Web Communities Flourish With New HD DVD Titles

Transformers, Heroes draw in thousands of fans with web connected interactivity [The following is a release from the HD DVD Promotional Group]

December 4, 2007

Fans of summer smash hits and groundbreaking TV series are tapping into the web-enabled communities offered by HD DVD. “Transformers” from Paramount Home Entertainment and “Heroes: Season One” from Universal Home Entertainment are among the titles that saw significant online usage of the web-connected features. “Transformers,” which continues to be one of the top selling titles in any high definition format, had more than 80,000 unique online users, with 31% returning to download additional content as it became available. Universal’s current web-enabled titles, which include “Heroes: Season One”, “Knocked Up”, and “Evan Almighty”, saw an average of 30% of HD DVD purchasers going online to download content and connect with other fans. “We’ve only scratched the surface in offering web-connected experiences to fans of hit movies and TV shows, so it was great to see so many connecting online for these titles,” said Ken Graffeo, executive vice president of HD strategic marketing for Universal Studios Home Entertainment, and co-president of the HD DVD Promotional Group. “As more titles from the HD DVD studios include access to downloads, trailers and community pages, the owner of any HD DVD player can take advantage of these web-connected experiences.” Made possible through Microsoft’s HDi™ technology, web-connected features are supported in every HD DVD player due to the mandatory hardware requirements inherent in the HD DVD specifications. The specifications include a network connection, picture-in-picture capability, and persistent storage on the player itself. Collectively, these features bring a fan’s favorite movie or program to life, allowing for in depth second viewings, and allowing content creators to add new material to the experience over time. “Seeing the fan base rally around Transformers, Heroes and other key titles on HD DVD was validation that there’s an interest in extending the movie watching experience,” said Chris Saito, vice president of worldwide HD DVD marketing, Paramount Home Entertainment. “Growing and feeding the fan communities is a critical piece to evolving home entertainment, and this is an example of where HD DVD is meeting the challenge.” Web-enabled features found on Paramount’s “Transformers” include downloadable Sector 7 Transmission videos, “Transformers” Profiler with still photography and bios, and “Intelligence Mode”, a special data dashboard providing stats on the various Autobots and Decepticons, a GPS locator and factoids. The “Transformer” HD DVD also includes Menubots, which allow fans to customize their menus to a variety of themes, from Bumblebee to Megatron. Universal’s “Heroes: Season 1” HD DVD offers a Download Center filled with exclusive content, trailers and show updates. The boxed set also includes a Genetic Abilities Test where fans can test themselves and post their “hero profile” to the Heroes community site on NBC.com, triggering a unique access code to view exclusive content.

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