support
Latest
Best Buy's not shy about Blu-ray's victory
It's obviously not a secret that Blu-ray came out on top of the world's most recent physical media scuffle, but Best Buy's Canadian branch is most certainly not being subtle about announcing said fact. The main splash screen currently on the site grabs your attention with "Format War Over: Blu-ray Wins! We've got your Blu-ray needs covered." Sheesh -- tell the world how you really feel, why don'tcha?
Warner still releasing HD DVDs until May 31st
No need to sound the alarms. We definitely assumed that Warner would continue to release HD DVDs until May 31st -- even after the format completely fell apart -- but thanks to DVDTown, now we've got a nice cushion of confirmation. According to "studio sources" that spoke with the site, the outfit will indeed continue pushing out red flicks as promised until June dawns, after which it will crank out Blu-ray Discs alone unless demand necessitates any restocking of older HD DVD titles. Nothing new here, but nice to know Warner won't be ditching the failed format early.
Onkyo pulling the plug on future HD DVD development
The writing was already on the wall, but it looks as if Onkyo actually won't be pursuing the long lost HD DVD format any longer. According to a Japanese report at Yomiuri Online, the firm will be discontinuing production of HD DVD players following Toshiba's own decision to abandon the format, but it will continue to provide service for customers that already snapped up the DV-HD805. Interestingly, there was no mention of Onkyo's plans in regard to Blu-ray, but nevertheless, yet another red supporter has definitely waved its white flag. [Via Widescreen Review, image courtesy of Bret Philpot]
LG not ditching HD DVD just yet, hopes to accommodate early adopters
Shortly after Samsung stated its intentions to focus on Blu-ray in the future, along comes LG looking out for those guinea pigs who've already started building up a respectable HD DVD library. Reportedly, the firm stated that it felt it "necessary to provide a player which supports both formats and therefore creates simplicity and convenience for the existing HD DVD consumer." Furthermore, Daniel Aziz, marketing manager for LG Electronics, was quoted as saying that Toshiba's announcement "does not rule out HD DVD immediately, as there are still a number of consumers who have chosen HD DVD and begun to build a HD DVD collection." 'Course, we wouldn't try to read between any lines here -- it seems that LG won't be yanking its combo players anytime soon, but there's no doubt it understands that the future is Blu.[Via HighDefDigest, thanks JoseB]
Toshiba pulling the plug on HD DVD already? - Yup it's over.
Japan's NHK has followed up The Hollywood Reporter's earlier indications Toshiba was ready to dump its money-losing HD DVD business, with news that the company is prepared to cease manufacturing software and hardware, at a loss of hundreds of millions of dollars. This caps the worst week ever for red, when HD DVD was dumped by Netflix and Wal-mart, pushed to the background by Best Buy and put on -- an apparently incredibly short -- deathwatch right here. Toshiba is mum on the subject right now, but we hear there's plenty of cheap players and movies in a dumpster around back of the HQ. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in; via Reuters; warning, Japanese read link]Update: Along with an English translation of the NHK's article (Thanks sfditty!) comes additional confirmation from Reuters sources, it's a wrap. Toshiba is shutting down its DVD manufacturing facilities in Aomori Prefecture, Japan, while official word is expected "soon".
Solving recent connection issues
Many of us, both in and outside of the United States, have been having serious connection issues with the game recently. Not only can we not connect to the game, but we can't even get on the main World of Warcraft website. This can be particularly infuriating because we can't go and find help. When I got dropped in the middle of Kael'Thas (the real fight, not the weeksauce one in Magisters' Terrace), I wanted to take my computer out to a field and yell obscenities at it about PC load letter.WoW Insider feels your pain! After all, imagine having to write about WoW only to find out you can't get into WoW.I wanted to answer a lot of the comments about what people can do. First and foremost, we're not Blizzard. So we can't really say for sure what's going on. We can make educated guesses through. Continue reading after the break for what you can do and where you can go to solve this problem.
