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March 24/06: Picking the Best
Video Site
(Note: This editorial was slightly updated in
September 2006 to take account of some of the new offerings.)
Among the sites that regularly
get very high ratings are a number of video sites, by which I mean sites
that basically just a bunch of DVDs for download. Even though they don't
produce any of their own content, they're almost always an excellent
value (hence the high scores). You get loads of content, of
above-average quality, and massive updates (at least one new DVD being
added every day). These sites are also usually quite well-designed, with
excellent navigation and search functions. Just
because I give them all high scores doesn't mean I think they're the
end-all and be-all of Internet porn. They are not necessarily my
favourite sites. Actually I see them as being a kind of half-way house
between the days of going to your local video store to get the latest
smut on VHS and the future of all digital downloads, all the time. I'm
not sure how a lot of the studios are doing these days financially, but
I doubt they're doing as well as these middlemen, which makes me wonder
if what might happen in the future is that some of these mega-video
sites might get into the business of producing their own content. This
would also help set them apart a bit more. Let's face it, if you're a
veteran of any of these sites you've probably noticed a lot of the same
titles/same studios showing up over and over, as well as some
conspicuous absences. If you're looking for the latest big-budget
release from one of the mainstream studios (Vivid, Wicked) you're not
going to get it here. Of course there's a lot of
total junk in all of these sites too. But what do you expect? Go into
your local hole-in-the-wall (or
hole-in-the-mall, as the case may be) Red Hot Video store. Most of the
movies in there suck too. It's what happens in an industry that's
putting out 5,000-8,000 new titles a year (the numbers I see reported
are always changing), and where most studios have an attitude toward
quality production that can basically be summarized as "Make it
fast and don't spend a lot of money." Furthermore, you have to keep
in mind that one man's junk is another man's obsession. You might not be
interested in Filthy Fat Fuckers or Tales From the GangBang Hood, but
chances are someone else does. So like any good video store, these sites
have to offer a choice. Anyway, thinking over
what's available out there, here's how I would rank some of the major
players: (1) VideoBox:
a no-brainer. There's almost nothing to knock here, which is probably
why they not only won the Best Video Archive award from the Porn
Reviewers Association this year, but also the Best Site Overall. This is
just a really, really good site. As I write this they are up to 702 DVDs,
and adding a new scene every hour (5 DVDs added a day!). The
functionality is terrific with their drag-and-click the thumbnails
download interface and awesome search function. They also have written
scene descriptions/critiques of every scene for every movie that can be
quite entertaining, intelligent, and helpful. It's not just shit they
took from the box covers. There is no DRM, and they've even started
offering high-resolution downloads (3500 kb/s), albeit for an
extra $5/month. That's not going to break the bank given the still-amazing $9.99/month membership. So yeah, I have to rank these guys
as the best. I just don't know how you couldn't. (2)
Vixeo: Some
glitches in navigation, and all-in-all a very similar offering to DVD
Box (below), but with better video quality. (3)
Porn Access
/ DVD Box: I
have to lump these two together since they're both run by the same
people (Gamma) and when I reviewed DVD Box just after their launch I
found they were basically sharing all the same content. The movies I was
downloading all had the Porn Access logo on them even. I'm not sure
what's happening, but I suspect DVD Box is the direction they want to
move in going forward. And DVD Box is more typical of your traditional
DVD download site. Porn Access is actually structured like a network or
AVS, though I include it here because basically what the individual
sites consist of are a bunch of DVD series or lines collected together
under different thematic umbrellas. Given that fact, it's not surprising
they decided to rationalize everything by offering it all together under
one roof as it were (the same thing happened when Videosz grew out of
the Deluxe Pass network). At DVD Box they advertise 983 titles up, and
adding at least one a day. Even though the presentation here isn't as
sparkling as VideoBox or Videosz, you do get good quality downloads,
lots of content, and some titles (especially older, fetish, and European
stuff) that I haven't seen elsewhere. So it's not just the same shit,
different label. (4)
Videosz: a
little bit of head scratching on this one, but not that much. It's more
expensive, and yes it does use DRM for some of its content. But I still
really like the layout and organization, the high quality of the
downloads, and the sheer amount of stuff they've got on tap. 1,016 DVDs
as of my writing this, with two new DVDs being added every day. [Note:
They have since dropped the DRM. Good move.] (5)
Video Hub:
only ranking this a little lower because it's newer (launched Summer
2006), and doesn't have as much stuff yet. But the video quality is good
and there's no DRM. (6) Deluxe
Pass: strictly speaking this isn't a "virtual DVD store"
either but a network, but I'm including it here just because it's
similar, and among the 800-and-something sites that are part of the pass
you'll find over 100 "DVD download" sites. Yeah, if you've
been around you've probably heard all the knocks against these guys.
There's a lot of duplication over the network, searches are difficult,
quality varies, etc., etc. But . . . there's no DRM, you do get a lot of
content, and I really kind of enjoy trolling through all of the little
nooks and crannies. (7) Ten.com:
a great site that also has a lot of premium content from some of the
larger studios that caught my eye. But I also thought it was
overproduced. Those fucking lead-ins they have for every movie drove me
crazy. They do allow downloads now (when I reviewed the site it was all
streaming), but the downloads are all DRM-protected. If you know how to
get around this--and I'm not suggesting you do anything illegal--then it
might be more of a bargain. Well, that's how I'd
rank them anyway. To be honest I don't think you can go wrong with this
line-up. And as for VideoBox, it's really established itself as the best
deal on the Net. In any event, as an old-timer I have to remind you
youngsters just how fucking spoiled you are. 1,000 DVDs for $30 or less?
Ten years ago $30 would have bought you exactly one movie, and
you'd have to go out at night in a raincoat to buy it too. So enjoy it
while it lasts, which I hope is forever!
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