"Club Penton" - Ask questions to Hollywood insider "Penton-Man"

[Penton-Man]

I received some PM’s asking for my thoughts concerning a certain Microsoft spokesperson recently making public comments that “before very long we will look back wistfully at shiny discs as something that was somewhat a historic phenomenon in a way that we kind of think about vinyl or VCRs today" and despite Blu-ray's victory, the shift away from discs will happen "sooner than any of us think".

My only comment is that remember when some astute members and some blu-ray insiders alerted people as to the true intentions of a certain software company in the format war……………….
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...3#post10325163

And we were all berated as conspiracy theorists, etc., etc.
Well, it certainly didn’t take very long for a certain software company to *come out the closet* so to speak on digital downloads, did it ?

[Penton-Man]

Also, b.t.w., in regards to the above link and Uni, there is a certain person that I previously mentioned to you guys to be kind to because he is a nice guy and was just doing his job in support of HD DVD during the format war. Well, I don’t believe any of the trades have discovered it yet but, this stuff inevitably leaks out so, let me be the first to tell you that said person has *moved on*.

I imagine some people will be doing somersaults over this news but, I personally take no pleasure in the change of employment status of anyone……….except of course for the barbecue-meister who *retired*. He should reap everything that he sowed in terms of online rhetoric. Heck, it’s not like K.G. came onto a forum everyday, set himself up as a High Priest of a religious sect and made daily pontifications to the blinded followers about the merits of HD DVD and the deficiencies of Blu-ray like the retired fellow did.

I wish K.G. all the best in his future endeavors.

[sj001]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Also, b.t.w., in regards to the above link and Uni, there is a certain person that I previously mentioned to you guys to be kind to because he is a nice guy and was just doing his job in support of HD DVD during the format war. Well, I don’t believe any of the trades have discovered it yet but, this stuff inevitably leaks out so, let me be the first to tell you that said person has *moved on*.

I imagine some people will be doing somersaults over this news but, I personally take no pleasure in the change of employment status of anyone……….except of course for the barbecue-meister who *retired*. He should reap everything that he sowed in terms of online rhetoric. Heck, it’s not like K.G. came onto a forum everyday, set himself up as a High Priest of a religious sect and made daily pontifications to the blinded followers about the merits of HD DVD and the deficiencies of Blu-ray like the retired fellow did.

I wish K.G. all the best in his future endeavors.

Well Penton, I will take what you say at face value about KG, I guess it is sad to see stuff like that happen. Hopefully he will end up somewhere where he can utilize his skills effectively, and not be stuck in the situation he was in with HD-DVD.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by ezcobar411

Thanks for clarifying that PM

PM, do you know whatever happened to the SCE Insider?

Honestly, my hopes are becoming dimmer and dimmer that he will ever make an appearance as an official Insider posting on his thread.

The simple fact of the matter is that he is lucky if he has the time to take one bathroom break during the course of his day much less post on any forum. Initially, when he was encouraged to participate here, he predicted his workload would decrease after the 1st of the year……….and it just has not.
It may have even become more intensive and time-consuming.
I wouldn’t hold my breath regarding his debut here.

I will tell you though that it is a certainty that the PS3 will get DTS HD MA.
Well, let me rephrase as the only certainties in life are death and taxes.

I say you can pretty much hang your hat on getting the above with a future firmware upgrade for the Playstation 3.

[scragham]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

I will tell you though that it is a certainty that the PS3 will get DTS HD MA.
Well, let me rephrase as the only certainties in life are death and taxes.

I say you can pretty much hang your hat on getting the above with a future firmware upgrade for the Playstation 3.

we love you p-man.

thanks for that.

[turboedguy]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

I will tell you though that it is a certainty that the PS3 will get DTS HD MA.
Well, let me rephrase as the only certainties in life are death and taxes.

I say you can pretty much hang your hat on getting the above with a future firmware upgrade for the Playstation 3.

You just made my day, thank you!

[sj001]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Honestly, my hopes are becoming dimmer and dimmer that he will ever make an appearance as an official Insider posting on his thread.

The simple fact of the matter is that he is lucky if he has the time to take one bathroom break during the course of his day much less post on any forum. Initially, when he was encouraged to participate here, he predicted his workload would decrease after the 1st of the year……….and it just has not.
It may have even become more intensive and time-consuming.
I wouldn’t hold my breath regarding his debut here.

I will tell you though that it is a certainty that the PS3 will get DTS HD MA.
Well, let me rephrase as the only certainties in life are death and taxes.

I say you can pretty much hang your hat on getting the above with a future firmware upgrade for the Playstation 3.

Thank you so much for clarifying that Penton, about the Insider (too bad he is so busy, he would have been a great source, same thing I assume with the Fox Exec), but ESPECIALLY about DTS-MA! :-)

You rock!

