Digital Copies packaged in with DVDs and Blu-ray Discs are an old hat, but now Sony is adding a new twist. Up until now, a DVD was bundled in with a Blu-ray Disc just to deliver the Digital Copy. This way you could put the DVD into any PC or Mac and grab the Digital Copy of the main feature. What Sony is doing now is something that was
demoed at CES 2008, which is to store a
PSP friendly copy, on the actual Blu-ray Disc. This way all you have to do is insert the disc into a PlayStation 3 and transfer it directly over to a PSP -- no computer required. This of course doesn't help those who'd prefer to watch the Digital Copy on their PC or iPod, so they'll still need to continue to look for an extra DVD in the box. All this fun starts November 10th with the release of
Godzilla and
The Ugly Truth, both of which sport the PSP copy on the Blu-ray Disc, but only
The Ugly Truth will also come with the DVD with the traditional Digital Copy.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Roger @ Sep 29th 2009 10:53AM
Do you guys ever actually do your own work or do you just repost the work of others?
Attila @ Sep 29th 2009 2:09PM
I don't read all the sites so I appreciate that Engadget (classic, HD, mobile) consolidate the news for me - definitely taking a lot of time for them. On the other hand, it's not just reposting but also commenting and adding some flavor to it. Regarding work: I've seen couple of articles from Ben & Co. which took several days to write up in that detail.
On that note I approve this post ;)
Ben @ Sep 29th 2009 2:11PM
Where you been? Editorializing the news is our primary focus. We do some original content but our claim to fame is that we are a single comprehensive source for all things HD with a little opinion mixed in.
As for this particular post. Most of the other sites didn't actually talk about the previous Digital Copies and how this differs or the fact that Sony demoed this feature at CES 20008 and is just now brining it to market.
Jamus @ Sep 29th 2009 11:19AM
Yeah, that will help the piracy rate by locking it in to a PSP only. Good ole Sony. Always looking out for the consumer.
Roger @ Sep 29th 2009 11:45AM
Read...it helps. The PSP digital copy will be on the BD. THE PC/Mac digital copy will still be on separate DVD.
DrXym @ Sep 29th 2009 1:30PM
I assume they stick a PSP copy on the BD simply as a convenience to PS3 owners.
foxb @ Sep 29th 2009 11:52AM
So for ppl like me who own a PSP but not PS3, we're screwed. Thank you Sony!
Phil @ Sep 30th 2009 10:41AM
So you must have a Blu-ray drive in your PC? Or another Blu-ray player that allows you to connect your PSP to it for some reason?
Read the release people. It's the Blu-Ray digital copies that are PSP only not ALL digital copies.
extinctdoughnut @ Sep 29th 2009 2:09PM
I love how, the use of commas, is extremely, frequent.
Ben @ Sep 29th 2009 2:09PM
That's because I wanted the reader to pause there because I believe it is easier to understand with the pauses.
glenn s @ Sep 29th 2009 2:21PM
Sony is still have orgasms over finally winning a format war. This ridiculous proprietary digital copy is nothing more than Sony's spunk.
Or, to put it less crudely, now that they've got their royalties from blu-ray locked in they are going to try to leverage it as much as possible. Which is exactly why they've never given up on proprietary formats.
EatingPie @ Sep 29th 2009 3:51PM
Sheesh.
Sony is not even *close* to the sole patent holder on Blu-ray. Just for starters, there's all the codec patent holders. Then there's the whole of the BDA, which is like 100 companies, all getting a piece of the pie.
What Sony is doing here is leveraging *their studio's* movies for use with *their consoles*. Had HD-DVD worked in the PS3, they would have done the same thing. It's not a Blu-ray issue per se, it's them leveraging their studio brand to bolster their game brands.
-Pie
glenn s @ Sep 29th 2009 5:02PM
(hope this does not double post, and sorry if it does)
Riiiiight. Sony only paid Warner nearly a half BILLION dollars out of its own coffers to get them to switch to blu-ray in order to support the BDA. That is nonsense. Sony and Panasonic hold the most lucrative patents. Sony bet the house on blu-ray, and they won. Everybody else in the BDA that holds any patents is also (presumably) making money, so they are happy to go along for the ride.
