Comments on: Recent Gaming

By: Kyle

Kyle — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 13:40:14 +0000

And for BD v HD-DVD, it was mainly an issue of which major studios backed which format. When nearly every studio was on board with Blu-Ray, whether exclusively or releasing movies in both formats, the end was near for HD-DVD, especially when long-term HD-DVD supporter Paramount finally caved and backed Blu Ray.

It’s funny – when BR and HD both came out, the first thing I thought of was how similar it was to Nuon-enhanced DVD players/discs – anyone remember that flash in the pan?

By: Brian

Brian — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 05:30:38 +0000

On Betamax v. VHS:

The VHS format’s defeat of the Betamax format became a classic marketing case study. Sony’s attempt to dictate an industry standard backfired when JVC made the tactical decision to forgo Sony’s offer of Betamax in favor of developing their own technology. They felt that it would end up like the U-Matic deal, with Sony dominating.

By 1980, JVC’s VHS format controlled 70% of the North American market. The large economy of scale allowed VHS units to be introduced to the European market at a far lower cost than the rarer Betamax units. In the UK, Betamax held a 25% market share in 1981, but by 1986 it was down to 7.5% and continued to decline further. By 1984, forty companies utilized the VHS format in comparison with Beta’s twelve. Sony finally conceded defeat in 1988 when it too began producing VHS recorders.

In Japan, Betamax had more success and eventually evolved into Enhanced Definition Betamax with 500+ lines resolution, but eventually both Betamax and VHS were supplanted by laser-based technology. The last Sony Betamax was produced in 2002.

By: Josh

Josh — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 03:02:57 +0000

Yeah, the possibility of bandwidth caps is an interesting point. I wonder if isps will start to cut deals with download/streaming providers to give their data an unlimited pipe.

As for blu vs hd, it was definitely marketing and behind the scenes dealing.

By: Juan

Juan — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 16:50:04 +0000

In my opinion, BD will survive against Digital Download because you’re seeing all of the broadband Internet service providers throughout the country imposing bandwidth caps of anywhere between 5 Gigs (AT&T, Frontier, etc.) and 250 Gigs (Comcast, Verizon), which will severely hamper the Movie Download industry.

By: gveers

gveers — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 14:26:21 +0000

Wasn’t Beta also considered to be better quality than VHS? I guess it’s all in the marketing. “H-D D-V-D” just has too many syllables. “Blu-ray” sounds more advanced, sounds like a new technology, and is easier to say.

So I guess what I’m saying is, I don’t blame you, Josh.

By: Josh

Josh — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 07:39:51 +0000

PS3 is easily the best BluRay player, mostly because of its frequent compat upgrades and good hardware. It undercuts all of the other manufacturers in price by so much (or used to anyway), I was always surprised companies like Samsung stayed on the BluRay boat the whole time.

As a rueful aside, all HD DVD players updated their firmware automatically because they were all required to have a network adapter(none of this BD Live profile nonsense ). And one last rueful aside, BluRay quality was matched by HD DVD (used all of the same codecs, had the same outputs on the devices, and had a better utilized programming environment…alas!).

That said, BluRay is indeed the best A/V quality you can get nowadays. If it survives against digital download, I may pick one up when they get cheap and all of these free HD DVD players around my house start breaking.

By: gveers

gveers — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 23:16:29 +0000

>>Bionic Commando is stupid. Mega Man is stupid. Castlevania is stupid and the music is stupid. Playstation 3 is stupid and video games are stupid. You’re stupid.<<

Is this the aforementioned “commentary on actual post content?” Or are you just doing an impression of the Wall Street Journal opinion column?

By: Brian

Brian — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 22:36:43 +0000

Bionic Commando is stupid. Mega Man is stupid. Castlevania is stupid and the music is stupid. Playstation 3 is stupid and video games are stupid. You’re stupid.

By: Juan

Juan — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 20:51:06 +0000

As someone who has the PS3 (backwards-compatible edition) as my sole Blu-Ray device, I have to tell you, the quality is superb, and unmatched. Given how the PS3 updates itself to the latest firmware and technology, it is really a major bargain — the cheapest, but also the best Blu-Ray player out on the market today. At 1080p Resolutions, the pictures are crisp and amazingly detailed; with real Digital Sound, you will really note the difference from older analog THX/Surround systems.

By: gveers

gveers — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 16:24:22 +0000

Symphony of the Night is rocketing up my top video games list. It’s got great music, a great (if poorly translated) sense of style, and fun-RPGish gameplay. Gotta love Metroidvania.

Yeah, you know I forgot about God of War. I would consider checking that game out. The main problem is there’s such a backlog on my list. I’ve got GTA IV and Metal Gear Solid IV just collecting dust, and I’m thinking about playing Fallout after that.

Speaking of hard games, Metal Gear IV is pretty tough. I can barely get past the first level. I keep thinking I’m doing something wrong.