the region thing is actually the biggest difference to me of all the issues y'all mentioned, and I didn't even know about it. it's the most immediate issue anyway.
well...if SONY really won't press unrated/uncensored titles (I'm not talking pr0n here; I mean extended cuts and whatnot that they simply don't PAY to have rated) AND SONY is responsible for pressing most of the bluray discs, then that trumps everything. I've only seen spud's ramblings and his quotes on it, and I have no reason to doubt him per se, but...well...whatever, I'm not buying anything now anyway, but I would like to see how that shakes out.
I'm bummed that Disney is exclusive to BD cuz they have a huge library of movies from their own house and lots of movie houses that they've sucked up like everything under touchstone. but it comes down to this for me: universal is HD-DVD. AoD is Universal. I'm onboard for HD-DVD.
regarding storage market, the very first discs and "reader" I saw was BD recordable discs and a burner. granted, the burner was about $1,000. but still, that was the first one I saw. haven't seen one in a LONG time tough. that's weird, isn't it?
did they pull them or something?
anyway, it's going to take a while for 1080p to take hold (the hardware is only just now available - the content is really thin; it's just optical media; tv shows aren't even all 720p yet). so I'm not too worried about watching 1080p on 15g vs. 25g. but you'd have to be blind not to notice the superiority in storage specs.
the idea that BD is all SONY is kinda funny cuz...wasn't that the same case with betamax? which was also technically superior to vhs? or am I imagining that?
just got back from
the golden compass. I liked it. it's a kids' movie. no getting around that. but so was SW. and GC feels like SW in its blending of action, diverse "worlds" and cornball dialogue (I use the term affectionately). anyway, it's good. lots of quality actors doing substandard but perfectly adequate work. there's a pretty clear delineation between "good guys" and "bad guys" that you get with SW also. I almost get the feeling that this little girl would wipe the floor with luke skywalker in the same way I thought that while TPM may have sucked ass, those jedi knights would have mopped the floor with vader or luke from the original trilogy. still though...she IS just a kid. and while not nearly annoying in the way little anakin was, I couldn't help wishing this wasn't a kid at the center of the story. anyway, far more advanced than the other child fantasy fare this year and more layered. people complained that it was confusing. I don't see what's confusing about it. in fact, I think you'd have to be a complete tool not to get it. whether it works or you accept how it works is another story, but it sure as hell isn't difficult to "get."
Life ducks, and you sigh.