I can remember back to when ESPN first started streaming video. It seemed to be FREE, or based on your ISP (with most of the big names providing access). They started out as "ESPN360," and I believe you needed a web browser, plus an obscure plug-in (which is still on one of my XP machines).
Anyway, once it became ESPN3, they were a little more strict. Now, it's all about your TV provider. Well, for the longest time, DirecTV wasn't eligible! What gives? There are something like 30 to 40 million DTV subscribers. Finally, around the middle or the end of February, I noticed that DirecTV negotiated a streaming contract with Disney (parent company of ABC and ESPN).
Today, I decided to set it up on Apple TV. The one thing with Apple TV, which is probably different even from an iPhone/iPod/iPad, is how you're stuck with the channels they want to give you. There's no "App Store" for adding more. Sometimes they even add new ones and mess up the way I had them ordered in the grid. Activation is a pretty straightforward process. It's just annoying how you need a new code for every version (ESPN, ABC, Disney ...), and to go to a separate website.
I'm not sure what to think so far. What I had pictured was this huge library of on-demand content, sort of like a DVR. ESPN definitely has the most content when you consider ESPN3. Those streams were awkward, though. I'd pick one that's supposed to show tennis from the current "BNP Paribas" tournament. That's just a step below a "Grand Slam" (the three "Open" events, and Wimbledon), since there are 1,000 ranking points awarded to the winner, and almost every top 100 player who's not injured tends to participate. What you get is sort of this video clip that starts at something like a coin toss, then silence while you're watching the players warm up. I didn't fast forward far enough to see whether there are any commentators or an audio track.
Most of the current "sitcoms" seem to be on ABC, and I find myself watching that channel WAY MORE than any other network. I mean, how many shows can they make about solving crimes? ABC does have at least one of those ("Forever"), but it's kind of gruesome to always think about people dying as the plot of each episode.
They have most of the primetime lineup (on Watch ABC), as far as I can tell, BUT, you can only go back to February. I guess that's good enough to catch up to the live shows. What service am I looking for that lets you catch up on a whole season? Is that Hulu Plus? It seems wasteful to already have a satellite bill, PLUS these extra apps, PLUS possibly subscribing to Hulu. I'm a paying member of Amazon Prime, too, but there are only certain seasons of older shows that seem to be archived and eligible for Prime streaming.
On Disney, I'm mainly interested in "Girl Meets World." They do have SOME of those shows archived for viewing, but I think only four total, with a gap in between them (starting at 9, then jumping to 14?). The "newest" one looks like it was a Christmas episode from early December. There's still the reruns on live Disney channel, but how do you see them all in the right sequence?
Disney XD was the most recent one I activated, but didn't look at the content yet. Based on the other apps, I probably know what to expect. The main series I watch from that network is "Star Wars: Rebels," which kind of blurs your understanding of the original movies. All but two Jedi were eliminated? Apparently not. Darth Vader was assigned to hunt them down, or some weird guy called "The Inquisitor," who may not have any Jedi or Sith abilities???
The live streaming option is pretty neat, but what's the purpose? Your Apple TV is pretty much a stationary device (not like a mobile phone or a tablet), and those channels are on DirecTV. It's just a difference of watching them on a separate device. ESPN's feed looked compressed (BRIGHT red that stands out from some of the other colors), but that could be my limited DSL connection causing a "bottleneck"). I could see that feature being a good reason to download the app for use on other devices (watching live shows when you're away from the TV set).
I guess I'm just not used to all the new "digital" ways of delivering TV? I'm actually OCD about trying to buy some series on DVD before those become "obsolete." One thing I noticed about the Watch ___ apps is how they include a convenient "Go to iTunes" link. In the store, you can buy episodes, or even a full season/season pass (if the show is still on the air). People really pay $45 for an HD season of just one TV show?? Then, I don't really get why the HD shows are released to home video as a DVD set. The maximum amount of storage for a double layer DVD is supposed to be less than 20% of what you can store on a Blu-ray disc. Basically, it would take five times more DVDs to store the whole season, assuming they put HD files on those discs, which I doubt they do.
With Apple TV, there's no storage (besides a memory cache), so I guess anything you "buy" streams from the cloud? I'm not really sure, since I haven't tried using it that way. I guess, if I was going to buy a full season of a TV show, I'd want some kind of "physical" version, even if it's just a file. That seems to be how it works when you download the "digital copy" of a movie you bought on disc (until recently, when they started giving you "UltraViolet").
