As a way to supposedly celebrate Earth Day, 20th Century Fox is releasing Avatar on Blu-ray and DVD.  The film’s environmentally friendly message is deemed a perfect fit with the annual environmentally friendly day.  So what’s the issue?

The DVD and the Blu-ray/DVD combo discs being released are as bare bones as you can get.  Just the movie.  No extras, no specials, no trailers.  No extended scenes, no commentaries, no making-of, nothing but the movie.  Why?  So in November they can release it again as a Special Edition, and next year they can release it again with 3D!  To placate buyers, the 1st release will contain a code for viewing some bonus content online, and reportedly a coupon for the November release.

Are you kidding me?!!?  To honor the Earth, 20th Century Fox is releasing 3 versions of the same film, which with Blu-ray and DVD will amount to at least 6 different cardboard and plastic packages!  Because I’m sure people won’t buy a better version down the road (with the provided coupon no less) and dump this neutered release in the nearest landfill.  Way to take care of your pocketbook the planet, James Cameron… you are a shyster an inspiration to us all!

This week Sony is releasing their newest handheld: the PSP Go.  It’s the fourth iteration of the PlayStation Portable, and the first to differ significantly from its predecessors.  The console is smaller than previous versions, with a slide-up screen and controls located underneath.  The screen is slightly smaller, and overall the whole thing is smaller and lighter.  The biggest change is that the PSP Go does not feature a UMD drive for playing games and movies.  Instead, it has 16GB of internal flash storage, and all games playable on it must be downloaded from the PlayStation Store.

I was cautiously excited for it when the PSP Go was announced at E3 this year.  As the release drew near, I became less and less enthusiastic about it.  Since it comes out in a few days, I figured the time was right to outline why I think that the PSP Go is another misstep by Sony Computer Entertainment.

With the success that Apple has had with the iPhone and iPod Touch, it’s easy to see why the market for downloadable games and content is so appealing.  With the PSP Go, Sony is jumping headlong into this market, with their first “download only” device.  But by making it an iteration of the current PSP rather than a new console, Sony’s attempt to have their cake and eat it too might just backfire.

Look, I’m no fan of the UMD.  Sony is notorious for their BS proprietary formats.  Whether it’s Betamax, digital audio tape (DAT), Memory Stick, Super Audio CD (SACD), Blu-ray, UMD, MiniDisc… Sony’s been obsessed with pushing their own formats, with dubious success.  Just as the world was going to flash drive solid-state storage (think iPod Nano, Nintendo DS carts), Sony comes out with the Universal Media Disc (UMD) that will only play in a PSP.  They are slower to read off of than a solid-state drive.  They’re not large enough to contain the same content as a DVD release with all the extras, resulting in UMD movies that cost more than their DVD counterparts, and with less features.  And their cases are prone to crack.

That said, PSP games have been released on UMD for nearly 5 years now.  And with the PSP Go, Sony is abandoning all of that for downloadable content.  I presently have 82 UMD-based PSP games.  None of those will work on the PSP Go.  Ok, I may not be typical.  Let me put it another way.  There are currently 613 unique PSP titles (across regions) available on UMD, being played on nearly 60 million PSP-1000, PSP-2000 and PSP-3000 consoles.  Not one of those 613 titles is playable on the PSP Go without re-purchasing it from the PlayStation Store.

Well, that’s not entirely true.  Sony threw European owners a small (very small) bone with a PSP Go Rewards program, offering free 3 downloadable games for previous PSP owners by connecting your UMD-based PSP to the PlayStation Store.  But despite promises of a UMD solution for the PSP Go, Sony announced within the last week that there would be no UMD conversion or Rewards program for the U.S. at this time.

Why would I (or any of the current owners of the 6o million PSP’s out there) consider upgrading to the PSP Go?  I’m not talking being backwards compatible with a previous generation of games.  I’m talking being compatible with the current generation of games!  It’s unfathomable to me that Sony would release a current gen console that won’t play current gen games you already own on disc.  What’s next, are they going to take the Blu-ray out of the PS3 Slim, so if I wanted to buy it, my PS3 discs wouldn’t work with it?  It’s ridiculous.

