Excess inventory driving Black Friday Blu-ray sales?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
andyg8180 @ Oct 28th 2008 12:11PM
dont be scared of digital distriution... Be scared of Netflix so i dont have to buy a shit-tastic movie and regret it at a $30 price point... Ive only been purchasing movies that will truly make a difference over upconversion like Iron Man, Transformers and other action flicks... Do you really need a bluray movie for a Drama thats all talking?? meh, no... Unless you lik the Dawson's Creek theme in TrueHD
NorthCranky @ Oct 28th 2008 12:37PM
Man your cranky! And I'm replying with more.
No one makes you spend 30 except for you. No one makes you like talking people in HD except you. Don't like it don't buy it, don't watch it. Crankyness unleashed!
THizzle7XU @ Oct 28th 2008 8:39PM
Where do you even go to buy a $30+ Blu-ray? I don't see any normal electronics store selling regular stand-alone movies above $28, and most are in the $15-$25 range. And at the end of the day, there is always Amazon. And before any naysayers brush them off as some niche online store, they are in the top 20 and moving up in a lot of retailer categories, including music, electronics, and DVDs.
wreckedchevy @ Oct 28th 2008 12:45PM
after doing some reading on avs about all the problems with the bond movies i think blu's got another issue to deal with (hd-dvd would have had the same problem) they need to come up with some method of issuing firmware updates to the mass market i know my parents wouldn't be interested in having to go online and burn a disc or run a eth cable over to there tv so they can update it just so they can watch a movie they just paid $30 for....
WebDev511 @ Oct 28th 2008 3:40PM
Yup, players need to have wireless built in or have SUPER simple firmware updates via USB Flash drives. That will help, but there's nothing like the buzz kill of having your player tell that a firmware update is required before you can play a disc. Worse yet is not being able to play the disc and getting no error message at all.
Nothing quite like combining the perception of buggy players with the lowest consumer confidence ever seen. Sure, some of them will sell, but probably not the way the retailers would like them to.
Stin @ Oct 28th 2008 1:20PM
Man, you guys need to get with the times. Digital downloads are already here and they are here to stay. 8-10 gig 1080p Blu-ray rips can be downloaded and the quality is amazing. No DRM, no firmware updates, usually released weeks before retail. I just downloaded Hancock today and it is not scheduled to be released until November 25th. Quick, easy, and painless. Hooked up to my 50" plasma. It's the same thing that happened to the music industry. When I can get a movie a month before it is released and not have to leave my couch there is no incentive for me to get a Blu-ray player.
DrXym @ Oct 28th 2008 1:27PM
And you did all this legally did you? If not, was it so wise to make a confession on a blog which may well be frequented by MPAA / RIAA types?
mntwister @ Oct 28th 2008 1:46PM
You have a good point there, but everyone is different, and to each their own. I prefer owning my movies and listening to the lossless soundtracks which are very important to me, and all of the disc extras. Nobody said digital downloads were not here yet, they are, I am not sure where you got that from....as far as getting a movie 2 weeks before release date, I guess I have the patience to wait. I don't think downloading and burning to bluray discs is legal, is it? I am not aware of any legal website that has Hancock, but I may be wrong. Does it include all the extras? The lossless soundtracks (something very important to many people, especially movie/video buffs).
Blu-ray disc blanks, last time I checked for a 50gb dual layer, cost the same as a movie title. So why would I download it and burn it when I can have a studio original that includes extras, bd-live content, pic in pic commentary and lossless audio? This, aside from all of the viruses and spyware that come from these sites. As far as downloading to a hard drive, forget it for me....ALL hard drives will fail at some point, so someone storing 150 high def movies on a 1TB hard drive one day is going to lose them all.
For me, blu-ray is the way to go. I do not have anything against downloads, just not my cup of tea and they have a long way to go. Downloads have been available for the last 8 years of DVD and it sure didn't kill dvd.
Tom @ Oct 28th 2008 2:40PM
I can't stand digital downloads. I like having the physical disk that I can see, touch and feel. I like looking at the artwork and inserts, etc. I like having the best possible audio track and pristine picture. Downloads don't do that for me.
