Blockbuster to Favor Blu-Ray HD Disc

Blu-Ray is only winning at this point because of the PS3, but in both cases the numbers are very low. On the heels of this announcement, I guarantee the HD-DVD camp will begin slashing prices on their players like crazy, and whoever gets a player out in the sub 100 dollar range first will win. I guarantee you Blockbuster will begin stocking HD DVD's at the drop of a hat if the demand is there.
 
Batutta said:
Blu-Ray is only winning at this point because of the PS3, but in both cases the numbers are very low. On the heels of this announcement, I guarantee the HD-DVD camp will begin slashing prices on their players like crazy, and whoever gets a player out in the sub 100 dollar range first will win. I guarantee you Blockbuster will begin stocking HD DVD's at the drop of a hat if the demand is there.
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I'm thinking too. I was about to pull out the old wallet and pick-up the HD-DVD add-on for my Xbox 360 this week. Circuit City is having a special this week. You get 2 free HD-DVD's of your choice with it. Just typing this makes me want to go get it actually, but I think I can hold out a while longer.

Now with the Blockbuster announcement and Blu-ray players starting to come down as well as Toshiba offering generous rebates I think it is better to hold off until this holiday season. The competition between the two formats could, and most likely will get pretty fierce.

I also think that it was a mistake on Sony's part to not continue to offer the 20GB $500.00 PS3. I would much rather buy that than the 60GB model. Just as it is with cameras, some people either can't afford or don't want to spend that much on a games console, even it it is only a $100.00 difference. If you think about it though, the PS3 is the best investment really. Even if blu-ray losses then you can still sell the PS3 because it is also a gaming system and recover enough to switch to HD-DVD. If Blu-ray does win, then you can sell your PS3 if you wish and buy a lower priced Blu-ray player.

The North American HD DVD Promotional Group said Blockbuster's decision was shortsighted and skewed by the success of films released by Blu-ray studios in the first three months of the year. The group said HD DVD has since gained momentum, selling more players and popular titles such as "The 40-Year Old Virgin" and "The Matrix" trilogy.

"I think trying to make a format decision using such a short time period is really not measuring what the consumer is saying," said Ken Graffeo, co-president of the group.

I have to agree with this though. If anyone is going to reach the sweet spot in terms of price, $100.00 for the player, it is going to Toshiba/HD-DVD before Blu-ray. The cheapest Blu-ray player is not much cheaper than the most expensive HD-DVD player.

If Sony/Blu-ray wants to jump ahead substantially, then they need to get a cheap player out there in line with the Toshiba HD-A2. Yes it doesn't do 1080p, but then again, not everyone needs 1080p anyways. If there was a 720p/1080i only Blu-ray player for $300.00 or less, then they would really pull ahead in this race, especially if they ran a similar rebate where you can get 5 free blu-ray disks.
 
yeah toshiba is pullin out all the stops.
if u get a player (got mine for 225) then u can get a rebate. and if u buy the matrix collection u get 7 more hd dvds for free.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top