×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more
You are welcome to look at the talkback but please consider that this article is over 15 years old before posting.

Forum - View topic
NEWS: Pioneer Stops Making Laserdisc Players After 27 Years


Goto page 1, 2, 3, 4  Next

Note: this is the discussion thread for this article

Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
walw6pK4Alo



Joined: 12 Mar 2008
Posts: 9322
PostPosted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 1:40 am Reply with quote
How will I play my Daicon openings then?! Nah really, if you don't have a laser disc player by now, you're probably not going to need one ever.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Descent123





PostPosted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 1:53 am Reply with quote
My LD player is still kicking and I still watch my LDs often. Smile
Back to top
penguintruth



Joined: 08 Dec 2004
Posts: 8461
Location: Penguinopolis
PostPosted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 1:58 am Reply with quote
Quite frankly, I'm shocked they made them for this long.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website AIM Address My Anime My Manga
AirCooledMan_2006



Joined: 09 Jul 2006
Posts: 594
Location: Delaware, U.S.
PostPosted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 2:05 am Reply with quote
I never knew anyone still made Laserdisc players. Furthermore, I don't know anyone who ever owned one.

Why the hell didn't Laserdiscs catch on here in the States anyway? Did retailers WANT it to fail?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message AIM Address Yahoo Messenger MSN Messenger
swatty



Joined: 11 Dec 2006
Posts: 1
PostPosted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 2:31 am Reply with quote
I actually picked up 2 laserdisc players in the last 6 years. One at a garage give-a-way(old Pioneer, built-in RF modulator, only does analog tracks), and another when I bought some other audio stuff (Sanyo, supports playing the digital tracks(although only as analog out), has on screen display, can play CDs and CD-Video (not Video CD, this is something different.) )

Of course I only have 2 LDs, neither of them anime. And I probably will not get any other LDs since most things I care about now are available on DVD.

Part of the reason I own one is just being able to say I own one, as well as a desire to be able to play anything and everything.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
gohmifune



Joined: 02 Apr 2006
Posts: 26
PostPosted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 2:35 am Reply with quote
Quote:
Why the hell didn't Laserdiscs catch on here in the States anyway? Did retailers WANT it to fail?


From what I remember, they were much more expensive than VHS and Beta for the length of VHS's dominance, like how DVDs were compared to VHS or how BDs were at first. Also, I don't think the jump in quality was significant enough for most people.

Also, in the eighties and early nineties, there weren't many non-english film markets compared to today, so multiple audio(one on both sides I believe) really wasn't an important feature.

LDs would have been fairly useless for anime here, by the time of that boom in the nineties for us, DVDs were on their way.[/quote]
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Charred Knight



Joined: 29 Sep 2008
Posts: 3085
PostPosted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 2:35 am Reply with quote
AirCooledMan_2006 wrote:
I never knew anyone still made Laserdisc players. Furthermore, I don't know anyone who ever owned one.

Why the hell didn't Laserdiscs catch on here in the States anyway? Did retailers WANT it to fail?


I think it was the size, they where huge, and frankly it was only really great for niche stuff like anime. For example my mom owned one for her school work as an art teacher, we just used VHS than DVD for movies because it offorded no real advantage.

I mean extras only became great with the DVD.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
geopgeop



Joined: 14 Jan 2008
Posts: 23
Location: Las Vegas
PostPosted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 2:42 am Reply with quote
The motor on the side changer is sort of broke on mine. Not really a problem though: eject, flip over, then reinsert. (Forgetting the fact that those laserdiscs are HUGE)

Most of my laserdiscs are Tagalog karaoke... the only anime amongst them is a clip from Tenchi Muyo! included in the sample disc that came with the player.

Umm, is there anyone with a Pioneer LD player that DIDN'T come with that sample disc?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
AirCooledMan_2006



Joined: 09 Jul 2006
Posts: 594
Location: Delaware, U.S.
PostPosted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 3:08 am Reply with quote
Charred Knight wrote:
AirCooledMan_2006 wrote:
I never knew anyone still made Laserdisc players. Furthermore, I don't know anyone who ever owned one.

Why the hell didn't Laserdiscs catch on here in the States anyway? Did retailers WANT it to fail?


I think it was the size, they where huge, and frankly it was only really great for niche stuff like anime. For example my mom owned one for her school work as an art teacher, we just used VHS than DVD for movies because it offorded no real advantage.

I mean extras only became great with the DVD.


Couldn't they have put extras on Laserdiscs, too?

