The Blu-Ray Experience

I rented and watched my irst Blu-Ray disc today and while the quality was amazing it was something else that had me shaking my head in disbelief.

Both discs, one from Sony and the other Paramount, had BD-Live which let me "chat with friends while watching my the film or my fav scenes"

W.T.F.

They seriously expect you to chat on your screen while watching the film. Chat with friends who are watching it at the same time? Does anyone use this feature? Did anyone request this? Or were the studios so desperate to look for a Blu-Ray only feature that they threw money at this?

The Paramount disc had a mini web browser where I could watch trailers and other crap but I do this much better with my computer.

Lucky I have a PS3 as it's connected to the net but I'm guessing most people who have just a standard Blu-Ray player wont have it connected. My guess is based on zero fact but why would would bother to connect your Blu-Ray player when the only extra is a chat feature. Why would a Blu-Ray player manufacturer waste the extra money on adding Wi-Fi or an Ethernet port.

I like features like the one seen below where I can get a PSP version of the movie I own from BD-Live but why not pack that smaller file onto the disc by default? Seems silly to make me download a 1GB file

Studios are advertising directors chatting through the dics in "screenings" like in this video here for Hellboy. Cumbersome indeed, sales ploy for sure.

Sad gimmicks that seem to have been created more to sell the discs than to make the experience better.

If you are one of thise people who have used the chat feature let me know what it's like.

More reading on BD-Live here and here.