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Bee Movie HD DVD slips through cracks, goes for $400
We'll be honest, we can't exactly recall what the going rate on rare Betamax tapes was soon after VHS took over, but it seems that one HD DVD fanatic was willing to shell out quite a bundle in order to take home a presumably canceled version of Bee Movie. In a war that saw some 23 bids fly in, one particularly fortunate eBay seller was able to move a copy of Seinfeld's latest on the now-deceased format for $400 -- we think. Curiously enough, the seller didn't specifically mention that it was the HD version in a publicly answered question, and even more suspicious was the fact that he / she chose to end the auction early despite the chance of it soaring even higher. Here's to hoping the winning bidder both reads this and gets the film they purchased, but let's see some actual pictures as soon as it arrives, cool?[Thanks, Mack S.]
Paramount & Dreamworks HD DVD support ends March 4
We don't know if Jeffrey Katzenberg got a text message, fax, e-mail or smoke signal indicating the format war was over, but Video Business has confirmed Paramount and Dreamworks Animation will (rather abruptly) to stop releasing HD DVDs after next week. If you were looking forward to Bee Movie on March 11, Sweeney Todd on April 1 or the just announced There Will Be Blood, those are cancelled. Into the Wild and the appropriately-named Things We Lost in the Fire will be Paramount's last reminders of its exclusive agreement. Not specifically mentioned was Star Trek: TOS Season 2, but don't hold your breath. Blu-ray release plans are still up in the air but we wouldn't be surprised to hear something soon. As far as HD DVD movies still scheduled, that leaves two from Universal (for now) and twelve from Warner Bros, who may have been the first to leave red, but will apparently be the last major studio out the door.Read - Video BusinessRead - High-Def Digest
Dreamworks Animation isn't ready to quit HD DVD yet
While even the most steadfast red fans have accepted things are over for HD DVD, it appears Dreamworks Animation isn't able to let the format war go. Even though Paramount seems to have found a way out from under its exclusivity deal, Dreamworks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg told Reuters he still needs to hear from Toshiba what to do with the truckloads of money HD DVD gave them about its agreement before making any Blu-ray release plans. He seems (to be the only one) worried about the upcoming DVD release of Bee Movie and what will happen there. An analyst quoted said they should certainly have this taken care of by the holiday season, which would only be six to eight months after HD DVD manufacturing has ceased to be. We have a feeling it won't take that long to turn Shrek Blu.
Paramount officially Blu-ray (again)
Michael Bay can breathe easy, Paramount (Dreamworks included) has officially gone Blu-ray. Two and a half years after announcing itself purple, and exactly five months after becoming HD DVD exclusive, this move makes all six major Hollywood studios Blu. Don't make space for that Blu edition of Transformers in your DVD rack just yet, as the company plans to "monitor consumer adoption and determine our release plans accordingly", but with PS3 sales up and BD Live on the way, we can't imagine it will take very long. The Hollywood Reporter expects to see Universal and Paramount new releases hitting Blu-ray and DVD at the same time by late spring or early summer, when we can forget this whole thing ever happened -- unless of course you picked up an HD DVD player for Shrek, in which case we have a few ideas on what to do next.[Thanks to Robert and everyone who sent this in]
Paramount and Universal to publish films on Blu-ray
Not a whole lot to go on right now, but German site HDTV Praxis has it that both Paramount and Universal will now make the obvious choice and publish their films on Blu-ray. Notably, this follows hints seen in certain Circuit City databases as well as word that we've received noting that both studios would indeed make things easy on everyone and simply support the one format still standing. Interestingly, DreamWorks isn't mentioned in the linked article per se, but we've all ideas it'll be following suit shortly.[Thanks, Khattab]Update: Universal's president Craig Kornblau had this 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." Thanks, Kiwi616!
Rumors: Possible early confirmation of iTunes movie rentals
A little blue and green birdie has been tweeting into our ears about today's Dreamworks Animation employees talk. Jeffrey Katzenberg apparently said that "tomorrow Apple will announce film distribution in iTunes. Physical media delivery is inherently flawed." Hmm. Sounds interesting but we have no way to confirm -- until tomorrow afternoon.
