According to a rumour posting on Maxconsole.net the Wii 2 is going to be arriving with a Blu-Ray player, 1080p and it’s going to be arriving this time next year.

According to the leak one of the main reasons for the integrated Blu-Ray player is that it helps to stop piracy and Nintendo are also starting to feel that it is becoming a viable format moving forward.

I have to agree with them on the second one, I have always felt that the HD optical disc idea would only start really taking off from the end of 2010 onwards but I am not sure the anti piracy idea is going to stick.

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Sony is once again doing what it is best suited to be doing, integrating it’s gaming division directly with it’s movie distribution division and effectively creating a monopoly market which it can leverage to push two of it’s top products.

This is where Sony can really steal a yard on both Microsoft and Nintendo as neither of those companies can even compete in this space.

Sony has announced that the Blu-Ray edition of the South African blockbuster title District 9 will ship with a demo of God of War III when it gets released on the 29th of December.

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There is a story going around at the moment claiming that Disney are working on a project that will end the need for Blu-Rays which isn’t quite true.

They are working on a project that will end the requirement to own a local copy of the movie/game in any form what so ever.

Basically the idea in a nutshell is that instead of buying the physical movie you buy an indefinite licence to watch the movie on any platform you like. Then if you want to watch it in full HD you stream the HD movie directly to your PC/TV. However if you just want to watch it on the go you can stream a lower res version to your iPhone, netbook or in car TV system.

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Most PS3 owners making use of the PSN will already know about the popularity of the HD iteration of the classic Wipeout title. Well its official, SCEE have confirmed that because of its popularity, Wipeout HD will soon be seeing a Blu-ray release.

The single disc will contain both the original game as well as the new expansion pack entitled ‘Fury’. The release should hit the UK around October 6 and will cost about £19.99. Personally I always enjoyed the title way back on PSone and have always seen it as a more acidic Mario Cart for the older generations so I’m sure this will be a worthwhile title to grab for some groovy dance tunes and a playable visualization. Unfortunately I can’t as of yet comment on an SA release but I can tell you to check out the official press release below.

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Todays episode of The Lazygamer Podcast marks the dawn of a new era as we switch from our usual recording methods to online voice recording, which in this case means better quality at the same low size. We are still working some of the kinks out, so bear with us as we bring you another great show.

• What we think of Batman: Arkham Asylum
• Videogame Pirates: Batman and Microsoft are out for your blood
• New Halo ODST short film makes us want a Halo Movie – Uwe Boll cries a little
• Sony using Firmware 3.00 to kill knock-off controllers?
• Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer video makes us want a time machine
• Playstation 3 lenses breaking right before Slim launch? Conspiracy hats on.
• Dealing with our videogame piles of shame

Write to us with your thoughts, or even if you just have something that you really want to say at podcast@lazygamer.co.za and if you have an interesting suggestion, topic or question, we may even read it on the podcast. It’s just like being on TV, except it really isn’t.

Don’t forget to tell your friends, subscribe and rate us on iTunes and if you prefer downloading the MP3 directly, or want to stream it right now, you can do so below.

With God of War III charging towards the Playstation 3 there are many fans who are feeling the dire need to go back and play the original two on their PS2’s as well as people like myself who have only played one but not the other.

A great announcement hit the internet yesterday in the form of a God of War one and two compilation blu ray that will be available for the Playstation 3 in not very long.

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With Toshiba throwing in the towel last year and leaving Blu-Ray as the only HD format left in the Western market you could be forgiven for thinking that it was all over and that was indeed the fat lady singing.

However it appears we all missed something pretty big, over in China they have been pushing ahead with a Chinese HD disc, the CBHD. Last week a Chinese press release was mis-translated and news spread through the Internet that CBHD had a 2% market share lead over Blu-Ray in China with a total market share of 3%.

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Maybe it’s all the late nights getting to me but I feel myself becoming increasingly cynical against the big corporations out there and their marketing stunts.

The latest being Warner Bros who have very kindly come out and offered free Blu-Ray replacement movies to all their customers who purchased the HD-DVD versions before Warner Bros dumped HD-DVD.

Now while that may sound nice I see two problems with this offer.

