Latest Gear Live Videos
This Week on HD DVD and Blu-ray: September 25, 2007
Posted by Johnny Mercedes Categories: Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Classics, Drama, Foreign, Foreign Language, Romance, Science Fiction, Comedy, Thrillers, Home Entertainment, Lists, Upcoming Releases,
These are the high-def releases coming this Tuesday:
Blu-ray
- Black Book (R)—starring Carise van Houten and Sebastian Koch; directed by Paul Verhoeven.
- Gods and Generals (PG-13)—starring Jeff Daniels, Robert Duvall and Stephen Lang; directed by Ronald F. Maxwell
- Gothika (R)—starring Halle Berry, Penélope Cruz and Robert Downey Jr.; directed by Mathieu Kassovitz
- Memoirs of a Geisha (PG-13)—starring Ziyi Zang, Michelle Yeoh and Ken Watanabe; directed by Rob Marshall
- Tekkonkinkreet (R)—voiced by Alex Fernandez (English version); directed by Michael Arias
- Underworld (R)—starring Kate Beckinsale, Bill Nighy and Scott Speedman; directed by Len Wiseman
- The Wild Bunch (R)—starring William Holden, Ernest Borgnine and Warren Oates; directed by Sam Peckinpah
- Wyatt Earp (R)—starring Kevin Costner, Dennis Quaid, Gene Hackman and David Andrews; directed by Lawrence Kasdan
Click to continue reading This Week on HD DVD and Blu-ray: September 25, 2007
Advertisement
Good News For HD DVD Owners
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: DreamWorks, Paramount, Distribution, Home Entertainment, Technology,
Although Blockbuster recently announced they were leaning toward Blu-ray rentals (citing customer preferences), HD DVD owners finally have a win in their corner.
Blu-ray had been noted for having a wider movie catalogue due to their exclusive partnerships with several movie studios. Now Paramount Studios (with DreamWorks Animation) has decided that they will go strictly HD DVD from this point forward. This announcement may finally help ignite an actual competition between the two formats.
The August 28th release of Blades of Glory will signal the first movie under the new Paramount/HD DVD partnership.
Read More 
| Variety
What’s The Deal? Still No Pricing Announced For Downloadable Warhawk
Posted by Chris Pereira Categories: Action, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Network, Sony,
Warhawk is set for release later this month in two forms; retail and as a downloadable game from the PlayStation Store. The retail package will include a Bluetooth headset and will go for $59.99 – but they’ve flat-out refused to make any comment pertaining to the pricing of the downloadable version. When contacted by 1UP, Sony continued refusing any attempt to discover what the price might be.
“No news yet on the pricing of Warhawk for download. I would recommend you keep your eye on our blog for an announcement soon,” said SCEA Senior Director of Corporate Comm. Dave Karraker. “Response to date from those in the Warhawk beta has been outstanding, so we think it will do very well. We will be pricing it to match what we are delivering in terms of graphics, gameplay, fun-factor and repeat playability, which we think is quite high.”
It’s an interesting situation, as Electronic Gaming Monthly is in the process of reviewing the game, but they’ve been unable to get any word on the price of the game – which will, understandably so, affect the review score of the game.
Sony won’t tell us the pricing plans are, and as a result, EGM reviewers have been forced to include caveats in their write ups. Lead reviewer (and former OPM editor) Joe Rybicki actually placed a note in his review to EGM Reviews Editor Greg Ford that his score should be dropped a whole point if the price was announced above $30, and the other reviewers have expressed concern over how they should judge the game.
“What I don’t understand is why Sony can’t give us a price when it seems like internally they have one ready. The game is done, our reviewers have been playing it, and each one has asked about the price, which we certainly take into consideration in our reviews,” says Ford. “Because of the lead time for a print publication, we’re forced to go to print with a caveat in our review addressing this issue. Not ideal, and it seems unnecessary. It’s too bad because otherwise, the company has been great getting us the review code, setting up multiplayer play sessions, and providing assets to go along with the review…just no price, which for some consumers is what matters most.”
