Xam'd: Lost Memories - PSN Exclusive Anime - #1 in the New Video Store

[FriskyTanuki]

It looks like X'amd was overshadowed by every announcement at the E3 Press Conference, but this anime from the Bones studio (Wolf's Rain, FMA, Eureka Seven, and more) looks a lot like Eureka Seven in its style and look, is coming to the new video service at some point this year. There's a trailer in the PS Store if you want to see it in action.

Edit: It looks like the first episode is already up in the new video store, so it should be getting regular updates for the remaining episodes.

[Thomas96]

this looks so good. im going try that 1st episode. the preview in the store has sold me

[TimPV3]

Wow, the video store so far has exceeded all my expectations.

[whoknows]

Damn, I hated Wolfs Rain and FMA and didn't think very highly of Eureka 7...might as well give this a fair chance though anyways.

[jonlubbe]

Any word on how many times i can watch it before it self destructs?

Tempted to try it out, but rental only for now makes me cry a little.

[edit]
The HD version is a rental. After you download it you have 14 days to watch it. Once you play it you have 24 hours until it locks.

[pete5883]

I'd like to try it out but since this is a rental I'll watch it now, and forget everything by time episode 2 comes out. So I'll want to watch it again, but I won't be able to.

[jdioutkast]

let us know if its any good.

[H.Cornerstone]

I watched it, It looks gorgeous, for the movie it self, it's kind of hard to judge. As is with every anime, the first episode just introduces the story, and really doesn't explain much. I really didn't have a clue what was going on, but the premise seems interesting.

However, It didn't captivate me enough to want to rent another episode for 4$ that is just WAY too much.

[josh_animebum]

However, It didn't captivate me enough to want to rent another episode for 4$ that is just WAY too much.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks that. I was tempted to try it as well until I saw that price tag and realized that I would have to pay over a $100 (assuming 26 episodes to the series) to watch something on a fucking timed rental. If it was $4 an episode and I could keep it/redownload it whenever I want then it would be a bit more appealling.

I think their whole pricing scheme skews a bit too high in general. $2 to "rent" and watch a 12 minute episode of Robot Chicken?! WTF?! At that price the DVD set at full retail is pretty much the exact same price and you can watch it as much as you want AND has bonus features. Of course that is only one of many examples of shows which are actually significantly cheaper on DVD (Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 2 is 22 episodes long at $2 an episode you can rent the whole season for $44, but the season set has an MSRP of only $40)

The video store is full of fail at this point. I could maybe see paying $4 for a movie rental occasionally if I'm bored someday and want near instant gratification movie viewing.

[Paco]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks that. I was tempted to try it as well until I saw that price tag and realized that I would have to pay over a $100 (assuming 26 episodes to the series) to watch something on a fucking timed rental. If it was $4 an episode and I could keep it/redownload it whenever I want then it would be a bit more appealling.

I think their whole pricing scheme skews a bit too high in general. $2 to "rent" and watch a 12 minute episode of Robot Chicken?! WTF?! At that price the DVD set at full retail is pretty much the exact same price and you can watch it as much as you want AND has bonus features. Of course that is only one of many examples of shows which are actually significantly cheaper on DVD (Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 2 is 22 episodes long at $2 an episode you can rent the whole season for $44, but the season set has an MSRP of only $40)

The video store is full of fail at this point. I could maybe see paying $4 for a movie rental occasionally if I'm bored someday and want near instant gratification movie viewing.

Are you SURE that the anime is rental? All the movies CLEARLY say Rental while the purchase does not. The anime also does not say RENTAL on it so I'm guessing it's 1.99 per episode.

[josh_animebum]

Are you SURE that the anime is rental? All the movies CLEARLY say Rental while the purchase does not. The anime also does not say RENTAL on it so I'm guessing it's 1.99 per episode.

The particular anime this thread is about is a rental (although much of my rant was about general pricing). All of the other anime on PSN are from Funimation's catalog, but this one, Xam'd, is a brand new series which is having its worldwide premiere on the PSN and I believe is being distributed by Sony (it may be available elsewhere legitimately later on I haven't seen any concrete details yet).

It has a $3 charge for SD rental and $4 charge for the HD rental.

[Paco]

sounds like companies can charge what they want for content but just go for a standardized setting. I say lets see what happens.

[The Mana Knight]

The particular anime this thread is about is a rental (although much of my rant was about general pricing). All of the other anime on PSN are from Funimation's catalog, but this one, Xam'd, is a brand new series which is having its worldwide premiere on the PSN and I believe is being distributed by Sony (it may be available elsewhere legitimately later on I haven't seen any concrete details yet).

It has a $3 charge for SD rental and $4 charge for the HD rental.I believe that's why it's a bit more as of now.

For full length movies, the big issue is Sony cannot undercut retailers, because the issue with retailers is pretty sensitive (which Eric Lempel explained over PS2 downloads on PS3 one day). Retailers are in business to sell stuff, and when you undercut their prices on things, they are not too happy (because the last thing they want you to do is hurt their sales). That's why GT5P disc and download are the same price (Download gives people the option so they don't have to use a disc). Xbox originals on 360, Fuzion Frenzy costs $15 when it's $10 in retailer. PSP games on the PS Store for PC are similar.

But the advantage mostly comes from those who have a PSP and PS3, so they can watch a movie on both (instead of buying a DVD and UMD).

[FriskyTanuki]

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2008/07/22/xamd-lost-memories-debuts-at-1-on-playstation-network/

Looks like it has done very well, debuting as the top download of the new video store so far. New episodes will be coming to the store every week.

[jonlubbe]

Any word on them getting some sort of a 'season pass' type thing for this? or even a dvd/blu-ray release?

Still hesitant to rent a series for that price.

[happy]

I'm curious how many movies people are renting/buying in total. I'm in the prices are way too high boat. I buy DVDs for $5 or so on sale, and if not I'll take it out from my school library or use the supermarket thing which is $1 to rent.

[TimPV3]

Is this dubbed or subbed?

[imascrub]

subbed