Sean writes:

Iron Man was released [this week] on DVD and Blu-Ray and there is much ire in the Blu-Ray community regarding the BD-Live aspects of the disc. When the disc is first booted the disc loads some information from the internet and begins an auto download. This load is taking anywhere from 2 minutes to over 45 minutes.

Last night I struggled for over an hour and half trying to get the disc to play, but all I could get was an "Iron Man" heart on my screen that did nothing but flash. I finally consulted the internet and found some advice on a few forums stating that I needed to change the BD-Live function of my player from Auto to Confirm; then to reload the disc and not allow the BD-Live functionality.

There is no warning on the disc that this initial load could take 30+ minutes to load. And what does this time intensive application do? It loads an interactive quiz that viewers may take during the movie. This should be something that is offered after watching the movie for the first time from the menu, not during initial start up.

I wonder how many consumers are taking the discs back to the retailer thinking the disc is broken or defective, only to get home and see the same thing again.

A post on Consumerist could go a long way towards educating the public on another "wonderful" marketing idea.

Done! Change the BD-Live setting on your player from Auto to Confirm so you're not forced to deal with future auto-connect Blu-ray "features."

Dear Amazon.com Customer,

As someone who purchased an HD DVD player from us before February 23, 2008,* you might like to hear about a special offer available from Amazon.com.

New technologies don't always work out as planned. We at Amazon.com value our customer relationships more than anything and would like to support customers who purchased these players by offering a credit good for $50 off any products sold by Amazon.com.** Just use promotional code PROMO CODE HERE when checking out. The code is valid through April 9, 2009, so you have plenty of time to use your credit. Purchases from third-party merchants on our site are not eligible.

In addition, we'd like to share some of our top offers on Blu-ray discs, HDTVs and other high-def technology and remind you that the Amazon.com Marketplace is available to sell items you might not want anymore as you upgrade to new ones. Also be sure to check out our monthly Amazon.com Early Adopters Delivers email to find out about the latest technology.

* On February 23, 2008, the last manufacturer of HD DVD players announced it was ceasing production of those players.

** Offer cannot be used to pay for special-order titles, e-books or downloadable e-content, wireless service plans, gift certificates, gift-wrap, taxes, or shipping and handling charges. $50.00 promotional credit is per HD DVD player purchased prior to February 23, 2008—up to 10 units for a maximum credit of $500.00.

Amazon Handing Out $50 to HD DVD Victims [Gizmodo]

The retailer said it will identify customers through its Reward Zone program, performance service plans and through online purchases and will mail out the gift cards to those individuals by May 1.

Customers that feel they won't be identified through these measures can call the company and provide a Best Buy receipt or credit card information for proof of purchase.

Circuit City is currently offering a 90-day return window to anyone who bought a HD DVD player before the abrupt death of the format last month.

Those stuck with HD-DVD players getting gift cards [CNN] (Thanks, Andrew!)
(Photo:William Hook)

You had an article shortly after the WB exclusivity announcement on the 4th of this month, right? Well, I think this could make for a great follow-up that gives your readers the opportunity to voice their opinion, and hopefully sway the minds of the studio executives who've acted prematurely and stuffed words in the mouths of consumers everywhere.

You can find the petition here. Keep in mind it has risen from 6,000 signatures to a promising 24,000 in only four days!

Save HD-DVD! (Warner Brothers, The Consumer Has Not "Clearly" Chosen Blu-Ray) [PetitionOnline]
(Photo:William Hook)

They're all arriving with an identical crack near the outside edge.

Some of them play; some of them don't.

He's documented the cracked discs for us:

9/13/2007 - Casino Royale (Not recognized by player)

9/17/2007 - Casino Royale

9/18/2007 - Flags of Our Fathers (Would not play)

9/18/2007 - The Holiday

9/21/2007 - The Holiday

9/27/2007 - The Holiday

9/27/2007 - Planet Earth: Complete Collection: Disc 1

10/02/2007 - Happy Feet

10/02/2007 - Babel

10/04/2007 - Happy Feet (Played OK)

10/04/2007 - Babel (Played OK)

10/09/2007 - Babel (Played OK)

12 cracked out of 19 as of 2007-10-09

Cracked Netflix Blu-Ray Disc Problem [Mars Box]

Welcome to blu-ray, where you need to make sure your player has the latest firmware update or your legally purchased disc simply won't play. How fun.

From Ars Technica:

...two new Blu-ray titles that have just been released—Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer and The Day After Tomorrow. Both of these titles have been reported to exhibit various degrees of failure on some Blu-ray players. Some refuse to play until after an interminable two-minute delay, others skip randomly making watching the movie futile, and then there is this [message from Fox].

