A comparison of PS3 and 360 as media players

Japanese movies seemed to have gone back to quirky humor/satire staples which are uniquely Japanese with limited western appeal, so I'm not sure it'll grow much anywhere outside of the country.

Korea has been pretty stable and predictable in what it puts out.

The biggest question mark is China. But the biggest growth there appears to be historic and "patriotic" (Chinese overcoming arrogant westerners/conquering Japanese). There's still some good independant stuff coming out of there, but not much more than in past years. If China can continue on the road to personal freedom, we may see a renewed film revolution there, but I'm not entirely sure. With companies moving manufacturing out of China and to other countries, it'll be interesting to see how the government responds when the economy isn't experiencing booming growth.

Regards,
SB

 

There are indie movies and cross country projects brewing all the time. The primary target is still Asians. There will be Hollywood participation should the trend continue. There are just "too much money" (and talent) floating around in Asia now. They come from all over the world. India is also interesting to watch.

Spreading the $$$ into other countries will also raise the overall demand (spending power) of other Asian countries.

I know some companies are preparing for expansion and IPOs in this space too. There will be ups and downs but I doubt we have seen the real peak in Asia yet.

I know some western media companies are afraid of leaking know-how to the eastern countries. Deals have been struck and pulled back. But if this is the attitude western companies take, it is likely that they will be superceded over time.

 

Was it mentioned here yet that Netflix will get its disc-less application for PS3 somewhere late October?

http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/21/netflix-plans-discless-watch-instantly-on-the-ps3-by-late-octobe/

 

NetFlix needs to fix their search capability on consoles, and enhance queue management UI. Good to see Hulu Plus already provoked/inspired reaction from competition. The cable companies are also thinking of providing a lite weight package at around the same subscription price.

 

Netflix search is coming to the 360 in the upcoming dashboard update; this was mentioned at E3.

 

It already came to the PS3:
http://www.joystiq.com/2010/07/26/ps3-netflix-adds-search-option/

 

Ha, I didn't know that. NetFlix did acknowledge that they will also study Hulu Plus UI to streamline NetFlix UI. It seems that the press loves Hulu Plus UI.

 

For people looking for cheap Blu-ray rentals:
http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Redbox/_Redbox_Adds_a_Blu-ray_Search_Page_/5155

 

I had the pleasure of trying a 3D TV, with Shutter Glasses, that is a marked improvement over Avatar at the cinemas. I must admit that right there, i saw a future for 3D i didn´t expect

 

Good. Now I can get rid of Blockbuster completely. As they're close to collapsing, their inventory is taking a major hit. Getting an anticipated title in BR day one or even week one is becoming more and more rare.

At one point the blockbuster deal was much better for us than Netflix. There's a store close by and I'm able to do 5 in store swaps a month. It worked well but now there's just no value in it due to lack of inventory.

 

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Redbox/Blu-rays_Coming_to_All_Redbox_Kiosks_by_Fall/5171

 

There's quite a few in my area that do BR as it turns out. Going to give it a shot this weekend.

 

Keep in mind that like Netflix, Redbox has a 30 day wait for some new releases.

 

I signed up for what I thought would have been a free preview of Hulu Plus when it was first announced. Today I got the invite only to find it still costs $10/month to use. Screw that. Anybody want it? I think I can send just the link. Send me a PM and I'll pick a random person tomorrow about this same time(7pm CDT, GMT -5).

Tommy McClain

 

From what I thought... might not match reality.

The free preview is for the PS3 Hulu App. The Hulu Plus features are not free. Can the app not be used to view normal Hulu features entirely for free?

 

Looks like the apps themselves are free(iphone, ipad, PS3, etc), but you still have pay for the $10/month Plus service fee. Evidently this was known day 1, but I just found out today. Oh well. Send me a PM if you're still interested. Just realize I don't have a referral code, just a URL link to get into the preview which you still have to pay for.

Tommy McClain

 

Hey AzBat how do i PM you to get the code?

 

The free preview is for PS+ subscribers who got accepted into the preview program.

 

PlayTV Live Chat Hands-On:
http://gamescom.gamespot.com/story/6273741/playtv-live-chat-hands-on/?sid=6273741

Not so useful IMHO...

Very useful:

 

Cable Video On Demand Hitting Sony Blu-ray Players:
http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/s...o_On_Demand_Hitting_Sony_Blu-ray_Players/5285