[blitz6speed]

I will stand by what you said about K.G. penton, it sucks to be let go and i hope hes back in the saddle soon enough. He literally was just doing his job as the head of the HD DVD PRG.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by sj001

Well Penton, I will take what you say at face value about KG, I guess it is sad to see stuff like that happen. Hopefully he will end up somewhere where he can utilize his skills effectively, and not be stuck in the situation he was in with HD-DVD.

I don’t think that any early adopters went out and bought multiple HD DVD players for several rooms in their homes as well as a truckload of HD DVD software based upon anything that K.G. said in the press or at events.

I do believe that a bunch of people did this ^ , due to the daily forum brain washings by another former executive, esp. with embellished statements made repeatedly like “HD DVD will be here for a long time.”

May that former executive's barbecue smoke incessantly.

[ezcobar411]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Honestly, my hopes are becoming dimmer and dimmer that he will ever make an appearance as an official Insider posting on his thread.

The simple fact of the matter is that he is lucky if he has the time to take one bathroom break during the course of his day much less post on any forum. Initially, when he was encouraged to participate here, he predicted his workload would decrease after the 1st of the year……….and it just has not.
It may have even become more intensive and time-consuming.
I wouldn’t hold my breath regarding his debut here.

I will tell you though that it is a certainty that the PS3 will get DTS HD MA.
Well, let me rephrase as the only certainties in life are death and taxes.

I say you can pretty much hang your hat on getting the above with a future firmware upgrade for the Playstation 3.

Thanks for the update on that PM. Sad that he won't be able to join us here. I'm also sorry about KG. I wish he didn't have to be the fall guy for all of this. From the way you've explained everything, it certainly wasn't his fault.

As far as Microsoft goes, it sure looks like they won't be a part of the BDA. Which I won't say hurts my feelings any. I'm so frustrated with what I've gone through using Vista, that I'm practicing with my new linux OS all of the time.

Thanks for the info about the upcoming firmware for the PS3. I know me and a lot of others on the boards are happy to hear that this is coming.

[TheRealBob]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Also, b.t.w., in regards to the above link and Uni, there is a certain person that I previously mentioned to you guys to be kind to because he is a nice guy and was just doing his job in support of HD DVD during the format war. Well, I don’t believe any of the trades have discovered it yet but, this stuff inevitably leaks out so, let me be the first to tell you that said person has *moved on*.

I imagine some people will be doing somersaults over this news but, I personally take no pleasure in the change of employment status of anyone……….except of course for the barbecue-meister who *retired*. He should reap everything that he sowed in terms of online rhetoric. Heck, it’s not like K.G. came onto a forum everyday, set himself up as a High Priest of a religious sect and made daily pontifications to the blinded followers about the merits of HD DVD and the deficiencies of Blu-ray like the retired fellow did.

I wish K.G. all the best in his future endeavors.

That's too bad to hear about Ken Graffeo. While I always supported Blu-ray, I, like many other people, could at least respect the stance Universal took by starting with HD DVD and sticking with them through thick and thin, hoping to make the format work. I'm glad they didn't succeed, but there's something to say for loyalty.

(Now, Paramount, on the other hand, just came across as sleazy and, ultimately, pathetic, jumping from the winning side to to losing side and having essentially no impact. I'll still to be happy to purchase anything from them that I want on Blu-ray, but that was just a sad moment in their corporate history.)

Does Graffeo leaving Universal have anything to do with HD DVD vs. Blu-ray? Or is the timing just a coincidence?

And does this have any impact on when Universal will start releasing titles on BD?

(That might sound sort of callous when a guy apparently just lost his job, but a big time executive getting canned usually isn't anything like a normal schmo getting the boot. I don't think the guy's going to be homeless or picking up jobs from Manpower.)

[Icemage]

Penton-Man: We love you to pieces here.

---

Interesting news about KG.

Is there anything you can share with us regarding Craig Kornblau at Universal? I remember reading someplace last year that Kornblau was the real mover and shaker behind Universal's steadfast support of HD DVD. If, as you say, KG was just toeing the party line, where else would that line have come from, other than from Kornblau?

True? False? Or did the directives come from even higher up the chain at Universal?

[PaulGo]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

I don’t think that any early adopters went out and bought multiple HD DVD players for several rooms in their homes as well as a truckload of HD DVD software based upon anything that K.G. said in the press or at events.

I do believe that a bunch of people did this ^ , due to the daily forum brain washings by another former executive, esp. with embellished statements made repeatedly like “HD DVD will be here for a long time.”

May that former executive's barbecue smoke incessantly.

As long as the former executive sticks to cooking up food instead of cooking up stories I will be happy.

