This is Part I in the spotanime.com multi-part series, “HD-DVD vs. Blu-ray: Consumers In The Crossfire,” dealing with the technology behind the two competing next-generation optical video formats.

The high definition wars are in full swing, and gamers and videophiles alike are caught in the crossfire. CES has come and gone, and the consensus is Blu-Ray winning the battle in the still-undecided war. With all the talk about studio neutrality, “will studio [X] support format [Y]“, and whatnot, it would be a good exercise to find out exactly how the format war got to this point, try to figure out why certain studios side with one format over another, and the future of high definition media.

The Shiny Disc: How It All Started

The best way to begin the story is to look at the origins of the original digital media, and it is interesting to see the similarities. Perhaps smarting from the VHS vs. Betamax format war of the late ’70s and early ’80s, Sony, partnering with Philips who had developed the , had a trump card in their back pocket with the Compact Disc (CD), the first optical digital format widely accepted by consumers. Building from the success of the CD, Sony positioned the format for the next great leap in consumer technology.

From the As far back as 1993, two working digital formats emerged – the MultiMedia Compact Disc (MMCD) developed by Philips and Sony based on their CD format, and the Super Density (SD) disc presented by bulk of major players in electronics and content – Toshiba, Time-Warner, Matsushita, Pioneer, JVC and others. What is known is that, in 1995, Sony threw the white flag in favor of the SD format, undoubtedly pressured by such a large support of the SD disc among its competitors, and the SD format remains largely unchanged as the current DVD format we all know today. Thus, the DVD Forum was born.

One single change to the format change made at the request of Sony/Philips is the Eight-to-Fourteen Modulation (EFM). In layman’s terms, Sony’s EFMPlus is basically the equivalent of a checksum bit in order to provide resilience against fingerprints and dust. It is also widely reported as being less efficient than Toshiba’s EFM specification, lowering the single-layer capacity of DVDs from 5GB to 4.7GB. One of the challenges of the optical video format was the resiliency to said fingerprints and dust at playback, thereby effecting the overall disc capacity. It is interesting to note, Sony’s main issue with the Blu-Ray format was because the data layer was so close to the surface of the disc that any anomalies would interfere with playback and disc performance. Thus, where they made concessions with capacity in favor of dependability, they seemed to have flipped their position with the Blu-Ray in order to gain a competitive advantage, albeit one with other implications.

Revenge is Best Served Blu

Sony and Philips made a nice profit on CD technology, but it was obvious they were not happy missing out on royalties to rival Toshiba. In bittersweet irony, Sony’s PS2 is widely attributed as the catalyst for mass acceptance of the DVD format, and because of this they quickly realized they would rather profit from both sides of the technology rather than one.

Sony immediately began working on a next optical format – the Professional Disc for Data (PDD). The PDD was a high-density optical disc utilizing a blue laser , paving the way for the Blu-Ray (BD) disc format. They both shared the same 405nm wavelength and 0.85 laser aperture, but where the PDD was primarily used for enterprise data archival and backup because of its use of higher-quality (and higher cost) media. This high-quality PDD media also allowed for faster transfer speeds in comparison to BD (88Mbit per second versus 36Mbit per second, respectively). One apparent compensation of the lower-cost media is to increase the capacity of the storage layers – PDD has a 23GB layer versus BD’s 25GB layer.

Sony, not wanting to lose again to a rival technology, decided it would circumvent the DVD Forum altogether by creating its own group, the Blu-Ray Disc Association, thereby backing the BD as a rival format to HD-DVD.

Toshiba, in order to preserve their position in the DVD Forum, entered the race with their own next-generation optical format, the Advanced Optical Disc (AOD). The AOD used the same 405nm wavelength but differed with a 0.65 laser aperture, resulting in a lower-capacity disc layer. This format was later adopted by the DVD Forum and renamed HD-DVD.

The difference in aperture makes it incompatible with BD, but also has an impact on another key factor: surface layer. Toshiba kept the HD-DVD specification the same as current DVDs – 0.6mm, which is why HD-DVDs can be manufactured at the same plants as standard DVDs. BD, meanwhile, requires a smaller 0.1mm surface layer to compensate for the 0.85 laser aperture. Data closer to the disc’s surface means more data layers, which in turn means a higher capacity disc. However, as mentioned earlier, because data resides so close to the disc’s surface, a special hard coating technology was invented by TDK called Durabis. This all means increased manufacturing costs for BD and separate replication plants between HD-DVD/DVD and BD.

Drawing a Line in the Disc

If one were to compare BD and HD-DVD on paper, they would find more similarities than differences. They both offer lossless audio and 1080p high-definition video via the same video codecs, meaning they basically both provide the same home theater experience, granted the consumer has the hardware to support it.

