It's Not JUST a DVD Anymore ... It's Blu-Ray
It was 5 days, 4 nights, 3 cars, 2 petty cabs, and 1 song later. I had made it back from SXSW Interactive 2008. Aside from the fact that this festival is in the greatest city in the US, SXSW was chock-full of the industry leaders and inspirers in web design, social media, gaming, and film. I felt like a six-year-old kid with candy in my mouth walking around my dad's office suite on the 60th floor. Except, to the left of me was a corner area filled with legos ... in front of me a beer garden ... and to the right was guitar hero! I wasn't in my Dad's corner office, I was in My office, hanging out with my friends and being a part of something that didn't have rules or standards. It's called the web ... and I'm a part of it? Hell yeah I'm a part of this. We all are, and we were all gathered here, in Austin, TX, to listen, learn and discuss it. While there were many panels I could talk about in length, there is one I can't stop thinking about. The panel, Interactive Media Trends ... Are You On Top of It?, discussed the next generation of media users. Thinking of media, my mind instantly runs down the list :: Video games, DVD's, blogs, wiki's, mobile phones, podcasting, etc. I mentioned up there DVD's, but it slipped my mind to put in the words Blu-Ray, that is until after the panel. I guess it should have dawned on me when in January of this year Warner Brothers Entertainment announced its release of DVD's in Blu-Ray Disc format exclusively. Or when just one month after Warner Brothers decision, Disney, MGM, Sony and Fox all decided to follow suit. Damn. Am I that behind in technology? Or is this what consumers are asking for? Ah ha! I had come to the right panel. You cannot hide from the inevitable. Blu-Ray will hit stores this year, biting your old-school DVD player in the dust. So, what is Blu-Ray? Blu-Ray has been labeled as the "next generation in optimal disc format", having the ability to store large amounts of data, and "many more interactivity layers." What do you do with these layers? That was a question for our panel which was answered with a Fox BD Live promo called Alien vs. Predator vs. You. Imagine yourself watching Alien vs. Predator, and at any time during the movie you turn on the interactive game feature, featuring YOU. The interactive game is a layer on top of the movie layer, allowing the viewer to become a player during the movie. The viewer can decide whether or not they want to be the alien or the predator and pick an avatar and weapons before the movie/game. Pretty interactive I should say. However, the panel itself asked the question of how do you incorporate this into a movie like "Little Miss Sunshine?" I think this technology (or should I be saying what consumers want) has yet to be determined for movies that are lacking the gaming persona. Coming from a consumer who isn't a gamer, I personally could do without the game. But then again, I'm not exactly their target audience so who am I to say this feature is unworthy? Exactly. But, will I (as a non-gaming consumer) be paying for these extra features? That has yet to be determined. As of right now, I'm happy with my age old DVD player and my non-high def movies. Hell, my mom still owns VHS. Oh crap. Am I turning into my mother? Naaah!
