James "AVGN" Rolfe top 10 reasons Blu Ray sucks

[1924]

actually I do agree with him on the menus. I miss those creative DVD menus. I remember just watching the menu for a while on some DVDs because I thought it looked cool. One that comes into my mind is the Die Hard 2 menu which is a Airport control room and you can see a planes flying in the background

most of his other complaints are just dumb though

[FelixFlankin]

Seriously? The name is one of his issues? I gave this guy the benefit of the doubt as other commenters here seemed to think he was good. But, man. This guy is nitpicking very small issues that most of us don't even deal with or don't even remotely find to be inconvenient. Sorry to those that like him, but this list was absolutely absurd.

[Kyle15]

Originally Posted by dig311dug

I've never seen this encryption message on ps3?
...and the system hasn't been updated in ages.

The last PS3 update was 5 months ago, just so you kno.

[The Geek]

Originally Posted by FelixFlankin

Seriously? The name is one of his issues? I gave this guy the benefit of the doubt as other commenters here seemed to think he was good. But, man. This guy is nitpicking very small issues that most of us don't even deal with or don't even remotely find to be inconvenient. Sorry to those that like him, but this list was absolutely absurd.

I like Rolfe but these days he's off his rocker IMO. He nitpicks like crazy and clearly doesn't understand the format at all.

With his own movie (the angry video game nerd movie) he jammed all the extras including a massive documentary on the film all on one blu-ray causing a big downgrade in the picture quality department.

[dickdarlington]

1. Menus.

During the prime era of DVDs, distributors actually spent time and effort in making great menus. However, Blu-ray allows you to access the menus while you're in the movie. You can only choose from creativity or accessibility, you don't get both. I think most of us would opt for the accessibility. While I agree with the AVGN that Warner's stock menu sucks, the stock Arrow and Criterion menus are clean.

2. Bonus features.

All of the niche distributors would love a word with the AVGN. Arrow, Criterion, Scorpion, Scream/Shout, etc. There's a lot of content we've seen in the Blu-ray era, especially in the realm of catalog titles, that we never got to witness during the DVD era. While the major distributors have pretty much stopped putting effort into bonus materials, the smaller labels still care.

3. Oversized cases.

The argument is to get all of the content, one has to purchase the "deluxe edition" which has oversized packaging. He uses the Planet of the Apes boxset and the Godzilla Criterion set as his examples.

Fox released the Planet of the Apes films individually alongside the boxset and the discs were the same regardless of the purchase path. Fox later re-released the collection in standard packaging with the same discs inside. Consumers had options in their packaging.

Criterion was upfront from the moment they announced the Godzilla set that their #1000 spine was the size of a coffee table book. AVGN says he wouldn't have ordered if he knew this. I call bullshit as the photo on Amazon gives one an idea on how large the set is.

4. Discholders.

I'll give him that, but again, not a great argument on why the entire format sucks. While digibook packaging does save space, I'd rather have all the discs in a standard case (with a slip box or cover) rather than how digibook packaging is now with slip inserts.

5. Buttons.

I get it. He gushes over the PS3 remote despite the fact there are companies who do make great Blu-ray remotes that are even cleaner than the PS3 remote. Example: PDP's remote for the Xbox One. With entertainment centers and a lot of us having multiple devices connected to their television, I would assume consumers have began purchasing all-in-one remotes or even using their smart devices to control their sets. I switched to the Harmony for my setup years ago and I've never looked back.

6. Software Updates.

I understand his concerns about distributors and manufacturers trying to limit content. However, without software updates, devices like the PS3, PS4, and Xbox One would've never met their full potential. Those updates included such features as Blu-ray 3D and Dolby Atmos playback. That was a major reason why many people loved the PS3 as a Blu-ray player. It was versatile.

7. It's owned by Sony.

First off, who cares? Second of all, Blu-ray simply had the better hardware/technology behind it over HD-DVD.

8. The name.

It's a petty argument on why a format sucks.

9. Bookmarking.

Here's how many times I've bookmarked a disc: 0.

This may be an argument for some, but not for all.

10. Commercials.

Commercials have been there since the dawn of physical media. At least Blu-ray gives one the option to skip all the commercials by hitting a single button. I recall a certain studio (Disney) releasing DVDs that forced one to sit through every single commercials.

[Zarak]

I definitely agree with him that Blu-ray remotes can be frustrating. I have three players from different manufacturers, and on all three, I constantly accidentally turn off the movie whenever I try to pause it via the remote in the dark.

