HD-DVD could be dead already. Someone posted King Kong to the newsgroups after ripping it using the Add-on.

I seriously doubt that's going to have extreme consequences, if any at all. Someone will always find a way to rip, regardless of the security.

You're nothin till you're bootlegged.

Besides, there's no way to copy it at this point.

True, but I hope it doesn't scare off some of the studios from releasing on HD-DVD.

It's just a matter of time until somebody cracks the security on Blu-ray as well. Robust copy protection usually just means a fun challenge to crackers.

Exactly. I'm not saying that it's a great thing that HD DVD has been cracked (if it even has been at this point). I'm just saying that everything gets cracked eventually. Especially with the demand for PS3 games (much more so than movies), I can't see it lasting long.

Since none of the people on AVS seem willing to share the "silver lining" and Robert apparently is having issues contacting all his pre-order customers, can someone spill the beans? this is getting frustrating.

If Universal does not decide to start releasing on BD sometime during the first quarter of 2007, I will probably pick up an HD DVD player. Why? Because I really want some of their movies like Serenity, 12 Monkeys, Pitch Black, and the Fast and the Furious to name a few. I will even pick up King Kong even though it has zero extras ported over like some of the BD releases. The biggest release ever for HD DVD and they don't load it with extras. How could they? Maybe they were more intent on making it one of the most visually stunning releases with some of the best audio of any release on either format. Sounds like a good trade off to me.

http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/kingkong2005.html

I took Robert up on his silver lining offer. He specifcally asked us not to spill the beans. He did me a solid above and beyond the preorder so I am returning the favor by respecting his wishes.

You aren't missing much. There is no free offer. Basically it's some deals on some existing hardware.

Except very few titles have TrueHD tracks which is what I am going to require. I can't stand this Dolby Digital Plus shit. Every title should have TrueHD if they want my dollar. I will only purchase titles with advanced audio because you can't have a high def DVD without high def audio in my eyes.

That's why I love the fact that Sony put out uncompressed soundtracks on their releases. It's too bad that they couldn't provide picture quality to match.

So is it confirmed that King Kong has zero extras, or is this only the one coming with the add-on?

The got the addon and it says it has u-control with all the cast interviews, behind-the-scenes footage and it has art galleries.

So maybe not zero extras, just not that much.

I won't buy it if it doesn't have the SD extras ported. Maybe they'll give it to us for free at the AVS meet next week.

This wouldn't be an issue if they hadn't jacked the price up to the combo level. Definitely a black eye on the HD DVD format. This again reinforces the fact that Warner is the 90% of the reason I own an HD DVD player.

It would be an issue for me even if the pricing were lower than normal for an HD DVD. One of my big complaints about BD is the lack of ported extras. I sold my copy of Kong on SD in anticipation of the HD DVD, and now they're screwing me on extras. Universal should be ashamed of themselves.

Is it even worth it at this point? How much is a HD-DVD burner or blank discs?

I know this really killed DVD's too

Bandai Visual is working with MS to release animation titles on Hd-dvd worldwide using VC-1.

Nice!

I just remember how everyone was saying that the first format to get ripped would be the end of the format.

The first format to get ripped is the one that is more widely available and popular. We'll see more BD rips in a few weeks or months, I believe.

And unless studios plan to not release the DVD version of the movie, even if BD and HD DVD are 100% secure, DVD is not. People buying/downloading pirated movies have been making due with shaky cam captures encoded in awful codecs. The quality is not their main goal.

Everyone in that situation was actually just "the studios". And they've always been unreasonably afraid of piracy.

They were in the VHS age, they were even more so in the DVD age, and now they've cranked it to 11 in the HD age.


I can understand a healthy dose of concern, but historically even a 'widely' pirated format like video tape or DVD has put billions of dollars into studio coffers. We go through this same routine every time a better format comes along. As long as studios price legitimate software reasonably, there's nothing to be worried about. No one is going to be spending time downloading and burning MI:3 in HD if they can go to Wal-Mart and buy it for 20 bucks. As prices for titles drop, this will be even less of a concern.

I have an HD-XA1 on its way to my house.

I noticed Amazon France now has several of the Studio Canal HD DVDs available for pre-order for 29.99 Euros each. Many of these are titles not yet available in the US on HD DVD, and some only available in the US on BD.

I noticed that too today, but I was scared away by the French writing on the covers.