|
Look what the BDA gave me!
This is what I love about press events. Sure, you have to lug around a brick of a laptop in a bag attached to your aching shoulder, and by the end your feet feel like they're about to fall off, but cool freebies make it worthwhile! Not only did they put us up in a fantastic hotel, Sony left me these goodies in my room. Their hospitality has been nothing short of astonishing.
The notebook is too nice to actually write in (collector's item, methinks) and the mouse pad is really, really cool - it has a sort of blue gel under it that bubbles around as you move your hands over it.
And this damn snazzy bag, with enough compartments to lose yourself in. I'll probably get beaten up if I walk through the Toshiba hall with this (kidding...)
By the way, I hope you'll check DVD Times tomorrow for more news on the latest electronics (from Sony and others), the already-completed BDA Press Conference, the HD DVD conference which I'll try and live-blog tomorrow, and last but certainly not least, the Sony VIP party (video of which will be streamed on their dedicated site - you might see me on it making a fool of myself.
As for Berlin, this place is frickin' fantastic. I feel like such a big dumb English-only speaker nodding my head and saying "danke" to everything, but everyone is so accomodating and even speaks English even though it must be a pain for them. I'll add some more pictures of the place to my Flickr account soon.
Blu-ray conference live blogging
My fingers can't take it any more! READ!
Cheap HD DVD player: $150?
 Ever since the HD DVD format first kicked off, it's been widely speculated online that whichever format hits a bargain price point first could have the upper hand in this format war. (Indeed, thanks to ludicrously good value players, HD DVD sales on Amazon.com have skyrocketed, with the cheapest Toshiba model becoming the #1 ranked electrical item on the site - lending some credibility to the idea that wary consumers will bite the bullet if the price is right). Until now, we've not heard any solid release info on these mythical "cheap and cheerful" players, but E-gear.com reports that Canadian-based company VENTURER will be bringing the SHD7000 to store shelves across North America "in Time for 2007 Holiday Sales".
What's the price, you ask? Venturer's own press release claims that it will be "one of the lowest among entry-level HD DVD players". A senior member of the AVS Forum has apparently received word back from the company that the player will come in at a mind-bogglingly low $150 US (£75) - no idea on the accuracy of the rumoured price, though.
The video output will be 1080i (1080p would most likely be cost-prohibitive due to the backwards nature of current HD DVD and Blu-ray chipset designs) and, like every HD DVD player, it can play back the next-gen high def audio formats and connect to the internet. It's a safe bet that it'll be based around the Broadcom BCM7440 chip. Insert generic "it will be interesting to see who wins the format war" closing paragraph here.
Oppo show how product support is done
 A while ago, Oppo Digital sent me the very recommendable DV-981HD DVD player to review. If you read the review, then you'll have noticed that I found a small problem with the otherwise great player that would cause the motion-blurring Noise Reduction feature to be enabled "behind the scenes" - that is, the NR feature would show as "Off" in the menus but actually be enabled.
I made Oppo aware of the problem and sent them a test disc that would highlight it. They replied and told me that although it wasn't a simple fix, their engineers would work on it. Well, I was browsing the AV Forums yesterday and found a link to the updated firmware, the release notes of which state:
With previous firmware version, when the "TrueLife" picture enhancement option is turned off in the "Video Setup Page" of the DVD player's setup menu, the noise reduction feature is triggered and could cause image retention issues. This firmware version fixes the issue. When "TrueLife" is turned off, noise reduction is not triggered.
In other words, they completely fixed this minor issue (you could still avoid the Noise Reduction) in a very short space of time. (I've installed the new firmware and can confirm that the problem is gone). By contrast, I had a very, very hard time convincing the Support department at another electronics company with a 4-letter name that one of their products had a slight glitch - a glitch which, in the end, they chose not to fix. So, well done Oppo.
UK readers: Bioshock + Faceplate £35 at Blockbuster Video
"Why is the self-proclaimed cheerleader of import gaming even mentioning this", you wonder? Well, the pretty damn good game BIOSHOCK for the Xbox 360, is out today in Europe and is a region-free title, so I can actually play it. If you're like me in the UK, then Blockbuster stores are selling brand new copies of the game for £35 (saving £5 off the usual retail price and actually £1 or so cheaper than importing the game would be) WITH a free Limited Edition X360 faceplate, while stocks last. I of course went in today to buy a copy (before heading to the library to get this damn dissertation finally started).