Lots of connectivity issues tonight [Updated]
The world server is apparently going up and down, and many servers are experiencing connectivity issues. Blizzard lists the realms that are not working well at the start up screen. But as I'm finding out over on Anvilmar, the problem has spread there too.According Isradun, multiple realms are being restarted now. There are additional posts on the WoW Realm Status forums that indicate they've already been at this for a while. However, as I've tested, no fix appears to be working perfectly yet.We'll keep this post updated for you with the latest.Update, 12:05 a.m. EST: Apparently the realm issues are subsiding, although no Blizzard update yet. Some reports are still trickling in of issues in the Nightfall and Reckoning battlegroups.Update, 12:18 a.m. EST: Blizzard saw what I said and decided to start crashing realms again. Multiple Tech Support Forum posts report things are not well, again.Update, 1:08 a.m. EST: Everything appears to be working now. Blizzard has removed the opening announcement, and the spam on the forums has quited down. Enjoy the night!
Kaleidescape to gain Blu-ray support
When we spoke with Kaleidescape representatives at CEDIA last year, they had absolutely no idea when HD DVD or Blu-ray would be supported in their systems. Fast forward a few months, and we may have an answer. An anonymous tipster from Kscapeowners has informed us that Kaleidescape will be announcing to dealers in the not-too-distant future that Blu-ray support will be added. Of course, it's also noted that some studios may charge more for the right to copy Blu-ray Discs to a Kaleidescape system, but it's not like that was unexpected. Who knows, maybe this is what managed copy is all about, after all.[Thanks, anonymous tipster]Update: Sure looks official from this.Update 2: Head on past the break to see the official note sent out to dealers. Thanks, Michael!
Universal Pictures Australasia releasing 20 HD DVD titles in 2008
In a move not totally shocking considering Ken Graffeo's sentiments shared just days ago, Universal Pictures Australasia has come forward and announced that it will continue backing HD DVD by promising some 20 titles on the format in 2008. According to the release, consumers in Australia and New Zealand can look forward to picking up Atonement, The Kingdom, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, American Gangster and Charlie Wilson's War on HD DVD later this year. Unfortunately, none of the other flicks making up the previously mentioned "20" were detailed, so it looks as if we'll be waiting in tense anticipation for release dates and titles for the majority of the bunch.[Via iTWire, thanks Anthony B.]
All the World's a Stage: A little help from my friends
All the World's a Stage is a column for cooperative minds, playing with roles every Sunday evening. Roleplaying a new character can be hard, even for advanced roleplayers. Usually you only begin with the fragment of a character, some vague idea of what you want your character to be like. Even if you have a pretty clear idea of your character already in mind, you may discover that actually playing that role in communication with others causes issues to come up that you never could have thought of all on your own.Thankfully, roleplaying is a cooperative activity. Unlike PvE and PvP, there is no "versus" in RP. Even if two characters are bitter nemeses, still their characters must cooperate with one another to share an interesting story. Otherwise, they will find themselves "god-modding," or roleplaying in such a way that they don't give one another any room to improvise. (Two god-modders may fight something like this, using custom emotes: "Darkmystery stabs Elfman and cuts out his heart," followed by, "Elfman dodges Darkmystery's sword and then rips his head off," and so on.) These people aren't really roleplaying in the same way that two people shouting at each other in different languages are not really communicating. Roleplaying's very nature requires that each person work together with every other person, or else it isn't really roleplaying at all.Though the rare "god-modder" can attract a lot of attention, in fact most roleplayers are quite eager to cooperate and assist one another as much as possible. For every one drama queen or king who simply must be the center of attention at all times, there are 5 roleplayers standing in the background listening quietly, wishing that someone else would talk, and 15 more who went off to roleplay their own stories instead. Most roleplayers reach out to each other for support, suggestions, background story ideas, and are more than willing to lend a helping hand in these areas to anyone who asks. Such mutual reciprocity forms the foundation of what roleplaying is all about.