It reminds me very much of the PlayStation 2 Hard Disc Drive?  Remember that?  I do.  I have one.  Theoretically, games could use the HDD to make load times faster, or could be patched and upgraded via downloads to it.  In reality, no one wanted to support it to any real extent, because that would limit game sales to only those people who owned a hard drive.  Only 19 games in the U.S. and 40 Japanese games ever supported the drive, out of a library of 1800 games.  Then, Sony released the PS2 Slim that was too slim for a hard drive, effectively wiping out what what little support those titles did have.  (Final Fantasy XI was unplayable on the PS2 Slim.)

Sony is trying to eliminate the “PS2 HDD syndrome” with their “dual platform strategy.”  They announced yesterday that on launch day they would have “225 downloadable games – a combination of full PSP titles, PSN exclusives, UMD legacy titles and Minis.”  Meaning that not all the games available now on UMD will be downloadable to the PSP Go.  And the ones that are available be purchased from the PlayStation Store will have to be re-purchased in full by previous owners.  But they are potentially crippling future offerings, by trying to appease old and new PSP owners alike going forward.  New games will be made available both on UMD and via download.  In other words, new games will have the same size restriction of 1.8GB, the size of a UMD disc, in order to be released both ways.

It’s not just games on UMD that are not compatible.  Most of the accessories and Memory Sticks aren’t as well.  The PSP Go does not have a mini-B USB port on it like previous PSP iterations.  Instead, it will use a proprietary (surprise!) multi-use connector for charging, USB functionality, and video and sound output.  So you won’t be using the same cables as you used for your old PSP.  Or the same cradle.

Of course the PSP Go, like the other PSP versions, uses Sony’s proprietary flash cards.  But unlike the previous PSP’s, the PSP Go uses a Memory Stick Micro, not a Memory Stick Pro Duo. So if you need to use a flash card in the PSP Go, Sony generously lets you buy a new card rather than using the one out of your old PSP.

Also, the PSP Go has a rechargeable battery like its predecessors.  Unlike them, however, the battery is neither removable or upgradeable.  So if you bought a large battery for your PSP to extend your playtime, don’t expect to use it, or to have any extended playtime, on the PSP Go.

The console cuts out the middle man by selling games directly to consumers.  Retailers have been taken right out of the equation, both for new game and for used game sales.  Manufacturing costs have been eliminated, since for every download purchased, a corresponding disc, case, manual and shipment do not have to be paid for.  And yet instead of all that making the PSP Go cheaper for the consumer, it’s actually $80 more expensive!  Uh what?!

This all seems like a big misfire to me.  Either they should have kept the PSP Go more compatible with the previous PSP’s, or they should have come out with a “next gen” handheld console.  Users were not asking for a download-only handheld with aesthetic upgrades.  Users were asking for better functionality, in the form of:

1.  Touch Screen
If Sony wanted to make the PSP more functional and more like an iPhone/iPod Touch, they should have added a touch screen.  They could have done that with no affect on old PSP titles, and potential new functionality for upcoming titles.  Plus, using the PlayStation Store, the web browser, or any number of applications would be a whole lot simpler with a touch screen.  Have you ever tried using that PSP keyboard??  Uggh.

2.  Dual Analog Sticks
Where the hell are the dual analog sticks?!  If there is one thing that PSP users have been clamoring for since before the PSP was released, it’s dual analog sticks.  Three iterations later, and we still don’t have it.  Why, Sony?  Why?

Once again with the PSP Go (as with the PS3), Sony thinks it knows better what consumers want than consumers themselves do.  Being the gadget hound that I am, you’d think that a newly designed PSP would be an insta-purchase.  If they had made it possible for me to transfer my old UMD’s, or recognized that I owned the UMD and allowed me to download the corresponding game or movie, I probably would have purchased a PSP Go despite its other shortcomings.  But for now, I think I’ll be sitting this one out.