Anyway, I wasn't making a point about Sony being the sole patent holder. You assumed that part. I was making a point about Sony, having been bolstered by the blu-ray victory, getting back to their same old modus operandi. Instead of supporting a more standard digital copy format that is cross platform, they are supporting a proprietary format that requires Sony hardware. Which is exactly what you said. So you actually agreed with me on my main point. Where we apparently disagree is that you think the practice is OK, while I think it is misguided and doomed to failure.
EatingPie @ Sep 29th 2009 7:15PM
Wait, where is it reported reliably that Sony paid Warner to go Blu? That is not at all true, nor has it ever been verified. What *has* been verified, admitted by Toshiba themselves, is that *they* paid Paramount to go HD-DVD only the summer prior to the end of the format war. So you have your news backwards.
Of course everyone in the BDA is making money off patents they hold. That's the purpose of patents. And my point is that Sony is not in charge of the BDA, and this move is NOT the result of their "still having an orgasm over the format war."
They are linking two of their gaming machines together, something they've been doing for over a year. This is very similar to Remote Play, a PSP-PS3 sharing technology. It adds value to the Playstation brand, and Sony is leveraging their studio connection as a catalyst. It is *not* about Blu-ray specifically at all.
And, no, I don't see a problem with it. They're trying to add value to their Playstation brand. Simple as that. Microsoft does something almost exactly the same. The only official way to stream to the 360 is via Windows Media Server (or whatever it's called). They're adding value to the Windows/XBox brand by doing so.
-Pie
Mark @ Sep 30th 2009 7:09AM
The reason why most digital copies are on DVD instead of Blu Ray is just the reality that DVDs are ubiquitous on PCs and BDROM drives are not. Every publisher wishes they could put the digital copies on the BD because it saves money, but they can't until BDs become common in PCs. It took years for DVD to supplant CDROM in PCs so it will probably take years for BD to do the same.
If Sony are putting their digital copy on the BD, it obviously has something to do with the fact that many PSP owners also own PS3s so it saves those users from switching one disk out for another, or of firing up a PC to do something their PS3 can manage by itself.
It has NO impact on anything else and I do not understand the hate directed at this move. The hate should be directed at digital copies in general, and how every device seems to adopt its own proprietary DRM'd format.
glenn s @ Sep 30th 2009 11:17AM
It is not hate. It is disgust. There is a subtle different. The former is directed animosity at the actor (Sony). The latter is just directed negativity at the act itself. I don't hate Sony. I own several Sony products. And it is precisely because the digital copy on the blu-ray is not made available for all users, regardless of their hardware that I am bothered by it. Yes, Sony can do whatever they want. But they don't HAVE to. And holding up MS as an example of another company doing something similar with the xbox 360 and media center isn't really a very good defense of the practice for a couple of reasons. 1) So MS has done something similar. How is that a defense of Sony. 2) MS will allow other companies to license the tech and build media center extenders. I'm sure they would even let Sony do it, though that is highly unlikely in the PS3.
The point is, proprietary formats NEVER succeed in the long term. They always have a relatively short lifespan. Sony could devote a whole museum to them. In the end, the industry players always throw up their hands in surrender and form yet another standards committee and finally get it right, or at least close. And consumers who bought into the proprietary format are left with junk. What are you going to play your PSP digital copy on in 3 or 4 years when the PSP has been replaced by a new model, and no longer plays the old version. And don't say it'll never happen, because it just did. Yes could keep your old PSP around for a while. But you probably won't want to because the new one will be so much better.
Ben @ Sep 29th 2009 4:26PM
What movie's case is shown in the graphic for this article? Those look like X-wings above the digital copy sticker. There aren't any Star Wars movies released on Blu ray, right?
Spiza @ Sep 29th 2009 5:51PM
DVDs come with digital copy as well, and that looks like a black case to me.
Colin Robertson @ Sep 29th 2009 3:03PM
Is that Star Wars box art?
mitchelljd @ Sep 30th 2009 1:20PM
it would be a great advancement to allow computers with BD players to do digital copy like the PSP/PS3
but... i don't want it limited to sony products, i'd love to get this on my mac as well. Apple please embrace BD properly and keep doing the digital copies, but make it even better. who needs to waste extra plastic dvd discs?? let em put it on the BD instead.