles isn't spectacularly impressive, but it's sure better than nothing
I would hope the Starz announcement means Anchor Bay catalog material making the jump to HD too.
Starz to go Blu
New Blu-ray Disc announcements from MGM at the Sixth Annual Home Entertainment Summit: DVD & Beyond in Century City, Calif., didn’t come as a huge surprise.
A new participant in the high-definition format war was unexpected, however.
Starz Home Entertainment President Bill Clark announced during an executive session with MGM VP of Marketing Julia Simmons that his company will release the first season of the company’s “Masters of Horror” collection on Blu-ray in the fourth quarter of this year. Other Starz catalogue titles also are in line for a Blu-ray release. The news came the same day that Blockbuster announced that Blu-ray would be the only high-definition disc available in some of its stores.
“If Blu-ray wins [the format war against HD DVD], all catalogue would go [Blu-ray], we’d hope,” Clark said.
MGM’s Simmons said another 10 to 12 titles are set for Blu-ray release within the next year, including The Sergio Leone Anthology (A Fistful of Dollars/For a Few Dollars More/The Good, The Bad and The Ugly/Duck, You Sucker).
http://www.videostoremag.com/news/html/ ... e_ID=10786
I would hope the Starz announcement means Anchor Bay catalog material making the jump to HD too.
Starz to go Blu
New Blu-ray Disc announcements from MGM at the Sixth Annual Home Entertainment Summit: DVD & Beyond in Century City, Calif., didn’t come as a huge surprise.
A new participant in the high-definition format war was unexpected, however.
Starz Home Entertainment President Bill Clark announced during an executive session with MGM VP of Marketing Julia Simmons that his company will release the first season of the company’s “Masters of Horror” collection on Blu-ray in the fourth quarter of this year. Other Starz catalogue titles also are in line for a Blu-ray release. The news came the same day that Blockbuster announced that Blu-ray would be the only high-definition disc available in some of its stores.
“If Blu-ray wins [the format war against HD DVD], all catalogue would go [Blu-ray], we’d hope,” Clark said.
MGM’s Simmons said another 10 to 12 titles are set for Blu-ray release within the next year, including The Sergio Leone Anthology (A Fistful of Dollars/For a Few Dollars More/The Good, The Bad and The Ugly/Duck, You Sucker).
http://www.videostoremag.com/news/html/ ... e_ID=10786
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AndyDursin
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Long article in Video Business today about the DVD market in general, with a lot of sound reasoning about the future of the two HD formats.
Basically it states Blu Ray will have a big edge via the PS3 over the 360 HD-DVD drive (no surprise there) but in terms of standalone players HD-DVD will have a "heavy" advantage. It also confirms that while Blu Ray will have a larger base overall base, the superior attach rate phenomena that has been discussed with HD-DVD means there will be no reason not to support it (i.e. PS3 owners will buy certain movies but people with standalone players are guaranteed to buy more movies in general. This is a long-held theory that illustrates why Sony needs more than just a game console to "dominate" the market).
If that's the case, even though it sees Blu having a 1.7:1 software ratio edge by 2010, I think both formats will have a shot at sticking around, as the article speculates. All the players Toshiba is selling means there will have to be some kind of product for them. The analyst they quote says if there are two pools, it makes no sense for manufacturers to back only one format...which is what I've been saying, that HD-DVD just needs to stay afloat, as it has, drop prices, as it has, and stay in the "game" so to speak.
What's more, it speculates both formats won't take off until HDTV sales really begin to spike big-time over the next couple of years, which I can totally see.
Interesting reading...
Studios and analysts are bullish about their futures. But they realize they have to be patient as consumers catch on to HD DVD and Blu-ray.
“It’s in the very, very early days of our forecasts, but we believe that high-definition discs will help return consumer video spending to growth,” said Helen Davis Jayalath, senior analyst video at Screen Digest, during a session.
Despite Blockbuster’s recent move to focus on Blu-ray, Screen Digest believes it behooves companies to make the most of high-definition by dual-format publishing and/or manufacturing.