Imagine all the Joe's out there that will get a shiny new digital download box with all their movies on it and experience a drive failure at some point and have no backup. Woops, there goes your movie collection, it no longer exists!
I like having a shelf full of Blu-rays that I and my guests can peruse for the next movie showing.
While I do like the Netflix free streaming, it ain't Blu-ray.
GO BLU-RAY!
Multi-format-mayhem @ Oct 28th 2008 3:32PM
Correct Stin.
Legal or not the facts are that a very nice DTS 5.1 1080p encode can be had for 8.5gbs and a high quality 720p encode is easily done for 4.3gbs.
A nice DVD5 or DVD9 size to burn and keep for those who feel the need for a physical copy.
Strip out all the fluff & flannel and many simply don't need the size Blu can offer (and with the industry still making a lot of use of the single layer 25gb disc, with all that fluff & flannel contained in it, that is so obviously the case).
Downloads will ultimately offer a specific language, audio track and image resolution - so if all you want or need is a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track and a 720p encode that will be all you pay for.
You can also bet that when these encodes do come legally they will be to a higher standard than even the very nice products of the current skilled amatuers.
Blu-ray is (as ought to be very obvious by now) the new Laserdisc.
If you want and are prepared to pay for the current best the industry will offer right now then go BD.
The problem is that the vast majority of people neither need nor want that sort of spec.
Most simply do not have receivers for HD audio (nevermind a 5.1 or 7.1 speaker package capable of doing it justice) and we already know the vast majority of HD TVs sold are still 720p/1080i sets and small 32" - 42".
Sadly it is also true that some in the industry refuse to see this & keep dithering between a (in my opinion pointless) populist appeal and the specialist appeal, hence the continuing extensive use of 25gb discs and the lack of Dolby True HD or DTS-HD Master Audio on every release.
That's the bind they have gotten themselves into by relying so heavily on a game console to launch & then prop up the format.
Multi-format-mayhem @ Oct 28th 2008 3:32PM
Correct Stin.
Legal or not the facts are that a very nice DTS 5.1 1080p encode can be had for 8.5gbs and a high quality 720p encode is easily done for 4.3gbs.
A nice DVD5 or DVD9 size to burn and keep for those who feel the need for a physical copy.
Strip out all the fluff & flannel and many simply don't need the size Blu can offer (and with the industry still making a lot of use of the single layer 25gb disc, with all that fluff & flannel contained in it, that is so obviously the case).
Downloads will ultimately offer a specific language, audio track and image resolution - so if all you want or need is a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track and a 720p encode that will be all you pay for.
You can also bet that when these encodes do come legally they will be to a higher standard than even the very nice products of the current skilled amatuers.
Blu-ray is (as ought to be very obvious by now) the new Laserdisc.
If you want and are prepared to pay for the current best the industry will offer right now then go BD.
The problem is that the vast majority of people neither need nor want that sort of spec.
Most simply do not have receivers for HD audio (nevermind a 5.1 or 7.1 speaker package capable of doing it justice) and we already know the vast majority of HD TVs sold are still 720p/1080i sets and small 32" - 42".
Sadly it is also true that some in the industry refuse to see this & keep dithering between a (in my opinion pointless) populist appeal and the specialist appeal, hence the continuing extensive use of 25gb discs and the lack of Dolby True HD or DTS-HD Master Audio on every release.
That's the bind they have gotten themselves into by relying so heavily on a game console to launch & then prop up the format.
Multi-format-mayhem @ Oct 28th 2008 3:41PM
BTW did anyone else notice they've quietly killed off the proposed BD5 & BD9 discs?
Perhaps the fans have noticed how BD -R & -RE support is quietly being withdrawn?
(it's being quietly disabled in some of the latest firmware updates - for instance LG have come out and responded to complaints about this and have stated that the 'initial agreement' regarding blank Blu-ray media was that it would only be operable on standalone players for a short time so as to 'test' the discs & spec).
Typically sly, sneeky & short-sighted in the extreme, the BDA stays true to form.
