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Low def trailers for High Def content on XBLM
Most of you know by now that movies and TV shows are coming to Xbox Live Marketplace on November 22nd (just one day shy of the Lost Planet multiplayer demo!). To promote this momentous occasion, a few trailers have been put up on Marketplace, featuring previews of what you'll be able to download. Yesterday, it was a Paramount Pictures preview, and today it's MTV. Naturally, these videos are there to promote all the high definition content you'll be able to buy starting on Thanksgiving eve. Why then are these videos so damned ugly? The Paramount download wasn't great but it was passable. Now, the MTV video ... well, we've seen higher resolutions on YouTube. Seriously, it's a pixelated mess, like watching something on SEGA CD. What's funny is that we actually grabbed the "HD" version of the video. Let's hope this is a mistake and not an indication of what we can expect from the video Marketplace.Anyone grab the UFC trailers? Are they any better?
Microsoft's Xbox Live Video: HDTV and HD movie downloads for your 360
This may sound a bit familiar to those paying close attention, but on November 22nd -- the year anniversary for the Xbox 360 -- Microsoft is announcing something fairly momentus, not for the gaming community, but for the CE industry. The Xbox 360, along with Akimbo, will be among the first mass-market devices able to download high def television programs -- and the first we know of in the states able to download HD movies. The service is called Xbox Live Video, and the fall update enables customers to spend their Microsoft points on standard and HD television from CBS, MTV, Comedy Central, VH1, Turner, and UFC, as well as HD movies from Warner Bros., Paramount, and so on. We're still a little in shock, ourselves, that Microsoft was able to in one fell swoop hit TiVo, Apple, Netflix, and a handful of others, but looking at Live over the last year, the move isn't that massively surprising. Of course, not even the vision of on-demand HD movies and TV downloads in six million homes at the flick of a switch could be without its variety of niggling concerns; being that we all know the devil's in the details, click on to get the particulars of the service.
Paramount reveals World Trade Center Blu-ray, HD DVD extras
Paramount is releasing Oliver Stone's epic World Trade Center on DVD, Blu-ray and HD DVD simultaneously on December 12th. The flick will also be Paramount's first on a BD-50 disc, and they plan to make the experience worth it with lots of HD extras. Still no word on any potential differences between the HD DVD and Blu-ray releases, it appears they will have the same content and MSRP ($39.99). Both have the same 1080p 128-minute film and Dolby Digital Plus soundtracks, plus all the extras of the two-disc DVD set, with certain ones available in HD. The high-def extras include a three-part making of, Q&A with the director, the original theatrical trailer and more. These are the type of extras we expect to see on many new movies going forward, settling for only 480i DVD content isn't very next-gen at all.This title has been added to our Google Release CalendarsHD DVD:Blu-ray:
Warner and Paramount to produce BD-50 discs
Sony Pictures isn't the only Blu-ray studio producing the elusive BD-50 discs, Warner and Paramount has confirmed that they too have dual-layer Blu-ray movies coming out soon. Two of the seven titles Warner announced yesterday, The Searches and Unforgiven, are going to be encoded on the 50GB flavors along with World Trade Center from Paramount. These titles mark the first commitment from both studios to the higher capacity discs. While we know the Warner titles are coming out on October 31, there isn't any release info just yet for World Trade Center but as always, we'll let you know once we hear something.
Remastered high-def Star Trek details
Paramount Television has confirmed plans to remaster the original Star Trek series in high definition, despite not having plans to broadcast it that way yet. The lack of HD Star Trek broadcasts is simply because most stations don't have space to store the episodes before they're aired several days later, but whenever the equipment is ready, the episodes will be as well. They're promising to remain faithful to the original series, and not to change any key elements in the programs, just adding things like a missing phaser beam, a new CGI Enterprise for external shots, and an updated picture of Earth. The show will be broadcast in 4x3, with 40 episodes shown each year. It will take about a year to remaster all 79 episodes, which begin airing September 16th, with "Balance of Terror".[Thanks, Tom]Read - Enterprise Wasn't Bumped for Trek, Says Nogawski - Broadcasting & CableRead - TOS Remastered - The Trek Movie Report
Paramount officially announces M:i:III simultaneous Blu-ray, HD DVD & DVD release
We may be able to forgive Paramount for the relatively small number of high-def discs they plan to release this year as they have announced what appears to be only the second tri-format day-and-date release on Blu-ray, HD DVD & DVD, after The Lake House. Mission: Impossible III will come on HD DVD with all the special features we told you about on the same day as the standard-def DVD release, but it will also come out on Blu-ray complete with high-def extras, DD+ soundtracks and all...except for the HD DVD-exclusive picture-in-picture enhanced commentary from star Tom Cruise and director J.J. Abrams. The MSRP is set at $19.99 for the standard DVD, $24.99 for the collectors edition, and $29.99 for both HD DVD and Blu-ray. Blu-ray fans finally have a blockbuster to look forward to this winter, unfortunately they're still coming up short on the extras, we have to wonder if the home release of Superman Returns will suffer the same cuts.