Rumor: Paramount to jump the HD DVD ship too? [update]
Update: Paramount released a statement today saying that their "current plan is to continue to support the HD DVD format". Good news we say, although the the whole "current plan" wording doesn't put us at complete ease.HD DVD is getting its metaphorical bum whipped lately and things do not look to be getting any brighter. The Financial Times has cooked up the latest HD DVD versus Blu-ray rumor and are claiming that Paramount may be close to announcing that they're going Blu-ray exclusive and abandon their multi-million dollar partnership with the HD DVD camp. The rumor is based on sources close to Paramount's deal with Toshiba saying that there is a clause in the contract that allows Paramount to back Blu-ray in the event Warner Bros. goes blu. And wouldn't you know, last week Warner did just that. If Paramount were to jump to Blu-ray then Sony would have a massive choke hold on the HD format war further pushing their movie studio support higher than their current 70% rate. The other question mark in the equation is Dreamworks who are best buds with Paramount and are said to have a similar contract with Toshiba. Oh well, there's always Universal. They got HD DVD's back ... don't they?[Via Gizmodo, Thanks DjDATZ]
Blue Mars - blurring the boundary between MMOG and virtual world
Does the name Kazuyuki Hashimoto ring a bell? He was Chief Technology Officer for Square USA for five years, was Vice President of New Technology and Platforms at Electronic Arts for 4 years, and spent seven years as the Senior Vice President of R&D at Square where he worked on the CG segments and cutscenes in the legendary Final Fantasy VII. Along with Li-Han Chen - whose background includes Project Manager (Sony Online Entertainment), VP of engineering (AtGames Inc), Senior Programmer (Squaresoft), Senior Programmer (Dreamworks) - Hashimoto heads up the Honolulu-based Avatar Reality Inc, and their new MMOG, Blue Mars.
Bee Movie Game demo buzzes Xbox Live
It's not Bladestorm, but it does start with a "B" and it's about a bee, so that's got to count for something. Yes, it's a kids game based on a kids movie, so you've got a pretty good of idea what to expect. Joystiq tried the game out several months ago, managing to describe it as "a cute diversion" and as an experience on par with the recent Surf's Up game adaptation. In other words, expect a competent, though perhaps not terribly innovative game. But hey, your kids will love it, right?
Shrek the Third's HD DVD special features revealed
Now that Shrek the Third is an HD DVD exclusive, it appears Dreamworks Animation is taking the opportunity to throw in all new HDi features. High Def Digest has the updated specs, which include advanced PiP features above and beyond those of previous HD DVD titles, as well as exclusive downloadable content such as a subtitle trivia and movie guide. It would be nice not to have this format war at all, but increased support for each format's unique -- at least until the Blu-ray players are upgraded -- features is a benefit.
Following the money in the format war
Everyone knows that the outcome of the Blu-ray / HD DVD format war has huge financial stakes. Reporters, then, take the "Follow the money" approach. At Europe's IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin this week, attempts to do so turned up no solid evidence to clarify things. Onstage execs from Warner Bros., Fox, MGM and Sony all denied that they received payola from the BDA. The response from Stephen Foulser, Disney's European Marketing VP, was only slightly more illuminating -- "no comment." This comes on the heels of reports that Paramount and DreamWorks picked up a $150 million check for their 18-month HD DVD exclusivity. The mystery and intrigue in this format war are fitting for a movie, but which format would it be released on?
HD DVD and Blu-ray releases on August 28th, 2007
And so it begins, not only is this the first week that the Blu-ray camp misses out on the first Paramount HD DVD exclusive Blades of Glory, but they don't have any titles to boot. We have however, heard of some people locating Blu-ray copies of Blades of Glory that haven't been successfully recalled, but they don't count none-the-less. While we're talking about the count, no we haven't deducted the 32 Paramount titles -- Yet. We've added a comment to explain, but we'll officially remove them in 30 days, by this time most of the remaining stock should be depleted. We know some of you won't like it, but tough. Despite all the fuss about Blades of Glory, the biggest exclusive title this week is Heroes, with some of the best HD extras yet. HD DVD 278 vs Blu-ray 286 *Blu-ray Zilch HD DVD Blades of Glory (Paramount) Dawn of the Dead (2004) (Universal) Heroes: Season One (Universal) The Hurricane (2000) (Universal) Notting Hill (Universal) *Blu-ray total reflects 32 Paramount titles only available for a limited time.