DrXym @ Oct 28th 2008 8:36PM
As usual Multi Format Mayhem, you are lying through your teeth. LG removed firmware for AVCHD. BD-RE and BD-R support in the BH200, an early hybrid player which appeared even before the BD-R spec was finalised. Yet you manage to extrapolate that to mean every player. It's more likely that it was bugged, or LG had to make space in their firmware for something else, or they just goofed in the firmware update.
Strangely enough the latest players from Sony & Panasonic support BD-RE and BD-R with no trouble at all. As does LG's more recent BD300 according to the CNet review. BD-5 and BD-9 are also part of BD-ROM basic format and should be supported by modern players, It may well be that some older players do not like the format as well as they should because its such an edge case and burning software that outputs a DVD are a fairly recent development. Nero has only had support since version 8 which was only 12 months ago.
SimbaDogg @ Oct 29th 2008 9:30PM
id otn know why the DrX dude got down voted. what the original poster did was pretty stupid. 1) there is no place on the net that sells or rents blu ray "rips" so if you're using the world rip when referring to a movie you got, you're def downloading it illegally. and by coming on the site and bragging about how much you do it, you're just as dumb as those people that do illegal shit on tape, post it on youtube to brag about it, then end up getting arrested. Point in case...this dummy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6dwwQAvM5s
Ron @ Oct 28th 2008 1:32PM
Plus he downloaded Hancock...should get in trouble for that alone.
Patrick @ Oct 28th 2008 2:34PM
Agreed. If you want to download any sort of cock you should get in trouble.
jasonstanfield @ Oct 28th 2008 2:06PM
Sears Black Friday ad has the BDPS350 for $179.99 for thsoe of you that haven't seen/heard...great player for the price
Gus @ Oct 28th 2008 7:29PM
It's funny how when HD DVD was at this price point it was a fire sale, the death throws of a FCD format, but of course, now BR is at those same price points it's great news for mass market adoption.
I laugh every time I hear that, mass market adoption for a product that has no benefit unless it's hooked up to a 42' or bigger HD TV, which by definition is not much more than niche it self, but the blu vein fans get all excited and now it's about to go main stream.
Not this year, not next year, probably not ever, blu ray will remain the home theater fans format of choice with a reasonable quality niche, that's it no more, it has to end this way, because, like it or hate it, "It's a Sony" and that has sealed it's fate more than any other single factor.
Jake @ Oct 28th 2008 2:28PM
On the subject of "doing something about the $30 movies" problem, Frys here in Indianapolis has the Bond flicks for $16.96 and a ton of other titles for $13.95. While a lot of titles are more expensive than they should be (Like every Fox title, for example), Frys really is leading the charge towards affordablity.
Multi-format-mayhem @ Oct 28th 2008 3:31PM
Of course excess inventories are going to drive sales, who wants nothing from existing expensive stocks unlikely to sell any other way?
The looming deep & severe recession is gathering pace (check the news any day of the week, unemployment up, consumer sales down, repossessions up etc etc).
$175 - $150 simply isn't enough.
HD DVD already proved (at a time of no severe recession) that $99 or lower is when (some) people will take an interest.
Too little too late.
WebDev511 @ Oct 28th 2008 4:17PM
With the economy in the tank and consumers closing their collective wallets I can't help but wonder if anyone is going to be a real winner in this round of the format war.
MasterCKO @ Oct 28th 2008 5:08PM
"Now, if only they could do something about those $30 movies..."
uh, "they" did. "they" = amazon.com
GhostDoggy @ Oct 29th 2008 6:02AM
It is only natural to see Entry Level Blu-ray products entering the sub-$200 market. They are entry level products and nothing more. And when they fail, they are super disposable. :) And surprisingly, a failed Blu-ray standalone player is worthless. At least a used Sony PS3 could have some retaining value on the used market. Must be why you cannot get it for less than $400.
And the last time I bought a standalone Blu-ray player it got returned when it failed after four months.
Booyah! @ Nov 15th 2008 12:07AM
I just picked up a Sony BDP-S350 (yes, 350 not 300) at MacMall.com for $199 (w/ free shipping) this past Tuesday.
Shaun @ Nov 28th 2008 1:07AM
I guess everyone's forgotten that when DVD's first arrived they were around $30 too. At least we're not paying laser disc prices.