High-Def Disc Interactivity Debuts on HD DVD 135
An anonymous reader writes "Next to picture quality, interactivity has been touted as one of the key selling points of the next-gen disc formats — unlike standard def DVD, both HD DVD and Blu-ray are capable of delivering truly interactive experiences. This past Tuesday, Universal Studios released 'Fast and the Furious: Toyko Drift' on HD DVD with an interactive feature they've dubbed 'U-Control,' delivering the first true on-the-fly, user-controlled supplements to a pre-recorded video format."
interactivity... (Score:1, Funny)
By "interactivity", I'm assuming they mean throwing the player out of a third-story window when it refuses to play a DRM'ed movie that you've paid for [betanews.com]?
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On-demand multiple streams of recorded content took only 35 years after videos first made it to optical discs?
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You know, those old 'western' type ones. Damned if I can remember the name of it now.
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wth (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:wth (Score:5, Insightful)
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Regular DVDs have enough storage, enough resolution, enough interactivity (minimal), and are freaking everywhere. No one with half a brain will want to buy their entire movie collection all over again on a format that offers so goddamn little.
Give it up, corporate fat bastards. We don't want your shitty newer harder to crack technology. FOAD/DIAF.
Yes, I'm angry. Thanks to greedy fucks that take advantage of people by dangling margin
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Despite the score on your post (currently -1), it's a very valid point -- most extras on DVDs are never viewed (at most I've gone into the deleted scenes for some laughs). Making those interactive will hardly improve them (in fact the interactivity is usually the pain, as you wait for stupid transition scenes to play out between selections), and I marvel that studios still spend the money to produce them.
Where I think interac
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Depends on what features are added. I've had DVDs that had some interesting commentaries, for example. The Muppets in Space movie had a neat little gag where it had MST3K'ish chars in the front making comments. The Star Trek DVDs had little blippy 'facts' about the art direction in the shows byh Michael Okuda. (Although why that was some flashy thing with graphics instead of simple text is beyond me...)
Interactive does
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It's funny how many people say something like this, then complain when a movie comes out on DVD and it's only one disc and doesn't come with anything more than the theatrical trailers for extras. Even more amusing is that the better the movie itself is the more they expect in the way of extras (LOTR, Blade Runner, ect).
Nice... (Score:1)
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I'd love drift on her curves.
Why is this cool? (Score:5, Insightful)
Unless I don't understand something... what does this add to the movie itself? If it doesn't, then it's just an added feature that has no inherent quality and doesn't aid in my decision to purchase a movie in the first place.
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In the case of this movie? Doesn't matter. Anything helps.
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Re:Why is this cool? (Score:4, Insightful)
One Word (Score:2)
Interactivity! (Score:2, Funny)
Movie vs. Features (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't know about anyone else, but when I watcha movie, I like to watch the movie. Not Flashy, buzz-wordy bull crap.
Whenever I purchase a new DVD, before I even watch it, I rip it, strip everything but the main movie, and burn it.
Whoever invented the retarted "feature" to stop you from going directly to the meny during previews is a fucktard. I've only seen it once or twice, but still a complete pain in the ass.
Then we have the people who enjoy placing a tonne of DRM/copy proctection on the discs and just like to piss people like me off who actually buy movies, and want to just have the main movie start playing when the disc in inserted. Not sit through a bunch of warnings, movie previews, and then sit at the goddamn menu until you have to press the play button. I can see sometimes this can be of use, but in more cases than not, I just want to watch TFM[ovie]!
In conclusion, I want better content, not features. Stop waisting your time and money on crap nobody cares about.
</rant>
Sorry. I just had to get that off my chest.
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But yeah, when I put it in, just start.
Some childrens movies will start automatically if they sit at the main menu for a little while. Still ahve to go through the FBI warning, then the MPAA psuedo warning.
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I don't like the fact that you can't click past the copyright warnings but I think it is much worse that the same feature is used to force you to watch the studio splash.
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Flag to Prevent Skipping Ads (Score:3, Informative)
But back when I was looking for an all-region dvd player, i found that some players have hacks to remove recognition of UOP flags. I'm glad I did - I find UOP Flag more annoying than the region locking, since I have to deal with UOP with
FBI Warning (Score:2)
Yep -- or you can choose to keep them. I think that's the "Extra Irony" option.