[sj001]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

I don’t think that any early adopters went out and bought multiple HD DVD players for several rooms in their homes as well as a truckload of HD DVD software based upon anything that K.G. said in the press or at events.

I do believe that a bunch of people did this ^ , due to the daily forum brain washings by another former executive, esp. with embellished statements made repeatedly like “HD DVD will be here for a long time.”

May that former executive's barbecue smoke incessantly.

Agreed, he was a real piece of garbage, I hope he gets his acts together... but somehow I doubt it.

[kurtlingle]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

I will tell you though that it is a certainty that the PS3 will get DTS HD MA.
Well, let me rephrase as the only certainties in life are death and taxes.

I say you can pretty much hang your hat on getting the above with a future firmware upgrade for the Playstation 3.

Penton-man - thanks for this confirmation! This is great news as so many of us own a PS3 for Blu reasons and we've been waiting for this news for some time!

This is great news!

[aygie]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

I received some PM’s asking for my thoughts concerning a certain Microsoft spokesperson recently making public comments that “before very long we will look back wistfully at shiny discs as something that was somewhat a historic phenomenon in a way that we kind of think about vinyl or VCRs today" and despite Blu-ray's victory, the shift away from discs will happen "sooner than any of us think".

My only comment is that remember when some astute members and some blu-ray insiders alerted people as to the true intentions of a certain software company in the format war……………….
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...3#post10325163

And we were all berated as conspiracy theorists, etc., etc.
Well, it certainly didn’t take very long for a certain software company to *come out the closet* so to speak on digital downloads, did it ?

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Also, b.t.w., in regards to the above link and Uni, there is a certain person that I previously mentioned to you guys to be kind to because he is a nice guy and was just doing his job in support of HD DVD during the format war. Well, I don’t believe any of the trades have discovered it yet but, this stuff inevitably leaks out so, let me be the first to tell you that said person has *moved on*.

I imagine some people will be doing somersaults over this news but, I personally take no pleasure in the change of employment status of anyone……….except of course for the barbecue-meister who *retired*. He should reap everything that he sowed in terms of online rhetoric. Heck, it’s not like K.G. came onto a forum everyday, set himself up as a High Priest of a religious sect and made daily pontifications to the blinded followers about the merits of HD DVD and the deficiencies of Blu-ray like the retired fellow did.

I wish K.G. all the best in his future endeavors.

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Honestly, my hopes are becoming dimmer and dimmer that he will ever make an appearance as an official Insider posting on his thread.

The simple fact of the matter is that he is lucky if he has the time to take one bathroom break during the course of his day much less post on any forum. Initially, when he was encouraged to participate here, he predicted his workload would decrease after the 1st of the year……….and it just has not.
It may have even become more intensive and time-consuming.
I wouldn’t hold my breath regarding his debut here.

I will tell you though that it is a certainty that the PS3 will get DTS HD MA.
Well, let me rephrase as the only certainties in life are death and taxes.

I say you can pretty much hang your hat on getting the above with a future firmware upgrade for the Playstation 3.

Penton, i dont think i've ever seen you reveal so much information so clearly in one day! We didn't even have to answer a riddle!

[frank_t]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Honestly, my hopes are becoming dimmer and dimmer that he will ever make an appearance as an official Insider posting on his thread.

The simple fact of the matter is that he is lucky if he has the time to take one bathroom break during the course of his day much less post on any forum. Initially, when he was encouraged to participate here, he predicted his workload would decrease after the 1st of the year……….and it just has not.
It may have even become more intensive and time-consuming.
I wouldn’t hold my breath regarding his debut here.

I will tell you though that it is a certainty that the PS3 will get DTS HD MA.
Well, let me rephrase as the only certainties in life are death and taxes.

I say you can pretty much hang your hat on getting the above with a future firmware upgrade for the Playstation 3.

As long as it's by 12/31/2008, I'll be happy as a puppy with two peters (think I have that quote correct -- know which movie? I'd like to see it on Blu 'cause it's just a fun movie)

[frank_t]

OK, maybe no SCE insider.

Where's the FOX insider?

There was a brief glimmer of hope....

[aiman04]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

I will tell you though that it is a certainty that the PS3 will get DTS HD MA.
Well, let me rephrase as the only certainties in life are death and taxes.

I say you can pretty much hang your hat on getting the above with a future firmware upgrade for the Playstation 3.

Thanks Penton. Can't tell you how glad I am to read that.

Any idea on ETA? When you say future firmware upgrade, is it as in the next update? Or 2009?

[aiman04]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

No, I honestly don’t know *when*.
Except…….I do know that it will not be on the next firmware upgrade.

Thanks Penton. You

It's all good then. Just need to wait a little bit.