Paramount's Mission: Impossible III HD DVD-bound, with HD special features
While Paramount isn't bringing that many titles to the HD DVD party this year, one of its biggest summer movies is making the trip. Mission: Impossible III was announced for the format at yesterday's DVD Forum meeting, with date and other specifics yet undetermined Paramount did state all the extras were filmed in HD -- a welcome change from the 480i SD extras that have largely accompanied releases so far -- and that it will take advantage of HD DVD's picture-in-picture feature to show video commentary from the director as the movie continues to play. Also mentioned was The Look and Sound of Perfect marketing campaign, set to roll out online ads this week, a bus tour leaving Denver in mid-September, and television spots to follow in the fourth quarter. We're still hoping for a day-and-date release with the DVD version but that remains to be seen.
HD DVD supporters talk Q4 '06 and beyond
Microsoft wasn't the only one with something to show off yesterday, the rest of the HD DVD camp was on hand to show off what they've done in the months since launch and what we can expect for the rest of the year. On the hardware side there is of course the Xbox 360 drive, as well as Toshiba's HD-A1 and HD-XA1 players already on shelves. A Toshiba exec stated the cheaper A1 is outselling its more expensive counterpart by a ratio of 5-1, although that may not mean much as it is much more widely available. Depending on who you ask, Warner Home Video exec Steve Nickerson either said there are as many HD DVD players sold as there were DVD players in all of 1997, or that there will be by the end of this year. Seeing as there were about 300,000 DVD players sold in '97 and HD DVD is still in the "tens of" range, we'll go with the latter interpretation.As far as software, Paramount Home Entertainment, New Line Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Entertainment and Warner Home Video were all on hand, however New Line does not expect to release any discs on either format until early 2007. Warner will release between 35 and 50 additional titles by the end of this year, 60 total from Universal, while Paramount expects to "probably double" its ten movies currently available by the end of this year. All in all they expect as many as 150 HD DVD discs for consumers to choose from in 2006. We can still look forward to limited availability of interactive additional features on discs this year as the studios continue to gauge customer reaction to the new technology to predict what will work best in 2007.Even with all the positivity and good consumer reactions, it's hard to ignore that HD DVD is still talking thousands, while Blu-ray will be saying millions after the PS3 launch in November. [Via AVS Forum]
HD DVD and Blu-ray released on August 1st 2006
Tomorrows four new Warner titles mark the begging of their Blu-ray support. Only one hasn't also been released on HD DVD, so they are sure to kick off tons of comparisons between the two formats. Many people are predicting that the Warner titles will also be MPEG2 despite the same titles being previously released for HD DVD using VC-1. Paramount got off to a late start for HD DVD, but they seem to be in high gear now with 3 more titles this week to add to their four from last week. They like Warner are carrying the flag for their respective formats. Despite the number of studios backing Blu-ray, they haven't been able to make much head way in catching up to the number of titles HD DVD has released. HD DVD has twice as many titles and Blu-ray is only adding one more title than HD DVD this week it would take a very long time for them to catch up, nevertheless pass them, as many might have thought. We're not sure what happened to those titles Erik told us about last week, but according to our sources and Amazon they have yet to be released.This brings the total to HD DVD 48 vs Blu-ray 24.Blu-ray Good Night, and Good Luck (Warner) Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (Warner) Rumor Has It... (Warner) Training Day (Warner) HD DVD Four Brothers (Paramount) The Manchurian Candidate (2004) (Paramount) We Were Soldiers (Paramount)
Sleepy Hollow HD DVD review roundup
They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder and nowhere does that appear to be more true than in reviews of Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow as released on HD DVD by Paramount. One thing that seems to be shared by all the reviews we read is that in this case the source material, with dark, largely colorless backgrounds and very present film grain. It's not the kind of movie that you look at in high definition and it practically jumps off the screen in 3D at you, making it a difficult choice for the format. However in the three reviews we found plus a discussion on AVS Forum, reactions to the quality of Paramount's 1080p VC-1 encoded effort varied widely.
