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[heavy liquid]

I loved heroes up until the last couple of episodes.

Which is fairly true to one of it's main inspirations, Watchmen.

Agreed. I thought it was spectacular up until the last episode, when it dropped the ball. Too bad. But despite disliking the end, there were some fantastic episodes leading up to it. Enough where I don't mind purchasing the full season.

 

[MobiusPigeon]

Why would that have anything to do with it when PS3 is one of the main reasons Blu-Ray has come back from losing to HD-DVD to now beating it 2:1?

because sales this christmas will change ALOT?

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

Agreed. I thought it was spectacular up until the last episode, when it dropped the ball. Too bad. But despite disliking the end, there were some fantastic episodes leading up to it. Enough where I don't mind purchasing the full season.

I'd buy it if I hadn't already gotten it on impulse from iTunes.

oh noes! digital distrubutio *will* win!

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

Wow, with me working and all today during the most exciting news, Van shot way past me in posts. I'm down to #3 in the thread!

 

[XMonkey]

because sales this christmas will change ALOT?

The future, tell me about it.

 

[Tabris]

WTF? Seriousely, I don't fucking care which format wins now, I just want it over with.

I'm not buying hi-def movies until this is resolved. I will just buy dvd's and watch them upscaled on my PS3 until either blu-ray or hd-dvd is decided a winner. I'm hoping blu-ray just because I already have a player but if hd dvd wins, I'll suck it up and pick up an hd dvd drive, but until then, fuck hi def video.

I'm also the type of person that would have dropped $1000 in hi def movies this year if they had their act together.

 

[Barnolde]

The future, tell me about it.

All the flying cars have built in HD DVD players.

 

[White Man]

I'm also the type of person that would have dropped $1000 in hi def movies this year if they had their act together.

Same here. I probably would have spent a lot more than that, actually. This war is going to alienate a lot of enthusiasts that care about uniformity in their collections (I don't want 3 different formats in my collection when I have no guarantee that players for one or more of them won't exist in a few years).

 

[Bebpo]

because sales this christmas will change ALOT?

Ummm, I hope you know you are thinking of the wrong effect.

Holidays will spur PS3 sales, like they spur the sales of every system. Due to this A LOT of people will be getting Blu-ray players and some will use them and start buying movies. There will be a good spike for Blu-ray sales in the x-mas.

Meanwhile HD-DVD will drop cheap for x-mas and will sell pretty good (but PS3 sales will be >>>>> HD-DVD player sales), but everyone who buys HD-DVD player hardware will buy movies.

So in the end, both groups will get good boosts, but it won't effect the percentages.

 

[xsarien]

Technical pros and cons of each format aside, this "battle" is starting to get REALLY fucking stupid.

Studios: Pick one format or don't pick any, I'm not buying your shit twice.
Consortiums: If you just agreed on one standard you'd have your own damned money bins already; instead you're still fighting over whose backyard gets the single one.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

So in the end, both groups will get good boosts, but it won't effect the percentages.

The future, tell me bout it.

 

[MobiusPigeon]

unless i'm underestimating ps3 sales, coming in 3rd place isnt going to look like a good thing especially when the system does both games and movies. that should have enhanced sales but the price hinders that and its not changing anytime soon. 360 sales could drive more people to LIVE marketplace. Remember Disney jumping to LIVE? studios love digital distro. you dont have to see the future. look at the past. ps3 will have outsold 360 1 out of 12 months in the US. Studios showed LIVE major love at e3. HD player sales are crap compared to DVD. digital distribution seems like a safe area until all this crap is settled.

 

[heavy liquid]

The future, tell me bout it.

You were just told the future!

All the flying cars have built in HD DVD players.

 

[Bebpo]

unless i'm underestimating ps3 sales, coming in 3rd place isnt going to look like a good thing especially when the system does both games and movies. that should have enhanced sales but the price hinders that and its not changing anytime soon. 360 sales could drive more people to LIVE marketplace. Remember Disney jumping to LIVE? studios love digital distro. you dont have to see the future. look at the past. ps3 will have outsold 360 1 out of 12 months in the US. Studios showed LIVE major love at e3. HD player sales are crap compared to DVD. digital distribution seems like a safe area until all this crap is settled.

Are you trying to imply that studios will be ditching HD-DVD and Blu-ray disc support for XBOX LIVE downloadable rental movies only?

