| iv id="body"> | | | | Episodes IV-VI, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Blade Runner, |
| At Frye's over the weekend I saw two half shelves | | | | Alien and Aliens, King Kong, Lord of the Rings Trilogy, |
| worth of HD-DVD software. This is only remarkable | | | | Harry Potter movies, Moulin Rouge, Ghost in the Shell, |
| because I had not been to an electronics superstore | | | | Akira, Princess Mononoke, Serenity (actually this is a |
| recently to see such a display. I know they've been out | | | | launch title! Go Team Whedon), Sin City, Apocalypse |
| for weeks or a month or a I don't care. | | | | Now, E.T., Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Jaws, |
| The HD-DVDs were grouped at the end of the anime | | | | Romeo+Juliet, Fight Club, Terminator 2, A Nightmare |
| section just before the nature and historical videos. I | | | | Before Christmas, Lion King, The Incredibles, Final |
| can't remember the first weeks or months of DVD's | | | | Fantasy VII: Advent Children, Spider-Man movies, |
| launch but it was probably just as pathetic (I remember | | | | Batman and Batman Begins, X-Men Movies, Superman |
| only seeing Eraser and Twister DVDs for a year | | | | 1 and 2, Kill Bill, Casablanca, North By Northwest, The |
| before I cared about DVD as a source of | | | | Graduate, The Fifth Element, Blue Velvet, and Planet of |
| entertainment). The discs were packaged in the same | | | | the Apes. |
| clam cases as normal DVDs, the "HD-DVD" banner at | | | | Now that's a launch. |
| the top was the only tip-off. Blockbuster!/must buy! | | | | After every geek collects their jaws from the floor |
| titles included: Rumor Has It, The Chronicles of Riddick, | | | | they would be ready to invest in the best HD-DVD |
| Van Helsing, Swordfish, Doom. | | | | player they could find. The entire launch catalog |
| This is all I get after dropping $500 on my new | | | | described above would break all home video sales |
| Toshiba HD-A1 HD DVD player? (I ask hypothetically, | | | | records. These are the movies we are willing to buy |
| as I don't have any such player.) Penny Arcade found | | | | over and over again. It wouldn't matter if half of the |
| a use for the Phantom of the Opera HD-DVD. | | | | titles were rushed to production and didn't eek out the |
| If I were the King of All Home Entertainment Media | | | | finest high definition quality because the movie studios |
| (like Mark Cuban or Mickey Mouse), I'd write this memo | | | | could release an extra special edition six months later |
| to all my media minions: | | | | and we would buy it again. The HD-DVD would just |
| Dear whichever studios are launching HD-DVD: The | | | | have to look and sound marginally better than the best |
| following titles will force me to adopt your new disc | | | | SD-DVD had to offer for the same title. |
| format: Digital Video Essentials (to calibrate before we | | | | HD-DVD's launch needs a huge push. Rumor Has It |
| watch the rest of the launch titles), Star Wars | | | | couldn't launch a bottle rocket with a flame thrower. |