AfterDawn: News

Sony Pictures will release first BD-Live titles on April 8th

Coinciding with an update for the PlayStation 3 (PS3) console to support Blu-ray Profile 2.0 titles, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will be rolling out its first two BD-Live Blu-ray movie titles. The studio announced the release date of these titles; April 8th. These discs will features bonus material and extra features that can be retrieved from the Internet by supporting hardware.

"Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story" and "The Sixth Day" staring Arnold Schwarzenegger will be the first two titles from the studio to offer the extra functionality. Eventually all Blu-ray players on the market will be Profile 2.0-ready. A software update for the Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3) will make it the first Blu-ray hardware to support Profile 2.0 titles.



Early Blu-ray players lack the support for Internet connectivity and extras such as picture-in-picture (PIP) functionality, which then were touted as selling points of the rival HD DVD format. BD-Live titles will become more complex with time, eventually providing services such as mobile phone ringtone downloads, live virtual events, social interaction and games.



Written by: James Delahunty @ 24 Mar 2008 18:12

• Previous article

• Four found guilty of conspiracy to infringe copyright in UK

• Next article

• Sirius / XM merger gets antitrust approval in U.S.

• 13 comments

• sgriesch

  Ring the bell for round one. There are going to be some pissed off people when they find out their $500 Blue-Ray player doesn't read all of the new features on the discs. Sony decided to punish the early adopters of their own format. Seems to me that they should give them a new player. I think that's the least they could do.

  24.3.2008 19:56 #1

• Hunt720

  or maybe a hddvd style consolation coupon is in order

  24.3.2008 20:07 #2

• lxfactor

  both formats were meant to fail.. make way for BD-2.0

  25.3.2008 00:31 #3

• reloadSE

  its got to be good its coming on bday lol

  25.3.2008 02:12 #4

• Ryu77

  Here's a thought... When these "early adopters" purchased their Blu-ray player they were fully aware of the specifications of the particular player they purchased. At that time they were happy enough to pay the requested price tag in exchange for what that player offers.
  
  Does that player still offer all these features as it did on the day they purchased it? The answer is of course, yes.
  
  These players will still be able to play these BD-Live discs. They just wont be able to access the advanced content that comes with BD-Live. However, they will still be able to take advantage of the fantastic offerings HD video and sound bring to their home.
  
  These consumers obviously were happy enough without BD-Live to secure a purchase of a Blu-ray player on the day they bought one. I really don't think there will be huge concern about BD-Live. Yes, it's nice to have it but I really don't think that is the strongest benefit related to the Blu-ray disc format. I have a PS3, so obviously I will be able to access BD-Live but to be honest I am not too fussed about it and I don't think I will use it. I am more concerned with excellent visual and audio quality.

  25.3.2008 02:23 #5

• jove

  Originally posted by sgriesch: Ring the bell for round one. There are going to be some pissed off people when they find out their $500 Blue-Ray player doesn't read all of the new features on the discs. Sony decided to punish the early adopters of their own format. Seems to me that they should give them a new player. I think that's the least they could do.think of all the other companies that sell blu ray players damn it

  25.3.2008 07:45 #6

• sgriesch

  Originally posted by Ryu77: Here's a thought... When these "early adopters" purchased their Blu-ray player they were fully aware of the specifications of the particular player they purchased. At that time they were happy enough to pay the requested price tag in exchange for what that player offers.
  
  Does that player still offer all these features as it did on the day they purchased it? The answer is of course, yes.
  
  These players will still be able to play these BD-Live discs. They just wont be able to access the advanced content that comes with BD-Live. However, they will still be able to take advantage of the fantastic offerings HD video and sound bring to their home.
  
  These consumers obviously were happy enough without BD-Live to secure a purchase of a Blu-ray player on the day they bought one. I really don't think there will be huge concern about BD-Live. Yes, it's nice to have it but I really don't think that is the strongest benefit related to the Blu-ray disc format. I have a PS3, so obviously I will be able to access BD-Live but to be honest I am not too fussed about it and I don't think I will use it. I am more concerned with excellent visual and audio quality.The consumer didn't know 2 years ago that there would be any interactive content available. Only the recent purchasers could have known about this. I too have a PS3, and am not worried about it much. I agree with you, that the HD picture and sound quality is the reason that I purchased it. There ARE people who will be mad though.
  
  @jove
  
  Yes, we all know that Sony is not the only Blue-Ray manufacturer. They are the main one who pioneered the whole idea, just like Toshiba and Microsoft were the main supporters of HD DVD. It's easier to say Sony rather than listing all of their supporters by name.

  25.3.2008 13:05 #7

• TSRSteve

  Originally posted by sgriesch: Ring the bell for round one. There are going to be some pissed off people when they find out their $500 Blue-Ray player doesn't read all of the new features on the discs. Sony decided to punish the early adopters of their own format. Seems to me that they should give them a new player. I think that's the least they could do.Should've bought a ps3 then.

  25.3.2008 17:53 #8

• goodswipe

  Quote:I am more concerned with excellent visual and audio quality.I'm more concerned about all the confusion this creates for the general public that aren't in the know. To me, something like this would just cause people to not want to buy into Blu-ray technology due to all the confusion.
  
  My two cents...
  

  "look honey, it said goodswipe! oh wow, that's amazing."

  25.3.2008 18:01 #9

• Hunt720

  Quote:To me, something like this would just cause people to not want to buy into Blu-ray technology due to all the confusion. I can see where you are coming from on that one.
  
  .. but to be fair... there are still people (i.e. my grandmother) who may never understand. Maybe this will force people to do their own homework before they make a purchase for a change... instead of listening to the toolbag at Best Buy who is trying to make a sale and may or may NOT be "in the know".
  
  I think ALL blu-ray players should be updateable by a simple feature added into the Movie they are playing and not just an online update.
  
  For instance: if you own a profile 1.1 compatable player and go to play a 2.0 movie.. that movie should come with the software neccecary to update your systems profile (should you chose).. otherwise you still get to enjoy the film.

  25.3.2008 18:51 #10

• glassd

  Would you be upset if your 2.1 surround sound system would not play in 5.1 quality or 5.1 in 7.1 quality? Are you upset that your car will not parallel park like the new Lexus? I think that I am with the majority that paid a high price for our Blu product and researched Blu before buying. I knew what I was getting. My PS3 works well and plays all Blu-Ray Disk.

  25.3.2008 19:19 #11

• sgriesch

  Originally posted by glassd: Would you be upset if your 2.1 surround sound system would not play in 5.1 quality or 5.1 in 7.1 quality? Are you upset that your car will not parallel park like the new Lexus? I think that I am with the majority that paid a high price for our Blu product and researched Blu before buying. I knew what I was getting. My PS3 works well and plays all Blu-Ray Disk.I'm saying that the early Blue-Ray products were crap to begin with. HD DVD had the ability to upgrade the firmware on all models that I know of, which Blue-Ray could have learned from. They just weren't thought out. Like you, I have a PS3 which plays the discs fine. But if I had paid $500+ for a stand-alone that was obsolete in 1 year, then I would be mad as hell.

  25.3.2008 20:00 #12

• sgriesch

  Quote:Should've bought a ps3 then.Oh, I did. I bought 2 HD DVD players and a PS3 before the format war was anywhere near decided. In my opinion HD DVD was better, but I wanted some of the movies that were only on Blue-Ray. I figured that I already had the HD DVD, so if Blue-Ray went under I would still have a game system.

  25.3.2008 20:09 #13