Me too. I plan on buying one someday, but I bought this thing 90% for movies so Sony's strategy is working to an extent.

I bought and opened Resistance Fall of Man...then ebayed it a few days later. It wasnt that great.

Im sure Sony cant be successful with the PS3 being solely a BD player.

They are making money selling games and movies so as long as we buy media they will make back their money on PS3 hardware. In general people will probably buy both movies and games so I think Sony's strategy is sound if they can move enough hardware. That is the sketchy thing right now.

Well, I have one PS3 game (Resistance) and I actually have been enjoying it... The only other game I am even interested in is God of War 2 and thats for the PS2. Either than that, its all 360 games in the near future Im looking forward to.

Is this accurate? They certainly make some money back on games, but I don't think they make money back on BD movies. If they are, then their strategy is further fundamentally flawed. If they are subsidizing PS3 with BDs, then that means without subsidization, BDs would be cheaper, and that could translate into cheaper discs for the masses which could put the BD format as a whole out of reach for HD DVD.

Additionally, that just further screws over non-PS3 owning BD owners.

I don't think that BD sales subsidize PS3 losses like BD games.

This is the entire reason for the format war. Sony is the majority partner behind the Blu-ray technology and gets a big piece of the licensing fee on every movie title. Not only that they are going to make even more money on every Sony studio release sold.

That is not what I was asking. The "pay for the blades, get the razor for free" model that most game consoles, and most certainly PS3, use is that the harware is sold at a loss, and the software is a little more expensive to recoup those losses.

Another poster mentioned that Sony is taking a bath on PS3 (they are) and that those buying the machine as a lower-cost BD deck, buying just BD films, no games don't help Sony recoup the cost.

You replied that every BD sold helps subsidize PS3, and that is not correct.

I do however see your point that every BD sold does help Sony as a whole, but there certainly are net losses in this "war" so far for Sony, BD and PS3. The gains made by the license fee for BD are most certainly negated by the triple digit losses Sony is taking on every PS3 (not to mention all those HDTVs they gave away with PS3 in Europe last week).

They need a few exclusive killer apps for PS3 to turn that ship around.

I see what you are saying. For just the gaming division the movie sales are not going to help supplement the PS3 loses. However, I think the entire reason for them putting the Blu-ray drive in there was for the big picture of driving movie and game sales. I'm betting Sony tries to spin movie sales to help cover PS3 losses even though those profits will go to their home video division.

With them losing $250+ on every console sold it will take a long, long time for them to break even on PS3 consoles movie sales or not.

I agree that it helps Sony as a whole. BUT, I also think that the success of the PS3 helps the success of BD. I DONT think that the success of BD necessarily helps the PS3 (financially).

Like Qui Gon Jim said, they need some killer apps to push PS3s out the stores. BD movies alone are not going to make the PS3 succeed.

Universal is supposed to begin re-releasing catalog combos as (cheaper) non-combo HD DVDs in June.

http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=64489

They are using 15GB discs and leaving off extras that were only on the DVD side. Great.

I understand your comment, but I also see a good thing. It makes the movies cheaper and can help the format by offering a lower priced alternative.

Yeah, its kind of a mixed blessing. Glad these will be down in price, but why 15GB discs and missing extras?

Who would have thunk it, the first re-release coming from Universal. I thought Sony would be first, but I guess Universal really isn’t that much better.

In fairness, though, these aren't "double dip" re-releases -- I mean, unless someone just really wants art on one side of the disc, there's no incentive whatsoever for an owner of the current release to buy one of these HD DVDs a second time.

I'm glad they are phasing out the combo catalog titles. Really no need for those. Too bad they are dropping extras. But in the case of Army of Darkness, it won't really matter.

I agree. In the SD DVD world this is the equivalent of a single disc follow-on to a two disc SE. The idea is to take an already released title and put out a cheaper version to sell to casual customers, as opposed to the fans of the movie who already have bought the SE. I haven't got a problem with this.

Double dipping is putting out a second release with better quality or features than the first release in order to entice fans to buy it again. Big difference.

I can't see this as a good thing.

1. It's only $5 (retail) cheaper
2. It loses the flexiblity of having a DVD there (which is probably worth $5 to most people with portable players, multiple non-HD rooms, etc.)
3. It loses extras.

And probably most importantly, it CONFUSES an already small and confused market. Seriously, with the degree of consumer confusion over DVD/HD/BD and the small number of titles out there... do we really need two different versions of Army of Darkness on the shelves?

I'm picturing the shelves in a few months... with DVDs, HD-DVDs, BDs, combo discs, combo disc titles without the DVD side, and the Warner HD/BD hybrids. Aren't most consumers just going to throw up their hands in disgust and walk away empty-handed?

Agreed with bboisvert, I like my combo discs. I'll gladly pay the extra $5 so I can watch them in any room and take them with me on my laptop. Extras aren't really a big deal for me, but I do appreciate that they're more complete.

I might have missed it, but are they going to release combos and non-combos for new releases from here on out or what?

I think combos are good for new releases, but extremely bad for catalog as many people already have the DVD counterparts and will less likely pay again for the same content they might have already purchased.

Personally, I hate combos because of price and that's another reason that the masses will not adopt them. The U.S. has always been price sensitive and I don't see combos helping the situation.

found this at http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=830703: and http://forums.highdefdigest.com/showthread.php?t=5726

First Look Pictures Announces Exclusive HD DVD Support

First Look Pictures has announced their first HD DVD title, "The Contract" with John Cusack and Morgan Freeman. The title will release on 7/24, the same day as it's DVD counterpart. It will be priced at $32.99 on HD DVD. First Look is not releasing the title on Blu-Ray. Since Millenium Pictures & NuImage purchased First Look earlier this year First Look will not be distributing all of their titles, instead of other studios such as Universal & MGM that handled their titles in the past. Last year on of Millenium's biggest titles was The Black Dahlia. With over 20 films set for theatrical release in 2007 First Look could become another big exclusive studio for HD DVD. First Look also has a huge selection of catalog titles they could release on HD DVD as well.

You can see the specs for "The Contact" at HD-DVDWorld.Com. First Look has not confirmed special features and audio options yet, but it is expected that the title will have Making-of & Behind-the-Scenes features along with Dolby Digital Plus surround sound.

$32.99?!

Cool. I guess that's why we never saw a d&d for The Black Dahlia.

That is the suggested retail price. It is $23.08 on their web page.