The differences in capacity are negligible, given the audio and video codecs available. But the rule of storage has always been more is better, regardless of current need. With BD currently supporting 50GB, and the ability to add more data layers as well as increase capacity of current layers, BD gets the nod here. But where BD is showing off its 50GB discs with MPEG-4, HD-DVD has been utilizing the VC-1 codec, which offers the same quality at generally half the file size. VC-1 is better for HD-DVD because of its lower disc capacity, and neutral studios have been using single VC-1 masters across BD and HD-DVD product releases. Thus, a VC-1 master on HD-DVD is the same quality as a VC-1 master on BD, regardless of capacity. And it can be said a VC-1 master on HD-DVD is of comparable quality to an MPEG-4 master on BD, despite the larger file size of the latter.

Interactivity has always been a major selling point of the new formats, regardless of whether people will actually use them or not. HD-DVD has iHD, which has been put to good use on early releases like Batman Begins and Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. BD-J is Java-based, and although it provides the potential for interactivity with Video on Demand and interactive television content, it has been more difficult to implement. Although iHD has the early lead, the jury is out whether BD-J can live up to the hype.

DRM is where the two sides really start to separate. Both support Advanced Access Content System (AACS), and both formats have already been hacked. But BD, under pressure from Hollywood studios, came up with a secondary protection method built upon AACS called BD+, which through an internet connection can dynamically change license keys for titles in the event a disc has been compromised. And a third protection scheme, ROM-Mark, is a watermark used to prevent unlawful replication of BD discs. It is considered these extra copy protection schemes were the reason why FOX decided to back BD exclusively.

But as much protection BD+ and ROM-Mark offer studios, there is a fair amount of concern regarding how these can negatively impact consumers. Specifically, the concern is around Mandatory Managed Copy, which is the ability for users to make a digital copy of their disc to a PC or other video device. Some say BD+ won’t allow for this, but since no BD+ discs have been released, it remains to be seen how it will be implemented. With HD-DVD, people are misreading Mandatory Managed Copy as a “free” copy for the consumer, which is not always true and is up to the studio’s discretion whether they charge for it or not.

Where BD’s DRM has Hollywood’s favor, manufacturing costs surely have the studio accountant’s attention. According to a September 26, 2005 article in Ars Technica, the cost of upgrading manufacturing lines for BD is ten times that HD-DVD, and a potential total investment of nearly a billion dollars globally.

Comparing the two formats, each has their positives and negatives, but when weighed against each other as a whole they are comparable. The real reason why the format wars exist in the first place are entirely political, and all this bickering and fighting are for a stopgap physical media which only exists until digital distribution becomes more widely available.

Please check back soon for the next part in the series, “HD-DVD vs. Blu-ray: Consumers In The Crossfire .”

I noticed a post at GameSetWatch I wanted to share:

Got a note from Tom Ohle which is worth passing on to you unwashed masses: “Stardock just launched Space Rangers: The Klissan War -previously unavailable in North America – on TotalGaming.net for $19.99 or 1 token (that’s less than $10 if you go the token route). They’ve bundled it with Space Rangers 2: Rise of the Dominators for $29.99 or 3 tokens.”

Space Rangers 2 was the only game in the brief series released in the US. Even though the quirky little title met little fanfare at retail, it was celebrated by the critics as being “…so varied and random that you find yourself having fun,” according to GameSpot; and “one of the most elegantly designed and compulsively enjoyable games released in recent memory,” by GameSpy.

So if the game is this good, why didn’t it sell? Aside from it being a PC title first and foremost, it is also is a space sim – not the most profitable genre these days, albeit one of my favorites, which is why I’ve been keeping tabs on it since it came out. But I think the main reason why it didn’t catch on with even the hardcore PC crowd is because the retail release was cursed by Starforce copy protection. If you don’t know what Starforce is, it is bad bad bad for your computer; and if you are PC gamer and haven’t been keeping tabs on these things, chances are you already have it installed.

But enough damning the retail version, which is not the purpose of this post. The reason for trumpeting SR2 now is because the version for download on TotalGaming.net is DRM free – which means, of course, no Starforce. Which also means, there is no reason for you, me, or anyone to not buy this game. In addition, you can also buy it together with the original Space Rangers for the low, low price of $29.99 (or lower if you go with the optional membership plan).

With services like TGN providing a safe and easy way to experience off-the-radar gems like Space Rangers, PC gamers have a lot to be thankful for. So what are you waiting for, get shopping!

Yesterday I was cleaning up my gaming room, and I did something pretty drastic – I put Viva Pinata back on the shelf. Since Christmas, I’ve been playing this one near-exclusively, with the exception of the random online and XBLA diversion. And even though I’ve had my complaints about the gameplay, I’ve always given it just one more chance. But it looks like this time, I’ve said my final farewell to Pinata Island.

