Disney announces BD-Live releases for 2008 - here comes Blu-ray 2.0

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment has announced its first "Platinum" Blu-ray Disc titles with BD-Live.

The BD-Live discs will feature advanced interactivity, including live web-enabled and picture-in-picture bonus features.

The four new titles will be "Sleeping Beauty", "Finding Nemo", "National Treasure", and "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe".

As an example of the new interactivity Disney says "Sleeping Beauty" will offer a virtual castle and multi-player activities.

"The Platinum titles are the crown jewels of the Disney Studio, and we do not take releasing them lightly on any format", said Bob Chapek, Disney president.

"The proven Blu-ray technology has allowed us to take our films to new heights, fully utilizing the larger capacity and interactive capabilities for an incredible all-new consumer experience."

No current Blu-ray players can handle picture-in-picture interactivity although gamers will be happy to know that the PlayStation 3 can access the internet based BD-Live content.

All Blu-ray players introduced after October 31 are required to handle the new picture-in-picture as well as offer 1GB of memory for internet downloads.

Although ultimately offering the consumer more bang for their buck, the introduction of BD-Live may frustrate some already confused about the next-gen formats.