Dick
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- Rick
This announcement appeared in the "Studio Briefing" section of IMDB's main page today:
"Looking into the future of his giant corporation, Sony Chairman Nobuyuki Idei envisioned a motion picture division that would include MGM and a TV manufacturing business that would employ the Cell chip -- something he referred to as "the most powerful chip in consumer electronics." In an interview with the Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper, Idei said that Sony was particularly interested in MGM's library. "The importance of software made in the past is growing now that many sales channels are available, including broadcasting, DVDs and the Internet," he said. He predicted that the cost to purchase MGM, generally said to be about $5 billion, will in reality "not be as large as some people may estimate." Of the Cell chip, which Sony is developing with IBM and Toshiba and which is sometimes called a "supercomputer on a chip," Idei said that it would be incorporated into the company's TV sets in 2006. Previously the company had been hyping the benefits of the Cell chip for its PlayStation game units."
Three years ago, I'd have been delighted that Sony was inheriting a studio with very spotty DVD releases. Now, if anything, Sony is worse than MGM for quality of catalog DVD's and, on top of that, has never done more than leak them out a couple here or there - perhaps one or two each month. Special editions are few and far between. Can you imagine how long it would have taken to get the United Artists stuff out on DVD under Sony's ownership? The Superbits series (IMO) is largely a double-dip gimmick. Had this been Warner Bros making the announcement, I'd be in celebration mode. But I have come to really dislike Sony for its catalog ouput of late (i.e. ANNIE p&s debacle, sub-par classics releases, etc.)
I feel none of the joy in this information that Noboyuki Idei expresses.
"Looking into the future of his giant corporation, Sony Chairman Nobuyuki Idei envisioned a motion picture division that would include MGM and a TV manufacturing business that would employ the Cell chip -- something he referred to as "the most powerful chip in consumer electronics." In an interview with the Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper, Idei said that Sony was particularly interested in MGM's library. "The importance of software made in the past is growing now that many sales channels are available, including broadcasting, DVDs and the Internet," he said. He predicted that the cost to purchase MGM, generally said to be about $5 billion, will in reality "not be as large as some people may estimate." Of the Cell chip, which Sony is developing with IBM and Toshiba and which is sometimes called a "supercomputer on a chip," Idei said that it would be incorporated into the company's TV sets in 2006. Previously the company had been hyping the benefits of the Cell chip for its PlayStation game units."
Three years ago, I'd have been delighted that Sony was inheriting a studio with very spotty DVD releases. Now, if anything, Sony is worse than MGM for quality of catalog DVD's and, on top of that, has never done more than leak them out a couple here or there - perhaps one or two each month. Special editions are few and far between. Can you imagine how long it would have taken to get the United Artists stuff out on DVD under Sony's ownership? The Superbits series (IMO) is largely a double-dip gimmick. Had this been Warner Bros making the announcement, I'd be in celebration mode. But I have come to really dislike Sony for its catalog ouput of late (i.e. ANNIE p&s debacle, sub-par classics releases, etc.)
I feel none of the joy in this information that Noboyuki Idei expresses.