OK, so it's not the most fantastic looking thing ever, but it costs less than the game would on its own, for crying out loud. As for the game itself: it's good, I like it, but as usual I've not fallen in for the hype. It has great colour and a great underwater setting (no, you don't swim in the game, it's dry environments under water, thank hell), and the story seems like it'll eventually suck me in. On the negative side, it does seem like it suffers from feature-itis: I've been playing for about 90 minutes and have already come across a whole host of different machines scattered around the levels that swap abilities, upgrade things I'm not entirely sure about yet, and so on. I'm sure it'll come into it's own though.
So, there you go, I've bought a home console game in Europe for the first time in bejeezus-knows-how-long. Publishers take note: I'll gladly buy video games in Europe if they're priced right, are out in a timely fashion, and aren't inferior to their North American counterparts.
Team Blu-ray is flying me out to Berlin
 Just in case the last few weeks of High-Def fun/drama (delete as appropriate) haven't been interesting enough, things are about to get interesting-er. Via DVD Times (who publish my hardware reviewing hijinx), Sony and the BDA (Blu-ray Disc Association) have invited me to an exclusive VIP cocktail party that's being hosted by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and Sony of Europe. O la la indeed. When does the shindig take place? Friday 31st August, at 17.00 - 19.00 (Greenwich Mean Time, for all you international visitors). Visitors will be able to watch streaming video from the event over at Sony's "Blu-ray Blog". More details nearer the time, right here.
 Some of the big names in attendance from Sony will be Akira Shimazu, who's the senior general manager of the BD Strategy Office, Hiro Shinohara, director of all things home video Europe at Sony. And, from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Don Eklund, Rich Marty, and Claude Borna will all be there, getting tipsy with other European journalists/bloggers. (No idea if the drinks served will be blu). Sony Europe's press people have been absolutely great in organising the whole thing, and I'm looking forward to the trip to say the least.
So! Got any questions you'd like to have answered by the Blu-ray top brass? If you do, then just give me an e-mail or leave a comment here. I imagine in wake of the events of the last week, there'll be plenty. Oh, and don't worry - I'll be attending both the Blu-ray Disc Association and HD DVD Promotion Group press conferences, as well as snapping pictures of whatever electrical goodies the major manufacturers (yep, Sony included) have on show, and posting them both here and over at DVD Times.
Link: Sony Blu-ray Blog
HD DVD: the plot thickens
 OK, so by now, you'll most likely have heard about Paramount dropping support for the Blu-ray Disc format and going exclusively with HD DVD. Michael Bay, director of "Transformers", was not happy at all about the fact that Blu-ray-only owners would no longer be able to watch his film in HD (without buying an HD DVD player, that is). He was so upset by this news, that he even suggested that he wouldn't direct a sequel to the film, for Paramount - "No Transformers 2 for me!". This was complete hypocrisy, because two of Bay's movies - "The Rock" and "Pearl Harbor" - have already been released exclusively on Blu-ray, to which Bay seemed to have no objection.
After being flooded with visits, the original angry post was removed. Michael Bay has now posted a follow-up, which you can read on his own site, or right here, with boldening added by me. It sounds to me like Paramount know something that we don't.
Last night at dinner I was having dinner with three blu-ray owners, they were pissed about no Transformers Blu-ray and I drank the kool aid hook line and sinker. So at 1:30 in the morning I posted - nothing good ever comes out of early am posts mind you - I over reacted. I heard where Paramount is coming from and the future of HD and players that will be close to the $200 mark which is the magic number. I like what I heard.
As a director, I'm all about people seeing films in the best quality possible, and I saw and heard firsthand people upset about a corporate decision.
So today I saw 300 on HD, it rocks!
So I think I might be back on to do Transformers 2!
Michael Bay
MovableType 4: angry rant
If you run a blog and use MovableType, you may have considered upgrading to v4, the supposed latest and greatest. Don't. It's crap and I regret ever upgrading, because as far as I can tell there's no way of downgrading.
Let's see, it's much slower, doesn't seem to do much (anything?) new that the old version didn't, and now I have to put up with inexplicable errors like this every so often.
I know it's free for personal use, but that doesn't mean it's beyond criticism. A real shame I can't downgrade because now I'm stuck with it.
PS: I've had to "Publish" the site in MT now about 3 times and this fricking post still isn't appearing.
PARAMOUNT PICTURES AND DREAMWORKS ANIMATION EACH DECLARE EXCLUSIVE SUPPORT FOR HD DVD
Here I am looking into flights into the IFA Show in Berlin, and I get this in my inbox from Weber Shandwick, the HD DVD Promotion Group's press agency, which I reproduce here. Things just got a LITTLE more interesting...
Dear David,
Wanted to make sure you saw Paramount's and DreamWorks Animation's big announcement that they'll exclusively support HD DVD on a worldwide basis moving forward - a decision that came after more than a year of evaluating and releasing titles in both HD formats.