Read More | 1UP
Sound Familiar? Xbox 360 HD-DVD Add-On Now $179 And Comes With Five Free HD-DVDs
Posted by Chris Pereira Categories: Accessories, Microsoft, Xbox 360, Xbox Live,
Announced at Comic-Con, the new price drop on the HD-DVD add-on for the Xbox 360 will lower the unit’s price to $179 (down from $199.99) starting August 1. As an added incentive, Toshiba’s Perfect Offer has been extended to the 360 HD-DVD Player – anyone who purchases the HD-DVD add-on will be able to select five free HD-DVDs from a list of 15 through a mail-in offer. Don’t expect the greatest selection of movies, though, as is the case with the five free Blu-ray movies that come with the purchase of a PlayStation 3. But free is free.
Microsoft also teased the HD-DVD release of Heroes: Season 1 and 300; Xbox Live will be home to some exclusive content. On August 14, 300 will be available for download in HD, and for a limited time, the pilot episode of Heroes will be free to download.
It certainly looks like Microsoft is pushing hard with HD-DVD, and understandably so – Blu-ray has been the more successful of the two next-gen DVD formats as of late. And the success of Blu-ray is of major support to Sony and the PlayStation 3 - and Microsoft isn’t looking to do them any favors.
PlayStation 3 $100 Price Drop Confirmed, Sorta
Posted by Chris Pereira Categories: PlayStation 3, Rumors,
As was first reported by Cheap Ass Gamer, it looks like the PlayStation 3 will be seeing a $100 price drop to $499.99 beginning July 12. Initially, it looked like this might simply be a promotion for the week of the 15th, but GameDaily BIZ has confirmed this with a merchandising manager at one of the world’s biggest retailers who wished to remain anonymous.
While the price drop is scheduled across retail to take place on July 12 (which is a Thursday), the first wave of ads won’t be seen until July 15. SCEA declined to comment when contacted, but this was bound to happen at one point or another – and with the PS3 losing more and more ground to both the Xbox 360 and Wii each month, something needed to be done.
Assuming this pans out, this puts quite a bit of pressure on Microsoft; the Xbox 360 Elite is still $479.99 and lacks many of the features the PS3 has, such as a Blu-ray player (the Elite doesn’t even have an HD-DVD player) and built-in Wi-Fi.
Well, I’m certainly glad I haven’t plopped down the $600 just yet. And only about five hours ago I was contemplating gathering the cash to pick one up. This price drop leads me to wonder, though – will the 20GB SKU see a return, meaning that there would be a $399.99 PS3? Or will Sony launch a new SKU with a larger hard drive? We’ll know next week when Sony holds its press conference at E3.
Read More | GameDaily BIZ
GamerAndy Live! Episode 83: A Sucker for Game Bling
Posted by Edie Sellers Categories: Action, Adventure, Announcements, Corporate News, Electronic Arts, Fighting, Microsoft, PC, PlayStation 3, Portable/Mobile, PSP, Reviews, Sports, Xbox, Xbox 360, GamerAndy,
Finally a return to gaming news! So much for Andy, Hawkes and Edie to talk about, including Sony’s “major announcement,” the 80Gig Europe hate, Blu-Ray price drops, and (gasp!) Andy’s discovery of a great PS3 title! But that’s not all! We’ve got conversation about EA and ID going to the Mac, the PSP “slim, Shadowrun and Forza 2.
But wait! There’s more! Winners of last week’s contest are annouced.
Order now and you’ll recieve GamerAndy’s TV corner, where we discuss the end of the Sopranos and the return of Jherico.
Don’t walk… RUN to the download!
PlayStation Network 6/7: Nothing But Trailers
Posted by Chris Pereira Categories: PlayStation 3, Trailers,
Each Monday, Wii owners get a few games added to the Virtual Console. Sure, they’re not always the greatest games, but occasionally you’ll find a gem in there and maybe something that holds some nostalgic value. Each Wednesday, Xbox 360 owners typically get at least one Live Arcade game – which, as of late, have been pretty damn good. But PlayStation 3 owners aren’t quite as lucky; this week they don’t even get a demo. Instead, all they have to look forward to when connecting to the PSN are four trailers.