Because if so.... :lol

 

[Snah]

Are you trying to imply that studios will be ditching HD-DVD and Blu-ray disc support for XBOX LIVE downloadable rental movies only?

Because if so.... :lol

:lol

Digital Distribution is an absolute joke. People want the mobility and quality that discs provide.

I could also drive to the store and purchase a release faster than it would take to download.

 

[MobiusPigeon]

Are you trying to imply that studios will be ditching HD-DVD and Blu-ray disc support for XBOX LIVE downloadable rental movies only?

Because if so.... :lol

ummm...no. not just live. digital distro as a whole. from LIVE to fiber optic that the telcos will be pushing.

Digital Distribution is an absolute joke. People want the mobility and quality that discs provide.

I could also drive to the store and purchase a release faster than it would take to download.

LIVE has seen a fairly nice amount pf exclusive HD movies that you would not just be able to go and rent ANYWHERE. and as far as quality, again, LIVE has been seeing HD movies before they are availible on disc.

 

[mr_bishiuk]

:lol

Digital Distribution is an absolute joke. People want the mobility and quality that discs provide.

I could also drive to the store and purchase a release faster than it would take to download.

You are assuming download speeds never increase.

Music downloads have proven very popular and imo opinion movie downloads will be even more popular because people dont have the same attachment to DVD boxes as they do to CD's. In addition get played hundreds of times rather tham once or twice.

I mean you cant rent music cd's can you?

 

[quest]

:lol

Digital Distribution is an absolute joke. People want the mobility and quality that discs provide.

I could also drive to the store and purchase a release faster than it would take to download.

Ya because there are so many blue ray players for the car or portable players. Blue ray and HD-dvd are just fighting for a niche market. People are not going to want to either A buy movies 2 times or B replace all thier dvd players with high priced hd movie players. There were a lot more and better reasons for the average person to move from vhs to DVD. There are no real reasons for the average person to move from DVD to hd-dvd or blue ray. Maybe in 5-6 years when players are sub 100 dollars and portable and car players are dirt cheap. By then another format could come in and lay the smack down.

 

[Beer Monkey]

:lol

Digital Distribution is an absolute joke. People want the mobility and quality that discs provide.

I could also drive to the store and purchase a release faster than it would take to download.

I just waited two weeks of calling the store daily to rent 300 on Blu-Ray. I didn't want to pay 30 bucks to buy it, I just wanted to pay a few and rent it.

Xbox Marketplace could have rented me 300 a couple of weeks before I could get it to rent at the store.

Digital distribution isn't a joke. I don't see it beating high-def disc until the next generation, but that doesn't make it a joke.

Hell, Video On Demand through the cable company is quite successful, has been around for several years now, and is definitely a form of digital distribution.

 

[HyperionX]

You are assuming download speeds never increase.

Though for the next 5 years, it's is likely buying or renting a movie through the mail will be faster than downloading most of the time.

 

[MobiusPigeon]

portable players would kill the whole point of HD. UMDs look damn good on tiny screens.

Though for the next 5 years, it's is likely buying or renting a movie through the mail will be faster than downloading.

spoken like someone who has obviously never tried it. SD movies play instantaniously for the most part with streaming and while HD vids take awhile you just plan for it. if i know i wanna watch something i'll queue it up before i go to work and its ready when i get home. so so convenient.

 

[Beer Monkey]

portable players would kill the whole point of HD. UMDs look damn good on tiny screens.

On a 12" notebook screen the difference between standard def and high-def is quite pronounced. I'm sure we'll start to see car players with 12" screens.

 

[Fëanor]

Wait, HD-DVD players are region free? Does that also include DVD9? Could I, for example, watch a Region 2 DVD in my American HD-DVD player?

I want an answer too!!!

 

[Snah]

Though for the next 5 years, it's is likely buying or renting a movie through the mail will be faster than downloading most of the time.

Exactly. The ONLY conditions under which 'digital distribution' becomes viable:

1. Download speeds increase DRAMATICALLY. Not just slightly. DRAMATICALLY. 50 GB releases are a reality for 1080p content, and I certainly wouldn't want to have to download that much information.