The first Paramount and DreamWorks title to appear exclusively on HD DVD will be the blockbuster comedy "Blades of Glory" on August 28th, followed by two of the highest grossing movies of the year - "Transformers" and "Shrek the Third". These three films alone represent more than $1.5 billion in combined worldwide box office sales.
(PRESS CONTACT INFO REMOVED --Lyris)
PARAMOUNT AND DREAMWORKS ANIMATION EACH DECLARE EXCLUSIVE SUPPORT FOR HD DVD
Movies Distributed by Paramount Home Entertainment Including Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks Animation SKG, DreamWorks Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Nickelodeon Movies and MTV Films to be Released Exclusively in HD DVD
Exclusive Program To Begin with Release of "Blades of Glory," Followed by "Transformers" and "Shrek the Third," Films Representing More Than $1.5 Billion in Combined Worldwide Box Office
Los Angeles, CA, August 20, 2007 - Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B) and DreamWorks Animation SKG (NYSE:DWA), each announced today that they will exclusively support the next-generation HD DVD format on a worldwide basis. The exclusive HD DVD commitment will include all movies distributed by Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Nickelodeon Movies and MTV Films, as well as movies from DreamWorks Animation, which are distributed exclusively by Paramount Home Entertainment.
The companies each said that the decision to distribute exclusively in the HD DVD format resulted from an extensive evaluation of current market offerings, which confirmed the clear benefits of HD DVD, particularly its market-ready technology and lower manufacturing costs. Paramount Home Entertainment will launch its exclusive HD DVD program with the release of the blockbuster comedy hit "Blades of Glory" on August 28th and follow with two of the biggest grossing movies of the year "Transformers" and "Shrek the Third". These three titles alone represent more than $1.5 billion in box office ticket sales worldwide.
"The combination of Paramount and DreamWorks Animation brings a critical mass of current box office hits to consumers with a line-up of live action and animated films that are perfect for HD DVD," stated Brad Grey, Chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures, which is currently the leading studio in domestic box office. "Part of our vision is to aggressively extend our movies beyond the theater, and deliver the quality and features that appeal to our audience. I believe HD DVD is not only the affordable high quality choice for consumers, but also the smart choice for Paramount."
"We decided to release "Shrek the Third" and other DreamWorks Animation titles exclusively on HD DVD because we believe it is the best format to bring high quality home entertainment to a key segment of our audience - families," stated DreamWorks Animation CEO, Jeffrey Katzenberg. "We believe the combination of this year's low- priced HD DVD players and the commitment to release a significant number of hit titles in the fall makes HD DVD the best way to view movies at home."
With the rapid increase of HD TV screens in households, and audiences wanting to enjoy the total entertainment experience, HD DVD has emerged as the most affordable way for consumers to watch their movies in high definition. In addition to pristine quality, HD DVD also offers consumers the chance to personalize the movie-watching experience, to interact with their movies and even to connect with a community of other fans.
Paramount Home Entertainment will issue new releases day and date as well as catalog titles exclusively on HD DVD. Today's announcement does not include films directed by Steven Spielberg as his films are not exclusive to either format.
Mr Bean's Holiday on HD DVD looks really good
 They buggered up "Being John Malkovich", "Lost in Translation", and let's not even start on "Traffic", but fortunately enough, Universal have delivered the goods with "Mr Bean's Holiday" (which incidentally enough is a very likable film with a fantastic ending, and one which seems to retain a lot of the charm of the original TV shows - even if it sometimes feels over-long). Yup, the disc looks very nice indeed - while there's a smidge of visible filtering (look at the small ringing around the text on the credits) to stop it from being truly fantastic, there are also no Temporal oddities that I could see, and the light film grain (and consequently, the detail) are left undisturbed. It's not razor-sharp HD demo material, but it looks to be a very good transfer of the film.
It's nice to finally see some comedy on HD disc ("Little Man" does not count) and it's nice to see that it looks very good as well. What a nice change from all the Sci-fi/Action movies.
Disney to make LCD TVs
 Don't think that The Walt Disney Company will be the ones to end our quest for the perfect HDTV, though, because these are 1024x768 4:3 TVs aimed at kids. Disney Consumer Products tells us that the TVs will be equipped with ATSC tuners so they can receive Digital TV, a VGA input for PC use, and will use LCD panels from Sharp. The TVs will come with tasteful chassis designs "inspired by some of Disney's biggest hits, including High School Musical, Hannah Montana, Disney Princess and Pirates of the Caribbean". Either way, it sounds better than the portable CRT with mechanically operated volume control that I had in my room when I was 9.
Looks like everyone really is getting in on the LCD TV business, huh?
