The war is officially over. First Warner Bros. decides that they're going Blu and now there's news that the largest retailer in the world, Wal-Mart, going exclusive to Blu-ray also. Think that HD DVD still has a chance? Show me a deal when HD DVD was chosen as the preferred format over Blu-ray? I'll give you one to start with. Paramount goes HD DVD exclusive after the HD DVD consortium hands them $150 million dollars. Okay, there's your start name another.

Go ahead I'll wait.

...

Thought so. Meanwhile Blu-ray gets exclusive rental rights in all Blockbuster stores. BJ's Wholesale club goes completely Blu-ray. Then Target, the world's second largest retailer in the world, decides to sell only Blu-ray players as well as expand their Blu-ray section.

The point is that Blu-ray has continued to be seen as the preferred medium over HD DVD. Then there's the fact that Blu-ray has outsold HD DVD ever since the two formats came on the market.

Well HD DVD supporters will say that there are more players in homes than Blu-ray players but how does that matter when there's twice as many Blu-ray films being sold week after week? The argument doesn't matter and Warner was smart for supporting Blu-ray over HD DVD for this simple fact. Why continue to support a format that has more players but less films sold? Warner Bros. doesn't care about how many players are sold over how many films are being sold on a weekly/monthly/annual basis. Warner looked at their numbers for Blu-ray and had an easy decision to make.

Now, onto the concept of digital distribution. Just the other say I was downloading some files from my friends server in Virginia (I'm in Phoenix). The folder I downloaded clocked in at a little over 15GB. The process took about 30 hours. Now, consider a high-def film burned onto a Blu-ray disc is about 40GB and you get a sense of how long that would take. And while that was downloading my connection overall was affected in the process.

So you think that download speeds will be quickened in the coming months/years. Okay, they probably will. Then we won't need a physical format right? Well, let's consider the fact that you'll now be relying on a physical drive to house your entire movie (and possibly) game collection. About two weeks ago I dropped my 250GB drive off of a two foot coffee table and it's fried. Gone forever. All the data gone never to be recovered again (well, maybe some of it but anything like pictures and/or graphic designs I created are gone forever).

What worries me even more is with all media coming from servers it will be controlled by the high speed provider and then locked down in some way by the content provider.

Example: Using an Xbox 360 I'm downloading content from Xbox Live Marketplace. Maybe Microsoft decides to limit the playability of the content from only my console. Even if I can get the content off the system the content provider (ABC in this case since they just announced a deal with them) has DRM on the content and recognizes that I've not only copied the content but that if another system plays it won't be playable anymore.

Then you have the high speed providers that could start charging per gig downloaded and you start to see a problem with having all content be streamed through the internet.

With a physical media you can take that content anywhere and (I would assume) could be played on any compatible player. What really makes me laugh is when people say that music has been transformed into an internet-only downloadable format and yet you don't see Best Buy, Wal-Mart, and Target stop selling CDs. Apple and other companies have been selling music online for years but that doesn't seem to stop those stores from selling physical CDs. Heck there are millions of people that still use vinyl records and prefer it over CDs. So just because your favorite system's HD DVD add-on is basically an expensive paperweight don't think that digital distribution is the future before considering the other factors.

• 11Mar 07

  I'm Home

  Holy crap! I haven't posted since December of 2005!!! Shame on me.
  
  I'm not about to recap the last 18 months but I'll just say that I graduated from ITT Tech with a 3.69 GPA and have since started school again at Strayer University going for my bachelors degree in Marketing.
  
  I guess I felt it was time to post something with all that's happening with the PS3. Not only has Sony defined a new era of gaming (Game 3.0) but they're ushering it in like no one would've imagined.
  
  Taking the best of many worlds like YouTube, Second Life, and Flickr as well as allowing users to customize their players ala' Oblivion is just insane. I love it and I can't wait for Sony to unleash their creations on the masses.
  
  Chances are that if you reached my blog there's almost every chance that you've heard of Home. If not browse to the PS3 tab of this site. I'm sure you'll find something regardless of when you're reading these words.
  
  Speaking of words, mark mine as I declare that the Home service will finally put the PS3 on the map as the definitive console to have for ALL ages.
  
  SingStar will bring the family together while LittleBigPlanet will give the kiddies something to do and expand their little creative minds.
  
  • Posted Mar 11, 2007 11:46 am PT
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• 22Dec 05

  My PSP (Pleasently Surprised Play)

  Okay, so the PSP didn't rock the gaming world or "change the face of portable gaming forever" but on its own it's a smashing success for Sony and valiant first-timer effort for a company that has all but become the standard in videogaming. Once an industry dominated by Nintendo Sony took the number one spot with poise and class.

