So, format war eh? I know it was over a year ago that it ended but this has to be the final blow that confirms the death of HD-DVD. A lot of people are skeptical about Toshiba bringing out a blu-ray player but I say let em. The more companies that start bringing out players the more competition there is and that will drive down prices to something students (like my good self) can afford. Granted, I already have a PS3 and a HDTV but I’m thinking of my loan-dependent comrades who don’t already have one.

*SHAMLESS SELF-PROMOTION TIME*
Speaking of Format Wars, me and my friend started (but never really developed) a webcomic called ‘Format Wars’ that made obvious parodies and connections to Star Wars, clicky clicky! This website also saved my ass from having to design a whole new website for my recent Web Development coursework, hence it’s online at a free hosting site.

I was watching a new show called HD-Nation that’s presented by former Systm presenter, Rev3’s Patrick Norton. He and the other bloke were reviewing a $98 blu-ray player from Walmart (not available online so no way for an englishman like myself to obtain one, shame because in direct exchange terms I’m looking at about £60). They mentioned that it’s a very good performing machine but very feature-light, no BD live or any of that junk but good at what it’s meant to do AND upscaling DVDs. Personally, I wouldn’t buy one that didn’t have all the bells and whistles but I think this is a good step to getting cheaper blu-ray players even though I know that it’ll happen anyway. In 2002, a mere 7 years ago, DVD players were inordinately expensive, as were the discs themselves, but now you could get a decent player for £20 and (older) releases for £3 if you know where to go. I anticipate that they’ll gradually drop in price and be dirt-cheap just as the new tech for playing media is announced, probably 3DHD or something, which leads me nicely into my next point……

Does anyone know where I can get a pair of 3D glasses? There’s a lot of new 3D content knocking about the interwebs that I want to look at in all it’s glory but I don’t know how. The most direct and easiest route is to buy one of those godawful kids 3D films that come with the glasses like Spy Kids but if anyone knows an easier way that I can get a pair/keep my dignity and my local DVD shop then please let me know. I want to know if there’s any way of getting 3D television out easily without having to use any headache inducing headgear, probably not so that’ll be the only think that will hold 3D from taking off, it’s fine for gamers because they’re used to looking like twats (*cough*Nvidia*cough*) but for the average tv-watcher perhaps not.

Getting back to my blu-ray piece, as it is i LOVE High Definition content and despite my early skepticism I can usually notice a discernible difference but, and if you ignore the fact that I rent DVDs and Blu-Rays from LOVEFiLM rather than buying them, it is not a difference that I would pay upward of £300 for a player and an extra £20 per disc for. If the government got off their ass and put in more infrastructure for full-scale HDTV like in France, then people would come to expect that quality and they’d probably buy all these players and shit (THAT’S how to boost the economy Mr. Brown) but as it is, with people quite unmoved by HD (my uncle got pissed off at my mum for having HD when he didn’t and protested it’s pointlessness) then nobody’s going to care unless we see more advertising and lower prices.

I’m going to see Tranformers 2 (I can’t be bothered with all the additional titles) with my dad tomorrow, e-mail for communication with him and Google for asking questions that one might usually direct at a father pretty much makes verbal communication/meeting redundant, especially seeing as we’re going to sit in a dark room and watch something I could easily pirate (not that I do, the quality’s usually terrible) but it’s still nice to see the old guy once in a while (he added hastily in case I ever make the mistake of showing him this blog, no seriously it is nice, plus he pays).