And another week remains quiet on the western next-gen front.
Well, HD-DVD seems to be firing back when it comes to their lack of releases in the first quarter of the year. The problem seems to be though that not many releases are new, and the equipment price cuts that have been previously reported elsewhere were rehashed here. So on the impressive scale, it’s a light rock in the ocean. But still, it’s nice to see them doing SOMETHING. European buyers will be seeing a version of the Sony BDP coming out this…summer. Notable for it having HDMI 1.3, it’s another case of a device that you’ll have to wait and get a good receiver for down the road. Blu-ray has drown the proverbial line in the sand too, with the BDA expecting Java support by the end of October. It’s kind of funny how this announcement comes hot on the heels of the Matrix releases, but at least it gives a kick in the pants to Blu-Ray, so that Batman Begins and V for Vendetta can’t be HD exclusives. But hey, Dreamworks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg says it’s a niche market anyway, so screw it, right?
In more sensible release news, Season Three of Rescue Me comes out on Blu-ray on 5/3. They will be on BD-50 discs and be exclusive to Blu buyers, and will be coming out on SD DVD day and date also. Sony will release Meatballs as a Blu exclusive, day and date with its SD SE release. Ghost Rider will come out 1 week later. So yay to Sony for putting out some announcements! This week’s releases are The Good Shepherd (HD only), and G.I. Jane, Identity, the DC of King Arthur and Volver (all BR exclusive).
Before I check out, I wanted to throw a shout out to our very own database for next-generation disc reviews, which pulls from several major websites and continues to add more and more material. The URL is http://www.hddb.net, phone your neighbors, tell your friends. That’s all for this week high definers, so until next time, keep the brightness low and the resolution high!