The BDA's damage control
No matter what the BDA tells you, there is no se the Paramount/Dreamworks news is a big deal. We're not only talking about 10% of all the Blu-ray titles, we're also talking about some of the biggest titles -- like MI3 and Transformers. Of course we expect the BDA to have a bunch of articles all over the Internet explaining that this is a non-announcement, or that they were paid off -- as if it matters why -- which we find interesting to read, but it doesn't change the fact that this might be the watershed moment that could give HD DVD the advantage. Of course this thing is a long way from over and anything could happen, but the prediction that the format war will be over this holiday season seems really silly now. Especially when combined with the news that both Samsung and Onkyo will be in the HD DVD hardware game sooner rather than later. Read - Blue Ray Technologies RespondsRead - Market Conditions & Logic Don't CoincideRead - Forecast Says Industry Still Behind Blu-ray
The NY Times is reporting that Paramount and Dreamworks were paid
Contrary to what the BDA would have you believe, the format war is far from over, but the news yesterday without a doubt extended it -- but for how long? Well, according to the NY Times, the deal between the HD DVD camp and Paramount/Dreamworks for $150 Million in incentives is for 18 months. A lot can happen in 18 months, but one thing that won't is an end to either HD DVD or Blu-ray. We can't say we blame them for going exclusive, after all we doubt there is any way they could have made $150 Million by selling Blu-ray discs between now and February 2009. We don't know about anyone else but those dual format players are looking better and better everyday.
Paramount, Dreamworks dropping Blu-ray in favor of HD DVD exclusivity
Affiliations in the HD DVD vs. Blu-ray format war have been pretty clearly defined for nearly two years now -- despite a hybrid player here and some international releases there, most of the players involved have not switched support since the early days. Well that's all about to change, as Paramount Pictures and Dreamworks Animation -- which started off HD DVD only before deciding to go both ways -- have officially announced plans to release movies exclusively on HD DVD, dropping Blu-ray support entirely. This means that hits like Transformers, Shrek the Third and Blades of Glory won't follow Mission: Impossible III as cross-format releases when they debut this holiday season. Paramount has released about 30 movies on Blu-ray so far, but those days have come to an end: apparently cheaper HD players trump a 2:1 sales advantage. We can't wait to see how the Blu-ray camp responds to this.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Shrek the Third demo stinks up Marketplace
It's not as earth shattering as, say, the Halo 3 beta announcement, but a new demo is a new demo. Today's new demo is for Shrek the Third, the game based on the film coming out next month. We haven't played the demo yet, but the dash details confirm that players can play as either Shrek or the delightfully absurd Puss In Boots (cats don't wear boots!). Given the franchise's history, we expect some mild platforming shenanigans. Oh, and it has pirates in it, so it can't be all bad. It couldn't be worse than Shrek on the original Xbox, could it?[Thanks, Adam]
DreamWorks CEO predicting neither HD format will win
We here at Engadget HD are currently engulfed in this latest format war, Blu-ray and HD DVD, but does the average consumer care either way? DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg is stating that neither format is going to become the next home video platform. We have heard naysayers before and even though he does have a decent point that there isn't that large of a "delta" between DVD and high-def disc, we still think one of these formats are going to stumble away beaten and bruised. DreamWorks has yet to release one of their animated films on either format and somehow we don't see that happening anytime soon.
Over the Hedge spin-off on its way
In Dreamworks' animated film, Over the Hedge, the insanely hyper squirrel, Hammy, completely stole the show. Because of his immense popularity, Activision plans on giving the squirrel his very own video game in Hammy Goes Nuts. The game will be released this fall on the PSP, GBA and DS.Players will take control of Hammy, RJ and Verne and once again adventure out of the forest in an attempt to reconnect Hammy's lost cable TV connection. Not much else is known about the games, other than each game will be original to its platform.I have to be honest here, I totally loved Hammy in the movie. With his superspeed and hyperactivity, Hammy is an definitely interesting character to base a game from, but would it be too much to hold out hope for Steve Carell to provide Hammy's in the game? Yeah, probably.(Via IGN)
Transformers teaser arrives early
"It was the only warning we would ever get..." And without any warning, the Transformers movie teaser has arrived four days early. Paramount and Dreamworks have given us a pleasant surprise for the holiday weekend, but I wouldn't count on the multi-platform game launching ahead of schedule next Spring. It has been six months since Activision acquired publishing rights, and they still haven't announced a developer.