The games are coming!
Although summer is far from over yet, the traditional summer video-game drought is beginning to crumble. Hoozah! So, what's everyone looking forward to playing over the next few months?
  
For me, it looks like me buying an Xbox 360 is finally going to justify itself, as I'll no longer be using it to play Halo 2 in backwards compatibility mode all the time. No, instead, I will be playing HALO 3, finally putting #2 into retirement after 2+ years of almost non-stop playing (and I still can't control the fricking thing properly). Yep, Halo 3 appears at the end of September, but before that, there's even more FPS fun to be had with BIOSHOCK (a fun demo of which has already appeared on Xbox Live) on... well, now, apparently, since some retailers broke the release date - and METROID PRIME 3: CORRUPTION on August 27th, which I will be waiting to hear impressions of, since I thought the previous two Metroid Prime games were, well, boring, to be quite frank.
Oh, sorry for the lack of updates, people. I will stop being lazy soon. Part of the problem is that I thought it would be clever to update to MovableType version 4, which to be honest is slow and nasty compared to the version of MT2 that I ran for years past its recommended sell-by date. I will need to try and downgrade. Plus, I have an HDTV sitting here that needs reviewed, and the thing gives me a headache just watching it.
By the way, I still have one MYTHOS invite left...
Want to play MYTHOS? Invites here
I got an invite to beta test a game. It is coming out on Halloween and it is set in London, but I can't tell you what it is. So, being a kind soul, I gave the invite to my brother who is extra-hyped for it. Anyway, as part of the whole shebang, I have FIVE invitations to give out to test something not quite as grand but still very fun: Mythos, a fun little RPG game from Flagship Studios!
So, if you want to play Mythos (it's a fun little game), leave a comment here and be sure to leave your e-mail address showing. The first five people to complete the sentence "I want to play Mythos because..." get the invite.
Virgin Megastores recruit your children into their filthy gender-based inventory clearing plan!
Socially constructed gender is one of the more ridiculous concepts that people have come up with, and as far as I'm concerned should have been done away with long ago. It's true that men and women have clear anatomical differences (that's what my mommy told me anyway), but the extent to which most non-thinking people use these to justify all sorts of irrational and usually oppressive social rules is both puzzling and disturbing. Gender is one of the few areas where these people will actually actively enforce outdated stereotypes upon each other intentionally, almost always without being able to explain why or for what reason.
Anyway! This is all a little heavy, but fortunately for us, it creates some chuckle-worthy situations such as this sales promotion that I spotted in one of the Virgin Megastores here in Glasgow. Look! If you have a male child, it is encouraged that you buy it a black DS Lite, and one of two good to poor games that have men of some sort on the covers, plus a Pokemon game which is presumably included as part of the deal because it features aggressive-looking roaring monsters on the box art. Children of the female variety, on the other hand, are encouraged instead to be given a pink DS, and a game featuring a cute, fluffy animal.
Of course, I am reading into this more than the people who put together the promotional campaign ever would (hey, someone has to), and in reality, this is just Virgin Megastores' attempt to shift unsold/unwanted copies of "Pony Friends" and Simpsons promotional packs. But it still made me laugh enough to take a picture of it.
I wonder who the white DS is for?
Xbox 360 gets US price cut
 Effective TOMORROW, the American Xbox 360 prices will get some very aggressive-looking reductions (I sound like a market analyst already, don't I). The cheapest bundle will cost $280 (£140), but most people will ignore this because from what I gather, this "Core" pack is missing the HDTV video cables and hard drive, thereby removing a good deal of the point of owning a 360. More realistically, the Premium pack, now costing $350 (£175), includes all you should need to get the most out of the system.
And for the video geeks (read: moi) and people who like to have big hard drives that they'll probably never fill, the HDMI-enabled black 360 Elite is now $450 (£225). These prices are down from the previous figures of $300, $400 and $480, and mean that the 360 is now significantly lower than the PS3's temporary, inventory-clearing price of $500 (soon to rise once again to $600).
Sounds great, but Microsoft - can you cut the prices of the games, please? $60 may not be that bad on the current exchange rate, but to me it's still psychologically "more than half of 100"...
My apologies if anyone reads this here, on this site, after just coming home from buying a new Xbox 360. That would make me feel mean.
[Back to archives listing]
Site Design © by David Mackenzie. Unless stated, the opinions contained herein are entirely my own. I make no claim to any other properties or trademarks mentioned. NOT AFFILIATED with Lyris Technologies, an e-mail marketing software provider. This site uses a cookie to store your preferred visual style. Some Javascript functions are the work of other programmers (used with permission).
|
Permanent Link
1 comments