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Downloadable Halo 2 HD cut scenes now complete
An update to last month's story about HBO and their friends whose mission was to make all of Halo 2's cut scenes available to the masses in beautiful high definition. Progress moved along at a slow yet steady pace, with each week bringing a new downloadable HD cut scene and at the same time, as each video was uploaded, a piece of our soul was fulfilled. Now, after a few weeks of hard work, we're proud to announce that all of Halo 2's thirty-five cut scenes are now available for download in HD over at HBO. Grab the complete HD series and clog HBO's bandwidth pipes. Mr. Louis Wu would love us.
Band of Brothers coming to Blu-ray this year
Everyone's got their own most-anticipated DVD that has yet to make the jump to HD, if Band of Brothers is yours, the wait just got a little shorter. According to The Man Room, the latest issue of Home Media Magazine loosed from an HBO VP the detail that Band of Brothers, #6 top selling DVD of all time, will make an appearance on Blu-ray before the end of the year. While waiting for the boys of Easy Company, we'll just play Call of Duty a few more (thousand) times.
HBO launches official YouTube channel
Get set, HBO fans, as the content (some of it, at least) you know and love is now available on the world's most overly populated video sharing site. Shortly after announcing HBO on Broadband, the network is branching out even further by inking a deal with YouTube to provide "select promotional content on HBO's new branded YouTube channel." Starting today, videos from Flight of the Conchords, The Wire, Def Comedy Jam, Real Time with Bill Maher, Real Sports, Extras, Stand Up Comedy, Habla y Habla and Entourage will be available for viewing, while full-length clips from In Treatment will also be offered up. Now, if only YouTube would get with the program and go high-def, we'd really be satisfied.
Halo 3's final run captured in LEGO
You're familiar enough with us to know that we love a good video game themed LEGO creation every once and a while. So, when we spotted a new custom LEGO masterpiece over at HBO, we felt a compulsive urge to share it with youThe LEGO sculpture featured above (fully viewable after the jump) is the work of Nannan Z. who was inspired to create Halo 3's final warthog run out of LEGOs complete with airborne warthog, a falling platform and flaming fire below. Look close enough and you'll even spot a Sentinel laying waste to one of those damn popping infectious Flood forms. Blow 'em up Sentinel, blow 'em up good! We say fine job Nannan and now we think you're ready to take the next creative jump in your career by moving on to build life size Halo 3 warthog run models. We're sure WETA would be willing to lend a hand if you ask nicely.[Via HBO]
HBO on Broadband shown on video, arrives to Wisconsin customer
For HBO subscribers, HBO on Broadband sounds like a pretty sweet deal on paper. Unfortunately, the service is currently restricted to Time Warner cable and broadband subscribers in Wisconsin, but that hasn't stopped a video from surfacing showing off the service's capabilities. A clip over at Multichannel News shows it being demonstrated on an LCD TV, and while there's nothing really out of the ordinary -- it's an online viewing portal for peeping HBO programming, pretty simple -- it's still something to keep you satisfied 'til it rolls into your town. Speaking of which, we've found that discs are already arriving at homes of certain Wisconsin residents, and although a pair of Macs are used to advertise the service on the packet, there's a complete lack of OS X support on the discs themselves. Reportedly, the service worked "just fine" in Parallels, but this doesn't seem to be good news for those working sans any flavor of Windows. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family][Thanks, Ken C.]
V-Day to come to Second Life: sadly not entirely smooth sailing
You may or may not have heard of V-Day. It is an international day of activity with the aim of stopping violence against women. If you have never heard of the protest day before, you have almost certainly heard of its most famous fundraising activity: the Vagina Monologues.A group of women in Second Life decided to stage the Vagina Monologues as part of fundraising activities for V-Day. They correctly approached vday.org, and were given permission to perform. Then things got messy. According to Lillie Yifu's excellent (but frequently NSFW) blog 2nd Sex HBO hold the copyright for broadcast versions of the play, and claim that Second Life is a broadcast rather than a theatrical performance medium. Whilst I can see their lawyer's point, I rather think they've missed the wider point of just why they are looking to do this.However, happily, all is not lost. The organisers have decided to host their own event, called In the Pink. If you would like to know more about this and get involved, or write for it there is a meeting on Tuesday 30th at 6pm SLTime in the VLS theatre sim.