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Of course, not all players seem to like my DV
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I've noticed that on some DVD's you can just skip to the root menu, but others make you watch every single company logo and FBI warning. Do we really care that the DVD can't be watched on Oil Rigs? Given the minuscule number of people living on Oil Rigs, is it at all fair to take up our time with that crap?
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And when you see a /. story, you want to jump right to the ranting and complaining, not take time to think about the subject for a few minutes...
I'm sure people had the same complaint about video games when they were introduced. Not to mention FMVs...
There are different kinds of movies being churned out by Hollywood these days. One type you want to sit back and watch... The other, they cou
The interactive features of DVD mostly unused (Score:1, Interesting)
to create a new viewing experience.
How many DVD's really had useful multiple angles?
- Like perhaps a Fixed camera, vs one that panned.
How many DVD's had a useful alternate audio track.
- Like a music only (matrix came close), or without drama music.
How many DVD's had seamless alternate endings or alternate paths.
(not just an all too common alternate ending presented like a deleted scence.)
The features of DVD should be used be
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Amadeus comes with an excellent music-only track. Mozart wrote some fantastic stuff, and it's nice to just pop in the dvd and listen. Or even watch the movie only with the music to see how each piece was chosen to convey mood and suppliment emotion.
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Or sitcoms where you can turn off the laugh track. Though in a lot of shows you'd then notice an an awkward-looking pause.
Interactivity: perfect for porn (Score:4, Insightful)
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????
Elaboration please.
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Why bother editing a movie? (Score:2)
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Because the first time around the movie sucked [imdb.com] bad [rottentomatoes.com].
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One area they'll never be interactive in (Score:4, Insightful)
Heck no! (Score:1)
It SHOULD just play the damn movie the moment you stick the disc in. It doesn't.
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Both DVD players in my house do that. Open tray, put in disc, hit PLAY button on front of player, disc starts playing the movie just like I had brought up the main menu screen and chosen "Play Move" from there.
Movies (Score:1)
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One of the best scenes in Galaxy Quest was cut for time, and I'd like to see it in context.
Same thing with unbreakable. There are two VERY powerfull scenes that were cut at the last minute which I'd like to see in context as well.
Yeah, most of them wouldn't look to good since they probably didn't get to the final stages of editing.
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The one I'd love to see though is say the Lord of the Rings trilogy done so you can watch the theatrical version (for the shorter-movie-loving wife) or the DVD versions turning on or off the extra scenes live (and switching to the appropriate version of the soundtra
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Enjoy.
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More things change.. (Score:2)
Why yes, yes it was.
I have yet to see a DVD player that contains all the features of Laser Disk.
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And I haven't seen a Laser Disc player since I was in 7th grade and it's not like it's because they're had to see because of their size
Pr0n (Score:2, Insightful)
After all, doesn't everyone want more intereactivity in their pornography?
shouldn't parent be modded funny, not insightful (Score:1)
Obligatory Futurama (Score:5, Funny)
Fry presses 1.
Chair: You have pressed 2!
Fry: No, I didn't!
Chair: I'm almost positive you did!
Time passes.
Calculon: Add in the carryover from form 16A, then deduct line 2B...
Doesn't matter how good the features are... (Score:2)
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Its quite simple.The case with low quality movies is this - The consumer wants to watch the movie.However,he deems it not good enough for the hassle of driving to theatre,pay for family etc.Instead he thinks the movie is just worth a watch on computer & delete.
20% more plot (Score:2)
If it wasn't for that guy's (Lucas Black aka "Sean Boswell" in the movie) absolutely horrible accent, the movie would be pretty hard to top.
Plus it'll lead way for Need For Speed: Carbon- bringing back the drift modes again.
In any case, it wasn't that bad.
-M
Not again... (Score:2)
Apparently, history does repeat itself (and they still haven't learned from the previous mistake).
When people put a movie in, they want to be *passively entertained*. Having the brain in between two states (passive and active) doesn't really work.
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The only interactive people want in media is video games, and not everyone is a gamer. Most people want to be entertained.
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You don't get to decide the outcome of the movie. The "good guy" still wins. And Nathalie Kelley is still hot.
