August 18, 2008 – 1:00 pm
If you aren’t familiar with the Criterion Collection, it’s the best of the best in terms of quality in movie releases. Some of the Criterion DVDs fetch easily over $100 on Ebay and other sites. So when it came to picking their reference Blu-Ray player, they didn’t cut any corners.
The PS3 topped their list as the best BD player out there, just as it has on many other lists. CNET uses the PS3 as their reference player as well. It’s important to note that both the Criterion Collection and CNET are using cheap HDMI cables, which work just as good as those super expensive Monster Cables you picked up at Best Buy.
I use my PS3 as my Blu-Ray and DVD player. It works great for upscaling as well. What setup are most of you using?
August 17, 2008 – 10:00 am
This sounds like one hefty demo and a lot of FFXIII to shake a stick at. 2 hours of demo time is a pretty nice chunk of gaming to get in for you to get a feel for FFXIII and get even more obsessed and wanting this game more than ever. The nice thing is that it will come on a separate disc than the Advent Children Blu-ray.
According to the upcoming DKS3713 issue of Famitsu magazine, the PlayStation 3 exclusive Final Fantasy XIII demo will clock in at a longer running time than the CGI film, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete.
Currently the original Advent Children film clocks in at a runtime of 101mins; however, the Blu-ray version of the movie will feature scenes that were either cut completely or not finished in time for the initial release, resulting in a significantly longer runtime.
[Via PSU.Com]
Today is Apple’s big keynote address and Steve Jobs will be front and center to deliver all the wonderful new toys and updates we can expect this year. What we all hope to hear about is the wildly anticipated Apple 3G phone which may or may not be revealed today. The buzz across the internets is that MS will try to one-up their counterpart by announcing a Blu-ray compatible Xbox 360 before the 10 AM(PST) keynote in San Francisco. Its 12 PM now on the east coast. A couple hours away. What do you guys think?
A privately funded company is developing a 1 TB, that’s terabyte, as in 1000 times as big as a gigabyte, optical drive and disk format which is compatible with Blu-ray. Holy shit balls. If this works, and people do have doubts, the size of video games will be astonishing. Rockstar had to fill 50 GB for GTA IV. Imagine what they would do with 1000 GB. GTA V: South America. Click the link for all the tech jargon.
April 11, 2008 – 12:00 pm
You’ve seen the walkthrough video, now clear your schedule for April 15th. Sony will be releasing the upcoming v2.30 firmware for the PS3 next Tuesday that will be bringing you the PlayStation Store as a native application.
To go along with the new PSN Store, audiophiles out there will be happy to know that Sony has added DTS-HD support to the PS3 for BluRay movies. Hell fucking yeah. If you have a receiver that supports HDMI 1.3, you’ll be basking in some amazing audio next week. I know I’ll be firing up a ton of movies to hear the DTS-HD soundtracks.
[via PlayStation.Blog]
According to a very high ranking source at Sony, we have learned that a Blu-ray add-on is being seriously discussed between Sony and Microsoft. This would essentially be the only way for owners of the Xbox 360 to watch Blu-ray outside of buying a standalone player or a PS3. Now, why would Sony do this? Easy. They are Blu-ray. The higher availability the consumer has to watch the format, the more they will sell. Even if it means going to bed with your enemy. More to come when we hear it.
February 20, 2008 – 4:30 pm
From the files of the “No Shit” archive, media giant and former B.F.F. of HD-DVD, is already planning to go full Blu-ray as soon as they can. Universal does have future plans and releases in HD-DVD. There are still many people out there, myself included, who have some sort of an HD-DVD player or attachment. These people will still need media until they can make the switch. Here is what Universal had to say:
“While Universal values the close partnership we have shared with Toshiba, it is time to turn our focus to releasing new and catalog titles on Blu-ray,” said Craig Kornblau, president of Universal Studios Home Entertainment.
No word yet on Dreamworks and Paramount, but both have titles set to release in the old format as does Time Warner. The format war is over; we know this. There still will be some new titles coming to appease the alienated millions who took the wrong side in the conflict.
February 18, 2008 – 5:00 pm
As the format war crawls to an ultimatum, MS, the biggest HD-DVD supporter outside of Toshiba, released a statement on how the feel HD-DVD is doing as well as their future plans. It does not reveal much, but it seems that they are gearing up for a huge Plan B. Here is said statement:
We do not believe the recent reports about HD DVD will have any material impact on the Xbox 360 platform or our position in the marketplace. As we’ve long stated, we believe it is games that sell consoles and Xbox 360 continues to have the largest next-gen games library with the most exclusives and best selling games in the industry. We will wait until we hear from Toshiba before announcing any specific plans around the Xbox 360 HD DVD player. HD DVD is one of the several ways we offer a high definition experience to consumers and we will continue to give consumers the choice to enjoy digital distribution of high definition movies and TV shows directly to their living room along with playback of the DVD movies they already own.
I would not mind seeing a Blu-ray attachment, but for the price of close to $200 dollars, you are almost better off buying a PS3. I am waiting for the fire sale of HD-DVD’s to start. Once they dump it, those movies will see a huge drop.
[via Gamerscoreblog]
February 16, 2008 – 10:06 am
It looks like this is finally going to be over and we can all move on with our lives. As a journalist and even more so a consumer, this needs to end. Amidst some speculation, it looks like Toshiba is going to finally say uncle. Jodi Sally, VP of marketing for Toshiba America Consumer Products, was quoted as saying that:
“given the market developments in the past month, Toshiba will continue to study the market impact and the value proposition for consumers, particularly in light of its recent price reductions on all HD DVD players.”
This is not a white flag, but it sure looks like their gearing up for something. Reducing the price of HD-DVD players did nothing, if only to encourage consumers to return their stuff. I think its safe to say that the horses are circling the wagons here.
[via engadget]
February 12, 2008 – 8:51 am
I know, I know, another format war related post, but alas, this is news. I also just set the record for the most commas legally used in a sentence. Anyway, as the death of the HD-DVD seems to become an inevitable truth, Best Buy has decided to pick a favorite child:
Because we believe that Blu-ray is fast emerging as that single format, we have decided to focus on Blu-ray products,” Brian Dunn, Best Buy’s president and chief operating officer, said in a statement.
The reason behind this, you better sit down…Best Buy believes that the consumer will benefit from a single HD format. Well, shave off my pubes and punch me in the face.
[via reuters]