"HBO on Broadband" to offer free downloads, live feed
Being an HBO subscriber is about to get a lot more appealing, as the Time Warner-owned pay channel giant is set to roll out a new service that allows subscribers to both download select content as well as view live feeds, all on their PCs. "HBO on Broadband," as the feature is called, will give HBO on Demand customers on Time Warner's Roadrunner network access to both the live east coast feed as well as numerous TV episodes and Hollywood films, although downloads expire after 12 weeks or less, and you can't natively transfer any of this video swag to a portable device. Mac support is also conspicuously absent here, but seeing how the offer is confined to Time Warner cable and broadband subscribers only in Wisconsin for now, anyway, it's quite possible that an OS X client (and 64-bit Windows one) will become available as more regions get switched on. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family][Thanks, Judith]
Real Time with Bill Maher goes HD on HBO
Granted, the 2008 premier of Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO wasn't one of his best performances, but it certainly looked better than shows prior. For those who didn't tune in, you'll likely be interested in knowing that it aired in 1080i for the first time. Now, if only we could get those writers back, everything would be lovely, eh?
HBO and New Line follow Warner into the Blu
As we continue to monitor the HD DVD and Blu-ray drama, today both HBO and New Line Cinema announced that they're leaving HD DVD behind and going exclusively Blu. The news shouldn't come as a shock to anyone though, seeing that both HBO and New Line's parent company is Warner, who made the Blu-ray jump last week. So, this means that starting now and through the foreseeable future, all HBO television shows as well as New Line releases will only come out on Blu-ray. We guess no more Sopranos HD DVDs for us.[Thanks, DjDATZ]
HBO hops on bandwagon, also going Blu-ray exclusive
Merely days after hearing New Line affirm that it would indeed be following Warner Bros. to the Blu side, we're now seeing confirmation that HBO (owned by Time Warner, which also owns Engadget's parent companies) will be making the same leap. According to reports, HBO Video president Henry McGee has stated that HBO will too be "following the same policy as Warner Home Video" -- though we can't really imagine anyone being shocked about the decision. The blows just keep on comin', eh?[Thanks, Utah]
Is New Line going Blu-ray exclusive, too?
While everyone's eyes have been (understandably) fixated on Warner's sudden -- but not completely unexpected -- leap to the Blu-ray wagon, we've been wondering what would happen to New Line (owned by Time Warner, which also owns Engadget's parent companies). As you know, the aforementioned studio is currently format neutral, simultaneously releasing such titles as Pan's Labyrinth on both HD DVD and Blu-ray, but new reports are suggesting that tables could be turning. According to a writeup over at Variety, it outright proclaims that "Warner sister company New Line confirmed it will shift allegiance to Blu-ray only as well." However, a conference call with Warner Home Entertainment President Kevin Tsujihara -- sat in on by High-Def Digest -- reportedly had the fearless leader stating that "[New Line and HBO would] make whatever decision they're going to make," and he concluded by noting that while those decisions should be handed down "very quickly," they "are not covered by the initial announcement." Quite honestly, we wouldn't be shocked in the slightest to see New Line declare its unending love for Blu and turn a cold shoulder to HD DVD, but it seems it hasn't got up the courage to actually do so quite yet.[Thanks, Ben]Read - New Line going Blu-ray exclusiveRead - New Line, HBO not covered in Warner announcement
HBO acquires Second Life documentary
Cable channel HBO has picked up the documentary Molotov's Dispatches in Search of the Creator: a Second Life Odyssey for airing sometime in 2008. The seven webisodes from Douglas Gayeton, totaling 35 minutes in length, showcase the virtual world of Second Life from the perspective of an in-game avatar.The documentary is still available on Molotov Alva's website. As Animation Magazine notes, the video could be eligible for submission to the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences for Best Animated Short (or perhaps Best Documentary). In the setting of machinima, however, who gets credit for the animation: Gayeton, SL creators Linden Labs, the residents featured in the film? Regardless, Molotov represents a major step in the field of machinima. [Via SL Insider]
HBO comedies renewed, still no mention of HD
HBO HD is one of the oldest HD channels; it goes back further than most HD viewers -- including even some of us. But despite getting into the game early, just like CBS they seem to be dragging their feet now. Sure they're going HD with 26 of their channels in the next year or so, but much of their original programming is still in SD. It's mostly comedies that don't get the HD treatment, but also great shows like Inside the NFL. We're sure they have plenty of excuses, but we're not hearing 'em. It doesn't look like it's going to change anytime soon either; Multichannel news is reporting that Real Time with Bill Maher just got renewed and a few HBO comedies like Curb Your Enthusiasm are right around the corner, but there isn't a single mention of HD. So come on HBO, it's past time for 24x7 HD, and while you're at it, stop cropping those movies.
