Posted on 08/14/2007 3:51:18 PM PDT by Las Vegas Dave
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 14 -- Sony Pictures HomeEntertainment (SPHE) today announced anincrease in total Blu-ray Disc(TM) (BD) salesacross six emerging markets including Hong Kong,Singapore, Taiwan, Eastern Europe, South Africaand the Middle East -- illuminating the positivereception from retailers and consumers for thenew high-definition format since its launch justfour months ago in April 2007.
Since April, Blu-ray Disc sales have accountedfor 10% of SPHE's business in the regions.The company saw a 21% increase in BDorders across the month of June alone."It is extremely positive to see an increase involume of BD software sales in these marketswhere piracy has previously ravaged the DVDbusiness," said T. Paul Miller, Senior VicePresident, International, Sony PicturesHome Entertainment.
SPHE is the only studio to have licensedhigh-definition Blu-ray Disc content for localdistribution in many of these markets and newpartners are coming on line every month.Among top-selling BD titles from SPHE in theseregions are Casino Royale, Ghost Rider, OpenSeason, Kung Fu Hustle, Black Hawk Down,XXX and Stealth. South Africa accountsfor the largest share of Blu-ray Disc sales,with more than 15,000 units shipped to date.
Isn’t the number 36120?
OK,that's fine.However,there's another reason why I'm unlikely to ever adopt either of the hi-def formats...IMO there's almost nothing that's been released by Hollywierd in the last 20+ years that's worth anything.So almost all the films that I like are old enough to look almost as good in standard def as in hi-def.
However there are two things that could change my mind.1)Things like what they show on National Geographic HD,Animal Planet HD and Discovery HD starts showing up on hi-def discs and 2)the music industry engages in a serious effort to remaster 60's music(long live the 60s!)to hi-def standards.
Well, when you start at 1, jumping to 2 is a HUGH increase...
Frankly, I’m nowhere near ready to invest in either tech, but from the sidelines I’m pulling for HD-DVD simply because Sony is the alternative.
Silly wagging tongue.
Better leave the thread! Someone is sure to come along and point out that what you have is junk, and how you should have waited a month for XYZ-HD - which will blow everything out of the water!
I’m experiencing it right now. My 8 year old likes it. Ms. Mendez has good and bad scenes. I’ll watch anything in blue ray. The PS3’s firmware update that included 24 fps is awesome. The picture is stunning on my XBR3.
You must have Sony Derangement Syndrom. I love their products.
Just saw this at the link from my prior post:
Top 5 Most Read News Stories
1. Sony denies preventing porn on Blu-Ray
Actually, from what I’ve seen thus far, the older films are the ones that really benefit from being released in high def (if the movie studios really take the time to transfer the film properly). I read a review of the new high def remastering of Goldfinger that was recently previewed in the UK, and the reviewer said the film looked as if it was shot yesterday.
IMHO, I’ve found most their products to be overpriced, with far cheaper nearly equivalent alternatives. They have made some historic blunders over the years, from their handling of the PS3 all the way back to the Betamax fiasco.
The final straw for me was their inclusion of a rootkit in the name of DRM that they kindly included on some CD’s a couple of years ago. Their response to it when it became public knowledge was even worse, and showed an unbelieveable amount of arrogance and total disdain for the consumer. I simply cannot forgive that transgression.
Sony’s arrogance with the PS3 was unbelievable as well. When asked about the high price of the system, their response basically boiled down to, “People should work extra hours to pay for it.”
Adjusted for inflation, it was (and is) cheaper than the Atari and Nintendo systems of the late 70s/early 80s.
Yeah, but Atari and Nintendo (at least until Sega showed up) basically had monopolies on the gaming market at their respective times. When you’ve got competitors making similar (Microsoft) and more innovative (Nintendo) machines that cost hundreds of dollars less, telling people they should work more for their particular machine doesn’t come off very well.
BUMP!
Well, comparing the PS3 to the Premium 360, $150 buys you wireless networking, bluray playback, superior DVD playback (the PS3 is one of the best upscalers on the market), and 40 GB extra hard disk space. It’s not a terrible deal.
Consoles in the 80s were something that a parent bought as a toy for their kids. Nowadays, consoles are purchased by teenagers/adults with jobs. $500 for a system that endures 5 years is not expensive at all.
Mike
I’d agree the VALUE of the PS3 would compare favorably with the 360 if you compare individual features, but how many people really want all that? I bought my PS3 primarily for games, and that’s the one area they seem to have forgotten.
Basically, yeah. I’ve always said that the price point was not the factor that has led to the PS3 problems, rather, its the lackluster software. Which brings me back to post #5.
That said, it still was the better piece of hardware, before Microsoft put up a 3 year warranty, cut the price, and added HDMI to the premium system.
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