I think people underestimate the sheer scale and sophistication of the piracy industry in China and calling it an industy is more accurate than you could imagine. The discs being sold are not single or dual layer DVD-Rs. The discs come from proper DVD replication lines producing silver, pressed discs in single or dual layer varieties in huge volumes. The packaging is equally professionally done too with a quality inner sleeve and a printed and embossed cardboard outer sleeve. These discs are as good as the originals quite often.

The authorities are far from powerless to stamp this out. They choose not to since it is a large industry, employing a lot of people and contributes nicely to the government's tax coffers. They instead pay lip service to Hollywood and make a few token gestures to appear that they are cracking down on piracy. During he Beijing Olympics all of the stores selling these discs were shut down or had their shelves cleared of pirated material (meaning all for some stores) so that western journalists could not witness and report on the rampant piracy. 3 days after the paralympics over all the shops were back open for business as usual.

These aren't AVCHD discs. I've been living in Beijing for a couple of years and seen plenty of these. They are straight rips of the standard DVD release and repackaged to look like blu-ray discs, even for titles that aren't out on blu-ray yet. The going rate is more like $2.50 than $7 also.

I'll do you a favour and save you some time. Don't bother comparing it to blu-ray. Toshiba have already avoided doing that. But I suppose in the heart of an undying Toshiba fanboy, anything's possible.

Just so everyone's clear: That XBox 360 GTA IV with exclusive downloadable add on content that Microsoft allegedly coughed up $50 million for was not a marketing push. Obviously.

LOL@Nfinitiy
Gamedude420 makes a 2 line post and you accuse him of spamming while you continue to shovel your usual multi-paragraph tripe. Rich....
I'll probably get bored with this site when you and FortuneTeller stop posting.
Rabid fanboyism FTW!!

I think they look quite nice actually. They are a bit on the big side but they look solid and refined, which is what I'd expect from Pioneer gear.
Speaking of f'ugly boxy, here's some set props from the Buck Rogers series:
http://www.satelliteguys.us/voom/CEDIA-2006/Pictures/Toshiba%20HD-A2-XA2.JPG

That may be the case in trailer parks across US perhaps but Europeans appreciate quality gear and know the difference between cost and value however.

@Mike


Misinformed, patriotic, flag waving BS..... Weak.

Your statement that 360 outsells ps3 is still incorrect. Sales of PS3 are picking up in the US, following the trend in Japan and Europe. Likewise, blu-ray was dominating very strongly in Japan and Europe, with HD-DVD only holding it's ground for a while in the US. The US is catching up with the global trend and HD-DVD is losing market share to blu. Can you explain to me exactly how the US is the trend setter in all of this?

@Mike
Actually the PS3 sells better globally than the 360. The US is the only market where 360 outsells the PS3, for the moment.

It's pretty sad how many people didn't get this joke.