HBO to use MPEG-4 and mandate a minimum bit-rate
In a world where almost all HD channels are distributed with MPEG-2, HBO has just announced that all 26 of their new HD channels will be MPEG-4. The stream will be 8 Mbps, and HBO has mandated that the provider not reduce the bit-rate. What they didn't say is, what the minimum will be for all those MPEG-2 networks that will no doubt transcode the signal rather than upgrade their entire network (including all the STBs). This is an obvious advantage to satellite providers who are already planning on deploying their new HD channels with MPEG-4; and for HBO who won't have to spend as much cash on bandwidth to distribute their feeds.
HBO to go HD on all 26 of their channels
Currently only two of HBO's channels are available in HD: HBO and Cinemax (they count both East and West as one). But today HBO's CEO Bill Nelson announced that HBO will upgrade all 26 of their channels to HD. They would also like to upgrade their video-on-demand service, but cite "copy-protection concerns relating to older HDTV sets." We're guessing he's referring to concerns about using "selectable output control," which could cause component outputs to be downconverted. The next obvious question is, who's going to carry all these new HD channels? And once again DirecTV is the only provider who has already announced carriage, but unfortunately they will only carry 10 of them. The new channels will start to roll out later this year, and all 26 are due by the end of Q2 2008.Full list after the break.
HDTV Listings for June 10, 2007
What we're watching: Even without Entourage we'll be watching HBO to see the season premiere of John from Cincinnati.Edit: Oh, yeah, and some show called The Sopranos is having its season finale, not that you may have heard of it or anything.Our traditional high-def listings continue below.
Win a Halo 3 Zune from HBO
The friendly faces over at halo.bungie.org have partnered with Bungie to give away four spiffy new Halo 3 branded Zunes. But be warned, you'll have to be somewhat creative to win one. To enter, you have to create a Halo video or song for one of the four categories including; Halo song parody, original Halo song, Halo 3 beta montage video, or Halo original machinima. One winner will be chosen from each category and become a proud owner of a Halo 3 Zune. Yes, you'll have to work for it, but we know you guys are creative and have some down time to get an entry finished. So, with the only words of encouragement we can offer, get to work already and win yourself a Haloicious Zune!
New Halo 2 maps get ripped apart
The new Halo 2 maps Tombstone and Desolation have been released for like, what, 30 hours and are already being torn apart. Over at Halo.bungie.org the legendary Mr. Wu posted a bunch of links cataloging all the glitches and easter eggs surrounding the two new maps, including an original Halo pistol sighting. And yes, you can pick it up via modding. People have even found a way to get out of the map in Tombstone, avoiding the instant kill barriers that float above head. Poor new Halo 2 maps ... you didn't even stand a chance.
Fan created Halo 3 theme song
Halo fanboy at heart, Chris Orgeron and his band created what they thought Halo 3's theme song should sound like. It's a lot more heavy on the rock side of things, but still incorporates the original Halo theme song feel featuring the "druid-like" moaning. Second thought, it seems to hit more onto Halo 2's mood with guitar in full force. Give it a listen and tell us what you think. Or are you a purist and think Bungie should just go back to an old school Halo theme song feel?
Today's most therapeutic video: Simpsons 'GTA Parody'
Maybe if Doctor Melfi tried this with Tony Soprano, he could've worked out his anger issues without that near-death experience. Nothing soothes the angry nerves of the savage beast like a few rounds of a GTA-like game. Of course, you need to be careful you don't carry it over into the real world. Whenever we play GTA for hours (days) and then finally get in a car, it is so tempting not just fly off a ramp and bypass traffic. No idea what system they're gaming on either ... just check out all the buttons on Bart's controller. It's like the red-headed stepchild of the Dreamcast that never came to fruition and only exists as some ideas doodled on a napkin at a Japanese karaoke bar somewhere.
