I've noticed several interesting artciles about BluRay and HDDVD that never made it to the front page of CDFreaks, that show a very different side of the format war, so I thought I'd share them here:

People have claimed that Sony has ruled out Porn for BluRay. This is however false:
http://wesleytech.com/porn-is-already-on-blu-ray-disc/

People have claimed that BluRay is losing support from major players. However New Line has recently decided to switch from being an HDDVD exclusive studio, to a neuteral supporter, in favour of TotalHD releases:
http://wesleytech.com/total-hd-means...le-for-hd-dvd/

Another interesting fact is Universal made the odd move of NOT announcing any new movies for 2007 on (HDDVD) at CES:
http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/sh..._Universal/429

So for those of you keeping score, All the major studios now release on BluRay, either neutrally or exclusively, with the exception of Universal, who currently has no plans to release on either format according to public information (they're obviously pausing for a reason, perhaps they are considering switching sides?). In the short term however, it does seem that porn will be more available on HDDVD then BluRay, but not completely unavailable on BluRay.

Is anyone else curious why none of this information made it to the front page?

Is this article being referred to regarding your questions?

It is interesting that Wesociety found this article and it is a curiosity. He also mentions that while there is porn content on Blu-ray that the same Sony could also "block and prevent US based porn companies from producing their content on Blu-ray disc..." I can see Seán's article doesn't rule out Blu-ray being worked with in terms of distributing porn on it's format, but it's just that the HD-DVD camp decided to 'lend a helping hand' first.

It wasn't that article specificly, but that general report was one of the things I was talking about yes. I'm pretty sure this whole thing started from a misunderstanding or a mis-communication though. Sony has had no problem putting porn on their own UMD format, and that was STRICTLY a Sony format, and not a shared format like BluRay is.

In any case, we know that at least 1 plant (my guess would be a Japanese one) has already made pornographic BluRay, and my guess is that more will. I'll see if I can get some clarification from Sony myself however.

Then I suppose the next question is why Sony would put that on that proprietary format (UMD), but have some kind of objection to having it on Blu-ray?

Yeah, that's one of the reasons why I'm confused by this, and suspect it's a misunderstanding. I know production is very busy at this time of the year, with all the major studios launching movies, so maybe it just wasn't a priority?

In any case, I will be trying to get some answers

Hi Dolphin, Sean linked to one of my articles on the frontpage today.

As I already stated though, just because we see some porn on Blu-Ray Disc in Japan does not necessarily mean it will appear in the US. I suppose time will tell. If anyone else has any additional info on this, feel free to share.

Yup, I noticed that

Still nothing noting the unusual movie industry swing of support towards BluRay though

Wasn't a fairly large quantity of porn titles released for the PS2? I thought I had heard something about this, but it would have just been something I heard in passing as a blurb from FoxNews or someplace.

I think so as well yes.... some naughty titles mostly released in Japan if I recall correctly.

Isn't porn inherently naughty? Seriously, that is a curiosity about the very limited use.

Umm, yeah probably.... but I think some of that Japanese stuff gets a bit naughtier then others. Or maybe my anime addiction just gives me a skewed point of view

Lot's more missing Blu-Ray / HD DVD news over here.... why isn't this stuff getting posted on the front page???

'Children of Men' HD DVD Hits Xbox 360 Playback Snag?
http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/sh...yback_Snag/552
This is just the latest in problems with HD DVD playback that we've seen, C't has also mentioned having some playback problems with certain HD DVD discs previously. And although the link is pushing that it's the XBox360 add-on having problems, it's also noted that some stand alone Toshiba HD DVD players are also having issues with playing back Children of Men. I believe this is CERTAINLY news worthy.

Universal Goes Non-Combo with 'Army of Darkness,' ' Unleashed' Reissues
http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/sh...d_Reissues/553
This is pretty significant, since it wasn't long ago, late last year, that Universal swore that a majority of their releases would be combo discs. This also means that their titles will be ~$5 USD less.


Nielsen VideoScan for week ended March 25
http://forums.highdefdigest.com/showthread.php?t=5381
and/or
http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ques...hp?startpage=2
This is very important news, and really I would think CDFreaks should post it at least once every 2-4 weeks (the current Nielsen videoscan ratings I mean):

YTD: BD/HDDVD = 100.00:42.13
Since Inception: BD/HDDVD = 100.00:79.77
Sales Ratio For the Week Ending March 25th: BD/HDDVD = 100:22 (roughly)

Maybe as the average user here is using & discussing $30 drives, technology costing 10x+ is of not much interest?

That doesn't sound like a very good excuse to me. In fact, if anything, that sounds like an excellent argument for why the discussions on DVD burners are nearly pointless these days, since most drives are cheap, disposable, and poorly supported by the manufacturers because they can't make any money on them anymore to fund said support.

I would rather focus on items that actually require some level of investment, and aren't considered "low end" technology currently. Frankly, DVD technology is over saturated, and people need to begin looking at the next big technology, which will be either HD DVD or Blu-Ray, and in my personal opinion, most likely Blu-Ray.

This might best be stated as:
"focus on items that might tend to line my pockets."

Anyone can submit news items. Stop whining.

I agree with you Dan. News is something that effects the majority of our users not the minority, when these drives are available at reasonable prices then it will be big news. For now only a small percentage of our members can afford this " level of investment".

That's an interesting accusation, but I doubt there is anyone who is really getting their pockets lined over these next gen formats yet.

Simply stated, if I'm going to drop $450-$700 on a Blu-Ray burner, I want to know it's the right choice. If I drop $30 on a DVD burner and it's not good, it's disposable, I'll just buy a new one.

I'm trying to make a point about a lack of support here. I don't particularily feel like doing CDFreaks' job for them because they are failing to do it. That's a good way to get way to end up being put in charge of doing things I'd rather not be stuck doing all the time.

Really, your argument is basically saying "if you want a good news site, do it yourself, don't expect it from CDFreaks". I'm sorry, but that's just sad.

I'm not taking any sides to this but would like to say that i'm interested to the point of just looking at prices and reading more info.

I for one understand where your coming from.

That's total nonsense. All members can submit news items. If you don't want to do it then don't whine because it's not being done to your liking. As they say, if you're not part of the solution then you're part of the problem. Grow up, this is a member-supported forum. If you don't contribute then you don't get to whine. Start contributing something, even if it's only some cheese to go with the whine.

In the time it takes you to post whining comments about it, you could submit a dozen or more news items. Or, you could just post the links to the articles, and leave out the whining. Either way takes less effort than you are expending on whining, so your whole point about not wanting to expend energy doesn't hold much water.