Paramount's HD DVD movie releases rescheduled: July 25
After being rather unceremoniously dropped with no release date in sight, Paramount's HD DVD lineup is now back on track with the first four movies due July 25th. Those movies will be Sahara, Tomb Raider, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow and Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow. A week later on August 1, Four Brothers, We Were Soldiers and The Manchurian Candidate follow, with U2: Rattle and Hum, Aeon Flux and The Italian Job rounding things out on the 10th. No word on any special features for any of the movies yet, although they will all carry an MSRP of $29.95. The only movies included in their High Definition Series yet to get a release date are the Mission: Impossible trilogy, hopefully girding for a day-and-date release with M:i:III later this year. The high-def trailers looked great on Apple.com, Super Bowl commercials and Xbox Live.It's a little behind the original schedule, but we finally have a third major player in the HD DVD camp. Like their counterparts over at Warner, Paramount has not yet announced a Blu-ray release schedule although they are expected to support both formats.
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.
Seven major studios line up to sell movies online
We have no idea why they chose today to do it, but today seven major movie studios announced they'll be selling movies online through Movielink and CinemaNow. Warner Bros, Universal, Sony, Paramount, Fox, and MGM will all be distributing first-run titles online -- definitely something they've never done before -- through Movielink for between 20 and 30 bones (way, way too much if you ask us), with older movies going for between $10 and $20. Lionsgate (and Sony) also announced distribution through CinemaNow. Really this was only a matter of time -- for these guys it was either sell these things online DRMed all to hell for way too much money (see above), go the subscription route (like Vongo, for example -- not likely) or continue whining without any justification whatsoever about pirates stealing movies in the Internet. At least now they can say they've legitimately offered their digital content up online (hey, you can even make a DVD backup for use only on Movielink-authorized computers), even though they still can't account for the artificial demand they try to create by releasing movies for purchase months after the films have gone out of theater.[Thanks, Phil]
HD-DVD will launch with more of a whimper than a bang
We started to hear rumors that HD-DVD movies might not be delivered in March and now it looks like our nightmares have come true. Warner Home Video was the only studio at CES to announce a firm date for it's titles and now they say that they may be a few weeks late due to technical issues. Walmart was taking pre-orders and have had to cancel the orders and Best Buy pulled the item from their ad. At this point Warner is the only studio that has announced a firm release date and it seems impossible that Paramount or Universal will have any movies out within 6 weeks after they announce a firm date. Assuming that Blu-Ray doesn't have the same problems, the first to market advantage that it seemed HD-DVD had is rapidly slipping away. Not to mention the fact that Toshiba is the only manufacture to announce a release date for a HD-DVD player. I will buy a HD-DVD as soon as there are at least 10 movies for rent at Netflix, but I don't think I will replace my DVD collection just yet. On second thought, I will start selling them on EBay now! Via [HDBlog]
Paramount announces Blu-ray, HD-DVD titles
Well, CES is here and that means plenty of Blu-ray and HD-DVD announcements, even if we still don't know exactly when we will have players for either format yet. Paramount has announced mirrored launch lineups for their "Paramount High Definition" series. It will be interesting to see how available selection plays into the format battle brewing for 2006."The titles scheduled for launch include recent hits such as "Four Brothers" and "Sahara," sci-fi thrillers "Aeon Flux" and "Sky Captain & the World of Tomorrow," action-adventures "The Italian Job" and "Tomb Raider," the renowned music documentary "U2: Rattle and Hum" and Tim Burton's "Sleepy Hollow." Rounding out the debut slate are "We Were Soldiers" and "Manchurian Candidate" starring Academy Award(R) winners Mel Gibson and Denzel Washington, respectively.The 2006 line-up continues with the debut of a "Mission Impossible" trilogy for HD DVD which includes the new "Mission Impossible 3," "Mission Impossible" and "Mission Impossible 2," scheduled for later in the year."The only one of these movies I'm looking forward to is "The Italian Job", love that Marky Mark guy.
