Page 1 of Why the Urge For New R1 Releases

If all the back catalogue of films that are available on R1 were available on R2 with much the same content and new releases were still staggered. Then don`t you think that people wouldn`t be bothered about this regional coding and never need to modify their players.
After all we are used to waiting for film releases here in the UK, be it at the cinema or on video tape, so why the sudden urge to have the R1 release of a new film that will eventually be released on R2 (even if it is 6 months down the line).
It`s not if we are actually waiting for anything as there is always a constant stream of releases.

I`m more irritated by the older films that are not available on R2 and are on R1 that still have no plans for a UK release like Planet of the Apes Box Set, Halloween, Predator, Conan the Barbarian etc.

Surely if the film companies made the back catalogue available on R2 then they would save themselves a lot a time, effort an money in looking at new ways to defeat the hackers.

Can anybody give me a simple explaination as to why there is this reluctant to release older films on R2.

I can`t really answer all of your questions, but the main reason I, and many I know, buy R1 is that they are cheaper. For example, I was looking to buy Three Kings for my dad for xmas so I had a look in the shops, £20, too much. On British Internet sites, the lowest price was still about £15.

Then I looked on dvdboxoffice.com and it was less than £12.50 which is much cheaper.

£2.50 may not seem like much, but when you buy a few films it soon adds up.

However, my friend has a R2 only player and he`s paranoid that he`ll be caught if he modifies it as his other friend said that multi region players are illegal. I laughed at him, but he`s was deadly serious. He buys all his DVD`s from high street shops and he has about 35 of them.

I`ve told him he`s a fool but he still thinks it`s illegal.

Sorry, that`s a bit off the topic, but never mind.

Got one answer for you,

"After all we are used to waiting for film releases here in the UK, be it at the cinema or on video tape, so why the sudden urge to have the R1 release of a new film that will eventually be released on R2 (even if it is 6 months down the line)."

Main reason is that they are 6 months down the line and it`s very tempting to get them earlier. I mean, I went to see Pitch Black at the cinema last week and it cost £5.10. The DVD can be had from the US for only £13 and that seems much better value to me.

Well, I gotta disagree on the pricing issue, as most R2 DVD`s can be found cheap if you really look for them (eg A Bug`s Life : £7.99)

However why do we want R1 DVD`s instead of R2 when we didn`t bother on video?

Simple, the players can PLAY them!
VCR`s sold more when NTSC playback was added (I`m in the trade so I know!)
However, it was never quite right.. showing lines, banding etc.
DVD`s can do the video the justice it deserves.

Then there`s the availability issue.
Many more titles are available R1 than R2 and will always give a reason to shop for them.
Where would you go to look at your next TV purchase?
A small shop with 5 or 6 models, or a superstore with 120+ models?

Regardless of where you finally purchase, most people will have a look in the larger ranged dealer.


AIWA 370 (officially) ROCKS!!!!!!!!

Were are u buying Bug`s life from for £7.99 ????