Forum - View topicNEWS: Crunchyroll Ends Its Download-to-Own Service
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Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 23833 |
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Ah, so because Crunchy ends its service this is irrefutable proof that for now and all time dto is finished? Okay. 
There are still issues with dto that have to be worked out before it becomes (as it inevitably will) the dominant means of buying virtually any kind of digital entertainment (whether "books", movies, games, TV shows, anime, etc): 1) The majority of Internet users will need superfast connectivity so that items can be downloaded quickly. 2) Storage needs to be big, cheap and dependable enough that people can keep their entire collections on a hard drive (or in virtual storage) easily. 3) dto purchases need to be drm-free. 4) Price point has to make sense. Assuming those four basic conditions are eventually met, it becomes very difficult to see - especially in the upcoming generations - how dto won't prevail over physical media. |
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The King of Harts
 Posts: 6712 Location: Mount Crawford, Virginia |
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I SHALL NEVER MOVE AWAY FROM DVDS!
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TarsTarkas
 Posts: 5852 Location: Virginia, United States |
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I never used DTO, but if the quality is subpar as others have said, it is no wonder that it has failed.
My biggest problem with streaming is the constant stopping for buffering. The higher the quality of the feed, the more buffering is required. I am sure there are some people that have the ultra perfect hi-speed bandwidth that have can watch streaming HD anime with no stoppage or buffering, but I believe most of us have to deal with this problem. |
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Dargonxtc
 Posts: 4463 Location: Nc5xd7+ スターダストの海洋 |
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Not sure if I can agree with this. If it was profitable they wouldn't have closed it. To be honest I think it comes down to how anime does on PS3. I downloaded the free Monster episode they had on special and was quite pleased with the quality, and it was SD. I am not sure but it might have some sort of DRM, but please believe me I haven't checked. The $1.99 price point is fair, it is the same as buying a season set for 50% off MSRP. But again, I am not sure how much anime has grown on the PS3, as compared to just how much the PS3 store desperately wants to offer as much as it can. It may be entirely true that a flat fee is involved and after that any losses are incurred by the PS3 store. Or at the very least it could be more complicated or simple then you imagine. Either way I am still going to get Monster on DVD. |
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Xagor
Posts: 192 |
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Erm pretty sure the CR downloads allowed you to download it 5 times after you paid.
I used it for Time of Eve because I figured we'd never see it released in a physical format. I didn't really have an issue with the quality, it was watchable for me, but I know some people would have wanted higher quality. The fact the subs fonts changed from the earlier to the later releases was a little odd though (Although probably more due to timescale of its releases more than anything.) The version to download for your iPod though looked horrible... |
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Shiroi Hane
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 7580 Location: Wales |
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The email I received a couple of days ago from "shinji":
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asimpson2006
 Posts: 3151 Location: USA |
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I never even knew that CR had a DTO service. I know Funi does, but I've never tried it. I'm not sure how Funi's quality is, but from some of the other DTO services I've seen they didn't look that great.
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GloriousMaximus
 Posts: 138 Location: North America |
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I downloaded a couple of episodes of Galaxy Express 999 for my PSP, it looked great and everything worked fine. I loved that it was DRM free. It's too bad they're ending the service. And I'm pretty sure you could download the episodes you bought as often as you wanted.
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writerpatrick
 Posts: 672 Location: Canada |
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The two major problems with DTO are that those who want to download the episode tend to want to get it for free, while those who want to own the episode would prefer to have it on DVD. And at $1.99 an episode, a 25 episode series would cost about $50 or the same as a box set might. And that's assuming the series is only 25 episodes long. A single season of a series could easily be 50 episodes or about $100 per season; the DVD set could wind up being cheaper.
And the downloaded series is not really owned but rented indefinitely; it can't be resold as a boxed set could be (so no money could be recovered). While it might be reasonable for a 12 or 13 episode series (roughly $25), for a longer series where the length is unknown it may be better to hold out for the DVDs. |
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asimpson2006
Posts: 3151 Location: USA |
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If you could offer the same quality as the DVD and language options (like just getting the sub version and not the dub, the other way around), and lower the cost for an episode (like .50 to $1.00 an episode it might encourage some people to just get a series DTO who don't want to own physical copies. |
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Mr. sickVisionz
 Posts: 2173 |
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I didn't know you could legally download stuff from Crunchyroll.
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configspace
Posts: 3717 |
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CR's DRM-free DTO was a good idea badly executed.
First, the quality was terrible. The members-only h.264 streams used for simulcasts are many times better quality! Second, it was only available for a handful of shows. Lastly, $2 per ep is not a good deal, considering point #1 and becomes expensive for long shows. There needs to be discount system as DVD box sets are cheaper (sooner or later). |
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Strike Freedom Meister
 Posts: 28 |
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I knew about the DTO service but I just don't feel like investing in another download service. Most anime's are slowly creeping into the iTunes store. The fools at the anime studios think that Apple's DRM will save them and oh boy are they wrong thanks to our good friend DVD Jon Lech Johansen. Thanks to that great little program known as doubleTwist!
All I want to know from Crunchyroll is, "Where's the Android Streaming App & when will it debut?" Free works for me too. Besides with the gorgeous AMOLED screen on my Android device, it's perfect for watching any kind of video content. |
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Kid Ryan
 Posts: 506 Location: Sacramento, California |
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I have a question.
How will certain fansub groups (mainly HorribleSubs and CrunchySubs) be able to continue to rip CrunchyRoll's videos after this service goes away? As for my opinion on this news, I think it sucks, especially for people who have slow PCs/Laptops and therefore can't watch videos online via web browsers. Downloading the videos makes it a whole lot better for them, especially if they can play the videos just fine via media players that don't require an internet connection in order to play downloaded videos. |
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Dargonxtc
Posts: 4463 Location: Nc5xd7+ スターダストの海洋 |
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Well you are assuming they still won't be able to get the raws. That is a very big assumption. Also, in the small case that you may be right, and they can't get raws, there are several ways to rip a stream. And no I won't tell you. |
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