Pr0n (Score:3, Funny)
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I wonder what programmability the format has (Score:2)
Here we go again! (Score:2, Insightful)
Great! The people who missed 1995 in videogames have finally a chance to relive the legendary golden era of Full Motion Video Multimedia CD-ROM Games! A little bit less compression artifacts, but the same two-penny production values, the same horrible acting, the same cheesy special effects and especially the same level of interactivity!
::runs in fear as the memories of the Philips CD-i commercials flood i
Just buy a video game (Score:2)
You just described Final Fantasy (Score:2)
Thank you! (Score:2)
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Modern medicine is close to wiping it out, though, and soon this condition will live on only in the history books.
The simple question is, why? (Score:1)
The PIP is neat, but I for one have never sat all the way through a movie a second time to hear the commentary. This just adds a small box with video content to that
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But saying all that, I'd accidentally hit the button for the audio commentary track
BluRay (Score:4, Interesting)
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-52in 1080p bravia
-82in LCD
can you say... rich people's toys.. and no i don't mean middle class and up i mean RICH people's toys!
my family is arguably upper middle class and cannot afford that crap, as is about 80% of the american population, and at a projected 1800 bucks a BD player youre looking at the requirement for even more obscene amounts of cash..
I don't think joe sixpack is willing to sell half his organs, his arms, his legs, and farm out his brain to a super
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Dirt bike game (also allows cars and other vehicles): Motorstorm
Golf game: minna no golf (Everyone's Golf)
WWII era FPS: Resistance: Fall of Man
marketing (Score:1)
What button do I push to make it not suck? (Score:2)
let's see.. direct the platform toward the 27-55 demographic.. market movies for the platform to the 12-22 demographic.. I think i'm seeing their problem here!
Perhaps... (Score:2)
Maybe, instead of adding fancy user controlled content, they should use that money hire more competent writers, directors and actors, so that we are being sold media based on the quality of the IP contained inside, not how many different angles you can look at Vin Diesel's Orc crushing arms [ugo.com].
Um, Dragons Lair, Dragons Lair II, etc on DVD.... (Score:2)
Plus, the latest Final Destination DVD http://www.amazon.com/Final-Destination-Widescreen -Two-Disc-Special/dp/B000FC2HS6/ref=imdbpov_dvd_2/ 102-6203 [amazon.com]
So, how does it work? (Score:1)
Of course there are all the obligitory comments above about how commentaries are stupid, and special features are stupid, and interactivity is stupid, but must have missed the thread where people actually discussed how these new features are technically achieved, and I for one would like to know.
I know I've seen some really neat things done in the past that took advantage of the unused capabilities of DVDs, or that used them in new and interesting ways.
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From what I've observed:
How come... (Score:2)
Release multi-rating DVD's. Mom and the kids can watch the movie at PG-13 if they want... Pastor Bob can get it PG rated and grandpa can opt for the R or unrated version. Hey parents can set the kids TV to block R rated stuff (V-Chip) and then get little Timmy a copy of Pitch Black (To go along with his standard PG-13 Chronicles of Riddick) which he can watch at PG-13 until he's older.
Why not
Tricky, but I like it. (Score:2)
But I like it. I like it becaues it means I'll just allow all content, but they'll be less afraid of putting "strong" content in films that really
They could do that right now. (Score:2)
What's funny is we don't even need a new player to do something like that. Just add extra DVD scene cuts at the points where
ReadySoft CEO breathes a sigh of relief... (Score:2)
Overlays nothing new (Score:2)
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Re:DVD didn't deliver (Score:4, Insightful)
Yes, I have seen the angle feature used twice in all of the DVDs I have:
I've noticed some DVDs don't have the angle feature on the remote now (and, for example, Windows Media Center doesn't seem to support it).
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I've seen multi-angle used in exactly one feature movie: The Hunt for Red October has the texts at the beginning in different languages.
It's also used pretty often in special features (usually in storyboard/animatic/special effect comparisons where you can switch between storyboard/etc view, final movie view and one that shows both).
Tried pr0n? (Score:2, Informative)
I've read that most multi-angle DVDs are of erotic films.
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I have the sinking feeling that's one of the reasons why DVDs come with so few language tracks. Another notion is that possibly the same movie in different regions might be a different cut of the film (some countries have different editing needs..) It might be possible that a different language track
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I think this becomes even worse for movies. Why would we want to select angles, rather than jus