How nice of Fox to include a link to their web site in this helpful and friendly message! Unfortunately for the owners of the player in question, the second-generation Samsung BD-P1200, there is no new firmware to download for the player. Visiting the URL listed above—which after a maze of redirects and confusing menus finally does get you to Samsung's BD-P1200 firmware page—will give you no satisfaction. The latest firmware listed there is the same 1.0 version that shipped with the player. The same fate is in store for owners of LG's first-generation dual-format BH100 player.

New Blu-ray discs with BD+ DRM failing to play on some devices [Ars Technica]
(Photo:Engadget)

I realize that if you all were to essentially cast your vote then it would subject you to a lot of "hate" mail and such, but I believe that depending on how you present the information there will be no room for debate...

James,

That wasn't your entire email, and we apologize for not reprinting it in full, but we need to move on to the topic at hand. Why doesn't Consumerist pick a format?

Let us be frank with you. One of the reasons we enjoy writing for this site is that does not require us to blow smoke up our reader's asses. We think... We hope... they appreciate it, even though our advice isn't always fun. We could tell you that XYZ new cool thing is inherently better, stronger, faster... but then we'd be Gizmodo. (Not that there is anything wrong with that.) Newer, better, cooler stuff will always be available. It's our job to tell you how to avoid being a pawn in a stupid format war.

Sure, you may not like hearing that by choosing to enter into the market before a format is settled, you are taking a needless risk. You may not like hearing that early-adopters are not smart consumers. We're sorry. You seem like a nice guy, and you are probably very smart. The truth is that it's not always the "best" format that wins the war. We cannot in good conscience evaluate and choose a "consumer friendly" format in a war that could have easily been avoided, and that is bad for consumers.

To do so would be a disservice to our readers. Some of them, like you, are early-adopters. They bristle when we tell them to wait, but on some level they know they're taking a risk. Many, like you, have done research and feel that they are making a wise choice. Some of them will be right. Some of them will be wrong.

Our advice is to wait. If you don't want to wait, that's your choice, your risk, your decision. Weighing in on BluRay vs. HD-DVD helps no one. Reminding consumers that it's smarter to be patient helps us all... even if it makes us boring and uncool.

(Photo:Getty)

According to the New York Times, Paramount and Dreamworks were paid "about $150 million in financial incentives for their commitment to HD DVD, according to two Viacom executives with knowledge of the deal but who asked not to be identified." By "commitment to HD DVD," the Times really means that Paramount and Dreamworks were paid to drop Blu-ray. Bad news for Blockbuster as, they've recently dropped HD DVD in their continued quest for total irrelevancy.

According to Ars Technica, Blu-ray has been outselling HD DVD 2-to-1 in the first half of 2007.

In any case, Format Wars are bad for consumers. Yuck.

Two Studios to Support HD DVD Over Rival [NYT]
Paramount adopts HD DVD, kicks Blu-ray to the curb [Ars Technica]
State of High Definition: Who's Winning the Studio Support War? [Gizmodo]

Although this new format doesn't have the backing of any major studios (yet) the company that produces the format says it's cheaper to manufacture than HD DVD or Blu-ray.

From Variety:

"Blu-ray is running $3.40 a unit, and HD DVD is $2.50 — it's hard as an indie to get into that marketplace," Adelman says. "It's coming down to manufacturing, and we think HD VMD is a fantastic format."

New Medium Enterprises... CEO Mahesh Jayanarayan believes these kinds of value enticements will be hard for some content creators to ignore.

"In the first six months we are giving free authoring tools to studio partners to make our content popular in the format," he says. "Many production houses can't make the investment with (Blu-ray or HD DVD). We want to make the industry feel comfortable with high-def."

Of course, consumers have to feel comfortable, too — New Medium plans to debut its HD VMD players at under $200, with European retailers, including Tesco in Poland and Boulanger in France, selling the device from $150 to $199.

A new format: HD Versatile Multilayer Disc [Variety]
(Photo: Larry G.)

The best selling high-def disc since the format launched is Scorsese's "The Departed" on Blue-Ray with 38,993 total copies. For what it's worth, it does seem that Blu-ray is winning, but its obviously much too early to call it. —MEGHANN MARCO

Sony Report Reveals First Look at Absolute Blu-ray and HD DVD Disc Sales Figures [High Def Digest via BoingBoing]

Technology companies have divided into two warring camps, each backing one of the formats. Attempts to come up with a single format collapsed last year, so the two sides decided to duke it out in the marketplace. As they do, consumers are mostly staying on the sidelines, causing sales to fall far short of initial projections.

A winner could still emerge, but experts say it's just as likely that consumers, fearful of buying an expensive player that will turn out to be worthless, will just say no to high-definition discs. In the best case, analysts predict, the format war will go on for another year or so before a clear winner emerges, delaying an industry switchover to the improved discs."

Any thoughts on which format will win? Or have they all shot themselves in the foot? —MEGHANN MARCO

New-age DVD players' battle paused [Denver Post]