Console Owners Largely Unaware of DVD Functionality, Says Report

[Junaid Alam]

Console Owners Largely Unaware of DVD Functionality, Says Report

According to The Diffusion Group, which describes itself as a "digital home and new media research consultancy," most console owners remain blissfully unaware of their unit's media functionality.

The Dallas-based firm found that only 30 percent of households with a DVD-capable console knew the system was capable of playing DVDs, and only 13 percent were using them to that end.

It also reported that three-fourths of those who do watch movies on their gaming consoles are staying with the physical DVD format as opposed to online movie downloads.

The author of the report, Dale Giliam III, said:

Today's next-generation games consoles such as the Xbox 360 or Sony PS3 are true digital multimedia powerhouses.

"Yet very few of these devices are connected to the Internet and, even though these same platforms may feature a high-definition DVD playback system, very few consumers are using them for non-gaming media applications.

The survey the data is based on encompasses 2,000 U.S. broadband heads-of-households.

It was unclear how - or if - the survey accounted for the possibility that parents do not necessarily know how a console's primary user, in many cases the children, actually use and intend to use the device.

Sources: Gamesindustry.biz [http://www.dmwmedia.com/tags/tdg].



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[Arbre]

This might need to be read along the PS3 australian example [http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=26226], where the PS3 is sold as a Blu-ray player instead of a console... and works.

Why bother saying it's a game console with Blu-ray? Say that it's a Blu-ray player, with some high end gaming capability, and that's it.
That is interesting, and possibly in line with what Sony always tried to make their consoles appear to be.
You know, "video games are dead", or whatever, so long live entertainment... it's not a console... it's a computer. Huh, now it's a Blu-ray player.
Sounds funny, but if it works... why not?

That makes an interesting way to sell a console without ultimately chanting the merits of the video game related section of the product.

 

[Goofonian]

This might need to be read along the PS3 australian example [http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=26226], where the PS3 is sold as a Blu-ray player instead of a console... and works.

That is absolute crap. I don't care what sony says, as I said in the other thread, noone here is buying the ps3. As a bluray player or otherwise, its just not happening.

I've tried to explain the difference between dvd and bluray/hddvd to many of my friends and family and noone cares. My progressive scan dvd player outputs an amazing picture to my hi def plasma tv, to the point where anyone who visits my house wonders how it could possibly get any better. And for the premium that they are charging for hi def discs over dvd's, it really is not worth the time, effort and money required to get into the next generation of video.

Outside of the super geek niche, there isn't any sort of market for this sort of stuff here. Thats all there is to it.

 

[Tarmanydyn]

This might need to be read along the PS3 australian example [http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=26226], where the PS3 is sold as a Blu-ray player instead of a console... and works.

That is absolute crap. I don't care what sony says, as I said in the other thread, noone here is buying the ps3. As a bluray player or otherwise, its just not happening.

I've tried to explain the difference between dvd and bluray/hddvd to many of my friends and family and noone cares. My progressive scan dvd player outputs an amazing picture to my hi def plasma tv, to the point where anyone who visits my house wonders how it could possibly get any better. And for the premium that they are charging for hi def discs over dvd's, it really is not worth the time, effort and money required to get into the next generation of video.

Outside of the super geek niche, there isn't any sort of market for this sort of stuff here. Thats all there is to it.

First off, just to be anal, I plan on buying a PS3, for both it's Blu-ray and gaming capabilities, and possibly for any tertiary abilities it may have.

Secondly, of course your friends and family don't care about how HD technology works, which is what I assume you mean by saying "explaining the difference", they'd be more convinced if you simply showed them the difference between the two image qualities. I'm sure you're aware of it but here's a comparison between DVD and HD anyways: http://www.cornbread.org/FOTRCompare/index.html

Even at first glance, the difference is clear. I for one subscribe to HD television, and watching programs on HD Discovery channel, I'm sold on buy HD versions of movies/shows that I feel would be particularly sublime in HD. Most notably, the Planet Earth documentary, or any Pixar films.

A person will weigh the price per quality themselves, and people will come to the decision to buy into it or not, certainly geeks and techno-philes will be more inclined, but even the layman has eyes.

 

[Goofonian]

I hear what your saying and I'll agree that the difference in image quality is clear, even to a layperson.
The problem is that the layperson doesn't care. So you can see every pore on gandalfs face now. So what?
Would you try and convince your mum to spend an extra 10 grand on a car that went 0-100 3 seconds faster? of course you wouldn't. Unless your mum is a speed junkie.

So how exactly are you going to convince your average joe/jane to spend an extra 5 grand setting themselves up with a HD capable home theatre?
Thats what sony is trying to do, and by putting out press releases saying how successfully they are doing, all I can think is that they are lying through their teeth (which wouldn't surprise me at all).

When you can get an upscaling dvd player with all the trimmings for $150 or a "cheap" bluray player for $1000, the improvement in image quality becomes much less enticing. And if you don't have a screen capable of showing the difference, there is no improvement.

As I said before, the only market for this sort of thing at the moment is the technophiles and cinema geeks.

 

[Arbre]

Hey, I was just rambling about news... not saying I necessarily agreed.

Technically, yes, teh HD is far superior, especially when you remember that the image was largely bigger than that. The DVD samples are already blurry and "wet", and it would be a disaster to stretch them (that's just why those huge flat screens never impressed me until high quality HD TVs hit the market).

But as others have said, I just can't see why so many people would be concerned about that relatively minor difference once you consider the price.

However, it's no news either that Sony is clearly selling their machine as a high end product, and could only be fully enjoyed with anything being up to date in your living room.

It's just posh. And that's possibly where it wouldn't bother so many people.

 

[Tarmanydyn]

So how exactly are you going to convince your average joe/jane to spend an extra 5 grand setting themselves up with a HD capable home theatre?

I don't expect them to drop 5 grand just like that, but I would definitely just show them for themselves the difference between HD and SD, to at least convince them that HD does look noticeably better. They'll probably get piqued, do a bit of research, and finally get tempted to buy into it. Or, instantly poo poo it, either or.

All I'm saying is that, chances are, there's a layperson considering upgrading to an HD setup, decent 42" plasmas/lcds are fairly affordable nowadays, so I personally wouldn't discount them all-together.


On a semi-related note, it would be interesting to see what the sales are on the HD-DVD drive for the 360.