I'm new to HD DVD and all it's high-res splendor, so bare with me if I don't give you an in-depth skinny on the newest addition to our home cinema setup...
Recently, Microsoft hosted coverage of this years Comicon event on the Xbox Live Marketplace. One of the free downloads made available was the opportunity to get the pilot episode of Jericho in HD. It was a meaty download- 1.9Gb, but since I could leave my 360 idle and catch up on Dead Rising, I thought I'd give it a shot.

Now, my expectations for HD were low. Sure, Hi-Def gaming is fantasticbut I really didn't expect a revolution in how to watch TV shows from this.
Cut ahead, past the 3+ hours the download took (our ISP service is basic) to the finished product... Wow! A clear image, with very little blur and no blockiness or grain in the image. We could see far more detail in the backgrounds and colours were vibrant, with a visual sharpness that I look for in almost everything now...
Naturally, I was impressed. So was my wife- so much so that after a week of looking into the whole shenanigans, we decided to get the Xbox's HD DVD addon, since the price has fallen $20 (hey, that's a movie) and it now comes with a mail-in offer for 5 free HD DVDs. Sure, they're all beyond mediocre, but I rarely turn down free stuff.

This week, someone on a forum brought a great offer to my attention- on the same day that we were due to go and slap down the cash for a HD DVD player. Best Buy had advertised the player for $149.99 online! What? Jeez... I call Tricia at work- naturally, she bolts to the website and pays for it in full for an in-store pickup...
Later in the day, I found out that the price was a mistake. Someone's head surely rolled at the BB HQ, but they still honored the price. Sure, we took advantage of a mistake, but they still got some cash out of this- so, morally, I think we still hold water.

Now, we grabbed the HD DVD with a free copy of King Kong. This was an offer on the initial run of players, so I was surprised that we lucked out- later, I realized that the addon had sold poorly until recently, so my surprised was muted. In the box was an official media remote too, which was a boon since I had started to complain recently about having to keep using my pad to fast-forward, pause and all that. It's a huge, surprisingly heavy, remote and it doubles as a universal TV controller too. I couldn't find a code online, but the remote actually contains a few hundred different variations that can be scanned very simply. Still, I found that I couldn't change the input source using the remote, meaning that I still need my original controller to switch to my component input for the 360. Other than that, it functions extremely well- a tad more buttons than is absolutely necessary, but a very good addition to the package.

Okay, onto the main event- the player itself. It's relatively small- about half the size of the main console- and exactly the same as the 360 in design.It has a chrome disc tray, which seeks to remind me that I don't have the same thing on my Core-version console. Oh well...
Connected to the 360 via a USB port and with it's own (small) power supply unit, the player sits on top of my 360 within my TV stand. The USB cable uses the only available port on the back of the console, but as a bonus it has two spare ports itself, so your Vision Camera or wireless adapter are still usable.
When in operation, only a green power light within the case of the eject button shows activity. It's very quiet and relatively fast-loading.
In the package for the player, you have a disc for booting the 360 up for the first time since your new addition. This adds an extra feature to the systems operating environment in the shape of a circular button added to the 'Play Disc' selection- adding a new option to choose between the contents of your 360's DVD drive and your new HD DVD player.

Operation of the player is really simple. Selecting the HD DVD to play leads to a loading screen and there onto a menu screen for the film. The menu is one theme for all movies, with the standard options of 'Play Now', chapter select, audio options and special features.
Now, I know I've kinda rambled on here. I'm sorry- I'm not a reviewer professionally and this costs you nothing. Persevere.
Booting up King Kong, I elected to skip to a chapter to get a reasonable appraisal of the picture and sound quality- naturally, the first such chapter was the 'Brontosaurus Chase' scene. Initial impression? Great. The scenes wildlife looked phenomenal and the clarity was impressive- incredibly detailed. Then we got our first look at the special effects. What? Jeez, HD DVD is too detailed for this film in places. Optical effects need to catch up to HD DVD quality, because this film didn't pass muster here- the dinosaurs looked incredibly fake, with the actors obviously super-imposed onto a green-screen effect. Now, I love the film, but I think Weta, ILM and all the other great effects houses need to take HD DVD into consideration, because it opens the effects up to a whole new level of inspection.
Having said that, skipping a few chapters to the 'Dinosaur and Kong' fight showed a fantastic scene. The image was sharp, with no blocking or degradation in the quality. Dark colors held detail and colors were vibrant, with the background images equally as intricate as the foreground. Aside from Naomi Watts looking suitably fake in the grasp of Kong, the extra work done on Kong and all his scenes was obvious. HD just highlighted how impressive the computer work was in this film.

Okay, skip to the end... Hot Fuzz was our other purchase that night. Film quality aside, the image was just as impressive and the sound was utterly astounding- a huge step up from the average DVD soundtrack. However, we ran into a problem. The film froze and refused to continue about 10 minutes or so from the end. I rebooted the system and fast-forwarded only to find the exact same thing happened again in the exact same place. Googling the issue revealed this to be a possible manufacturing problem, derived from the used of the Dual-Format disk- having both DVD and HD on the same disc. Hopefully this isn't going to be a huge issue in the future, but it marred the night and disappointed us.
In conclusion, the add on was worth every penny. Hopefully, we will obtain a big blockbuster film soon to review, with a more detailed look at the film and how it benefits from the HD DVD transfer.

If you made it this far... Kudos! I really didn't mean for this to be such a long piece!

... but oh well!

So, I enjoy playing on my 360. Recently, this was multiplied when I found out my friends had 360's too.

Whoa. Back up a second sparky. Why didn't you know that your BFF's had brought into the MS conspiracy?

Right- I forgot to mention that I'm English and I live in America. Moved here in 2006 to marry my wife (the highest bidder for me on eBay- kidding).

So, my friends casually drop the bomb that they're about 300+ hours into Oblivion. I felt like they were trying to tell me something and no, it wasn't that my 50+ hours was inadequate. I needed Gold. Well, a Gold Live account. I'm a socially challenged gamer and playing online is the equivalent of standing in a crowded lift full of strangers. I hate it.

But, when my friends can play in the same game across the atlantic, that's a party I like. So I took the plunge and got a month of Live for starters.

So, where are we now? With a freaking XBL Vision Cam, that's where! Yep, this misanthrope is online and lookin' good!

The Problem

Uno. That's the problem. Video enabled UNO. Bane of my online existence. It's freaking disgusting, to put it plainly. If you aren't getting insulted by someone who is in no position to be casting aspersions, then you're seeing something you never wanted to see.

Polishing the bishop? Keep it off camera dude. Sure, I understand the carnal need, but I don't ever, ever, need to see it.

So, with that, my first post comes to an end. With a warning- never play UNO with a camera. Your eyes will thank you for it.