More studios get behind mini disc
At CES: Few PlayStation details; DEG dishes awards
By George T. Chronis and Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 1/7/2005
JAN. 7 | Paramount Studios Home Entertainment, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and Universal Studios Home Entertainment have joined Warner Home Video in endorsing the new Mini-DVD.
Also announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week, Warner's corporate affiliates HBO Video and New Line Home Entertainment also embraced the diminutive new format.
All of the studios endorsing the format said they would begin releasing titles for Mini-DVD players.
One of the first Mini-DVD players hit stores in December in select markets from CyberHome Entertainment. Samsung Electronics is introducing its own Mini-DVD player by this spring, which will mark the official national retail launch of the format.
A total of 100 titles should be available. Those will include Warner's Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and The O.C. Among others, HBO has House Arrest; New Line, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery; Paramount, Mean Girls; Fox, Strawberry Shortcake; and Universal, Bring It On.
Mini-DVD--featured prominently at CES exhibition booths staged by Samsung and CyberHome--boast sound and video quality comparable to DVD. The format is compatible with most standard DVD players, in addition to Mini-DVD players.
Meanwhile, another product announcement at CES turned out to be less detailed than anticipated.
Sony Computer Entertainment of America officially introduced its upcoming PlayStation Portable handheld to the U.S. market. But SCEA didn't provide a firm release date, price or unit ship target for North America.
Back in Tokyo, SCE chief Ken Kutaragi was asked when Sony would start selling the PSP in the U.S. and said probably be March. Straying little from his boss' estimate, SCEA CEO Kaz Hirai said in Las Vegas, "If I were a betting man, I would say March."
Sony has shipped some 510,000 units of the PSP in Japan since its introduction there in December, priced at about $185.
Hirai did provide a list of games in development. They include Ape Escape PSP (Sony), Archer Maclean's Mercury (Ignition), ATV Offroad Fury (Sony), Coded Arms (Konami), Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower (Capcom), Dynasty Warriors (Koei), Hot Shots! Golf PSP (Sony), Metal Gear Acid (Konami), NBA 2005 (Electronic Arts), Ridge Racers (Namco), Tony Hawk's Underground 2 (Activision), Twisted Metal: Head-On (Sony) and Wipeout Pure (Sony).
In other videogame news, Nintendo of America reported at CES that it had shipped more than 1.3 million Nintendo DS handhelds in the U.S. since the mid-November launch and expects 120 DS games will be released this year.
Elsewhere at CES, DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group recognized Best Buy as its annual Retailer of the Year based on excellence in merchandising and promoting new digital entertainment products.
DEG also honored five DVDs with creative excellence awards: New Line's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Extended Edition; Warner's Gone With the Wind Four-Disc Collector's Edition; Sony Pictures Home Entertainment's Seinfeld: Seasons 1 & 2; Buena Vista Home Entertainment's The Lion King 1½; and Universal's Bon Jovi, This Left Feels Right.
Scott Hettrick contributed to this report.
Talkback
Related Content
Related Content
Sponsored Links
