Microsoft has announced that it has cut the price of its Xbox 360 HD DVD addon by $50 USD. The price cut follows recent decisions by Toshiba to drop prices on their HD DVD players.
The new price cut brings the price of the add-on in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand to $129.99 USD. A few months ago Microsoft dropped the price of its add-on and promptly saw a surge in sales.
Earlier today, the huge e-tailer Amazon began selling the add-on for $79.99 USD and sold out within hours.
It is also important to note that every purchase of the add-on includes a free copy of “King Kong” on HD DVD in the box as well as an offer to get five free discs in the mail.
Result for: DVD
The ESA(Entertainment Software Association) had filed a new Special 301 Report with the US Trade Representative which shows the growing struggles for growth in the international video game industry thanks to ever increasing piracy.
The report specifically mentions a few countries where piracy is highest, notably Canada, China, Malaysia, Russia and eastern Europe.
Michael Gallagher, CEO of the ESA, explained, “Countries that support computer and video game piracy discourage publishers from establishing viable and legitimate markets. The Special 301 process sends a strong message to them to clean up their act to avoid damaging trade sanctions.”
The ESA even went on to say that in some of the areas listed, piracy exceeded 80 to 90 percent. These included areas in southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, and Central and South America. The ESA defines “piracy” as any “factory production of optical discs (such as CDs and DVDs); CD-R and DVD-R ‘burning’; cartridge counterfeiting; Internet downloading and file trading; as well as Internet cafe piracy.”
The report acknowledges that there are no short term fixes for the major problem areas but hopes that progress can be made in less problem areas such as Canada.
“This year our Special 301 filing highlights countries that urgently need to begin backing up their commitment to creativity and innovation,” added Gallagher.
“We look forward to working with USTR and other supporting government agencies to achieve tangible results and hopefully succeed in lowering piracy in these key countries.”
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Result for: DVD
After recent announcements that Best Buy had snuffed HD DVD and that Netflix would be dropping all stock of HD DVD, the HD DVD Promotional Group took time to make a statement about the future of the format and the recent decisions.
Clearly, the Group was upset over the recent losses (which seem to be mounting) and offered only this as a response.
“We have long held the belief that HD DVD is the best format for consumers based on quality and value, and with more than 1 million HD DVD players on the market, it’s unfortunate to see Netflix make the decision to only stock Blu-ray titles going forward. While the Best Buy announcement says they will recommend Blu-ray, at least they will continue to carry HD DVD and offer consumers a choice at retail.
The response, which is rather tame compared to past statements could show that the Group is finally breaking down, or even accepting defeat. Price cuts have become standard practice for Toshiba HD DVD players but disc sales are still lagging and consumers are eagerly expecting and end to the format war.
