Five? I can't imagine anything like that happening. I'm thinking at most two and quite possibly just one.

I imagine by Nov 17th, some of the earlier titles will be cheaper and be added in just to sweeten the pot, per say. You dont think that will happen? I remember pretty much every bundle for the 360 included a massive amount of games, why not throw in some blu-ray movies with the ps3? I definetly see it as something that could very well happen.

And it'll be probably be "Silent Hill," "Resident Evil," or something else based on a video game available for the Sony platform.

they are already losing a ASSLOAD on the machine itself, why would they want to lose that much more money by loading it with 5? Oh wait, that worked well for UMD and PSP didn't it?

I would bet the only movies that come with the PS3 would be whatever Sony throws in the box. The PS3, like every other big console release, gives retailers the chance to make more revenue by packing the system with "more expensive" games. Retailers want to make the most coin possible, not push Blu-Ray at their own expense.

Dear Hater

I never said sony would be doing the bundeling, it would be stores like best buy and the like.

Dear fanboy

Doesn't matter who bundles it, someone loses a bunch of money

You should really see someone about those delusions of yours.

Can you HONESTLY see Best Buy "and the like" bundling 5 movies, which they currently price at $24.99+? And if this dual layer thing ever comes to fruition, I'm sure the price will go up even more.

The 360 bundle I got from Best Buy had a grand total of one game, I believe. Several accessories but just one game.

Bundelling 5 movies?!

There's no way that'll happen without it being reflected in the price.

I can see 1 movie... and a slight chance of being 2... but 5 is out of the question.

Depends on demand and scarcity of the PS3. There were bundles over $1,000 that I saw with the 360. I expect that stores will bundle as much as they can so long as they sell. Having said that, I would expect any bundles to be made up of gamer stuff rather than movie stuff.

PS3 will not be marketed to gamers for its BD movie capabilities. If there is a bundled movie, it will probably be something really awful like Hitch. It will definitely be a Sony, title, though.

How about this? If the PS3 comes bundled from the factory with 5 movies, I will leave DVDTalk forever. If it comes bundled from the factory with less than 5 movies, Blitz agrees to leave DVDTalk forever.

He didn't say from Sony.. He specifically said retailer bundles, so that is out.

But still, I agree with you and you'd probably even be safe with 1.

Nice.

Good thing i wasn't drinking when i read this.

This is almost as good as the bet that I used to have with that one guy. What was his name? the banned one? I never did get his ass. :)

Hmm, don't think I knew about that one.

Edit: So, wait, is Blitz saying we will see the PS3 bundled with 5 movies from retailers without a price increase?

I'm guessing its those bundles they always cheat you with on a launch system. Pretty much forcing you to buy a controller or game or two with the console. They will probably have several bundles and I won't be shocked to see retailers do a movie bundle to try and clear out Blu-ray movies that have been sitting on shelves for months.

As far as them giving away free movies, Sony might give a single free movie with the PS3 to try and get the format out there, but that is about all you can expect.

I know what a bundle is, what I'm trying to discern is if Blitz thinks retailers will bundle in extra movies for free or not.

A retailer could bundle in a PS3 with every BD on the market, but I promise you they will make you pay for it.

I don't think the speculations are worth the arguments.

Well, I ignored Blitz, so there will be no arguments. :)

You actually thought i meant bundled FREE? You guys are reaching harder then i could ever imagine. I think its safe to say I meant forced bundles by STORES, which i specified. So to get a PS3 at launch, you need to get the system, extra controller, 2 games and 5 BD Movies or you dont get one, type of bundle, all for a huge amount of funds.

Im almost sure movies will be in bundle deals at stores to move more flicks with the system.

That would actually be a smart thing for them to do - move the BDs that aren't selling by making people buy them with the PS3.

This one of the points I was trying to make. Traditionally, consoles were an item that teens saved for and got in lieu of other stuff, such as new clothes, music etc. Now the price is so high, it is in a new category.

My cousin is only 15, and I'm pretty sure he's going for the car. I made many of the points you guys did.

Yup. And the bundled items will be stuff the stores make a bunch of coin on like extension cables, disc wallets 3rd party controllers etc. I agree with Adam. One maybe two at the most.

How much would this bundle go for?

The PS3 is already pricey, when you throw in 5 movies (and at least 1 game) - most consumers will just walk away when they see the price.
This all or nothing approach can backfire in a big way.

Also, you have to remember that the 360 addon drive will also be selling. If MS cuts the price of the 360 and the addon is $200 or less, it will sell well. They may pass their 10 million mark.

IF MS has 10 million units sold by end of year, and 10% of those buy the addon drive, thats a million PROBABLE HD-DVD purchasers. Its almost guaranteed that they will buy the media.

Ive got 2 friends who have 360s and said that they are planning to purchase the addon drive to try out hd-dvd. Both said the PS3 is out of their price range and may purchase one when the price comes down.

There's no incentive for retail stores to bundle BD movies with the PS3. They'll be focused on the gaming aspect of it. Any bundles will be made up of accessories and slightly-lower-demand games. They may bundle one movie to whet the appetite, but unless Sony hands down the commandment from on high, I find it highly unlikely.

