HD DVD might have lost the format war to Sony’s Blu-Ray, but the current economic downturn infused new life into Toshiba’s HD DVD format. When Sony secured the backing of the biggest Hollywood studios in spring, it appeared to be the knockout blow for HD DVD as the studios also dropped HD DVD. However, aggressive price cuts have kept the market alive for HD DVD players and HD DVDs. HD DVD players also play standard DVDs.
The cost of the HD DVD disks has fallen from $40 in some cases to as little as $10.Payers can be bought for less than $60, compared with about $250 for a Blu-Ray player. Thousands of HD DVD titles are still available, including some recent hits like American Gangster.
The demand for the format remains strong, thanks to the discount pricing. HD DVD continues to be supported by online retailers like Amazon and Buy.com, as well as smaller outlets and even second hand stores. In other words, despite HD DVD’s official death in February, there are many, many people still interested in, and still buying the format. Cheap entertainment tends to do particularly well in a recession or depression. Given that the economy has recently tanked, the success of HD DVD is less of a surprise than it may appear on the surface.
A recent sale at Amazon demonstrates the kind of pricing that keeps stoking the sales numbers for HD DVD. Amazon’s sale, for example, offers 122 titles at prices up to 66 percent off. Some are only 25 percent off, but most are priced almost as low as regular DVDs. They are all brand new disks, never been opened, and are shipped straight from Amazon not from an Amazon affiliate.
Titles available at rock bottom prices include, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Alexander Revisited, Final Cut, Batman Begins, Battle of the Bulge, Blazing Saddles, Blood Diamond, Blue Planet IMAX, Bullitt, Caddyshack, Casablanca, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, A Christmas Story, A Clockwork Orange, Constantine, Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride, The Cowboys, The Dirty Dozen, Dog Day Afternoon, The Dukes of Hazzard, Enter the Dragon, Excalibur, The Fugitive, Full Metal Jacket, The Getaway, Gods and Generals, Goodfellas, Gothika, Grand Prix, and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,
Other titles available include House of Wax, Jailhouse Rock, Justice League – The New Frontier, The Last Samurai, Lethal Weapon, Lethal Weapon 2, March of the Penguins, Million Dollar Baby, Mutiny on the Bounty, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Out for Justice, The Perfect Storm, Phantom of the Opera, The Polar Express, Poseidon, Purple Rain, Rio Bravo, Road Warrior, Room With a View, Scooby Doo – The Movie, The Searchers, The Shining, Space Cowboys, Superman – The Movie, Superman II, Swordfish, Terminator 3 – Rise of the Machines, Training Day, Twilight Zone: The Movie, Under Siege, Unforgiven, V for Vendetta, The Wild Bunch, Viva Las Vegas, The Wicker Man, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Wyatt Earp
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