BD Live - anyone else wish this would go away? (1 Viewer)

[Brisby]

Originally Posted by David Deeb /forum/thread/310189/bd-live-anyone-else-wish-this-would-go-away#post_3796391

 

[TravisR]

Originally Posted by Brisby

Yeah but technology allows people to be connected to other people without the annoyance of actually having to be near them or listen to them when you don't want to. Oh wait, that's actually being disconnected from other people.

 

[Nick Martin]

The Terminator 2 Skynet Edition Blu-ray used BD-Live to store all of the documentaries and featurettes originally included with the DVD releases. I haven't seen the disc in over a year so I don't know if that is still available.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

HD-DVD used this too, but all the Universal discs I've tried with online extras don't have them online anymore.


BD-Live is much too slow and cumbersome- every time I try to use it, it takes several minutes just to connect, then the interface is ridiculously awkward. I thought the 'record your own commentary' thing would be interesting, but it looks like Warner's already taken that offline. One disc I checked had a link to listen to other people's commentaries, but it just led to an empty box, and there was a message elsewhere saying the feature had been discontinued. (Don't know how it would've worked anyways as I can't plug a microphone into my BD player.)


Only decent use for it I've seen is to show current trailers instead of ones on the disc that get outdated later, but those should be accessible without even having to load a disc. I had one crash while playing anyways.

 

[EdReedFan20]

The one thing I like about the internet capabilities is what I've seen with Universal's Blu-Rays. Every time you put your movie in, it randomly picks trailers to show you. Usually when I buy a movie, I'll watch the trailers at the beginning, but afterwords, will skip them. With Uni's Blu-Rays, it's always something different. I was confused at first, when I put my movie in a second time and a different set/order of trailers was playing. However, once I realized what it was doing, I thought it was really cool. I hope more studios do this!

 

[dana martin]

one of the other issues i have with this, and so far it is only Universal titles, i have a first gen in the cave, and those seem to be the only ones that wont play, all the updates are on it, but it just cycles through the damn menu,

 

[RobertR]

Originally Posted by David Deeb




Agreed. And wouldn't it be 100 times more efficient to either just simply call them or text them if you did want to do that?


It's the old "solution in search of a problem".

In this case, it's more like a "solution that causes problems".

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

I could see a feature that allowed you to download extras to a storage card (another dumb thing with Starship Troopers, it won't even load without a memory card but there's nothing to indicate that). I have yet to find any of my collection where the BDLive actually works, though after the first few attempts I can really say I'm all too bothered now. Just put the extras on the discs like you did with DVD.

 

[Charles Smith]

Agreed. And wouldn't it be 100 times more efficient to either just simply call them or text them if you did want to do that?


It's the old "solution in search of a problem".

But this "solution" has the newest cool factor!

 

[Rick Thompson]

Originally Posted by EdReedFan20

The one thing I like about the internet capabilities is what I've seen with Universal's Blu-Rays. Every time you put your movie in, it randomly picks trailers to show you. Usually when I buy a movie, I'll watch the trailers at the beginning, but afterwords, will skip them. With Uni's Blu-Rays, it's always something different. I was confused at first, when I put my movie in a second time and a different set/order of trailers was playing. However, once I realized what it was doing, I thought it was really cool. I hope more studios do this!

I'd rather they kill the previews altogether, or at least put them on the opening menu so I have the option of skipping them. They fall into two categories: (1) pictures I already know about and will see/buy, (2) pictures I already know about and will NEVER see/buy. Either way, they're a waste of my time and only turn me against their product.

The previews now start before the menus and the ways to get past them are being killed off. Pressing "menu" used to do it, but not any more. Pressing "next chapter" used to do it, but not any more. All that's left is fast-forward, which I expect to be killed off next.


And that doesn't even mention those menus seemingly created by a refugee from the meth lab! You think they're trying to drive us away from their product? Sure looks (literally) that way.

 

[Charles Smith]

I hate the preview thing. Totally despise it. I don't buy ANY movie in order to watch previews for other movies. It's fine if they want to include them as something selectable, but I can't speak strongly enough against the forced viewing of previews, even those you can chapter-stop through.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

Just tried another BDLive feature from Battlestar Galactica: The Plan. Guess what, it doesn't work.

 

[Ethan Riley]

Originally Posted by Jesse Skeen

HD-DVD used this too, but all the Universal discs I've tried with online extras don't have them online anymore.


BD-Live is much too slow and cumbersome- every time I try to use it, it takes several minutes just to connect, then the interface is ridiculously awkward. I thought the 'record your own commentary' thing would be interesting, but it looks like Warner's already taken that offline. One disc I checked had a link to listen to other people's commentaries, but it just led to an empty box, and there was a message elsewhere saying the feature had been discontinued. (Don't know how it would've worked anyways as I can't plug a microphone into my BD player.)


Only decent use for it I've seen is to show current trailers instead of ones on the disc that get outdated later, but those should be accessible without even having to load a disc. I had one crash while playing anyways.

Bottom line is, the majority of people who actually buy blurays are film buffs. And such people want to actually watch the movie without needless distractions. We don't want to suddenly log online and "learn more about the movie." We can do that after, not during. A lot of people don't like going to theaters because it's hard to concentrate on the film while there's a baby crying in the back (always) and people snapping popcorn and texting all over the place. And the sticky, butter-coated floors. We get dvds and blurays so we can actually concentrate on the movie, enjoying the crap out of it in an unedited pristine print (we hope). Extras should be something to enjoy after the movie; they needn't be "interactive," and as most posters have pointed out--the online content disappears shortly after the bluray's release...so the whole exercise seems like a big Fail anyway.


I think these dumbass features all started on the "Sleeping Beauty" bluray, the back cover of which boasts that you can "Watch, Chat and Play with Friends Online While Watching the Movie." I foggily recall there being a feature in which you could scan in a picture of your pretty face and put it in the movie somehow (or something like that). And I was thinking--as if Disney's interesting "restoration" process wasn't bad enough, now they're trying to make a movie look like a stupid webpage so you can click and chat while watching your movie. I don't think Walt Disney had any such thing in mind while busting his butt to put out those movies. A movie should be a very, very different experience than logging online. Don't endeavor to meld the two just because you think your fanbase will be more comfortable with their purchase. And I feel the filmmakers themselves would prefer you to view their art undisturbed.