Archived: Insiders Thread

[coolmilo]

Paid,

Is it true that the Seinfeld show was remastered in HD? If so, do you see a box set selling on Blu-ray anytime soon?

[theknub]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

...snip...
Yes, but even when transgressed against, paidgeek can be polite.
Again, past posting history is the best indicator of the veracity of yet to be proven current statements.

Mods, please keep this post right here, “on the record”.

pman, paid, talk, and kjack... this is why you are the epitome of professionalism and dignity. we appreciate everything you do here and do it with the utmost respect. thanks for being part of our forum and the continued information you bring.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by shug7272

As an insider, if you were to know some super big news. Would you be allowed to say "hey guys there is some good stuff coming" as long as you admitted no details or would that not be allowed either?

That’s too generic a hypothetical situation that you’ve presented.
It would depend on the actual news, the players involved and of primary importance, gaining the appropriate permission (from all parties) to do so.

It’s a case by case thing.
Of course, the ink had been dry for awhile on the Paramount deci$ion before I made by oblique reference to it on AVMS – where I really don’t plan on posting any more news or hints of news as that forum has just become a hand maiden for Micro$oft, in my opinion.

[JTK]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

That’s too generic a hypothetical situation that you’ve presented.
It would depend on the actual news, the players involved and of primary importance, gaining the appropriate permission (from all parties) to do so.

It’s a case by case thing.


Of course, the ink had been dry for awhile on the Paramount deci$ion before I made by oblique reference to it on AVMS – where I really don’t plan on posting any more news or hints of news as that forum has just become a hand maiden for Micro$oft, in my opinion.

Pardon me if this is a repeat that you already answered before or if you simply can't answer it for any number of reasons but here goes:

See the part of your post that I bolded? More or less: How long had that Paramount deal been in the works and how long had it been in effect outright before it became public news this past Monday, August 20?

[Balian]

Penton-Man,

Can you assure us the BDA is in it to win it?

Back at the beginning of this year, IMHO, ALL BDA had to do is secure one of three studios to ensure victory. Had either Paramount, Warner Brothers, or Universal went Blu-ray exclusive, this thing will be long be over. Instead, the BDA coasted along without being proactive. Along came Microsoft ...the big bad wolf. The sheep herder(BDA) fell asleep on the job and lost one sheep on the fringe. They are about to lose another if they don't get their act together. When Microsoft finished plucking sheep on the outer fringes, the core will be easy target. By that time, it will be too late to do anything.

The longer this war rages on, the weaker BDA gets. Microsoft knows this. BDA should do WHATEVER it takes to win this fast. Otherwise, the inevitable will happen. The BDA spent hundreds of millions in ads and promotions for Blu-ray and all it took, in retrospect, was $150 million to ensure victory. Don't make this mistake again. End it now ...whatever it takes. Otherwise, Microsoft will pluck one sheep at a time until its too late.

The Paramount deal will prolong this war and will cost the BDA millions and millions. Those millions could of have been used to ensured victory in the first place.

[coolmilo]

Paid,

Is there a chance the xXx will be remastered and rereleased? I'd like to see the movie redone the way TFE was remastered.

[shug7272]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

That’s too generic a hypothetical situation that you’ve presented.
It would depend on the actual news, the players involved and of primary importance, gaining the appropriate permission (from all parties) to do so.

It’s a case by case thing.
Of course, the ink had been dry for awhile on the Paramount deci$ion before I made by oblique reference to it on AVMS – where I really don’t plan on posting any more news or hints of news as that forum has just become a hand maiden for Micro$oft, in my opinion.

So am I understanding what you are saying is that you knew of the Paramount deal but were not allowed to breath even a hint of it? In other words you were not even allowed to say "bad news coming" or anything generic at all. I guess what I am really asking is could you ever get in trouble for simply saying "good (bad) news is coming" and saying nothing else? Thank you sir.

I will go one step further due to the fact my first question was too vague. If you were to know, for example (hypothetical) that WB was going Blu Ray exclusive.. lets say they will announce it next Friday. Judging from your past experiences is there a chance you would not even be allowed to give a vague heads up like "hey guys, good news coming." Thank you.

Second edit to say, we would rather be able to get your good info here anyway. Screw AVS.

[JTK]

Posts 2390 and 2393 say it all IMO.

[Razter]

Paramount is one thing, but if Warner would go HD DVD exklusive there would be some serious damage to Blu-ray, how hard can it be to open up the big wallet? Do whatever it takes, give them free lines or pay them or whatever, this is getting too close, end this thing now please.

[johnno1986]

G'day all,

Thanks to all of the insiders for their excellent work and dedication to giving us the answers that we seek.

I am not sure if anyone will be able to help with this but I will ask anyway. I live in Australia and have been trying to find 'Vacancy' on either DVD or BD, but I can't find it anywhere! Does anyone know if it has been realeased? Or if it hasn't when it will? I notice that it has been released in the U.S.A.

Thanks again and have a good one guys.