- Heavenly Sword “Gamer’s Day 2007” Trailer (free): Emotionally charged, stunningly beautiful, and delivering unprecedented dramatic character performance, Heavenly Sword showcases the PS3 system’s power. Check out the new trailer for this much anticipated title, straight from Sony Computer Entertainment America’s recent Gamer’s Day media event.
- MLB 07 The Show (PS3) Video (free): The best-selling baseball franchise is now available for PS3! This season we’re proud to introduce a slew of new features including: Road To The Show, Adaptive Pitching Intelligence, Online League Play, Pitch Command System and unique Umpire Personalities. This week, take a look at a tutorial video of the game’s online feature set.
- Stranglehold Trailer (free): Continue the story of John Woo’s influential action film, Hard Boiled, starring Chow Yun-Fat. Engage your enemies in intense cinematic gun battles and cause extensive environmental damage using a full arsenal of deadly weapons. Hard Boiled will also be included in its entirety on the Blu-ray disc.
- Movie Trailers (free): Download new trailers for the upcoming blockbuster film, Transformers, and the upcoming Blu-ray release, Bruce Springsteen with the Sessions Band: Live in Dublin.
Wal-Mart to Sell $250 HD-DVD Player, Will Customers Notice?
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Accessories, Hardware, PlayStation 3, Rumors, Xbox 360,
With all this talk of PS3s, 360s, and Wiis going around, it’s easy to forget that there’s also a next-gen video format war going on - one which will likely have severe repercussions for either Sony or M$. Well, the latest shot in the High-def disc format war has been fired, and this time it’s mega-retailer Wal-Mart that may help tip the scales in HD-DVD’s favor (or at least give Blu-Ray something to worry about).
This week, Wal-Mart announced that they would be producing and distributing an HD-DVD player that well be the cheapest available, coming in at around $199-$299. I haven’t spent much time in Wal-Marts (I find them noisy, messy, and crowded when compare to other retailers… oh, and generally evil). So I’ve got to ask… is Wal-Mart really a place where you want to pick up your next piece of high-end (or at least, moderate-end) electronics? My impression was that most of the folks who shop there probably aren’t too tuned-in to the next-gen DVD formats, and may not even own an HDTV set to take advantage of such hardware. Still, perhaps the lure of a ridiculously cheap HD player will pull a few bargain-hunting techno-fiends towards their blue glow. And hey wait, while we’re on the topic shouldn’t Target be the one promoting HD-DVD (think: slick red cases!), and Wal-Mart be the one promoting Blu-Ray? That would make much more chromatic sense, at least.
Read More | IGN.com
Warhawk On Blu-Ray… And PlayStation Network?
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Action, Internet, PlayStation 3,
The nature of the Warhawk release for the PlayStation 3 has been elusive, to say the least. 1up was one of the first sites to report that the game would be heading to the PlayStation Network, and would not be a retail disc. Now, according to information they received from Sony Computer Entertainment America, the game is actually going to be heading to both Blu-Ray and the PlayStation Network. No clarification was given, but 1up speculates that there will be content differences between the formats, with the possibility of additional downloadable content to even out the releases. Even with this, though, it would see that either way would result in a less than satisfactory experience for each format. Either the Blu-Ray disc ends up being vastly underutilized, or the end user finds himself downloading tons and tons of content to keep up with their physical media brethren. It will be interesting to see how Sony handles this, if the rumors are true.
Read More | 1up
Bleeding Edge TV 156: Samsung K5, K3, T9, and BD-P1200 Details
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Gizmatic, Short Bytes, CES, CES 2007, Features, Home Entertainment, Movies, Portable Audio / Video, Videocasts,
We talk to Samsung about their K5, T9, and K3 MP3 players, all of which have a couple of unique features for those looking to get away from the whole iPod thing. We also get a look at their newly updated Blu-Ray player, the BD-P1200. The BD-P1200 will retail for $799. Lastly, we take a look at the new 65 Series LCD, which will probably retail for $2999. It has three HDMI inputs, and much improved image capabilities.
Advertisement
© Gear Live Inc. {year} – User-posted content, unless source is quoted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Public Domain License. Gear Live graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, videos, articles, blogs, forums, scripts and other service names are the trademarks of Gear Live Inc.