By 2010, there will be 45 million high-def game console units sold in U.S., Europe and Japan. This is much more tilted toward Blu-ray PlayStation 3 than Xbox 360 HD DVD drives. Worldwide, there will be more than 30 million Blu-ray and HD DVD stand-alone set-top boxes sold, heavily weighted toward the relatively cheaper HD DVD.
“Studios will feel they can’t afford to ignore the other constituency, and manufacturers will become agnostic” said Jayalath. “[Although BD will capture a larger install base,] PS3 users will buy far fewer discs than those buying set-top boxes. If you are a gamer, you have substantially less time to watch movies.”
Blu-ray discs are expected to outsell HD DVD discs by a 1.7-to-1 ratio by 2010, according to Screen Digest.
Consumer acceptance of HD DVD and Blu-ray will be more gradual than the transition from VHS to DVD in the late ’90s, said Jayalath, but it will nevertheless prove vital to studios, boosting worldwide studio revenues 4% to $45 million between 2005 and 2010.
“The adoption of these formats will follow a similar curve to that of DVD but with constraints to that of HDTV households,” said Jayalath.
The 30 million stand-alone high-def disc players expected in homes by 2010 will cover 16% of all HDTV households but only 10% of all TV households.
Understanding and Solutions director Jim Bottoms said that competitive electronics chains will use price drops to spur high-def TV purchasing for some time. By the end of 2008, more than half of all U.S. homes will be high-def-ready.
Also, high-def TVs should make traditional DVD players obsolete for some people, insists Bottoms, because “there [are] limitations of standard-definition content, and it becomes apparent at the large screen size. Quality issues come to the fore that much more.”
Year-to-date, there are now 300,000 HD DVD-equipped homes in the U.S., split evenly between stand-alones and Xbox 360 drives, reports the DEG. There are about 1.5 million Blu-ray homes, including 100,000 with set-top boxes and the remainder with PS3.
At this point, consumers have bought $55 million worth of high-def software: $35 million spanning 108 Blu-ray titles, and $19 million spanning 66 HD DVD titles, according to DEG.
“Between April and mid-December, it was a warm-up, and since Christmas, it has been a very sustained level of business,” said Warner senior VP Steve Nickerson, who presented the DEG research. “Really, this year is preparing for further consumer uptake of high-def. It will mirror the year 1999 or 2000 for DVD.”
Studios are not waiting around for high-def to take off, continuing to press for DVD market improvement.
Warner and Paramount are among the studios kicking off the fourth quarter around August in order to get a jump on courting consumers for the holidays.
“We will be aggressive at the end of August with Blades of Glory,” said Paramount’s Avery. “The fourth quarter starts earlier than last year’s fourth quarter. We are not going to wait until October to make sure we have a great [holiday season].”
Warner’s Sanders added, “The fourth quarter is coming earlier. There is Blades of Glory and 300 [streeting July 31 from Warner]. I think we will be a down a couple of percentage points from last year. But we still have a bumper of films yet to open.”
http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6453579.html
Basically it states Blu Ray will have a big edge via the PS3 over the 360 HD-DVD drive (no surprise there) but in terms of standalone players HD-DVD will have a "heavy" advantage. It also confirms that while Blu Ray will have a larger base overall base, the superior attach rate phenomena that has been discussed with HD-DVD means there will be no reason not to support it (i.e. PS3 owners will buy certain movies but people with standalone players are guaranteed to buy more movies in general. This is a long-held theory that illustrates why Sony needs more than just a game console to "dominate" the market).
If that's the case, even though it sees Blu having a 1.7:1 software ratio edge by 2010, I think both formats will have a shot at sticking around, as the article speculates. All the players Toshiba is selling means there will have to be some kind of product for them. The analyst they quote says if there are two pools, it makes no sense for manufacturers to back only one format...which is what I've been saying, that HD-DVD just needs to stay afloat, as it has, drop prices, as it has, and stay in the "game" so to speak.
What's more, it speculates both formats won't take off until HDTV sales really begin to spike big-time over the next couple of years, which I can totally see.