2. A 'STEAM' based system that allows me to access content just by being connected to the internet by a simple player that has huge storage capacity. My library is connected to a single ACCOUNT that can be accessed anywhere. With as much controversy regarding the support for HD-DVD/Blu-Ray, it seems like it will be a cold day in Hell when these studios can ever decide on a single distribution system like this.

3. Hard Drives / Storage Mediums because DRAMATICALLY larger. To compensate for the 'STEAM BASED' system above, if you have or want a huge library of movies, you're going to need a huge hard drive to store all of this information.

Given the above 3 conditions, Digital Distribution is nothing more than a pipe dream at this point, and I don't see it being viable until 2030+.

If they can somehow get download speeds fast enough, it may be possible to forego huge hard drives if this centralized 'STEAM'-esque service can provide the bandwidth to push 54+ Mbs. This would require 10-20x the download speeds we currently enjoy with broadband, typically. And whoever is providing this service is going to have to fork over some serious cash for infrastructure costs.

 

[Zombie James]

Exactly. The ONLY conditions under which 'digital distribution' becomes viable:

1. Download speeds increase DRAMATICALLY.

And bandwidth caps. Right now I can only download 100GB/month (lower tiers get 60GB/month).

 

[MobiusPigeon]

Exactly. The ONLY conditions under which 'digital distribution' becomes viable:

1. Download speeds increase DRAMATICALLY. Not just slightly. DRAMATICALLY. 50 GB releases are a reality for 1080p content, and I certainly wouldn't want to have to download that much information.

2. A 'STEAM' based system that allows me to access content just by being connected to the internet by a simple player that has huge storage capacity. My library is connected to a single ACCOUNT that can be accessed anywhere. With as much controversy regarding the support for HD-DVD/Blu-Ray, it seems like it will be a cold day in Hell when these studios can ever decide on a single distribution system like this.

3. Hard Drives / Storage Mediums because DRAMATICALLY larger. To compensate for the 'STEAM BASED' system above, if you have or want a huge library of movies, you're going to need a huge hard drive to store all of this information.

Given the above 3 conditions, Digital Distribution is nothing more than a pipe dream at this point, and I don't see it being viable until 2030+.

If they can somehow get download speeds fast enough, it may be possible to forego huge hard drives if this centralized 'STEAM'-esque service can provide the bandwidth to push 54+ Mbs. This would require 10-20x the download speeds we currently enjoy with broadband, typically. And whoever is providing this service is going to have to fork over some serious cash for infrastructure costs.

:lol :lol :lol :lol i've been to blockbuster ZERO times since marketplace HD became availible. real pipe dream. millions do video on demand every day across the globe. real pipe dream. my internet is 3 meg service. looking at epenis threads that go on here sometimes a huuuuuuuuge percentage of people here have speeds vastly faster.

 

[Snah]

:lol :lol :lol :lol i've been to blockbuster ZERO times since marketplace HD became availible. real pipe dream. millions do video on demand every day across the globe. real pipe dream.

1. Most people don't want to wait to download 7 GBs...

2. ...Of HD content that can fit on a single DVD and is of terrible quality compared to Blu-Ray/ HD-DVD.

 

[teh_pwn]

:lol :lol :lol :lol i've been to blockbuster ZERO times since marketplace HD became availible. real pipe dream. millions do video on demand every day across the globe. real pipe dream.

High quality (not the shit I've seen. I want 1080 without any signs of compression or pixelation) HD mass streaming is not possible right now. Most people that have broadband, which is not all, use coaxial which is wired up in a metropolitan area network (10-100s share one line). If everyone started streaming GB of data (mainstream), download speeds would go to a crawl.

 

[MobiusPigeon]

1. Most people don't want to wait to download 7 GBs...

2. ...Of HD content that can fit on a single DVD and is of terrible quality compared to Blu-Ray/ HD-DVD.

itunes is terrible quality compared to CD. the visual difference between LIVE and a hard HD movie is even a much lesser gap than itunes vs cd quality.

 

[HyperionX]

:lol :lol :lol :lol i've been to blockbuster ZERO times since marketplace HD became availible. real pipe dream. millions do video on demand every day across the globe. real pipe dream.

You're getting these 4GB extra compressed crap, way inferior to the 30-50GB quality HD movies. Try downloading a HD-DVD or Blu-ray worth of data and see how convenient it is. Also, in a few weeks when you want to buy more, you will run out of disk space and need to delete a movie. Another huge inconvenience.

