Ask questions to The Digital Bits team (Bill Hunt, Jeff Kleist et.al.)

[Jeff Kleist]

Sounds good to me

The first time I pulled Gs around the space station and shot a TIE fighter off of my teamate's tail with the John Williams score blasting, total bliss

[DenonCI]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Sounds good to me

The first time I pulled Gs around the space station and shot a TIE fighter off of my teamate's tail with the John Williams score blasting, total bliss

I hear you! My only problem was the massive lag involved because of dial-up modems. 56K isn't a good online experience! I would love to see that game with a 10Mbps connection with modern graphics

[cjamescook]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

People are always asking why classics are lacking and even vanishing from DVD. Here's a good piece I just ran across

http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_14336557

Now I do think that as he says, the post 70s stuff will be much MORE relevant 20 years from now than stuff from the 60s are now, he's still right that fundamental changes in society create a disconnect with newer generations

How the heck did you run across this? I didn't think you were in the area (Denver).

I think the author's premise is correct, in that we have moving windows of time as presented by two cable stations. Per the author, TBS currently shows movies from the 1980s and 1990s, while TCM shows movies from the 1950s and 1960s. Go forward 20 years, and you will see TBS showing movies from the 2000s and 2010s and TCM showing movies from 1980s and 1990s.

Apparently, the growing collection of "older stuff" will be watched only by film buffs with the ability to ignore technology or morality limitations to appreciate a tight plot, good acting, and great film.

BTW, as another example of this moving window on history, take Disneyland. I've read that there was an area (call it "Yesterdayland") that featured turn-of-the-century Americana, such as player pianos. Enough years went by that it produced quizical looks so that it was updated to feature the 1950s (the player pianos from the 1920s were thrown out).

[Jeff Kleist]

How the heck did you run across this? I didn't think you were in the area (Denver).

Link on another site

[Jeff Kleist]

Those interested in the Japanese Producers or Bone Collector Blus, CDJapan is having a Sony sale

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/rcms/movie/...rent=0&step=50

You can also get Maid in Manhatten for the wife, or Flatliners with a better cover Sorry no Equilibrium (Rebellion)

I can't recommend the Producers disc enough. PCM audio, great picture and a hysterical main menu

[jaaguir]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

People are always asking why classics are lacking and even vanishing from DVD. Here's a good piece I just ran across

http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_14336557

Now I do think that as he says, the post 70s stuff will be much MORE relevant 20 years from now than stuff from the 60s are now, he's still right that fundamental changes in society create a disconnect with newer generations

Jeff, I'm surprised you agree with the guy. I think most of what he says is really silly. He devotes most of the piece to the fact that, apparently, people can't take seriously the plot of a movie without today's technological advancements (i.e., the fact that we now have mobile phones, renders most pre-90's plots useless, etc).
In other words, he is just saying that people can't care for a period movie. Following his logic, this is no matter when the movie itself was produced, and I don't think the guy even realizes that's what he's saying. So apparently the loads of movie and TV producers that are nowadays churning out period stories don't know that. I'm guessing they'll be shocked when they hear the news.
He goes as far as to call old stars "archaic" (apparently one can't be interested in stories that humans already dead had to tell), same for B&W imagery (since life is in color, I guess...). Also, a movie like "West side story" is now useless because the neighborhood the story happens in isn't marginal anymore, but posh (no interest in historic social changes either I guess).

About the only defensible thing he says, in my opinion, and even that he states in a questionable way, is that old mores make some movies seem outdated now (although I think it's more complex than that). So I can understand the more grown-up attitudes of movies from the 70's standing better the test of time than the ones before.

[MerrickG]

Jeff,

You're probably not the best person to ask, but I am curious as to why many games dont get re-released with updated graphics? the God of War collection was fantastic and I hope that it inspires MS or Sony to release some of their older previous gen titles with new graphics.

Is there any talk of old titles getting re-released?
PS3 titles I am interested in getting remastered with 720p at least:
Ratchet and Clank series
Jak and Daxter
Shadow of Collussus


360 titles:
The Halo series- why MS hasnt re-released with HD for 360 is BEYOND me. This would practically be the same as printing money.
Splinter Cell series

Again, I know you're not the best person to ask, but I felt the need to say it.

[Jeff Kleist]

God of War wasn't redone. More of a pro upconvert. Doing it is expensive, especially on ps1 and up when games started getting much more complex.

Jeff, I'm surprised you agree with the guy. I think most of what he says is really silly. He devotes most of the piece to the fact that, apparently, people can't take seriously the plot of a movie without today's technological advancements (i.e., the fact that we now have mobile phones, renders most pre-90's plots useless, etc).

Not useless. Unrelateable. Kids today, never having experienced that world lack the hooks to tie them to the story, and as we saw in the dub discussion in Pentons thread, a vast majority are to lazy to bother putting forth the effort to understand another language, culture, or in this case, time. We will be the fogeys soon enough, asking why they're not reissuing Caddyshack.