Holy purple cannibals!*  With the release of The Dark Knight this week on DVD and Blu-ray, I thought a Batman-inspired paper model might be appropriate.  Not one to stick to the obvious Tumbler or Batman figure, I chose instead the 1966 Batmobile.  The excellent site PaperInside.com, who I featured before, have an excellent model of the classic Batman vehicle from the campy TV series.  They rate it as a medium build, but it has some very nice detail.

Ok, and if you just have to have a Batman figure to go with it, try this retro-looking one.

Tune in for Papercraft Friday next week, same bat time, same bat website!

* Yes, this really came from the old Batman TV series.  Season 3, Episode 7 “Louie the Lilac”

Just a heads up that DeepDiscount.com is having a 25% off sale from now through November 23rd.  Enter the promo code DD1108 at checkout to receive the discount.  Also note they have free shipping.  I got a flyer for them and have tried it out already.  It’s valid for anyone.

I buy most of my DVDs and Blu-ray discs from either DeepDiscount or Amazon.  Their prices are usually within pennies of one another, except for some reason on anime titles, where DeepDiscount is frequently much cheaper.  Their shipping is not super fast – probably a week to ten days – but if you don’t mind the wait, 25% is hard to beat.  Head on over there today.

So the concept of buying a DVD or Blu-ray disc, and getting an additional copy I can put on my iPod is appealing to me, even though the digital copy is still DRM’d to hell.  I recently tried this with 4 movies, and I had wildly mixed results.

The first movie I tried was the Get Smart movie recently released on DVD by Warner Home Video.  (I couldn’t resist the shoe phone packaging exclusive from Best Buy!)  The instructions said to put disc 2, which was the bonus features disc, into the computer.  I put it in my iMac, and iTunes popped up.  It asked me for the code for the movie, which was printed on an insert in the packaging.  I typed in the code, and then iTunes proceeded to download the movie to my hard drive from the internet.  It put the movie in my movie directory, and when it was done, the movie played just fine in iTunes.  I synced it to my iPod and it played just fine there as well.

The second movie I tried was the recent release of The Incredible Hulk from Universal Studios.  I bought the Blu-ray version of the movie when it was released, but didn’t do anything about the digital copy.  I had noticed in the fine print on the Get Smart code insert that there was a roughly one year time limit to get the digital copy (Again, why?  See my opening paragraph) and I remembered that The Incredible Hulk movie came with a digital copy as well, so I figured I better try it before I forgot and the code expired. The Incredible Hulk movie came with a separate digital copy disc, with no other content on it.  When I put it in the iMac, it did the exact same thing as with the Get Smart movie, except this time it transferred the movie off of the disc rather than downloading it.  But all else worked the same.

My third and forth attempts are what I would classify as “digital copies gone horribly wrong.  The third was a “portable digital copy” that was included with the Blu-ray version of Dead Space: Downfall from Anchor Bay.  It too came on a separate stand-alone disc, but I noticed right away that there was no insert with code like the previous movies.  In fact, there were no directions at all.  I put the digital copy disc in my iMac and nothing happened.  I browsed around on the disc for a bit, and found some .html files.  One was a FAQ that stated that the digital copy would not work with non-Windows machines.  Nice.  In fact, the movie on the disc was a Windows Media Video file.  Determined to follow it to a conclusion, I rebooted into Windows with Boot Camp.  I put the disc in again, and this time it popped up with the .html files I browsed on the disc.  After accepting various license agreements and privacy statements, it asked me where to copy the movie to.  I chose the same directory that my iTunes movies are in, and it copied the movie from the disc to the hard drive.  It also pointed out that I could only do that two more times.  Once done, it put an icon on my desktop, which when clicked, pulled up Windows Media Player and started playing the movie.  No where did it explain how this was portable, although I guess if you synced your device with Windows Media Player it would copy it over.  More on that in a bit.

My last attempt was withthe digital copy disc included with Blu-ray version of Speed Racer: The Movie, from Warner Bros.  I noticed immediately inside the package that there was an insert with a code on it, similar to the first two movies I discussed.  So far so good.  Then as I read the insert, I saw that the digital copy required Windows XP or Vista, Windows Media Player 11 or above, and Internet Explorer version 6.0 or above.  There was a help link on the bottom of the insert that I went to, which pretty much outlined the same thing.  They also specifically state that “The Digital Copy portable media file is supported on Windows Media DRM compatible portable media devices (e.g. PlaysForSure certified devices).”  I didn’t even bother with Boot Camp on that one, I just put the movie back on the shelf. 