The whole issue seems to be "digital rights management." Mark Cuban has a blog where I remember him saying that software (a non-living thing) can't "steal" content. There are dishonest people who already use software to remove the "copyright protection" on video and sound files, so how are the corporations making life easier for the honest customers? You could kind of argue that DVD is restrictive, because it's designed only to play inside a drive or a machine that has the proper software. I believe that software is now "open source," though, or the patent expired. It's too bad that the DVD standard can't really handle compressing HD video, or the new 4K content.
Is that a long enough "rant"? I should probably get back to the TV and make some use of all the services I spent today activating.
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WWE 2K18 ROSTER & MATCH TYPES | ||||
If you see multiple of the same name, it just means different versions that can be in the ring together. Names highlighted in blue are Cruiserweights | ||||
1 Up Man Adam Cole Aerostar Aiden English AJ Styles Akam Akira Tozawa Albert Aleister Black Alexander Wolfe Andrade "Cien" Almas Andre The Giant Angelo Dawkins Animal Apollo Crews Ariya Daivari Arnold T101 Austin Aries B Brian Blair Bam Bam Bigelow Baron Corbin Barron Blade Batista '10 Beautiful Bobby Eaton Big Boss Man '91 Big Boss Man '99 Big Cass Big E Big Show Big Show '00 Bo Dallas Bobby Fish Bobby Roode Booker T Braun Strowman Bray Wyatt Bret Hart '97 Bret Hart '98 Brian Kendrick British Bulldog Brock Lesnar Brutus Beefcake Bryan Danielson Buddy Roberts Butch Cactus Jack '92 Cactus Jack '98 Captain Jobber Cedric Alexander Cesaro Chad Gable Chris Jericho |
Chris Jericho '00 Christian Col Sanders Cole Quinn Curt Hawkins Curtis Axel Daniel Bryan Dark Link Darren Young Dash Wilder DDP '92 DDP '98 Dean Ambrose Dennis Condrey Diesel Doc Louis Dolph Ziggler Donatello Drago Drew Gulak Drew McIntyre Dude Love Dusty Rhodes Earthquake Eddie Guerrero Edge El Mago Elias Enzo Amore Epico Colon Eric Young Erick Rowan Fandango Finn Balor Finn Balor Demon The Godfather Goldberg Goldust Gorgeous George Gran Metalik Greg Valentine Hawk Heath Slater Hideo Itami Hurricane Jack Gallagher Jake Roberts Jason Jordan JBL Jeff Hardy Jey Uso Jim Brunzell |
Jim Neidhart Jimmy Garvin Jimmy Uso Jinder Mahal John Cena John Cena '06 John Cena '10 Johnny Gargano The Joker Kalisto Kane Kane '98 Karl Anderson Kassius Ohno Kerry Von Erich Kevin Nash Kevin Owens Kevin Von Erich Killian Dain King Cuerno King Feck Kofi Kingston Konnor Kurt Angle '01 Kurt Angle '06 Kyle O'Reilly Larry Zbysko Lars Sullivan Leonardo Lex Luger Lince Dorado Link Little Mac Luigi Luke Luke Gallows Luke Harper Mankind Mario Mark Henry Matt Hardy Michael Hayes Michaelangelo The Miz Mojo Rawley Montez Ford Mortis Mr.205 Live Mr. McMahon Mr. Perfect Mustafa Ali Necroplasm |
Neville Nick Miller No Way Jose Noam Dar Noob Saibot Oney Locan Optimus Prime Otis Dozovic Papa Shango Pentagon Jr Pete Dunne Primo Colon Prince Puma R-Truth Randy Orton Randy Savage Raphael Razor Ramon Reptile Retro Rick Rey Fenix Rey Mysterio Rezar Rhyno Ric Flair '88 Ric Flair '91 Rich Swann Rick Martel Rick Rude Ricky Morton Ricky Steamboat '91 Ricky Steamboat '94 Rikishi Rob Van Dam '06 Robert Gibson The Rock The Rock '01 Roddy Piper Roderick Strong Roman Reigns Rusev Sami Zayn Samoa Joe Sawyer Fulton Scorpion Scott Dawson Scott Hall Seth Rollins Shane McMahon Shane Thorne Shao Khan Shawn Michaels '97 |