[DaViD Boulet]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

God of War wasn't redone. More of a pro upconvert. Doing it is expensive, especially on ps1 and up when games started getting much more complex.



Not useless. Unrelateable. Kids today, never having experienced that world lack the hooks to tie them to the story, and as we saw in the dub discussion in Pentons thread, a vast majority are to lazy to bother putting forth the effort to understand another language, culture, or in this case, time. We will be the fogeys soon enough, asking why they're not reissuing Caddyshack.

I think that the problem has more to do with attention spans of video-game/TV raised kids.

I know that when I was a kid, I enjoyed watching movies with my parents from the 1930s, 1940s and 50s which also contained cultural references unfamiliar to me as a kid growing up in the 70s and 80s. But that wasn't an obstacle for me or my siblings because we were raised to relate to stories with particulars that might no match up with our own experience.

I relate it to people who raise kids who can't eat vegetables and always have to order pizza with cheese/pepperoni or a burger/fries even when everyone else at the table is eating Thai, Indian, or Mexican. Raise kids to enjoy new experiences from other cultures and they don't have a problem as adults, raise them to live inside their comfort zone and they can only eat a burger and fries and aren't able to enjoy stepping into a new cultural adventure. The inability to relate to films outside of their own group/experience is a parallel IMO.

[NoQuestion]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Shorter or longer?

Right now I'm thinking I'm holding out waiting for AvP reviews before I decide which to get, continuing to wish I hadn't blitzed Mass Effect 2.....

On the upside, I got the collector's set ( the DVD that came with it is totally worthless BTW, but the art book and the steelbook are nice), and apparently that was hugely limited (they cut off pre-orders on it after about 2 weeks).

AvP review from gameinformer gave it a 5.6, however, some of the things in the review just doesn't add up. I don't allow reviews to really decide what I purchase, demos and opinions from friends count more. I did play the demo last night, and aside from getting a little disoriented playing as the alien (going from ground to wall to cieling gets me confused sometimes ) it was actually fun. Might not be a purchase right away with Bioshock and Dante this week but I will pick it up at some point.

[NoQuestion]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Now for the good news, Armageddon is back on target, there was a hiccup in the Disney PR machine

The Disney stuff like Dumbo should be re-announced too. Bill and I both feel that they're trying to spread out the major titles a bit so they get the attention they deserve.

So is Dumbo really not coming this year or is it back on for this year?

[SpaceDog]

Somehow Buffy got around the "why doesn't this girl have a cell-phone" during it's run, in spite of the prevalence of cell phones at the time.

I wouldn't be surprised if some stories were told as period pieces to avoid the "technology should have solved that" angle.

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

God of War wasn't redone. More of a pro upconvert. Doing it is expensive, especially on ps1 and up when games started getting much more complex.

Im not saying redo them, but update them with HD resolution with widescreen support.
Ratchet and Clank games would look just fine if they were remastered in 720p like god of war was.

Ill settle for a "pro upconvert" if it yields results similar to God of War I and II.
On my original PS3 that I traded my slim for. I compared the graphics for the PS2 version and the remastered PS3 edition and it (obviously) was no contest and frankly the PS2 versions looked terrible.

I wouldnt imagine the process would be all that difficult.

As for the Halo games, a complete redo would be nice, but Ill settle for HD support. Its possible that with Reach around the corner they may re-release the Halo games, but then again the 360 does have backwards compatibility for Halo and Halo 2. Not to mention the fact that people will no longer be able to play Halo 2 on Xbox Live anymore may give MS an excuse to re-release Halo 2.

Just a thought.

[jaaguir]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Not useless. Unrelateable. Kids today, never having experienced that world lack the hooks to tie them to the story,...

I still can't wrap my mind around that. So what about "Gladiator" and the likes? How do they relate to that? So no kid today enjoys a Western? Oscar-bait costume dramas that are made every year?

Well, onto another matter. Read at The Bits recently:

Speaking of The Terminator, consider this Rumor Mill worthy, but our industry sources have confirmed to us once again that we're likely to see a new Terminator: Special Edition arrive on Blu-ray this year, possibly tied to the release of James Cameron's Avatar.

This would be the rumored new master worked on by Lowry, I assume?

Next Christmas seems like it's going to be a little crowded with a-list catalog. Now with Disney pushing "Fantasia" to December, the Alien quadrology, the possible release of the JP trilogy (also read at The Bits) on November, and even the Indy trilogy, it seems like it could be too much for the market (allegedly the reason why Warner pushed the LOTR trilogy back last Christmas).
I hope the Alien movies are available separately, by the way. And they should include Van Sant's remake as an extra disc in the "Psycho" release. I'm sure that having a "new" color version would help sales among certain demographics (not being ironic here).