Interesting reading...
Studios and analysts are bullish about their futures. But they realize they have to be patient as consumers catch on to HD DVD and Blu-ray.
“It’s in the very, very early days of our forecasts, but we believe that high-definition discs will help return consumer video spending to growth,” said Helen Davis Jayalath, senior analyst video at Screen Digest, during a session.
Despite Blockbuster’s recent move to focus on Blu-ray, Screen Digest believes it behooves companies to make the most of high-definition by dual-format publishing and/or manufacturing.
By 2010, there will be 45 million high-def game console units sold in U.S., Europe and Japan. This is much more tilted toward Blu-ray PlayStation 3 than Xbox 360 HD DVD drives. Worldwide, there will be more than 30 million Blu-ray and HD DVD stand-alone set-top boxes sold, heavily weighted toward the relatively cheaper HD DVD.
“Studios will feel they can’t afford to ignore the other constituency, and manufacturers will become agnostic” said Jayalath. “[Although BD will capture a larger install base,] PS3 users will buy far fewer discs than those buying set-top boxes. If you are a gamer, you have substantially less time to watch movies.”
Blu-ray discs are expected to outsell HD DVD discs by a 1.7-to-1 ratio by 2010, according to Screen Digest.
Consumer acceptance of HD DVD and Blu-ray will be more gradual than the transition from VHS to DVD in the late ’90s, said Jayalath, but it will nevertheless prove vital to studios, boosting worldwide studio revenues 4% to $45 million between 2005 and 2010.
“The adoption of these formats will follow a similar curve to that of DVD but with constraints to that of HDTV households,” said Jayalath.
The 30 million stand-alone high-def disc players expected in homes by 2010 will cover 16% of all HDTV households but only 10% of all TV households.
Understanding and Solutions director Jim Bottoms said that competitive electronics chains will use price drops to spur high-def TV purchasing for some time. By the end of 2008, more than half of all U.S. homes will be high-def-ready.
Also, high-def TVs should make traditional DVD players obsolete for some people, insists Bottoms, because “there [are] limitations of standard-definition content, and it becomes apparent at the large screen size. Quality issues come to the fore that much more.”
Year-to-date, there are now 300,000 HD DVD-equipped homes in the U.S., split evenly between stand-alones and Xbox 360 drives, reports the DEG. There are about 1.5 million Blu-ray homes, including 100,000 with set-top boxes and the remainder with PS3.
At this point, consumers have bought $55 million worth of high-def software: $35 million spanning 108 Blu-ray titles, and $19 million spanning 66 HD DVD titles, according to DEG.
“Between April and mid-December, it was a warm-up, and since Christmas, it has been a very sustained level of business,” said Warner senior VP Steve Nickerson, who presented the DEG research. “Really, this year is preparing for further consumer uptake of high-def. It will mirror the year 1999 or 2000 for DVD.”
Studios are not waiting around for high-def to take off, continuing to press for DVD market improvement.
Warner and Paramount are among the studios kicking off the fourth quarter around August in order to get a jump on courting consumers for the holidays.
“We will be aggressive at the end of August with Blades of Glory,” said Paramount’s Avery. “The fourth quarter starts earlier than last year’s fourth quarter. We are not going to wait until October to make sure we have a great [holiday season].”
Warner’s Sanders added, “The fourth quarter is coming earlier. There is Blades of Glory and 300 [streeting July 31 from Warner]. I think we will be a down a couple of percentage points from last year. But we still have a bumper of films yet to open.”
http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6453579.html
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AndyDursin
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- Location: RI
Scotch that MGM announcement....ugh.