Become a professional MetaPlace guru
Want to work for Raph Koster?If you have some object-oriented programming experience and a "familiarity with game and user-interface design," you may apply for a job as a Content Designer at Areae. If hired, you'll provide the MetaPlace community with game content as well as support and documentation for the MetaPlace toolset. Plus, you'll get to be one of Master Koster's Padawan learners.For those who are unfamiliar with Koster or MetaPlace, Koster was the lead designer of Ultima Online and Star Wars Galaxies. He also worked on some other SOE projects, and wrote the book A Theory of Fun for Game Design. Now, he's helming the Areae project MetaPlace, which is a platform on which users can create their own online games and virtual worlds.[Via Raph Koster]
Users plagued with mysterious PSP Store errors
A number of people are having trouble using the PSP Store. A thread on the PlayStation Forums shows the growing frustrations of those that have met error 80048516. They rightfully purchased content from the Store, and simply cannot transfer the data over to their systems. Some users complain they've purchased over $30 worth of content that they're no longer able to access.Calls to PlayStation support lines have left the users frustrated at the seeming lack of a solution. Constant days of "research" on their part seems to suggest only one solution: returning the system for a new one. We haven't encountered issues with the Store on our end, but we also don't manage more than one license at a time per system. A word of warning: don't deactive your PSP systems unless you really mean it! And don't try having multiple licenses (from different territories, for example) on your system.We wish the best of luck to those affected, and hope to have an update regarding their situation in the near future.[Thanks, Hashbrown_Hunter!]
OTA antenna sales skyrocket, cable subscribers jump ship
One could certainly argue the actual link between OTA antenna sales going through the roof while some one million cable subscribers decided to ditch their service this year, but nevertheless, that's exactly what has happened. Richard Schneider, President of Antennas Direct, saw his Terrestrial Digital brand of antenna sales "triple" during the same time period in which the cable industry lost two-percent of its market share, and while there's a very real possibility some of those folks opted for fiber or satellite-based alternatives, we've no doubt that some just decided to make do with the crystal clear, uncompressed HD locals; furthermore, new satellite subscribers in areas without HD locals would be awfully tempted to pick up an OTA antenna to complement their service. Of course, teaching the HD illiterate how to install and use one is a whole 'nother matter.
Nintendo of Japan calling it quits on Famicom hardware support
It's an end of an era, we suppose. No longer can you bash up your Famicom for flatly refusing to entertain your cartridge of choice and expect Nintendo of Japan to fix it up all pretty for you, like it's been doing for the past 20+ years. For whatever reason, Nintendo has been providing hardware support for the Famicom since its inception, which certainly seems a little extreme, but who's complaining? That support is finally ending, along with support for the Super Famicom, Nintendo 64, Game Boy and Game Boy Pocket -- relative newcomers to the console game when pitted against grandpa Famicom. Repairs will officially end on October 31st, and the reasoning is pretty simple: there just aren't enough spare parts laying around to make the repairs. Nintendo of America stopped supporting the NES a few years back, so this really is the end of the line. Oh, and Nintendo would like to take this opportunity to remind you that it wouldn't mind at all if you give it money again to repurchase your old favorites on the Wii's Virtual Console -- now that's service.[Via Advanced MN Wii]
Apple limits iPhone service to AT&T account holders
If you buy an iPhone and don't have AT&T service, it looks like Apple will be treating your iPhone as an iPod--with no 2 year service guarantee or even, for that matter, a 90-day service plan. Jake Dugard cancelled his iPhone account receiving poor AT&T reception. When his phone stopped working properly shortly after, he was told that Apple would not service his phone. Repairs depend on an active agreement. It makes sense to me that Apple offers a much longer service time for under-contract iPhones than it does for iPods, but it doesn't make any sense that a no-contract iPhone isn't covered at least under the iPod's one complimentary support incident within the first 90 days of product ownership.Dugard and/or his friends apparently recorded his service calls but, as an update, has