Microsoft Xbox 360 HD DVD Player Drops to $179
by: Lufguy 1 year, 2 months, 2 weeks, 3 days, 18 hours, 18 minutes ago 5
Email Article Print ArticleMicrosoft will cut the price on August 1.
by Brandon Hill at Daily Tech.com.
Microsoft introduced its HD DVD player for the Xbox 360 last November for a price of $199 USD. The Xbox 360 launched without a high definition disc player, so the USB-based HD DVD add-on gave Microsoft the additional firepower necessary to combat the PlayStation 3’s standard Blu-ray disc drive.
Through the end of June, Microsoft had sold over 155,000 of the HD DVD add-ons and proclaimed it the “biggest-selling accessory” ever for a console.
Now, Microsoft has seen fit to reduce the price of its most expensive accessory for the Xbox 360. Effective August 1, the HD DVD add-on will retail for $179 USD. In addition, customers who purchase the peripheral between August and September 30 will also qualify to receive five free HD DVD movies.
“With the price reduction to $179, the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player continues to be the most affordable way to enjoy high definition,” said Microsoft’s Jeff Bell. “From the beginning, we set out to offer Xbox 360 owners an unrivaled high definition experience, with a choice of optical discs on the HD DVD format and digital downloads through Xbox LIVE Marketplace, both of which have a selection of the best content Hollywood has to offer.”
Microsoft will highlight the HD DVD add-on price reduction by offering the movie “300” on demand in HD beginning August 14 through Xbox LIVE. Also on deck will be a free download of the season one pilot of “Heroes.” “300” and “Heroes: Season 1” will also be available on HD DVD.
doesn’t this add-on make the 360 more expensive than the ps3 equivalent that comes built in? there goes the cost savings!
I too was thinking along those lines. It seems like they are taking money out of one pocket and putting some in another pocket. Very interesting.
Blu-Ray is going to be the clear winner in my opinion. After blockbuster decided to stock more stores with Blu-Ray and not HD-DVD. Target decides to only sell Blu-Ray players and not HD-DVD players. It’s all pretty much up to Wal-Mart now to decide.
I think this is Microsoft’s way of clearing out their existing inventory. Kinda like Sony clearing out their 60 gig PS3 inventory. Microsoft made it clear that they will support Blu-Ray if that format emerged as the winner in the format war.
I have also been seeing in best buy ads where new release hd-dvds are usually about $5 more expensive than blu-ray new releases.
That’s because they are sometimes double discs. Like one side will be the HD-DVD version and the other side would be the DVD version. So they get that extra little bit out of you. Amazon.com has by far the best prices for either of the two HD formats.