I don't know if this failure of usability is specific to the BD format, but you'd think that today's experts could build a better remote control.

[Joseph Goodman]

"Blu-ray is owned by Sony"- what is this, 2006-era format war FUD spread by amirm on AVSForum? Blu-ray was never "owned" by Sony; almost every single electronics brand except Toshiba signed on to the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), and even before the BDA existed, it was Sony and nine other major electronics companies.

[NLScavenger]

This video is

AVGN - ASS - YouTube

[LoSouL]

I've always had a love/hate relationship with this channel, but they are so myopic.

[SuperFlyHighGuy]

Thanks to all of you I don't have to waste my data watching this. But I'll add that Warner's warning screens after the movie are pretty obnoxious. Feels like every language known to man, woman, and beast.

[GeoffOliver]

I actually prefer simple menus over fancy ones. I also prefer them with no music. Kino probably has the best menus because they’re usually just the poster and the options. That’s all you need. Some fancy DVD and Blu-ray menus are difficult to operate because they chose a fancy design over functionality. Also, the boutique labels have all long abandoned previews before a disc (Criterion doesn’t even have FBI Warnings). I think it’s only the major studios that do it now, and they’re always skippable. The “next” button should work to get through them. DVDs were way worse with unskippable previews. Warner’s United Nations gathering of FBI Warnings can be skipped by simply pushing the disc menu or title menu buttons, and Warner Archive’s discs don’t have them at all. As for the name, I actually think HD-DVD had a better name because it was more simple and didn’t try to pretend that the format was something other than DVD 2.0 (obviously Blu-ray was the better actual format), but it’s NOT a big deal at all. Also, Sony has no say over what films get released to Blu-ray. They don’t even release as many of their own catalog titles as Universal or Warner.
James Rolfe doesn’t annoy me as much as Doug Walker, but he’s still too obnoxious to take seriously. Both of them have a very annoying and borderline-condescending approach to film criticism, I don’t even enjoy them when they’re speaking positively about something.

[DukeTogo84]

Overall, I'm a bit disappointed with James over this video. Pretty weird for him to endorse streaming over Blu-rays and then go and try to sell his Blu-rays at the very end even if that was somewhat of a joke.

[Red Spectre]

Watch enough of James’ content and you’ll realize that he really doesn’t know much about video games, movies, and home theater. He’s got a lot of crap in his basement and that’s about it.

[dallywhitty]

I like James, but Cinemassacre has been on the decline for a while now.

[The Geek]

It's been on the decline (for me) since he started doing those rental reviews with his 3 annoying friends.

[dallywhitty]

Originally Posted by The Geek

It's been on the decline (for me) since he started doing those rental reviews with his 3 annoying friends.

Yup. The Screenwave guys are obnoxious as ****. At this point, my favourite Cinemassacre videos tends to be James and Mike Mondays.

[barsalou]

One bad take after another... thought this video was a joke, but apparently this guy is serious.

[GeoffOliver]

If it makes anyone feel better, the many comments I read on the video are all very supportive of physical media.

[DVD Josh]

My quick take, I like James, but I'm not looking back:

10) Interactive Menus - He's right.
9) Extras - BD should have all bonus features as DVD, even in SD - He's right.
8) Oversized Packages - Meh.
7) Disc Holders (i.e., sleeves/no hubs) - He's right.
6) No bluetooth remotes - Meh.
5) Software updates/encryption keys - Not really an issue except for the PS3.
4) Ownership by Sony - Proven to be irrelevant.
3) BD is a Dumb Name - Who cares.
2) Bookmarking (movies do not start where left off/doesn't work right) - Not a huge issue but he's sort of right.
1) Commercials and Trailers (way too many) some which are unskippable - so, so, so much agree.

[rdodolak]

I get the impression he didn't get into DVD and Blu-ray until late in the game.

10) Interactive Menus

Current Blu-ray menus tend to be basic, but that wasn't always the case. Early on there was a better display of the BD capabilities and more effort was put into BD menus. At the same time, DVD menus can be basic too.

9) Extras

Early DVD releases didn't always have a plethora of extras either. A lot of them only had a theatrical trailer and/or cast/crew bios, if that.

Originally Posted by dickdarlington

7. It's owned by Sony.

First off, who cares? Second of all, Blu-ray simply had the better hardware/technology behind it over HD-DVD.

Except it's not owned exclusively by Sony; the BDA is a consortium. He seems to have latched on to the fact that Sony is a co-founder for the Blu-ray format. Does he also have an issue with CDs since the format was jointly developed by Sony and Philips.