United we stand.

[Jamh]

Do any Insiders have contacts over at Disney? If so, is there any way you can convince them to release some of those animated titles they've been advertising for months as "Coming Soon" to Blu-ray? I've been holding off on buying Aladdin and The Lion King for a while on DVD, but from what we've been hearing it doesn't seem like we'll be seeing any of these until at least 2009. I think it's a bit cruel and unusual to tease us with them for so long.

[Rob Zuber]

Is it too much to ask to get Disney and Fox insiders to post here? Amir is such an efficient FUD machine, we need several insiders to take him on. And it would relieve the amount of work paidgeek needs to do. Why are they so absent from the online battle?

[thebluemax]

Paid:

Any chance that the great "On the Waterfront" will be released in the near future on BLU-RAY? The DVD is a bit of a disappointment with incorrect aspect ratio.

Thanks

[Rob Zuber]

I'm sick and tired of seeing garbage anti-Blu-Ray articles like this in the press:

Can Toshiba’s David topple Sony’s Goliath?
http://www.economist.com/daily/colum...89600&fsrc=nwl

Meanwhile, because of the robustness of the disc, HD DVD players have proved to be much cheaper to build. Models now start at $299, and are expected to fall to $199 by the coming holiday season. By contrast, basic Blu-ray players start at $449.

As far as stand-alone players are concerned, the price advantage has allowed Toshiba to outsell the Sony camp by a wide margin.

That’s not all. Engineers who’ve worked with both formats say Blu-ray is a pig to program. While extremely flexible, its programming language, BD-Java, requires lots of low-level code for even the simplest of instructions. The highly skilled programmers needed to do the job don’t exactly grow on trees. And because of the program’s complexity, even the best produce their share of bug-ridden software.

By comparison, writing software for HD DVD using Microsoft’s HDi interactive technology is a doddle—with one simple command doing the task of scores of lines of BD-Java. More importantly, HDi is the key to HD DVD’s better navigation around menus, and its instinctive ability to interact with the outside world.

The author of this piece clearly got his talking points from some HD-DVD PR boob. Are the Blu-Ray studios actively fighting against this kind of misinformation? Will anyone contact the author or that magazine?

[Rob Zuber]

My question to the insiders is about that information appearing in an article in the Economist. Is there any attempt to counter that nonsense?

[Talkstr8t]

Originally Posted by Balian

Can you assure us the BDA is in it to win it?

Back at the beginning of this year, IMHO, ALL BDA had to do is secure one of three studios to ensure victory. Had either Paramount, Warner Brothers, or Universal went Blu-ray exclusive, this thing will be long be over. Instead, the BDA coasted along without being proactive.

I can assure you the member companies of the BDA are being proactive. Much effort has been (and continues to be) expended to persuade Universal to support Blu-ray, as well as to continue to add Blu-momentum wherever possible. It's a complex game, however; just offering to "write checks" isn't necessarily going to solve the problem.

- Talk

[Talkstr8t]

Originally Posted by Rob Zuber

I'm sick and tired of seeing garbage anti-Blu-Ray articles like this in the press:

Can Toshiba’s David topple Sony’s Goliath?
http://www.economist.com/daily/colum...89600&fsrc=nwl



The author of this piece clearly got his talking points from some HD-DVD PR boob. Are the Blu-Ray studios actively fighting against this kind of misinformation? Will anyone contact the author or that magazine?

We BDA folk who deal with this sort of thing are aware of the article and working on correcting the bias here.

- Talk

[ReduxInflux]

Originally Posted by Talkstr8t

I can assure you the member companies of the BDA are being proactive. Much effort has been (and continues to be) expended to persuade Universal to support Blu-ray, as well as to continue to add Blu-momentum wherever possible. It's a complex game, however; just offering to "write checks" isn't necessarily going to solve the problem.

- Talk

anything the consumer can do to help you guys? i.e. write letters? phone calls? e-mails? donations whats your advice for those of us who don't want to be resigned to waiting....

[LeoneFan]

Originally Posted by Talkstr8t

I can assure you the member companies of the BDA are being proactive. Much effort has been (and continues to be) expended to persuade Universal to support Blu-ray, as well as to continue to add Blu-momentum wherever possible. It's a complex game, however; just offering to "write checks" isn't necessarily going to solve the problem.

- Talk

OK, I believe you but how could they miss out on the Paramount deal if all it took was $150 Million? I mean we all know the Paramount deal was purely based on money, so did the BDA feel like Paramount wasn't worth the pay off? I'm sure Paramount wouldn't mind whoring themselves out to the BDA if the price was right since all they wanted was a quick pay-off. This is very puzzling yet disturbing.

If Paramount had gone Blu exclusive this war would be OVER!!!!! FINISHED!!!! This really pissed me off, and now we are in the thick of it with no end in sight.

[CouchPotato]

Does anyone know if someone is working on a business book on the format wars? Or writing up a business case for Harvard?

After the format war is over, I'd like to read about what really went down.