I'm just upset that my local Blockbuster said they will NOT be one of the stores that will carry Blu-Ray....I'll have to keep getting them online and the selection is weak from Blockbuster.com

I have 2 nearby and neither carry any HD formats. I hope both are part of the BD expansion. I'm in an area where retailers, including Walmart, have a large selection of titles for purchase, so I'm hoping I am able to rent some locally. I agree that BB online has a weak selection of HD content. They take weeks to get some titles in.

Well, you could just ask your local stores....I do have a Blockbuster by work, so I could always start renting there (IF they get Blu-Ray...which I doubt).

The manager at my local one said nope...they don't have the room.

I remember when DirecTV entire line up was easily hackable (edit to add "hackable" I left it out for some reason). People were getting all channels and pay-per-view for free. I think for at least 5 years now, DirecTV has not been hacked yet.

I agree at some point a copy protection scheme can be hacked though. However, 5 years is a long time for something that's highly sought after to remain unhacked.

Edit: Reason in text.

The reason it did not get hacked again, was because they hacked Dish Network and its still hackable till today. Even the HD streams work.

I'm sure there are plenty of people who want unlimited NFL season passes. It is potentially a million dollar enterprise (illegal yes, but an enterprise nonetheless) for the person who hacks it.

That Dish is hackable does not affect that.

Thats a pathetically small market. Most people pirating satellite tv are lower income people who want more channels, but cannot afford the rates. Thats 95% of satellite pirates. the 1% that wants the nfl package is meaningless when they are not the majority of the customers.

Would you expect selection to be better from a local store? I wouldn't.

Wouldn't it make sense that a local store would actually have less selection, much like Blockbuster/Netflix are with SD-DVDs like foreign, independent films, etc?

Local store advantage is see-the-box-get-it-now convenience, but not selection.

Each store is getting 170+ blu-ray movies. Thats quite a selection. One of the managers at the local blockbuster said he has 185 blu-ray movies on route, along with multiple copies of the top titles. Thats a lot of discs.

Link?

So he is getting almost every single Blu-Ray movie out? I doubt that. They didn't push that hard when DVD came around.

The press release from Blockbuster said each store was rolling out with 170 Blu-ray titles.

Bullshit. To each and every statement in that post. Except the word "majority".

Actually, the press release said:
Nitpicky point, but it doesn't say "each." I see no reason to think they won't treat this as a further pilot program, with the major releases in every store, but smaller catalog titles spread out among locations and having their rental rates tracked to determine which get upgraded to "every store" status.

It's certainly possible that I'm reading it too closely, but I would prepare myself to be disappointed if I walked into one of those 1,700 stores expecting to see 170 Blu-Ray movies to choose from.

Not that I have Dish but I know people that have the hacked versions and they get all of the local feeds for the USA. That's every NFL game right there.

Well I work a BBV, and yesterday we got in our (First?) Shipment of BR... I would say around 175 titles... Most were BSI titles (Movies have been out for at least a year)... We are going to make a spot on the NR wall just for NR titles and then the rest of the titles are going to go in with the Favorites... Pretty good deal for Rewards members. I know its going to be a problem though when a bunch of retards rent BR thinking it will work on their DVD players... Ughh. Also, I must say as a Avid HD-DVD supporter, it was pretty painful to have to scan every single BR disc we got, alphabetize them and get them ready to go out... gut-wrenching. It does make me a lil tempted to switch sides but I cant... I cant!!!

Is there any sort of listing online showing which stores are getting the BD expansion?

The store I work at got their shipment today. I'd say it was way more than 150 titles at first glance. I rented three already.

My store is one of the test stores, but today I asked about whether they were going to expand their blu-ray section and the clerk pointed over to a stack of blu-rays that they were just starting to check in. Should be fun browsing for me the next time I go in.

Our store (Lake Cook Road and Buffalo Grove Rd) is also in!

Pro-B

Sweet, I'll be heading over tomorrow to grab some new movies!

I read the article in PSM... Blockbuster decided to go with BD, it's a blow to HD-DVD. What i don't like about the article is that, it kinda spell out BD already won the format war. I agree it's a big blow, but i don't think HD-DVD gonna die just because BBV go with BD...

Anyone in MICHIGAN know what stores got Blu-Ray?

You read the article is Playstation Magazine? Gee, I bet they were not biased at all! Blockbuster, which is losing way too much money as-is, and just raised their online rates. Yeah, NOT worried at all. Let me know when PS3 systems actually sell on a regular basis and standalone Blu-Ray players are affordable. Until then, this won't make much of a difference.

that's pretty much my reaction to the article... although i'm on the BD's fence, but still, i find the article a bit too full of themselves. PSM is the Playstation magazine, i read it for games, but apparently BDs are now a part of the mag...