The best chance would be Sony themselves stuffing a movie in the box like the aforementioned Hitch or Charlies Angels. There'd even be a nice little ad on the box indicating the inclusion of said movie.

The best chance any included movie has of being watched by the majority of gamers ready to get into the action is when the controllers are charging over the first 8 hours or so.

Didn't Sony already announce that they'd be including copies of The Fifth Element with their Blu-ray player? If they were to bundle something with the PS3, I'd expect it to be that.

I think you will see multiple bundle options as happened with the Xbox360 and I definitely think they will try and force Blu-ray movies on people with at least some of the bundle options from stores that sell movies. The discs are not selling and this will be a way for stores to finally get rid of some of them by forcing them on desperate PS3 buyers. Its looking like PS3s will be very scarce this Christmas so people wanting one badly will probably have to except a bundle from many stores.

How do you figure? There's just as much incentive for stores to bundle movies as games, assuming they price correctly. 5 BDs with a PS3? That would probably add just over $100 to the final price, which would still sit well inside the $1000 360 bundles of last year. It's pretty much certain there'll be different bundles to appeal to different prospective demographics, which makes this BD bundling very likely.

Of course it'll be too expensive for most teenagers to purchase, but then again the average age of gaming is far beyond that now. It's a different world in computer gaming these days...

Has there been any official word from Microsoft about pricing and release date of the HD DVD add-on drive for the 360? $200 wouldn't seem to give them much if any profit.

Yes, that's the title I was thinking of also. Sony probably has a boatload of them to get rid of.
I hope that you are correct.
Having never played a video game (I once saw my nephew play his PS2, does that count?), I will have to defer to you when it comes to gamer psychology. But I have noticed that many gamers nowadays are reported to be young professionals who can well afford the PS3 as well as some BD movies. And these are the sort of gamers who would be most likely to hook the PS3 up to an HDTV, I would think. But when it comes to teens and college students, yes, it is hard to believe that most could afford more than a handful of BDs when there are the all-important (and expensive) games to buy.

I dont see how they can FORCE movies on people and make them pay for it.

There might be bundles with it as an option, BUT again, many of the people buying PS3's will NOT be able to view the BD movies.

They will be frustrated when they cant watch it on their RCA 25in tv.

PS3 will not be marketed as a BD player. It is a video game system... that also plays BD. Stores will include items that they make more money off of, not movies where there is little overhead.

Who said I have zero interest? I'm very interesting in both formats, as evidenced by my participation in this thread.

I'm interesting in new technology. That I'm not buying any players yet arrises out of economic factors, and that I'm not convinced of either format winning at the moment. One can be interested in new technology without actually buying it, you know. I was interested in HDTV for years before I got one, and was interested in DVD before it was even released.

What I'd like to know is, as a stanch HD-DVD supporter, and one who has already purchased your preferred format, what are you getting out of this? If anyone is here to just argue, argue, argue, it would seem to be people like you.

I've been posting my reasons why.

And this is the sad part about what this argument has degraded to, partisan bickering. One must be completely for one side or the other. If someone, like myself, dares say that "wait, PS3 may not blow HD-DVD out of the water, but it will have a notable influence," or just think the BD still has potential as a format, both in terms of technology and market share, then you're labeled a BD fan.

But they CAN watch them on their 25 inch TV, the picture will be downscaled to 480i. They just won't be able to watch them in high definition. We tend to overlook that because we are interested in high def here.

And before you ask "why would anyone want to do that?" remember that J6Ps tend to do a lot of strange things... like buying upscaling DVD players because the salesman told them it would turn their DVDs into "high definition"...

Exactly right, which is why adoption rate is not directly comparable between the two formats. If you're counting the PS3 as a BD player, the adoption rate for BD can be much lower than HD-DVD and still be selling more overall discs.

joeblow's numbers of 60% of 360 owners having HDTV seems to disagree with that statement, it seems there is more crossover than you think.

And who are the people these profiteers are going to be selling to? People with a large amount of disposible income. If someone is able to afford paying a premium just to get a PS3 a little earlier, they probably have enough disposible income to afford HDTV and BD movies as well.

Also, you're ignoring the older gaming contingent, which is large.

According to this site, in 2006:

- The average game player is 33 years old and has been playing games for 12 years.

- The average age of the most frequent game buyer is 40 years old. In 2006, 93 percent of computer game buyers and 83 percent of console game buyers were over the age of 18.

A sizable portion, I'd say. People online in forums who talk about this are in the minority. The majority of people will either get their info from major press sources, which haven't really dissed BD, or from salespeople in stores. The Popular Science review posted is probably a lot of people's first exposure to negativity about BD, and even that article reccommends sitting out completely instead of purchasing HD-DVD.

He's going to buy a $700 car? That thing's going to be a junker.

The PS2 was marketed as both a DVD and games machine over here. Why should it be different for the PS3? Overhead (margins) is precisely why I mentioned having to find the right price. Movies will be included in bundles.