Category Archives: Blu-ray

Sony Santa Monica developer Tim Moss has said God of War III will fill over 35Gb on a Blu-ray when it releases next month.

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The Halo Legends DVD has a date with North America and Europe on February 16, and will come in a standard edition, a two-disc special edition, and Blu-ray.

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According to a Nikkei report, Blu-rays with upwards of 33Gb are on the way.

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Sony announced earlier its list of movies and studios expected for the November launch of its video service, and now it’s telling the world just how awesome it really is, what with over 2,300 movies and 14,000 TV shows.

Combined, all video content on the store amounts to around 10,000 hours of visual crack.

“PlayStation Network now boasts the most content of any downloadable video delivery service through a videogame console available today,” said a Sony representative in a statement to Edge.

Sony also let it be known that video store downloads increased over 100 percent in September 2009 when compared to the same month in 2008.

One can only expect things to get crazier once Netflix goes live on the system this month.

More through the link.

Rumor has it that this Saturday, Walmart plans to hand customers a $100 gift card when they purchase an Xbox 360 Arcade system for $199.

That’s basically getting the console for $99, and you can use the card for groceries, games, Christmas presents, or whatever else tickles your fancy.

Supposedly, the big box store will also have the Sony Blu-ray player on sale for $148.

Keep this as rumor until Walmart releases its weekly sales flier on Wednesday.

Via Kotaku.

Xbox Live director of programning Larry Hyrb aka Major Nelson has posted on his blog that Microsoft has “no plans” to introduce a Blu-ray add-on for the Xbox 360.

It comes as earlier this morning, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer seemed to have confirmed that an add-on for the 360 would be forthcoming. However, Hyrb says Ballmer was actually referring to accessories for the PC.

“During an interview yesterday, Steve Ballmer was asked about Blu-Ray and the Xbox 360. I wanted to clear something up. Steve was referring to Blu-Ray accessories for the PC. As we have said in the past, we have no plans to introduce a Blu-Ray drive for the Xbox 360.”

Consider the matter closed.

Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer has told Gizmodo that Xbox 360 is to make use of add-on Blu-ray drives.

Addressing the format in an interview with the site, Ballmer said:

“Well I don’t know if we need to put Blu-ray in there – you’ll be able to get Blu-ray drives as accessories, can get Blu-ray drives as accessories.”

He added:

“I think mostly the future of movies is on-demand, actually, as opposed to distribution via physical media. So we’re just gonna keep driving forward and try to make it the best entertainment — overall entertainment, not just gaming, but overall entertainment experience we can.”

Mini megaton for Thursday morning. Find the full thing through the link.

Sony’s Peter Dille has said that the company is repositioning PS3 as the “total entertainment solution”.

The massive ad campaigns rolling out in September will focus more on the Blu-ray, movie download capabilities, “mums and families,” and less on games.

“We have been a game company for years and we would never walk away from that, but research confirmed there is a larger proposition under our nose,” the VP of marketing told the LA Times. “We wanted to reposition as a total entertainment solution.

“We felt like we can really own entertainment.”

Marketing campaigns when PS3 was launched toted it as a entertainment hub as well, and according to SCE bossman Kaz Hirai, this cause the console “a bit of an identity problem”.

Via Edge.

ASDA’s confirmed that it’s dropped the price of the 80GB Playstation 3 in the UK down to £249.

The supermarket chain is offering the 80GB along with Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines on Blu-ray and Terminator Salvation: The Game as well as a choice of either Ghostbusters or inFamous.

A ASDA rep told GI that the offer would run until stock ran out.

Yip, the price-cut is getting more likely by the hour. Only four hours and thirty-four minutes left to go before the ‘tons start to drop.

PAIN will release on Blu-ray for PS3 “on Wednesday 24 June in Europe, 25 June in Australia and New Zealand, and the UK and Ireland on Friday 26 June for €24.99/£19.99.”

We know, because it says so on the EU PS Blog.

That’s it. Amazing. Buy it. For fun, and shit.

PlayStation mega-chief Kaz Hirai told the Guardian at E3 last week that Blu-ray was the only choice for PS3′s drive.

“Purely from a gaming standpoint there was no other choice for us,” he said. “Why? The capacity of the disc. Last year’s Metal Gear Solid 4 was pushing 50GB as it was. If it was on DVD it would have been a 6 disc set.”

