Rant O'Clock: 3D Blu-ray

Earlier this year I decided it was about time I replaced my 13 year old RPTV, that resembles 2001's big black monolith, with a nice new LCD or Plasma HD flat screen TV.

I've got the cash and I'm ready to buy, but nine months later I haven't made a purchase. Why? The very people that stand to profit from my purchase are the very people who seem to be going out of their way to discourage me from buying.

My conundrum is simple. I don't want to buy a 2D TV only for it to become a white elephant in 12 months time, if 3D takes off. But I don't want to go to the extra expense of buying a 3D TV right now because you simply can't get any content for them.

The ridiculous thing about the lack of content is not that 3D movies haven't been published on 3D Blu-ray. They have. The ridiculous thing is these films are being exclusively released bundled with the TVs or some other "starter" pack. If you buy a Samsumg you'll get Monsters Vs Aliens for "free", but you can't go and buy Avatar. If you buy a Panasonic you'll get Avatar for "free" but you can't buy Alice in Wonderland.

Virtually all the major titles released on 3D Blu-ray are not available for purchase separately. In other words, after you spend thousands of dollars on your new 3D TV, 3D Blu-ray player, and (proprietary) 3D glasses you're stuck watching the one lousy movie that came bundled with your TV.

What the flying fuck are these corporations thinking? Do they honestly think that I'll spend thousands of dollars without thinking about what else I might be able to do with the equipment, apart from watch Monsters Vs Aliens?

The vague promise from retail sales people that more 3D Blu-ray titles are coming seems pretty hollow in light of the fact that some of these exclusivity deals (like Panasonic's Avatar deal) allegedly last for 12 months, and "big" upcoming releases (like the Shrek 1 to 4 3D Blu-ray set) are still being stitched up in exclusive bundles.

So, I'm going to keep my cash and continuing to holding off purchasing any TV, until the likes of Panasonic, Samsung, and Sony quit with this ridiculous "exclusive bundling" nonsense.

So there!