 

[Bebpo]

The average joe wants to RENT a digital distro movie over the option to buy it on a physical disc? Are you kidding me?

There is a reason why they make this collectors edition dvds with fancy packaging and stuff. Joe sixpack is wow'd by physical products. He loves his rack of dvds on the wall with LEs and CEs that make him feel like a king with all these goodies. He likes things that are big and shiny. He wants movies he can take to his friends and watch there with everyone.

He gets all that with HD-DVD and Blu-ray. He gets none of that with DD.

Music has never been all that glamorous. People don't care about CD cases, they just throw the cds in cd wallets, so MP3 players were much more accesible. Plus with MP3 players you could take the songs wherever you went, just like you could with CDs.

PC games were like that too. No one liked having all those huge PC game boxes, so over time they became small boxes, and now DD is picking up steam.

People want the nice boxes for movies and the ability to take them to other people's houses/other players.

:lol :lol :lol :lol i've been to blockbuster ZERO times since marketplace HD became availible. real pipe dream. millions do video on demand every day across the globe. real pipe dream. my internet is 3 meg service. looking at epenis threads that go on here sometimes a huuuuuuuuge percentage of people here have speeds vastly faster.

I think you belong to a very small niche, and should not mistake yourself for j6p.

 

[HyperionX]

itunes is terrible quality compared to CD. the visual difference between LIVE and a hard HD movie is even a much lesser gap than itunes vs cd quality.

It's hard to notice with those shitty earbuds popular these days. But on a HDTV you will definitely notice the difference between something like LIVE and a real HD movie.

 

[Duke Togo]

Oh christ, lets add another 3 years to this format war. ARGH

 

[Snah]

itunes is terrible quality compared to CD. the visual difference between LIVE and a hard HD movie is even a much lesser gap than itunes vs cd quality.

iTunes takes less than a minute or so to download each song.

How long does it take you to download those 7 GB movies?

 

[StoOgE]

The market can't decide a winner when one side is trying to turn a profit and the other is prepared to write off hundreds of millions/billions of dollars of losses with the profits they make in other industries just to sabotage the first group.

you mean like forcing everyone who buys a ps3 to buy a brd player too and subsidising that cost to the consumer in hopes of getting that back later with royalties? plus sony moneyhatted target for sure and possibly blockbuster... and rumored to have tried to moneyhat uni to go neutral last may

both sides are guily of propping up the (currently) unprofitable hd formats with funds from profitable divisions... thats how companies expand their markets\diversify.. everyone does it

also ms has hdi on all hddvds.. they make alot more money on that than vc1, plus their peice of the hddvd royalty pie is bigger. they arent just doing this to spite sony

 

[Diatribe1974]

Want to get a fairly accurate idea of how a product (insert anything) is selling? Report (with graphs) of how well it sells in Wal-Mart. That SINGLE franchise alone will indicate whether or not a product is doing well in North America.

Otherwise, quoting w/graphs an INTERNET company (even though it's Amazon.com), is like quoting your local Mom & Pop Grocery story in terms of product sales of Blueberry's for the nation.

 

[MobiusPigeon]

iTunes takes less than a minute or so to download each song.

How long does it take you to download those 7 GB movies?

best case i was able to start watching within a hour. 7gb is the largest i've seen. they usually arent that big.

 

[The Main Event]

Paramount moving to HD DVD exclusively?!?!?!?!61??!?!

:lol :lol :lol :lol :lol

 

[MobiusPigeon]

Want to get a fairly accurate idea of how a product (insert anything) is selling? Report (with graphs) of how well it sells in Wal-Mart. That SINGLE franchise alone will indicate whether or not a product is doing well in North America.

Otherwise, quoting w/graphs an INTERNET company (even though it's Amazon.com), is like quoting your local Mom & Pop Grocery story in terms of product sales of Blueberry's for the nation.

funny you say that. walmart will have the cheapy HD DVD players this fall.

 

[Flo_Evans]

DD is a pipedream. Studios are worried about the cost of re-tooling disc pressing factories. Compare that with the cost of running fiber to everyones homes.

 

[MobiusPigeon]

DD is a pipedream. Studios are worried about the cost of re-tooling disc pressing factories. Compare that with the cost of running fiber to everyones homes.

