HD Movies
This whole HD-DVD vs Blu-ray thing is absolutely pitiful. Here we’ve got a bunch of asshole movie studios, tv producers, etc. refusing to pay the writers who are responsible for everything they make. On top of that, we’ve got mostly the same bunch of assholes who couldn’t come to a decision on a standard to replace DVD. And finally, we’ve got the same assholes suing people left and right claiming piracy costs them over $6 billion per year.
Whatever. Maybe you’re losing money because, as I’ve mentioned already, you’re all a bunch of rich fucking assholes that nobody wants to give their money to. I’ve done my research when it comes to the WGA strike, and the writers have every right in the world to be pissed. What’s more, they were actually willing to work through their current shit contract. It’s not as if they’ve got a contract, and they want to renegotiate. No, their contract ran out, and they’re wanting a new, better one. But the execs aren’t willing to give them anything reasonable. Basically, they’re just a bunch of rich, greedy bastards.
As for the HD formats, it’s hilarious to me that the movie studios ever consider themselves to be for consumers. When I got my TV, I got a PS3 also, because it seemed to suit me best. It would give me access to PS3 games and Blu-ray movies both, which sounded pretty appealing. However, most of the Blu-Ray lineup sucks, and I don’t own a single PS3 game. In the same time, I’ve bought four 360 games. What a mistake that was. Hopefully the games will stop sucking, but as far as movies, I certainly should have gone with HD-DVD. One way or another, two formats is dumb, and it’s horrible for consumers.
The sooner the studios embrace reasonably priced, reasonably versatile HD downloads (and I’m talking 1080p), the sooner I might start to think they actually know what they’re doing. I wanted to buy Transformers in HD, but it’s not on Blu-ray. That’s cool, I figured, I’ve got a TiVo, so I’ll download it on Unbox. Nope, I can only download it in SD. Well, that’s just too bad, now you don’t get my money. And you wonder why your sales are down? Dumbasses.
Juvers said:
Dec 09, 07 at 5:39 pmHave you played games on the PS3? There are 3 or 4 out that I would like to play and have been considering getting the system. Doesn’t seem as if you would recommend it though.
Jordan said:
Dec 09, 07 at 6:59 pmI think the problem is that the people at these studios legitimately have no idea how to handle new technologies, and have no interest in learning or in negotiating with anyone. This is, as you mentioned, evident with both digital content and the HD format war. I’ve done my research on the pricing of digital content, and there is literally no reason why the prices are what they are, aside from the fact that they are similar to physical pricing. There has been very little (perhaps no) research by the studios; further, the pricing is set by the studios themselves, paying no attention whatsoever to external market studies and economic analyses. Why should we pay $.99 per track download of a 16-track album when we can buy the physical album for $12 at Target or Best Buy?
If you take away the manufacturing, distribution, and retail overhead costs of producing a CD, while maintaining all creative costs (and allowing for digital costs), the maximum price for a track should be $.79 — and this statistic comes from 2003, when the digital costs were higher then they are now. Wait, did I just say that it would be $.79, including creative costs? Isn’t part of the issue with the strike that writers aren’t getting paid creative costs for digital content (yet prices remain high)? Part of the problem is that the studios don’t want to create a division between their digital sales and the retailers of their physical products, and they refuse to disrupt the status quo.
In order to justify this, most of these studios (this goes for record companies and movie studios) tend to give glass-half-empty statistics, citing all of the money they have lost due to piracy; these statistics take into account money they are no longer making on physical sales, but do not take into account what they now make on digital sales.In 2003, Rhapsody priced their digital content at $.49, $.79, and $.99. Although the $.49 items pulled in half as much money as the $.99 ones per sale, the former had three times as many purchases as latter. Anyone who isn’t stupid realizes that this means the $.49 items brought in more money, despite being priced less. The studios, however, would only look at how they lost money on the $.99 items. I think that the problem might be that the guys at these studios really are this stupid — they have been shooting themselves in the feet for years, and at least it caught up to them somewhat with the strike.
jared said:
Dec 09, 07 at 7:31 pmUntil two weeks ago, the only good games on PS3 were also available for 360. That’s no longer true with Ratchet & Clank coming out recently. However, that’s still the only legitimate exclusive that Sony has. Out of curiosity, what games were you looking at? With Xbox Live, MCE integration, ability to stream mp3s and Divx, and the game lineup, I honestly don’t see anything beating the 360.
And Jordy, I pretty much agree with everything you said there. It’s obvious the labels and the studios have no idea how to handle digital content. For that matter, it’s obvious they have no idea how to handle HD content, either. Why do HD movies cost $30? That’s absolutely ridiculous. It doesn’t cost them anything more. One way or another, they’re just stamping discs.
I honestly didn’t know they didn’t take into account digital sales when they’re spouting those numbers. I’m surprised nobody in a high-profile position has called them on that. I imagine that’s because everybody is in their pockets.
It’s funny to me that the stuff priced at $.49 sold so well. Going by that and the iTunes pricing model, it would seem to suggest you could probably buy an entire album for $5. I’ve always said that seemed to be the perfect price point for me in terms of downloadable music. I would love it, and I would never hesitate to buy an album.
I don’t know the last time I listened to any new music. Why? $10 to download an album just seems to expensive to me. $10 seems about right for buying a cd in the store. $10 seems about right for a movie download. $15-20 seems ok for a DVD, HD-DVD, or Blu-ray movie. But until those prices are common (which I doubt they ever will be), I probably just won’t be listening to or watching much new stuff.
Juvers said:
Dec 09, 07 at 10:45 pmI want to play Assassin’s Creed and COD4. Both are available for the 360. However, the game I really want to play is Unchartered: Drake’s Fortune. I’m fairly certain it’s only available for the PS3. That’s the game that actually got me to thinking I might want to buy a new system. The reviews I’ve read on it seem really decent.
I just figured I would go with the PS3 since I’ve just always used the Playstations. Once I got to comparing it and the XBox 360, I realized I may be better off going with the 360, especially since it’s cheaper. But, I know the Playstation platform and controls.
jared said:
Dec 10, 07 at 12:07 amI actually beat both of those games within the last two weeks. Assassin’s creed was incredible from an artistic standpoint. It had some great, original gameplay, but it got a bit repetitive. I really enjoyed it. CoD4 was great, too. It had a very cinematic feel to it, and there was plenty of action.
Yeah, Uncharted is only on the PS3, and, like you mentioned, it’s gotten some pretty good reviews. If it wasn’t for all the games I recently bought, I might check it out.
All in all, I just think the 360 is a better value. It really comes down to what you want. For me, the experience just wouldn’t be the same without Xbox Live–PSN and the Playstation Store really don’t compare. Then again, that’s another $50/year. Personally, Halo 3 would be enough for me to make the jump to 360.
Juvers said:
Jan 05, 08 at 2:54 amI found this over at macrumors. Maybe your wish is about to come true, Jared.
http://www.macrumors.com/2008/01/04/hd-dvd-vs-blu-ray-battle-over-warner-switches-to-blu-ray/