All you readers mark your calendars because this is the PS3 you will more than likely want to import. The “Cloud Black”, as they are calling it, is being released to the world (okay, just Japan). Even with a just a small amount of design change, it is beautiful.

The system will be released at the same time as the Blu-Ray version of Final Fantasy 7 Advent Children Complete, both coming to stores April 16th. This is a smart marketing move by Square-Enix promoting both a PS3 model to play that wonderful new Blu-Ray disc, and not only that but something called the Final Fantasy XIII Trial Set.

Famitsu doesn’t seem to have much info on the FFXIII stuff, but the Blu-Ray will sell for about 5000 yen or $50 U.S., and the PS3 (which is a 160gb version) will go for around 50,000 yen or $500 U.S.

All they seemed to do was slap an image of the ring that Cloud wears which is also on his chest. The only problem I have with these decoration PS3’s is that all the images are on the top of the machine, and you never really get to see them but I guess it’s nice to have the bragging rights.

Source:  Famitsu

Famitsu has some news on the re-release of FFVII:AC in March.  Square has decided to release three versions of what is called the Complete Works of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. So, what’s that mean exactly?

New stuff will include hi-res pictures of the upcoming Final Fantasy games (XIII, Agito, and Versus), a trailer, and deleted scenes from the movies.  One of the more important scene modifications that I am interested in is apparently a much longer bike chase than what we saw in the original.  I thought it was a really interesting fight, and hopefully adding extra to it won’t make it boring.

The three versions being released are regular DVD, Blu-Ray, and PlayStation 3 (which will supposedly have a demo of FFXIII on it, though I don’t know why that’s not just on the Blu-Ray).  All three should look wonderful, but I wouldn’t mind getting my hand on that sweet-looking Blu-Ray version (I don’t own a PS3).

Source: Famitsu

The Internet and mailbox movie delivery super-service known as Netflix, having seen a “clear signal from the industry” has decided to stop purchasing HD-DVDs and will exclusively support Blu-Ray.

Netflix plans to phase out their remaining stock of HD-DVDs by the end of the year. Ted Sarandos, chief content officer for Netflix, had this to say about the situation:

“The prolonged period of competition between two formats has prevented clear communication to the consumer regarding the richness of the high-def experience versus standard definition. We’re now at the point where the industry can pursue the migration to a single format, bring clarity to the consumer and accelerate the adoption of high-def. Going forward, we expect that all of the studios will publish in the Blu-ray format and that the price points of high-def DVD players will come down significantly. These factors could well lead to another decade of disc-based movie watching as the consumer’s preferred means.”

Even though only a very small percentage of people even rent hi-def movies in the first place, a majority of those rentals are Blu-Ray. Personally, I don’t think this is really that clear of an indicator that Blu-Ray is better, or even preferred over HD-DVD.

What I think is going on is that all of these PS3 owners are sitting around with nothing to do since most of their games suck. They figure they need to get some use out of their overpriced gadget, so they rent a movie or two. Here, look at this ad while I put on my flame-retardant thong.

Okay, I don’t seriously think that, but I do think that more of this is happening than the studios realize. The masses haven’t decided on Blu-Ray. Blu-Ray just invaded your home when you bought that game console. You’ve supported Blu-Ray without actually pledging your support for Blu-Ray.

I honestly don’t care who wins the HD format war. I think both sides are trying too hard to shove the “next generation” down our throats, and I’m content to just watch DVDs until they start showing movies directly to my brain.

Source: Netflix

No longer the Switzerland of the format war, Warner Bros. has decided to throw its weight behind Sony’s hi-def disc and only Sony’s hi-def disc.

The reason for the switch is consumer confusion, which has been a concern from the start of the HD wars. Warner Bros. Chairman Barry Meyer tells it like it is:

The window of opportunity for high-definition DVD could be missed if format confusion continues to linger. We believe that exclusively distributing in Blu-ray will further the potential for mass market success and ultimately benefit retailers, producers, and most importantly, consumers.

And that’s some bad news for HD-DVD, whose lone stalwarts remain Toshiba, Microsoft (almost solely to take a bite out of Sony’s cross-platform marketing with the PS3), Paramount, and NBC Universal.

Powerful as those studios may be, WB controls most of the home video market with a commanding 18 to 20 percent of sales. And let’s not forget their megastar franchises: The Matrix, Harry Potter, Batman to name a few.

For those that had anticipated upcoming films, the company will continue to churn out HD-DVD releases until late May, but they’ll lag behind their DVD and Blu-ray counterparts.