Going multi-disc to such an extent wasn’t an option, said the exec.

“The packaging and cost would have been prohibitive and it would have been hugely inconvenient to consumers,” he added.

“So from a gaming standpoint there was really no choice if you wanted a high definition gaming experience.”

Full interview through there.

Warner’s officially announced the multi-format disc versions of the Watchmen games, confirming the PS3 version as a “retail Blu-Ray Hi-Def game and film hybrid”.

It’s out in July alongside the film’s director’s cut.

Both parts of the game will also release for 360 on DVD.

Full press release through the link.

Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete will release in the US on June 2, priced $38.96, Kotaku reports.

Unlike the Japanese release, however, there won’t be a FFXIII demo included. For shame.

Still no confirmation on a European date.

Sony is to include a making-of featurette of Ghostbusters: The Video Game in the Blu-ray edition of the movie, due to land in stores June 16.

Not surprising, since the game and the 25th Anniversary Edition of the movie are slated for release on the same day.

Should at least give you something extra to look at once you have watched the film, and possibly give you a greater appreciation for the game. Providing you liked it.

SCEA hardware marketing boss John Koller has said that Blu-ray, and the public’s perception of the value it brings to PS3, will be a driving factor in increased sales for the machine this year.

“We are looking at a general move by the consumer to understanding the complete value of the PS3, inclusive of Blu-ray will is really gaining a lot of traction for us,” the exec told VG247.

Koller said that PS3 sales are expected to rise up to 15 percent this year compared to fiscal 2008.

PSP is to enjoy a similar rate of growth this year, he said, and that the handheld’s Remote Play feature would factor into the rise, just as Blu-ray will for PS3.

Despite appreciation of hardware features helping things along, though, software will play a vital role for the PlayStation family this year, Koller said.

“That’s being driven by, in a lot of ways, by our first-party software line-up, which is outstanding, but there’s some third-party titles coming,” he added.

“The line-up’s very strong.”

Square Enix told VG247 this morning that any European release for Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete is “TBC”.

The Blu-ray movie – with its sneak preview of Final Fantasy XIII – has now been confirmed for a June launch in the US.

It hits Japan, with a playable demo of FFXIII, on April 16.

We saw this at the weekend, but it seemed a bit sketchy so we didn’t do it. Everyone else seems to think it’s real, though, so what the hey.

Blu-Ray.com has apparently confirmed Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete for a US release on June 7. Here’s what you’ll get:

• “Legacy of FINAL FANTASY VII” Featurette
• “Reminiscence of FINAL FANTASY VII” Original Story Digest
• On the Way to a Smile – Episode: Denzel Animated Film
• “Reminiscence of FINAL FANTASY VII Compilation” Story Digest
• Exclusive Sneak Peek at FINAL FANTASY XIII
• Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete Trailers

No word on whether or not it does actually include the FFXIII demo hitting with the Japanese version.

Thanks, Kotaku.

Janco’s Mike Hickey’s prediction that a Blu-ray-less PS3 may be in the works suffered something of a blow today when Sony, unsurprisingly, said that there isn’t.

“That would pretty much destroy the PS3′s backbone,” Sony marketing manager Kim Nguyen told SAI.

“Our games were built on Blu-ray. Quote that: Blu-ray will always be part of PS3.”

Hickey also said he expected a PS3 price cut to be announced within days, in a note at the end of February.

Still waiting, Mike.

Gamespot has it.

Movie Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete is out in March, and comes with a demo for Final Fantasy XIII.

A bundle featuring a “Cloud Black” Limited Edition PS3 will also hit stores.

It’s only in Japan, kids.

Bummer.

More than 100 million Blu-ray discs will be sold across the US, Western Europe and Japan this year, research group Futuresource Consulting said today.

The group’s predicted HD TVs and reductions in Blu-ray player prices will spike interest in the format despite the global recession.

“In the USA, Blu-ray has moved from early adopter phase through to early majority, with the format gaining real traction in the marketplace,” said Mai Hoang, senior market analyst at Futuresource.

“Last year in the US alone, Blu-ray video retail sales increased by a whopping 320 per cent to 24 million units; and we’re going to see momentum continuing in 2009, with over 80 million disc sales forecast.”

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