now removed them for the time being from public view. If you followed the earlier link and cannot find them, that is why.Thanks to iPhoned HomeUpdate: Quoting the relevant text: "iPhone comes with one year of hardware repair service coverage and up to two years of technical support during the time your wireless agreement remains active with AT&T."Update 2: Apple 1 Year Limited AT&T warranty here. Have at it. (Thanks to Kai Cherry)Update 3: An anonymous iPhone Product Special writes in: "During the first 90 days of ownership, iPhone customers experience unlimited support. For all active AT&T account holders, iPhone customers continue to receive unlimited support for the duration of their iPhone's 2 year service agreement. If a customer discontinues their AT&T service before the 90 days of complimentary support, they are still provided with support, and then covered by the 1 year hardware warranty, during which, if they call for support, have a pay-per-incident charge." /p>
Show your support for Hordes or Allies
These are awesome, and yes, I wish I could buy one, too. Cypher shows off these ribbons she made over on livejournal, and says that whenever she drives around with the Horde one on her car, fellow Hordies scream "For the Horde" at her as she drives by. Sounds about right! For the Horde!But she says she made them for her and her roommate-- does she keep them both on the same car? I don't know how the whole "Blizzard-created logo" copyright thing would work (and I'm not quite down with putting stickers on my car), but selling both of these as magnets would be a great idea. Very awesome.
iPhone 101: Phone Support
When it comes to Phone support, Apple isn't exactly known for its generous terms. iPod owners can call once within the first 90 days of ownership, for example. So isn't it nice to know that Apple offers two years of complimentary technical support for your iPhone? Of course, it comes with restrictions. You have an active AT&T wireless plan subscription to qualify for support--although Apple doesn't specify which wireless plans qualify. To receive support during those two years, just call 1-800-MY-IPHONE. (That's 1-800-694-7466 if the translate-from-letters-to-numbers thing doesn't appeal to you.)Update: The following graph comes straight from the Apple iPhone Applecare page
HTC opens 'HTC Care' customer service center in Taiwan
While AT&T went and hired an extra 2,000 or so customer care representatives in preparation for the iPhone launch and Sprint gave its CSRs a rest by nixing some 1,200 customers, HTC is hoping that a new support facility in Taipei will boost awareness and trust in the brand. Reportedly, the center will provide customers in Taiwan with a comprehensive range of services including "personalized consultations on new and existing HTC products, warranty repairs, and other valuable after-sales support." Notably, the HTC Care facility promises "speedy turn-around times" for all items sent in for repair, and unlike Apple's $29 rental fee, HTC customers can look forward to a free loaner should their handset fall ill. Click on through for more snapshots of the sparklin' facility.
My Movies 2 adds support for HD DVD / Blu-ray
Would you look at this -- the My Movies plug-in from the days of yore is finally getting updated to play nice with ripped HD DVD and Blu-ray titles. Also new to the v2.31 release is improved folder monitoring, metadata updating via the web, the ability to automatically attach HD DVD and Blu-ray cover underlays for HD DVD and Blu-ray covers, and moreover, a smorgasbord of bugs have been fixed from the prior version. To take a gander at the (admittedly lengthy) list of updates and fixes, be sure to hit the read link after safely securing your spectacles, and try out the download if you think this will make your movie management chores a bit less involved.[Via eHomeUpgrade]
Retailers seek to promote HD DVD / Blu-ray titles equally
My, how things have changed in just a few short months. While we once groused over retailers not devoting enough attention to high-definition film, it wasn't too long before the SACD and DVD-A kiosks were canned (hey, it's our best guess, anyway) and HD DVD / Blu-ray titles received expanded exposure. Now that both formats are still holding (relatively) strong, it looks like the major players are seeking to provide an equal amount of promotion for each "until customers tell them they shouldn't." Jim Litwak, president and CEO at Trans World, was even quoted as saying that while Blu-ray sales were currently trumping HD DVD, "the customer is still saying that they want HD DVD." Firms such as Amazon, Best Buy, and Virgin Metastores were all noted as companies unwilling to "snub" one format while the war raged on, and that sits just fine with us.