After spending more time with it since my last post, I’ve lightened up on some of my earlier thoughts yet added a few more negatives. Yes, it’s still about earning money first and foremost, but there are ways to keep a steady supply of coins by selling plants, fruits and other products from the garden. Also, I’ve found it’s not necessary to keep a large selection of pinata species, so breeding and selling those off becomes another source of income. The only time when this could backfire is when a challenge presents itself.

The other point I made was the game does not do a good job in projecting where it is going. I complained how my garden was unorganized and causing fights between pinatas, so I scrapped everything and rebuilt and reorganized my pinata homes one by one. I created a small fenced garden for my fruit plants, and built borders and fences around each home to separate the pinatas. A nice new walkway around the garden made everything look nice and organized. The problem was, when I tried to add some garden decorations, it said I had too much in my garden. I can understand when there are too many pinatas, but if I get penalized for each plant, shrub, flower, and fence I put in, that’s just stupid.

Another complaint was that the game’s core gameplay mechanic was happenstance. This frustrated me at first, but after talking with a few other friends and fellow internet forum members, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I must add to that sentence, “if done right.” I would have loved to have a working reference to this game, either in print or in the game, to help understand the characteristics and motivations of each species. For example, dressing the pinatas in the downloadable accessory packs make their rating happier, but from what I can tell a happy pinata doesn’t make the game any different from a sad or angry one. The in-game encyclopedia, quite frankly, sucks; it doesn’t say much and it’s a chore to navigate, let alone having to wade through those brief-but-way-too-frequent loading screens. And as of last check on Amazon.com, there isn’t even an official strategy guide available. Hell, even Kameo had one. C’mon, Xbox Live Marketplace, sell us a video strategy guide – I’d buy one if it helped!

What Viva Pinata needs most is online play, which had been mentioned early on as a core feature of the game, and even recently mentioned to be offered as downloadable content, but is still MIA. The Post Office just doesn’t cut it – half the time pinatas are too valuable to send as a gift to a friend’s garden, and it’s about as gratifying as wacking them over the head with a shovel. I would venture to guess the game won’t be seeing much more than the mentioned accessory packs – the game hasn’t sold particularly well, interest is quickly fading on the internet discussion forums, and the Stampers’ recent exit from Rare probably doesn’t bode well for the continuation of the franchise.

Of the droves of critics who sang its praise, I’d like to ask how many of them would be interested in playing the game again from the beginning. I would guess not many, because it’s surprisingly quite linear – it’s the same pinatas, the same challenges, the same sours, and the same progression. The only thing different is how the player decides to arrange their garden, which what I’ve seen doesn’t create a dynamic environment, it simply limits the player’s progression.

Pokemon succeeded because it wrapped its core “gotta catch ‘em all” gameplay in a pretty standard RPG. The Sims succeeded because of how the AI behaved in response to the limitless variety of scenarios. Animal Crossing succeeded because of its sense of community. Viva Pinata, despite those praising its originality and depth, doesn’t do any of this well, if at all.

As the wise Bruce Campbell once said, “if you never had it, people just seem to know.” This statement seems painfully appropriate for the HD-DVD camp, after seeing their big CES 2007 announcements. Someone on the DVDTalk.com forum stated this was the time HD-DVD should have brought their A game, and they didn’t. What I’m wondering if they even had an A game to begin with.

I wrote about how I couldn’t wait for HD-DVD, and I’ve wanted to write a follow-up piece to that for some time. My HD-DVD collection has since grown to the uppper teens, and I’ve even started to rebuy titles which I already owned on standard DVD. I’ve seen the potential of the quality of an HD format, regardless of which one I would adopt. For me, HD-DVD had the lowest adoption cost when comparing the Xbox 360 drive to a standalone player; and at the time, HD-DVD had more movies I wanted to buy than what was available for Blu-Ray. And lastly, cost and availability issues really negated any thought of going toward Blu-Ray right off the bat. It was HD-DVD for me, plain and simple.

After spending months with my Xbox 360 HD-DVD peripheral, I can say I love the quality, I love the format, and it was everything I wanted it to be. Except for the potential. The HD-DVD group made a bunch of announcements about things which were already announced. There were no new studios, no big blows to Blu-Ray. And no reason for anyone to buy an HD-DVD player.

It’s strange to see the parallels of this HD-DVD conference versus Microsoft’s unveiling of the Xbox 360 back in 2005. What they did was announce a new console without any compelling software to back it up. The same thing is happening here, and it’s ironic because Microsoft is behind both. I’m surprised with their lessons learned and subsequently Colossus-killer conference at E3 2006, they couldn’t have put together a better spin with what little they had.