Only times I ever saw a Laserdisc player: Eighth grade science class. Teach brought out this video on rocks and minerals and when I saw the disc, I was all like, "Man, that shit's fuggin' huge!" A classmate of mine had remarked, "You could cut someone with that shit!" (I was expecting a VHS tape, as was usual in the day, and DVDs were still new as hell back then.) From then on, I wouldn't see another LD deck until my senior year of high school, when the science teacher I was working for as a teacher's aide brought one out with a couple LDs near it--one being an educational film and the other was some movie. Outside of that, I never even saw an LD deck at Wal-Mart or K-Mart or anywhere.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message AIM Address Yahoo Messenger MSN Messenger
Charred Knight



Joined: 29 Sep 2008
Posts: 3085
PostPosted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 5:13 am Reply with quote
I don't think they thought of it yet. I mean we didn't start getting great extras on DVDs until they became commonplace.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Enchantertim



Joined: 16 Feb 2007
Posts: 7
PostPosted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 5:37 am Reply with quote
The only Laserdisk player I ever used was connected to the computerized automobile alignment machine my highschool automotive lab had. Smile - It used the LD to play a little video on how to set up the sensors on various models of cars, I think.

For a while you could still buy a Laserdisk/DVD machine direct from Pioneer in America. MSRP is something like $999.99 though.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
Paploo



Joined: 21 Nov 2006
Posts: 1875
PostPosted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 6:08 am Reply with quote
gohmifune wrote:
LDs would have been fairly useless for anime here, by the time of that boom in the nineties for us, DVDs were on their way.


Keep in mind that Animeigo, CPM, ADV and others released numerous LaserDisc versions of their releases in the early to mid 90's. It was a popular niche format with anime fans domestically until DVD came along- ADV's initial Evangelion release included a LaserDisc edition.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
GeorgeC



Joined: 22 Nov 2008
Posts: 795
PostPosted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 7:02 am Reply with quote
The main advantage of keeping laserdiscs for anime is that there are still a ton of early anime releases in both Japan and the US that have never migrated to DVD.

On the CPM side, some of the most notable releases in this category are the Rumic World OVAs -- the original Mermaid Forest, Maris the Chojo/The Supergal, Firetripper, and Laughing Target.

AnimEigo -- Genesis Survivor Gaiarth, Lupin III: City of Babylon/Gold of Babylon?

Streamline Pictures -- Robot Carnival (mediocre LD release, but still not on DVD)

The original dub of Akira plus most of the extras that were on the Criterion LD set.

Numerous pre-1990s OVAs and theatrical films.

One great thing about LD is its portability to DVD. There is no copy protection and all you really have to do is connect to a DVD recorder (preferably with a hard drive) and voila! Instant copy. If you want all the menu extras, then you need a computer and authoring program and preferably rewritable DVDs to transfer the recordings to your computer's hard drive(s).
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
GeorgeC



Joined: 22 Nov 2008
Posts: 795
PostPosted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 7:03 am Reply with quote
The main advantage of keeping laserdiscs for anime is that there are still a ton of early anime releases in both Japan and the US that have never migrated to DVD.

On the CPM side, some of the most notable releases in this category are the Rumic World OVAs -- the original Mermaid Forest, Maris the Chojo/The Supergal, Firetripper, and Laughing Target.

AnimEigo -- Genesis Survivor Gaiarth, Lupin III: City of Babylon/Gold of Babylon?

Streamline Pictures -- Robot Carnival (mediocre LD release, but still not on DVD)

The original dub of Akira plus most of the extras that were on the Criterion LD set. (Yeah, I'm aware of the R4 DVD release that has the original dub, but that doesn't help American fans.)

Numerous pre-1990s OVAs and theatrical films.

One great thing about LD is its portability to DVD. There is no copy protection and all you really have to do is connect to a DVD recorder (preferably with a hard drive) and voila! Instant copy. If you want all the menu extras, then you need a computer and authoring program and preferably rewritable DVDs to transfer the recordings to your computer's hard drive(s).
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
kokuryu



Joined: 07 Apr 2007
Posts: 915
PostPosted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 7:23 am Reply with quote
Ah but you all forgot about Laser Rot. I have a TON of LDs - both original Japanese and US releases. Tons of Japanese series that never made it to the US, and many US items that never got done onto DVD. But Laser Rot has crept in, and probably 1/3 of my Laser Discs are no good anymore. It's a shame. Most of those are irreplaceable.

I will probably have to buy one of these last LD models made just to make sure it's compatable with the latest TV equipment.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page 1, 2, 3, 4  Next
Page 1 of 4

 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group