What I discovered after all of that is that once again these companies just don’t get it.  I’m not sure why it surprises me, but it does.  In response to the notion that people rip movies (a.k.a. pirate them, in movie industry speak) because they want to put them on their portable devices, the movie studios decide to promote this “added feature” of giving the consumer a means to do that a reasonable number of times without having to circumvent copy protection.  But then rather than make a unified standard, the studios all go off and make separate and exclusive deals for their Digital Copy, leaving the consumer frustrated and jaded about the experience.

After the first two movies, I though the concept was pretty nice.  I have a large library of DVDs, and with upscaling DVD players, I’m not about to go replace my DVDs with Blu-ray copies.  I’m also not going to pay significantly more for a Blu-ray version of a movie or show over the DVD counterpart, unless there is enough added value in the bonus content to warrant it.  As the digital copies offerings seemed to be more prevalent with high def movies, I started thinking that might just tip the scales towards getting Blu-ray versions in some cases. 

But it seems that it’s very hit-or-miss as to whether a Digital Copy will be an added value to you or not.  I mean, two of the four I sampled will not even play on an iPod!  Isn’t Microsoft’s Zune even incompatible with their own PlaysForSure standard?  And then didn’t they abandon it on their MSN music store?  What the hell is Anchor Bay thinking??  And Warner Home Video supports the iPod on one release but not another!  Hello?!  iPods have something like 70% market share.  How are consumers to know what will work on their device and what won’t?  

After doing a little research, support varies substantially.  Here’s a lowdown:

• 20th Century Fox: Will work on PCs and Macs, and will transfer to PlaysForSure devices and Apple iPod.
• Disney: Will work on PCs and Macs, and will transfer to PlaysForSure devices and Apple iPod.
• Lionsgate: Will work on PCs.  Mac support unknown.  Will transfer to PlaysForSure devices and Apple iPod.
• Paramount:  Will work on PCs and Macs, and will transfer to PlaysForSure devices and Apple iPod.
• Warner:  Who knows.  According to their support site, will work on PC’s only with Windows Media Player, and will transfer to PlaysForSure devices.  No iPod support.  But then the Get Smart movie worked on Mac and iPod.  Confused anyone? *
• Sony:  Will work on PCs only.  No Mac support.  No iPod support.  PSP support (I think).
• Anchor Bay:  Will work on PC’sonly with Windows Media Player.  No Mac support.  Will transfer to PlaysForSure devices (I think).  No iPod support.

So, where does that leave us?  With a mess.  Do consumers really want to put up with this hassle?  Amazon had to create a special webpage to explain to buyers what Digital Copy was, with links to various studios policies.  You can’t pick up a disc and easily tell if the Digital Copy will work for you.  You can’t tell on an online order page.  Unless the industry gets its act together and creates a unified standard, this whole concept will end up as another failed attempt by an out-of-touch industry.

* Side note:  After writing the Speed Racer section, I found an elusive link to a place on Warner Home Video’s website where you can request an iTunes compatible version.  Not included with the Speed Racer documentation or the link they refer you to.  Maybe they’re starting to get a clue?  Nah, probably not.

Does it serve some purpose?  I’ve seen it referred to as a “fold-away latch” that is for “extra security.”  How does that provide extra security?  Discs in stores already have cellophane wrapping and security stickers on every edge.  Some are even put in clear plastic locking cases, guarded by pit bulls.  If someone is desperate enough to steal the latest Will Ferrell movie right out of the case at the store, that little flap is not going to deter them over everything else. 

And I’ve never put a DVD in a case, snapped it shut, and then as I was carrying it across the room to the shelf, it magically sprung open and discs tumbled out.  Doesn’t happen.  So who’s bright idea was it to add this stupid flap?

Here’s a good suggestion for dealing with it: