Crippled files means files with digital restrictions management.
Windows plays them (and mediaplayer might well call home and tell someone what you just watched), but they often can't be read by normal dvd players.
This is the case for many wmv-files (Windows Media Video).
Infos:
http://www.eff.org/IP/DRM/
Another reason why they don't play could be that they are simply broken but your movieplayer is able to correct the errors, while the dvd-player can't.
And still another reason could be, that your dvd player just can't play the format.
How do you convert them for your dvd-player?
That it's mostly new releases can mean that it's more probable that you get intentionally broken versions or crippled files.
Best wishes,
Arne