Sopranos
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It's not TV, it's HBO Go, and it's finally coming to Cablevision
Being a Cablevision customer was hard. Watching your colleagues with FiOS subscriptions stream Carnivale on their iPads, the guy who pays Dish Network for his programming could get Cinemax on his smartphone -- and all you had was YouTube for entertainment. Fortunately, the final major provider not to carry Home Box Office's online services has relented and you'll be able to enjoy both HBO Go and Go Max as soon as it's launched in "the next few months." Just remember that while you can now enjoy all those episodes of True Blood in public places, it doesn't necessarily mean that you should.
Official: HBO arrives on iTunes, standard pricing be damned
It's official. HBO content just entered the digital halls of iTunes with variable pricing. Episodes of Rome and The Sopranos pop for $2.99 while The Wire and Sex and the City (yes the complete series) go for the iTunes "standard" pricing of $1.99. We just fired-up iTunes and confirmed it just like the rumor predicted. With Apple backing down from its strict, flat-rate pricing policy, don't be surprised to see additional content from previously iTunes-shy providers arriving in succession.Update: Deadwood ($2.99) and Flight of the Conchords ($1.99) are also available with "much more" apparently in the works.Update 2: Apple just released the PR.[Thanks, Turki]
Play the Sopranos online, win $100K
A&E is really promoting the fact that they're showing rebroadcasts of The Sopranos by rolling out an online game with a $100,000 prize -- which literally comes in a suitcase full of cash. That might be pocket change to Tony, but could buy you some serious game bling.You search the web for ads pimping the show, which will unlock new pieces for you in the game. Now, the truly freaky part is that some ads appear offline in magazines, on billboards, etc., and you can take pictures of them with your camera phone (and we're hoping plain ol' digital cams as well) and email them in. They use optical recognition to figure out which ad you've found. Freaky, eh?You get points each time the character pieces you have appear onscreen, and you have to decide how to place them on your board to score the most points. The game is also tied to your time zone, so it knows for example when Meadow is onscreen in your neighborhood. Soon they'll just be coming into your house to turn on the television and make you watch, Clockwork Orange-style.Your best bet is to sign up, start surfing, and watch the premiere Sopranos episodes on Wednesdays. Insert your favorite "fuhgedddaboudit" joke here.
A&E HD is back; now with the Sopranos
Evidently we missed the launch of A&E HD earlier this year, it showed up in Tampa a week or two ago and we have to say we are not impressed. So far it's nothing but upconverts just like TNT HD, but without as much HD, if that is even possible. The launch was without much fanfare and is only available in select cities. Those of you might remember Bravo HD the first time A&E HD launched and was eventually changed into the Universal HD. It appears that they weren't happy with the amount of advertisers attracted to the network, which includes Bose and a few exercise machines, so they go the simulcast route as ESPN and TNT have done before them. Here at Engaget HD we are always happy to see new HD stations come online, but are skeptical till they start to deliver and today we see the first indication that A&E HD will as they announce plans to broadcast the Sopranos in HD. The first two seasons will be in 16x9 SD, similar to Fox Widecreen, with the remainder to be presented in HD. As excited as we are to enjoy the Sopranos in HD all over again, we are little curious to see how well they deal with the content not fit for A&E.
The Sopranos Season 6 hitting Blu-ray, HD DVD December 19th
We thought HBO and Warner might be up to something when they delayed the debut of The Sopranos Season 6: Part 1 from its original November launch date on HD DVD. We don't know if they were just waiting for the PlayStation 3, impressed by the improving quality of Blu-ray releases or what, but now the 4-disc, 12 episode boxed set is back and set to go on sale for both high definition formats December 19th. With a steep MSRP of $129.95 this could make an expensive Christmas gift for the well-connected HDTV owner in your life, but isn't The Family worth it?[Via MovieWeb]
Scarface blows off the Xbox 360
Say goodbye to Tony Montana's little friend. Scarface has joined the Sopranos on the hit list of gangland adaptations that won't be coming to the Xbox 360. Should we be sad that Vivendi didn't have the cash to bring us the world and everything in it, or happy that we've been spared a crappy, last-gen port a la the Godfather?
Sopranos 360 takes a dirt nap
The latest next-gen casualty appears to be the 360 version of THQ's upcoming Sopranos game. Gamespot reports that the HBO mob series will only see a PlayStation 2 release ... for now. According to Wired magazine's Game|Life blog, the company decided to pull the team off the 360 version and put all focus on the PS2 release. And why would they do that? Apparently, the 360 version wasn't lookin' so hot. They paraphrase Game Informer as saying, "The company claimed that the next-gen version didn't look all that much better than the PlayStation 2 version, so why not focus both teams on one project?"Game|Life then goes on to point out a good guess by a GAF poster: that perhaps THQ is merely delaying a 360 Sopranos because a holiday launch would have been shaky with teams split in two. Maybe once the PS2 title is released, all focus can return to puttin' a little polish on that next-gen version. Certainly by that time, the install base for the 360 would have increased, thereby stuffing everyone's pockets with more money. As Mos Def says, it's all mathematics.[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]
Sopranos 360 gets whacked
Fans of the North Jersey mob can fuggedabout playing the Sopranos on La Console Nostra. Gamespot reports that THQ whacked the Xbox 360 version of the game for what appears to be cold-hearted financial reasons -- putting a bullet in the dreams of HBO subscibers who had high hopes for this project. The title will now be a PS2 exclusive and, most likely, licensed crap.
Kaz: 15 titles for launch
Sony's Kaz Hirai commented to news site Bloomberg that he expects the company's Playstation 3 to launch with 15 titles this November. This is in contrast to what some third-party higher-ups have been saying, including Sega's Simon Jeffrey and THQ's Brian Farrell. Jeffrey's argument stems from third parties apparently not receiving finalized dev kits yet, which is reportedly supposed to occur this month, where Farrell's recent comments towards choosing to not release a version of the upcoming Sopranos game on the system as it is "too risky" to attempt without final hardware specs form the basis for his disagreement.
Jan 8: What's on HDTV today
What we're watching: If you know me on a Sunday night, you know it's all about Grey's Anatomy, back with a new episode after taking a week off. *shrug*, I'm at work when General Hospital is on and I gotta get my fill of soap opera-y doctoring. It's even one of Sarah's Top 5 of 2005. I'm probably going to have to hand in my man card if anyone finds out I read the fake blog of one of the characters.Edit: Oops, looks like the Grey's Anatomy ep is one of those lame recap episodes, feel free to skip if you're up to speed already. (Thanks Bill K)If Grey's isn't your speed, HBO has The Sopranos followed up by Deadwood in glistening 1080i, and I hear that in surround sound you can actually tell what the people in Deadwood are saying. Crazy, I know. After the jump is our traditional listing of HD programs throughout the night.