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by jaaguir

I still can't wrap my mind around that. So what about "Gladiator" and the likes? How do they relate to that? So no kid today enjoys a Western? Oscar-bait costume dramas that are made every year?

Well, onto another matter. Read at The Bits recently:

Speaking of The Terminator, consider this Rumor Mill worthy, but our industry sources have confirmed to us once again that we're likely to see a new Terminator: Special Edition arrive on Blu-ray this year, possibly tied to the release of James Cameron's Avatar.

This would be the rumored new master worked on by Lowry, I assume?

Next Christmas seems like it's going to be a little crowded with a-list catalog. Now with Disney pushing "Fantasia" to December, the Alien quadrology, the possible release of the JP trilogy (also read at The Bits) on November, and even the Indy trilogy, it seems like it could be too much for the market (allegedly the reason why Warner pushed the LOTR trilogy back last Christmas).
I hope the Alien movies are available separately, by the way. And they should include Van Sant's remake as an extra disc in the "Psycho" release. I'm sure that having a "new" color version would help sales among certain demographics (not being ironic here).

To follow up on that. I have to admit that Im very curious as to what Lowry would be able to do with the original Terminator. I was under the impression that the current disc represented the best it really could look.

[Jeff Kleist]

So is Dumbo really not coming this year or is it back on for this year?

It's coming this year, just not in March. As always, this is subject to change

Somehow Buffy got around the "why doesn't this girl have a cell-phone" during it's run, in spite of the prevalence of cell phones at the time.

Cell phones didn't get ubiquitous until the halfway point of Buffy-ish.

As for the Halo games, a complete redo would be nice, but Ill settle for HD support. Its possible that with Reach around the corner they may re-release the Halo games, but then again the 360 does have backwards compatibility for Halo and Halo 2. Not to mention the fact that people will no longer be able to play Halo 2 on Xbox Live anymore may give MS an excuse to re-release Halo 2.

Just a thought.

Oh I'm very sure that they're thinking the exact same thing. Too bad MS doesn't hold the Crimson Skies rights any more. I think I put more hours on that than anything else.

I still can't wrap my mind around that. So what about "Gladiator" and the likes? How do they relate to that? So no kid today enjoys a Western? Oscar-bait costume dramas that are made every year?

When's the last time you saw a Western made pointed at the non-arthouse crowd? I think it was The Quick and the Dead. These are broad statements. Of course no one expects Gone with the Wind to have cell phones, but we're talking about the 90% of movies that are sent in contemporary time periods and do not feature the kind of things that make them universal or long lived. There were what, 900 movies made last year? How many of those will be a marquee catalog title purchased in large numbers even 10 years from now? 5? And I think that's being generous. He also mentioned that the way people talked in the pre-method days is very different from what people are used to now, or were even used to in the 80s. Very stilted and proper, which is offputting to a lot of younger people.

Yes, next Christmas is looking crowded. But Fantasia is a different audience from Alien. Everyone always has their big Christmas box set, it's when you see one studio doing multiple franchises that I start to get worried. I don't think Spielberg will let them get the dinos too close to the man in the hat. And if I have to choose, give me hat

[Jeff Kleist]

To follow up on that. I have to admit that Im very curious as to what Lowry would be able to do with the original Terminator. I was under the impression that the current disc represented the best it really could look.

Everyone I've talked to about it feels that even with the best possible outcome, improvements will be marginal at best. And I'm sure we'll still get the people howling that the contrast is too high and whatnot.

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Oh I'm very sure that they're thinking the exact same thing. Too bad MS doesn't hold the Crimson Skies rights any more. I think I put more hours on that than anything else.

But then again I seem to recall that back in the day that many expected MS to re-release Halo with Xbox Live support back when Halo 2 came out and that obviously never happened. The time is now.

I do wonder if we should expect Gears of War 3 this year? I am starting to think it may get pushed back to possibly next year, since Halo Reach is coming this year and is obviously expected to be the big title this year for 360.

[Alan Gordon]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

If you have a cable box, it counts, just not officially. There have been a bunch of low rated shows that have been saved by the unofficial numbers

Personally I think they should track all cable boxes unless you opt out, would probably save a pile of shows from doom if the people who actually watch it were counted.

I've been saying this for years...

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Definately interested in how heavy rain turns out.

I'm anxiously awaiting the DEMO Thursday. The game comes out on my birthday, and it looks very interesting to me. The only problem is, I'm not one of these serious gamers, so I'm skeptical that HR will be something I'll want to own. Fingers crossed though...

~Alan<~~~~~~Who likes Jay & Conan, so will keep my mouth shut... even though I was once nicknamed Conan...

[Jeff Kleist]

Restored Metropolis streams on Feb 12, should answer all your Qs. Use google translate

http://www.arte.tv/de/arte-magazin/3032192.html