HD DVD Title pricing - where's the logic?

[landlocked]

OK, besides picking really old movies (Blazzing Saddles) or movies that fell short of commercial expectations (The Last Samurai), the other launch mistake made by the HD DVD camp is the pricing of the movies.

I already own regular DVD versions of most of the movies that were just released. Why would I want to fork over another $30, almost twice the current retail average for a standard disc, for a new format?

I thought one of the benefits touted by the HD folks was that the production process was pretty much the same with minimal changes at the factory.

Then why the price hike of 100%?

I know Blu Ray pricing is also higher, but when you have a completely new disc format (that I'm hearing has issues with DL?!), you'd expect a higher price.

Lower the price of the movies, oh HD folks, if you want to win this battle sooner than later.

Landlocked
(Bummed that Married with Children will be on Blu Ray)

 

[emtownsend]

I agree on the titles they chose. I am hoping for some family oriented titles too.
My wife did not want to buy any movie that we already had on DVD so that left me with few choices.
The price premium is probably because: a) They can, b) less production, c) they feel this is a niche product and, well, they can...
HD-DVD needs to hit the shelves hard with titles. Best Buy already had BluRay titles out too.

 

[landlocked]

I think Disney/Blu Ray will have the family market well covered for those families that already bought Blu Ray for the high def value. I don't think little junior wanting a HD copy of The Lion King is going to motivate the average consumer to go out and fork over $1000+ for a player.

I'm baffled at the movie selection. As funny as Blazzing Saddles is, IMHO, it's not a visually stunning movie to display your HD abilities. I guess the 5th Element crowd was hoping for a lot more than they got on what I thought would be an impressive release.

 

[jgantert]

This makes complete sense to me. Right now there are not many Hd-DVD users, so why put your best titles on HD-DVD? There's no incentive.

Think back to why Star Wars and Back To The Future took so long to come out on DVD. By the time they came out, there was a HUGE user base of DVD players.

Same thing will happen with HD-DVD and BR.

-John

 

[emtownsend]

I don't think little junior wanting a HD copy of The Lion King is going to motivate the average consumer to go out and fork over $1000+ for a player.

Maybe I am not the average consumer... hehe But, when I shop for movies, I generally will buy family friendly movies above all others because I have a 6 year old and a 3 year old that want to watch movies with mom and dad on the big screen. It is a kinda-fun-family-time event too. I think family movies would be an advantage to bring the average Joe over to HD-DVD. You're right though, the price of BluRay is steeeep... HD-DVD fits the magic $500 consumer electronics mark.