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It’s been almost a year since Toshiba threw in the towel for ill-fated HD-DVD. While sales of the Blu-Ray format have yet to reach the levels of current home video king DVD, market penetration (*chortle*) is on an incline.

Figures show that of the almost 11 million blu-ray players sold in the US, over 70% are in the form of Sony’s black wonderbox. Despite the presence of cheaper players, many pundits still see the PS3 as good value. I heard it’s because it plays games too, but I don’t like to report on unsubstantiated rumours.

This leaves me wondering something : Is the PS3 responsible for Blu-Ray’s success, or is Blu-Ray carrying the PS3?

Source : Psu.com

The Ghostbusters have put all their troubles behind them and have announced that they are ready to be seen by the world.

Well not quite ready, but they have announced that they are going to be releasing themselves on the world on the 19th of June 2009… and on the 16th of June 2009 in America… which makes it not a worldwide release date but lets not be overly picky now.

Just a few weeks back the entire project had been scratched and if they manage to put out a good game on the 16th it will truly cap one of the best comebacks of all time.

I personally cannot see how a ghostbusters game cannot be the best thing to grace gaming since a rumbling controller but my history of picking winners leaves a little to be desired.

And as an added bonux for the PS3 guys out there, the full Ghostbusters series will also be released on Blu-Ray on the 18th of June 2009 so you get to catch up with the story and then live the story the following day. Who thinks of these great ideas…

Check after the link for full details

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It’s been a while since I have posted any Blu-ray stories and to be honest it’s because nothing has happened. The format is rolling along and from my ivory thrown I am yet to see it pick up any real speed.

And now with the current economic crisis I am very doubtful of it doing much in the way of sales over the silly season, but then again when you can’t afford to go out to eat or party the least you can do is watch a movie in the best way possible.

So if you need to pick yourself up a Blu-Ray player then which one should you get?

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You can ask Gareth and Nick here, I am not a fan of Apple or Steve Jobs.. Actually that’s not true I have nothing against Steve Jobs and I admire him greatly as a businessman.

I do not however rate his opinion highly when it comes to consumer electronics but he has made gazillions convincing people they need below par MP3 players and overpriced computers while I struggle with 3 jobs and no money… So granted he gets an extra point and I should possibly pay attention to what he has to say.

So now according to him Blu-Ray is a “bag of hurt”, he goes on to clarify that he thinks it’s great for movies but apparently the licencing of the technology is so complex that Apple have decided to rather sit on the side and wait for the mainstream to pick it up before joining the rush.

Interestingly they also mentioned that they are worried about the limited resolution available through HDMI… anyone able to shed some light on that for me?

Either way this is a major blow for Blu-Ray, I know certain people follow Apple like it was the gospel and if Jobsy says Blu-Ray ain’t the future then these followers won’t question him.

Source: Engadget

CVG has been chatting to a senior gaming industry executive about how the credit crunch may affect gaming over this holiday season and he had the following to say.

“As long as we can generate excitement, then we will be less affected than other industries”

Which is just marketing talk that makes no sense… however he goes on to say

“We’re getting to the point where price becomes more important”

Which I fully agree with, beacuse at the moment the spotlight is firmly on our finances and we should be cutting costs where ever we can. So what is wrong with this picture?

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The Xbox 360 Blu-Ray rumour is back… and being denied once again.

I don’t understand the point of this rumour to be honest, I like spreading rumours just as much as the rest of them (okay maybe more) but this one is pretty pointless.

Yes adding a Blu-Ray player to the Xbox 360 will allow the fanboys to check an extra box in the next PS3 comparison but would it make any difference to the vast majority of gamers out there?

Personally I don’t think so and if you want a Blu-Ray player and don’t want a PS3 then you can now just pick up a stand alone for very reasonable prices… well not in South Africa yet but elsewhere this is the case.

Source: ThatGamingSite

Don Reisinger over at CNET has published an article completely lambasting Blu-Ray and its future… What seems to have triggered this off is the fact that Blu-Ray actually lost market share last week and is now sitting at a utterly under whelming 8% of the market.

However the news gets worse for Blu-Ray after that as a recent study has shown that over 50% of the people surveyed had not intention of buying a stand alone Blu-Ray player and only 23% are considering it… and they are only considering it for 2009.

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