But I don’t think I’ll be leaving one format for another right now, nor will I stop buying HD-DVDs anytime soon. Sure, Blu-Ray has more movies I’d want to buy in 2007, but I’ll probably hold off buying any of them until the recently announced LG combo HD-DVD/Blu-Ray player becomes more affordable. As my HD-DVD drive is in my gaming room, I’m still in the market for a primary HD player for my main home theater – and having one component that can play both formats is key. There is no doubt more hardware manufacturers will also come out with dual-format drives during 2007, and hopefully the format wars will effectively be dead within twelve months with very little pain for us consumers.

That’s all I really want anyway – one HD format to rule them all.

It’s always great to see something good happen to someone I genuinely admire, yet it’s equally tough to let someone go. This is the case with Gamespot Editor-in-Chief Greg Kasavin, someone with whom I’ve grown old during what has been the most influential and prolific ten years the gaming industry has ever seen. Greg has covered the events of the past decade with such professionalism and expert objectiveness, it’s been a pleasure to have been on the receiving end of his many reviews and features.

It’s also why it’s hard to see him walk away from the site he helped mature into what it is today. I’m sure it is still in capable hands, with the venerable Jeff Gerstmann et al, but it just doesn’t feel right to think of a Gamespot without Greg’s direction.

But where Greg is Gamespot’s loss, it is someone else’s gain. In this case, it is an unnamed developer. Now Greg can spread his influence in making a game that not only a video game journalist would love, but also one for all of us gamers.

And with that, I say thanks and good luck.

There is a lot of conjecture regarding the negative press on the PS3′s launch in North America, and even Japan to an extent. And there have been those who have defended the PS3 launch despite the speculation because of the lack of substantial evidence in its favor. Well, it’s weird that over the course of the past week, I have had the chance to buy a 60GB PS3 – not once, not twice, but on three separate occasions. Unless Sony figured out how to magically beam hundreds of PS3s to retailers simultaneously, it seems as if no one’s buying.

Based on my personal experience and anecdotal evidence, I have to agree with the naysayers on this one. Today, Toys ‘R Us had a sign advertising 60GB PS3 availability, but no lines and no crowds. Yesterday, Best Buy had a 60GB PS3 in the gaming section, just sitting there, with consumers passing it buy uninterested. Target had PS3s in every flavor on two separate occasions this week, at two separate stores. Today they had three 60GB PS3s, no Wiis, no DSs, and only one Xbox 360 Core bundle. More interesting is the accessory wall for the Xbox 360 was almost bare – every Marketplace Points card and Xbox Live subscription card was sold out. Interestingly, I did see two Wiis at one of the Targets on Sunday, but not one before or since.

This time last year, the Xbox 360 was impossible to find until March, despite a slow, steady shipment to retailers. Unless Sony found out how to magically beam hundreds of PS3s similtaneously across the country, there’s a reason why these aren’t selling out. And yes, there are many potential reasons but not any one definitively based in fact, which in turn feeds the Sony fanboy defense.

• The majority of people who bought the PS3 on launch day did so to eBay it and make a profit. No one can say whether it really was the majority – interviews by the gaming press at launch lines seemed to indicate overwhelmingly people were more interested in selling it rather than keeping it – but the sample of interviewees clearly pointed that way.
• Profiteers were not making double or triple the cost shortly after launch and consistently afterwards, despite evidence of short supply of PS3s in retail. Consumers are neither selective or frugal when it comes to hard-to-find holiday items. The laws of supply and demand state when something is in short supply, people will pay more to attain it. But with the PS3, people were only paying marginally more (around ten to fifteen percent above retail), and many auctions didn’t receive any bids at all. Basically, supply was low but demand was also low. So a spike in retail availability was attributed to these same people returning their PS3s and giving up on the grey market. I know this first hand, as I was offered a PS3 by someone at random who was going to otherwise return it.
• No one wanted a PS3 because there aren’t any good games for it. This is evidenced by the low attach rate of the PS3 at launch, but I have to argue against this point, only to an extent. Yes, when compared to the existing libary of the Xbox 360, there isn’t much of a reason to buy a PS3. But if someone was buying the PS3 as their first next-generation system, its library of third-party titles was comparable in both quality and quantity.
• The price is too high. If there were better games available for the PS3, people would be buying it no matter what the price. But at $600, consumers decided to sit on the sidelines. There is no evidence to indicate consumers used their money to buy a competing console, or whether they decided to wait out this holiday season all together. But if they were not buying these systems at auction for a premium, and they aren’t buying them at retail either, there is definitely a problem somewhere along the line.

These problems are not permanent. Supply will increase. Better games exclusive to the PS3 will be released. The price will eventually be reduced. Either of the two latter reasons in combination with the former can create a sales turnaround. But as one cannot definitively say any of the above were actual problems which hurt holiday 2006 sales, one cannot fully discredit them, either.