From HiDefDigest.com:
We've received word directly from MGM late this afternoon that despite earlier reports to the contrary, the studio has not announced any new Blu-ray titles for this later year. The studio says that the Home Media Magazine article that broke the story earlier today was erroneous, and HMM has since removed the text pertaining to MGM's fourth quarter Blu-ray plans from their online story.
http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/ ... evival/710
From HiDefDigest.com:
We've received word directly from MGM late this afternoon that despite earlier reports to the contrary, the studio has not announced any new Blu-ray titles for this later year. The studio says that the Home Media Magazine article that broke the story earlier today was erroneous, and HMM has since removed the text pertaining to MGM's fourth quarter Blu-ray plans from their online story.
http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/ ... evival/710
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John Johnson
- Posts: 6267
- Joined: Tue Apr 19, 2005 3:28 pm
Andy,
I saw these players at my local Best Buy. Any reports on them?
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp ... 7718665755
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp ... 8044005728
I saw these players at my local Best Buy. Any reports on them?
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp ... 7718665755
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp ... 8044005728
London. Greatest City in the world.
^^ Both are pretty good at their price points.
http://www.dvdrama.com/news.php?20746&page=1
Translation from French (more or less:)
^^ No reason not to expect most, if not all, of those titles to make it overseas before long, just as before. Some kind of sign of life at least.
Weird. Oh well, they'll show up sooner or later.AndyDursin wrote:Scotch that MGM announcement....ugh.
From HiDefDigest.com:
We've received word directly from MGM late this afternoon that despite earlier reports to the contrary, the studio has not announced any new Blu-ray titles for this later year. The studio says that the Home Media Magazine article that broke the story earlier today was erroneous, and HMM has since removed the text pertaining to MGM's fourth quarter Blu-ray plans from their online story.
http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/ ... evival/710
http://www.dvdrama.com/news.php?20746&page=1
Translation from French (more or less:)
Fox Announces 22 Titles for France
20th Century Fox These days, any Blu-ray news from Fox is good news, but when you start seeing release dates for some of the titles Fox delayed many months ago, you're heart starts to beat just a little bit faster. New releases for September 26th: 'Day After Tomorrow', 'Independence Day', and 'Platoon'. New releases for October 24th: 'Predator', 'Commando', 'Robocop', 'Arthur and the Invisibles', 'The Hills Have Eyes', 'Ice Age', and 'Tristan & Isolde'.
Also being released those two days, are titles which have already been released in other regions, as well as the French films 'Renaissance', 'Les Choristes', and 'Ne Le Dis A Personne'.
No official word when or if these titles will make it to other countries, but expect an announcement sooner than later.
^^ No reason not to expect most, if not all, of those titles to make it overseas before long, just as before. Some kind of sign of life at least.
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AndyDursin
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- Joined: Tue Oct 05, 2004 8:45 pm
- Location: RI
John,
I myself would not spend over $500 on a dedicated player for either format. You may be better off waiting for, say, Samsung's multi format player later this year, which probably won't be a whole lot more than the $799 they're asking for the BDP-1200. That's still way too high to expect anyone to pay for a standalone unit.
As far as the players themselves go I'm sure they're fine, Panny's are always good and the Samsung's are top notch as well (I have the Philips BDP9000 which is essentially a Samsung as I even use the Samsung firmware on it).
I myself would not spend over $500 on a dedicated player for either format. You may be better off waiting for, say, Samsung's multi format player later this year, which probably won't be a whole lot more than the $799 they're asking for the BDP-1200. That's still way too high to expect anyone to pay for a standalone unit.
As far as the players themselves go I'm sure they're fine, Panny's are always good and the Samsung's are top notch as well (I have the Philips BDP9000 which is essentially a Samsung as I even use the Samsung firmware on it).
Last edited by AndyDursin on Thu Jun 21, 2007 4:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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AndyDursin
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- Joined: Tue Oct 05, 2004 8:45 pm
- Location: RI
Indeed, though there's not a whole lot to get excited about in terms of those titles (Arthur and the Invisibles? The Day After Tomoprrow? Tristan & Isolde?). We continue to get a lot of "mid range" catalog titles from both formats with few "format sellers".No reason not to expect most, if not all, of those titles to make it overseas before long, just as before. Some kind of sign of life at least.
When they do "relaunch," I just hope Fox gives us more than single-layer Blu Ray discs in MPEG2 and/or no extras like the majority of their first-generation titles this time.