Shawn Michaels '98 Sheamus Shelton Benjamin Shinsuke Nakamura Sin Cara Snoop Dogg Stan Lane Starman Steve Austin '97 Sting Sting '88 Sting '91 Sting '98 Sting '99 Stormtrooper Stunning Steve Austin Subzero MKX Superman Sycho Sid Tatanka Tatsumi Fujinami Ted DiBiase TehJew22 Titus O'Neil TJP Tommaso Ciampa Tony Nese Triple H Triple H '01 Triple H '98 Tucker Knight Tye Dillinger Tyler Bate Tyler Breeze Typhoon Tyson Kidd Ultimate Warrior Ultimo Dragon Undertaker (Classic) The Undertaker Undertaker '00 Vader Vampiro Velveteen Dream Venom Viktor Voltron Waluigi Wario William Regal Xavier Woods Zack Ryder |
WOMEN | ||||
Alexa Bliss Alicia Fox Alundra Blayze Asuka Bayley Becky Lynch Beth Phoenix Bianca Belair Billie Kay Brie Bella Cammy Carmella Charlotte Chun Li Dana Brooke Ember Moon Emma Ivelise Velez |
Ivory Jacqueline Jade Kairi Sane Kharma Kitana Lana Lita Liv Morgan Mandy Rose Mariposa Maryse Mickie James Mileena Naomi Natalya Nia Jax |
Nikki Bella Nikki Cross Paige Peyton Royce Ronda Rousey Ruby Riot Sarah Logan Sasha Banks Sexy Star Shayna Baszler Sonya Blade Sonya Deville Stephanie McMahon Summer Rae Tamina Taya Valkyrie Trish Stratus Wii Fit Trainer | ||
VALETS & MANAGERS Anyone above can be a "manager" plus... | ||||
Bobby Heenan Lana |
Mr. McMahon Paul Ellering Paul Heyman |
Stephanie McMahon Ted DiBiase | ||
MATCH TYPES | ||||
*** ONE ON ONE *** Normal |
*** TRIPLE THREAT *** Normal |
*** FATAL 4 WAY *** Normal |
*** TWO ON TWO *** Normal *** 8-MAN *** Tag Team |
*** 6-MAN *** Tag Team *** HANDICAP *** One on Two Tag |
MATCH MODIFIERS | ||||
Pin & Submission Both, Pin, Submit, Off 2 Out of 3 Falls Iron Man |
Over the Top Rope On, Off K.O. Last Man Standing |
Perform Finisher to Win On, Off First Blood Climb out of Cage (Cage Match Only) DQ |
Rope Break (Automatic) On, Off Ring Out Elimination |
Falls Count Anywhere On, Off Time Limit Entrance Interval (Chamber/Rumble) |
SUPER SMASH BROS. ROSTER & SETTINGS | |||
Akira Alph Austin Powers Bayonetta Bob Ross Bowser Bowser Jr Burger King Captain Falcon Charizard Charlie Brown Chuck Norris Cloud Col Sanders Corrin Dark Pit Diddy Kong Donkey Kong Dr. Mario Dracula Drew Carey |
Duck Hunt Dumbledore Falco Fox Ganondorf Greninja Iggy Jr Ike Jacky Jigglypuff Joker King Dedede Kirby Larry Jr Lemmy Jr Link Little Mac Lucario Lucas Lucina Lucy Ludwig Jr |
Luigi Majora Mario Marth Mega Man Meta Knight Mewtwo Morton Jr Mr. Game & Watch Mr. Miyagi Ness Olimar Pac-Man Palutena Peach Peppermint Patty Pikachu Pit Popeye R.O.B. Retro Rick Robin |
Rosalina & Luma Roy Roy Jr Ryu Samus Sheik Shulk Snoop Dog Sonic Steve Urkel TehJew22 Toon Link Villager Wario Weird Al Wendy Jr Wii Fit Trainer Yoshi Zelda Zero Zerosuit Samus |
BATTLE TYPES TIME BATTLE: All characters battle for a set amount of time scoring one point per KO and LOSING one point each time they are KO'ed. STOCK BATTLE: All characters have a set number of lives and when they run out, they're done. When combined with a time limit whomever has more lives left when time runs out wins. COIN BATTLE: For 2-4 characters ONLY! Coins are knocked out of characters as they battle. After a fixed time limit whomever has the most coins wins. SETTINGS TIME LIMIT: Can be from 1 to 15 minutes. |