  But the PSP hasn't received quite the noteriety that Sony had hoped for but that really comes down to the lack of titles that separate it from its big brother, host to the living room, PS2.

  If I had a dime for every article I've read about the PSP providing nothing more than slightly scaled down versions of current console games, I could buy back Bungie from Microsoft. Breaking down the acronym doesn't really suggest that the PSP will be anything more than a "portable PlayStation". That's what it says on the box and that's what it does. It's basically replicating PlayStation games but for on-the-go-gaming. Having said that, Sony does need to come up with a wholly original and groundbreaking title that distinquishes itself from the console market.

  Nintendogs is a great example of that as it's the only game to truly break free of the stereotypical home console to portable console translation. Metroid Prime DS, Mario Kart DS, Mario 64 DS; all of these games are great on their own merits but even Nintendo is guilty of transferring games to their portable systems offering nothing more than a few gimmicks or quirks that make them original to the portable market. Sony isn't doing anything that Nintendo hasn't already been guilty of but they are missing a title that really takes advantage of the system. And without a touch screen there's little chance that Sony will find that sweet spot.

  But I'm optimistic that there'll come such a game that'll really bring the PSP into the shining light it deserves. Maybe it'll be Gran Turismo with the online play promised in the console version. Maybe we'll get a ported version of God of War on the system or possibly a mini-sequel that could tie into an advanced storyline of the next game on the console (which would probably be the last great game for the system).

  There's also the chance that this current generation PSP may never see a truly exceptional title that dominates Nintendo's systems but so long as Hollywood keeps crancking out movies the PSP will have a place in the digital world. There's little chance it'll ever break the steady stride that the iPod has garnered but it'll be third to none.

  No matter. I'm a patient kind of guy. You pretty much have to be with this system since there are some games that take some time to load. And while I'm noticing some sound glitches and loading times with Prince of Persia, I love the fact that I'm in control of such a powerful piece of hardware that all the problems that the game has are overshadowed by the fact that I can't get an experiecne like this anywhere else (how's that for a run-on sentence).

  • Posted Dec 22, 2005 1:28 pm PT
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• 13Dec 05

  Holding Out

  I know I'm not the only person out there waiting for the PS3 or Revolution before making an investment on a next gen console but the more I see the 360 the more I want to forgo my monthly payment to my landlord and get one. But I remember feeling this way (and more so) when the Dreamcast first arrived on the scene. I swore that I would wait for the PS2 before buying into the glory that was NFL2K; at that time the most realistic looking football game ever made.

  I managed to keep the hype at bay and resisted spending money I didn't have just to quench a thirst. I got the PS2 and haven't looked back since.

  But the 360 is out and I'm wondering why I don't just "jump in" like the rest of America (or a good portion of us anyway). Is it the reports of the system being loud and crashing? Is it the not-so-stellar reviews of some of the first batch of games? Is it the fact that I don't have an HDTV that is said to be the only way you can truly appreciate the graphics of the system? It could be because I just recently got a hold of a PSP and trying to grow that system's library rather than soak money into another system.

  But more than anything I believe my driving force for not jumping on board the Microsoft train this early in the next-gen game is because of game trailers like Killzone and MGS4 and the fact that I want to hold out for the Blu-Ray player that is (hopefully still) planned for the PS3.

  I've been following the Blu-Ray/HD-DVD story for months and even did a paper on it for my Group Dynamics class and there's almost no reason why Sony won't win the battle of next-gen DVD formats. They have all the right people in their camp including Disney who didn't jump onto DVD right away but is willing to put their entire company's eggs into one basket with Blu-Ray. And beyond New Line cinema and a few other companies, what real threat does Toshiba pose to Sony/Phillips especially after Warner Bros. signed on with Blu-Ray exclusively?

  I'm in no way implying that the PS3 will blow the 360 out of the water and send all 360 devotees running with their Xbox Live headsets tucked between their legs but similar to the PSP vs. DS feature, the PS3 will offer more out of the box than the 360 will but of course Microsoft has the whole online thing in their back pocket. Unless Sony can match that type of online capability with the PS3, the 360 will have little to fear when it comes to online play. But honestly, with a little under a year left before the system is released it would be totally stupid of Sony to not dig deep into what makes Xbox Live tick and then spin the technology to suit their system.

  Either way, I'm the guy at the wedding standing in the back not trying to catch the garter in hopes for something better.

  • Posted Dec 13, 2005 6:13 am PT
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