Perhaps in an attempt to differentiate itself from Blu-ray, HD DVD tech wizards will launch the HD DVD version of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix with a new feature called “community screening.” The movie takes advantage of the fact that all HD DVD players are equipped with an Ethernet hookup (unlike Blu-ray, which has players that do not include network connectivity). “Community screening” is a way to watch a movie simultaneously with your friends while you’re each in the comfort of your own homes. Here’s how it works:
One of you sends out an invitation to join a viewing of the movie, which then syncs your movie watching experience with your friends that accept the invitation. While watching, you and your friends can exchange chats through the remote, a computer, or cellphone. The catch of this social movie experience is that only the host will be able to play, pause, or otherwise control the movie.
Here’s a quote directly from the release site:
“Gather your own army of fellow wizards for a live community screening party. Invite other owners of the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix HD DVD to simultaneously watch from their own internet-accessed players and text with your remote, PC or cellphone. When you host an invitation-only viewing, you control the film by pausing and playing the feature on everyone’s machine. You can chat live with your friends as you watch.”
So is it a gimmick or a feature? It’s hard to say at this point. But the battle between HD DVD is a heated one for sure, and it has only escalated for the holiday season. The HD DVD Promotional Group announced last week that sales of HD DVD players increased significantly because of last week’s Black Friday sales (of which I participated because of Amazon’s amazing deal, which made HD DVD at least half the price of Blu-ray). Sales over that particular weekend were apparently enough for total HD DVD players sold to come close to 1 million (they were hovering around 750,000 previously).
But the battle is far from over. The Blu-ray Disc Association had good news of its own claiming that Blu-ray is outselling HD DVD discs in Europe at a ratio of over three to one. But in the U.S., Sony’s Playstation 3 is the main reason Blu-ray has seen any success. According to Adams Media Research, 94 percent of Blu-ray players purchased in the U.S. are simply a byproduct of gamers buying the Playstation 3 (which just had a recent price cut).
The dust may need to settle after the holidays before we know which next generation DVD has taken the lead…
*Update* It looks like Amazon’s deal is back (for now, at least): Toshiba HD DVD player with 10 HD DVDs for somewhere between $170 and $250 (the deal is over, but you can now get a Toshiba HD DVD player for only $132).
*Update 2* Check out our latest coverage of comparing HD DVD and Blu-ray via the best deals available on Amazon.
I fail to see how this would be popular, perhaps with the generation of myspacers that each have 1000x ‘virtual friends’ here they can have a ‘virtual party’ — what’s next to woo them? Really, while going to the theater isn’t what it used to be (read: cost, ads) I can’t believe people will want to huddle around their computers watching movies controlled by someone else…I don’t get it.
Or, as they say, “Will it blend?”
LAME. Maybe I can talk the girl I like into watching Harry Potter with me through the internet thereby eliminating my chance of getting any action AT ALL.
Probably some people who have a long distance relationship can enjoy this feature. It would be like watching / doing something together… I am sure it is a good idea for them.
Though I wonder how effective this is.
The PS3 statistic is wrong. With the price drop of the 40GB PS3 to under $400, many people (myself included) are buying it just to be a BluRay player. It is cheaper than the low-end players and has more features.
Recently, quite a few celebrities were said to appear on the millionaire luxury club “meetrich.com”. OMG!!! Are these famous guys fond of internet dating for now?? Maybe they are indeed so rich that they feel boring sometimes to need new things?
Warren,
Which statistic are you referring to? I was able to buy an HD DVD player for $174, which makes it less than half the price of your $399 PS3 Blu-ray player (as mentioned in the article).
Tell me where this statement is wrong (or point me to what else you might have been referring to).
I like this feature, very handy.
While I agree that this is the most anti-poon feature I’ve ever seen, it’s not all bad.
^ Like Just-in said, this is ideal for long distance relationships.
Wow, this is brings in a world of possibilities. Now, instead of calling a friend and saying, “press play… NOW” we can just connect our HD DVD players over the network, register them together, play with settings, and only one person has to press play. It also allows you to “text with your remote, PC or cellphone” like you could have done over pc or cell phone ANYWAY. And if that isn’t enough to compel you, now EVERYONE gets to stop watching the movie if one person needs to use the restroom. AWESOME!
What’s the attraction? This is functionality in a high-end high-res CE unit for people who woutd rather chat on messenger than watch a movie. Nice way to reduce the movie-experience to Mystery Science Theather-level.
I would pay to NOT have this functionality.
OH THIS DOESNT MEAN MY FRIENDS CAN STREAM MOVIES TO ME FOR FREE??? I HAVE TO BUY THE MOVIE TOO???? WEAK!!!