Universal: Total Axcess web site - not a good idea (1 Viewer)

[george kaplan]

I'll leave out the bit about forcing people to buy a big expensive box set filled with dreck in order to get one decent dvd of the original film, and complain about your Total Axcess web site.

Why are deleted scenes only available via your website? You're doing the same thing with parts of Back to the Future. This is not a good idea. I did not spend a bunch of money on a large TV set, to have to come into my den to watch the deleted scenes on my computer monitor and deal with connection problems.

I'll still buy BTTF, but I'll never bother accessing those particular extras. And why should I buy E.T., when I'll still have to keep my ld to access the deleted scenes on my tv. Harry Potter screwed up by making the deleted scenes very painful and time-consuming to access, but at least you can watch them on your tv.

And frankly, I don't like the idea of needing your website to access something. Some day there'll be corporate cutbacks and the website won't exist. Or marketing will decide to remove certain scenes because of legal hassles or to get people to buy some new version of the film.

Please, just stick deleted scenes and other worthwhile extras directly on the disc.

 

[Lee Bombard]

AMEN !!!

 

[Jesse Skeen]

Putting video content on a DVD that can only be seen on a computer is as silly as putting extra music sections on a CD that can only be played on a computer. I don't have a DVD-ROM (unless a Playstation 2 counts, and it can't play any regular DVD-ROM material) and don't plan on getting one anytime soon.

 

[TheBat]

I agree.. WE want to see the deleted scenes on the dvd and not online.

JACOB

 

[Larry Geller]

If you notice, Warners used to do this a lot, but they seem to have cut back on this bcause IT IS A STUPID IDEA which just pisses people off.

 

[EricCr]

It really seems like a bad idea when you consider that the majority of people still only have a dial up connection, either by choice or as in my case because high speed is not available near them. I don't like the idea of having to watch a postage stamp sized video that is jerky and really almost not worth watching. The people who make these decisions need to remember that not all of us have T-1 lines for connecting to the net.

 

[SteveGon]

I agree. on these kinds of "extras".

 

[Craig S]

I agree. This both sucks & blows.

 

[Jeff Jacobson]

I agree with everyone else here that this Total Axcess thing is a bad idea. When I buy a DVD, I want the extra features ON THE DISC! Like most other people, I connect to the internet with a 56k modem. There is no high-speed Internet service where I live. I don't want to spend hours downloading some video clip that may or may not even work when I try to play it back. (The the DVD-ROM stuff on the Star Wars Episode I DVD just crashed and did not work on my computer, which is running WinXP. There's a good chance that this Total Axcess won't work either.)

This is a bad idea that will result in a lot of lost sales. I know that many people will think, "Hmm, if I buy this DVD, I have to go download stuff off of the Internet to watch it. Why should I bother buying the DVD?" One person will buy the DVD and download the extras, then these people will just use file sharing programs and share the files with others who did not buy the DVD.

So please, just put the extra features directly on the DVD where they belong. That way I can just buy the DVD and watch the movie and all of the extra features, and not tie up the phone lines for hours downloading things that should have been on the DVD in the first place.

 

[Jeff Reis]

Totally agreed. I'll probably buy the BTTF box (I'm still on the fence about this ET insanity), but after that I'm probably done with Universal until they get their act together. Right now for me they are easily the worst major DVD studio, first with their overpriced Hitchcock and Monsters discs, and now this idiotic plan to give us poor-quality web versions of extras which SHOULD be on the discs we pay for. And let's not forget their glacial pace of releasing worthy catalog titles. BOO, Universal, BOO!!!

 

[Ricardo C]

This is quite possibly the silliest, most counter-productive idea to inflict upon consumers since the inception of DivX. Personally, I consider the listing of additional features not all purchasers will be able to access to be fraud. Even those of us with DVD-ROM drives and fast internet connections know that smooth streaming video is rarely a reality in today's internet.

Why should I spend extra money on an incomplete package? Why tell me I'm buying a "special edition" when some of the much-hyped "special features" will eventually be taken offline, and out of my reach?

I was ready to put up with your mind-numbing decision to stick the original cut of E.T. exclusively in the gift set, but no more. I guess I'll do without it. Thank God for laserdisc. As for BTTF? I WAS going to purchase TWO sets, one for myself, and one for my girlfriend. Now? I think I'll take that cash and spend it on a product done right, and certainly not from Universal.

Nice going, folks. Thanks for saving me cash.

 

[James L White]

Put my vote down as an opponent of this mess

 

[Dan Hitchman]

Goddamn right!!!!

Come on Universal, we don't want this Total Axcess stuff!

Dan

 

[Michael Harris]

Universal: If this is all true then you just lost a sale. I have no need for BTTF or ET as I have them on LD and would rather watch them then pay for "virtual" extras.

 

[Brad Eisenhauer]

I haven't looked at DVD-ROM content since I got the Matrix when I was first getting in to DVD. If I see "DVD-ROM" on a list of special features on a DVD, I consider it a negative factor, a deterrent from buying the disc. Content accessible only through a web-link, doubly so. I'm generally a fan of special featues, so please, any content that's worthwhile, just put it on the disc!

 

[Frank ten Hove]

 

[Brian E]

Exclusive DVD-ROM content
Exclusive DVD-ROM content that can only be accessed online

 

[Roque_A]

This is the stupidest thing a studio has done since Disney deciding they are not going to release their "family" titles in OAR. Not to mention that Circuit City almost(yeah right) destroyed DVD when they released DIVX. What will studios think of next to p!$$ me off.
Roque...

 

[Bill J]

I agree with everyone here. Put the extras directly ON THE DISC.

 

[Patrick McCart]