? telcos are already doing that because they HAVE to compete with cable. studios have nothing to do with that. :lol like i mentioned before DD isnt a means to replace hard copies but will be there while this war is figured and grow and remain long after. its actually the reason i havent bought an HD DVD player or a ps3. its the perfect safe solution.

 

[DCharlie]

Digital Distribution is nothing more than a pipe dream at this point, and I don't see it being viable until 2030+.

... 2030?

i`m guessing you don`t mean half past eight in the evening here?

but... 2030?

do you seriously believe that?!

Sony, Apple, MS, etc... they are all gearing up for digital distro. Krazy Ken talked about how Sony would become a digital download service eventually and that the PS range would be the delivery medium. I`d say 2009 we are getting more and more DD startups, buy 2010, we`ll have some decent services. by 2015 it`ll be pretty mature.

 

[xsarien]

DD is a pipedream. Studios are worried about the cost of re-tooling disc pressing factories. Compare that with the cost of running fiber to everyones homes.

The studios don't have to foot the bill for running the fiber.

 

[StoOgE]

The studios don't have to foot the bill for running the fiber.

lies sony ow3s verizon the monies!

it will happen someday, but i think we are a ways off yet..

 

[Snah]

... 2030?

i`m guessing you don`t mean half past eight in the evening here?

but... 2030?

do you seriously believe that?!

Sony, Apple, MS, etc... they are all gearing up for digital distro. Krazy Ken talked about how Sony would become a digital download service eventually and that the PS range would be the delivery medium. I`d say 2009 we are getting more and more DD startups, buy 2010, we`ll have some decent services. by 2015 it`ll be pretty mature.

Do you know how long it has taken to get HDTV adopted?

How long will it take us to increase broadband speeds by 10x-20x?

There are some major infrastructure implications here, and I'm not convinced that DD for high quality HD content will become viable ANYTIME soon.

I realize that all companies are gearing for digital distribution, but they are at the whims of infrastructure they have no part of.

The problem is that if all of these different companies have fragmented digital download services, DD will never be a success. There needs to be a clear victor, like iTunes, that emerges and is supported by nearly every studio. Essentially what I am suggesting is a proper, STEAM-esque service for movie content. But considering how they've bungled HD-DVD/Blu-Ray, I'm not counting on them to make things right with digital distribution.

Mature in 2015? Not likely.

 

[xsarien]

lies sony ow3s verizon the monies!

it will happen someday, but i think we are a ways off yet..

Well, yeah. Right now it's ONLY Verizon that's running fiber to everyone "just 'cuz."

 

[HyperionX]

... 2030?

i`m guessing you don`t mean half past eight in the evening here?

but... 2030?

do you seriously believe that?!

Sony, Apple, MS, etc... they are all gearing up for digital distro. Krazy Ken talked about how Sony would become a digital download service eventually and that the PS range would be the delivery medium. I`d say 2009 we are getting more and more DD startups, buy 2010, we`ll have some decent services. by 2015 it`ll be pretty mature.

Stop deluding yourself. The last 8 years have only manage to bring the average Internet user from a 56kbps connection to something like a 500-1000kbps connection, and even then it's only half the population. By 2015 (8 years from now), the average user would have probably something like a 10 Mbps connection with half still stuck on 1Mbps or so, and even then the network itself is only capable of handling a small percentage of the population going at that speed. So there's absolutely no way it could happen by 2015, and probably won't happen till well after 2020.

 

[rubso]

... 2030?

i`m guessing you don`t mean half past eight in the evening here?

but... 2030?

do you seriously believe that?!

Sony, Apple, MS, etc... they are all gearing up for digital distro. Krazy Ken talked about how Sony would become a digital download service eventually and that the PS range would be the delivery medium. I`d say 2009 we are getting more and more DD startups, buy 2010, we`ll have some decent services. by 2015 it`ll be pretty mature.

It's obvious, digital distro is the future.

 

[thaivo]

Paramount moving to HD DVD exclusively?!?!?!?!61??!?!

:lol :lol :lol :lol :lol

Where you been man? You missed the megaton.

 

[Flo_Evans]

The studios don't have to foot the bill for running the fiber.

someone has too. And until someone ponies up, DD is a dream. Don't get me wrong, I'll be 1st in line to get it when it finaly comes to my little hick town, but I am not holding my breath :lol