Link This | Email this | Blog This | Comments (0)

BD Interactivity: Must-Have or Maybe-Have?
December 5, 2007

CE manufacturers and studio executives seem to be singing different tunes about the importance of advanced interactivity for BD titles. At Tuesday's High Def 2.0 conference in Los Angeles, Pioneer's Andy Parsons explained that it's OK that there are no BD Live players available yet because most people are buying hardware for the main movie attraction, rather than supplementary features. Folks are hoping to first "lean back" and enjoy awesome picture and audio, rather than have to "lean forward" and figure out special features, he explained. Philips' Chris Buma seconded Parsons on that remark.
But during the studio session directly following, executive participants spent a lot of time touting upcoming interactivity, such as Disney's 2008 release of BD Live title Sleeping Beauty. Confusion. I think I use that word a lot on this blog. Wonder why?? 
Parsons questioned whether enough people have access to high-speed Internet to really make use of BD titles that happen to boast Web-enabled features.
"Some will be interested and some won't be. The typical consumer with an Ethernet port [might be saying] so what?" said Parsons during the manufacturers session. "We want to walk before we run, and then gradually go to BD Live."
Lionsgate's Miguel Casillas, Walt Disney's Lori MacPherson and Sony's Don Eklund all seemed jazzed about releasing their studios' respective first BD Live titles.
But I guess that no one yet really knows whether consumers are going for this. The HD DVD camp recently released stats hopefully proving the attraction of their own Web-enabled features. 
But to be honest, HD DVD-supplying studios are presenting their own high-def bonus features in a sort of jumbled way. Different studios use different 'fun words' to call out the items on discs. Universal is going with this U-Control umbrella term, and Warner seems to favor In-Movie Experience. For the most part, all consumers need to do is type 'A' on their HD DVD remotes to access titles' bonus features, but it's something new that is probably not second nature to anyone yet.
Also The Digital Bits' Bill Hunt brought up a good point at the high-def conference, noting each new bonus feature and/or game annoyingly seems to bring up the need to download a new firmware upgrade. 
I can definitely picture this sort of conversation unfolding: "Honey, we can't watch Live Free or Die Hard until I figure out this firmware update doo-hicky." That's gotta be fun for the family.
Well, I guess only time will tell whether BD Live and/or HD DVD Web-enabled titles will really hit the mainstream. So I guess we can all just lean back, and wait and see.

Posted by Susanne Ault on December 5, 2007 | Comments (0)