I just went into my local ZAVVI store (was Virgin) and asked the chap behind the counter where all the HD-DVD `s had gone "All been sent back to head office as they aren`t made any more" Idiot I know, but to pull "all" of them from the shelves I want to know what they will do with them? Do you reckon they will send back to their sellers on a small fee for returns?
same here in italy. impossible to see even one HDDVD player around! only a couple of x360 add-ons. it's almost like HDDVD never existed....
mixed with irony but same here, as karsten already said, it is like hddvd never existed...all the retailers and so on are sending ALL their HDDVDs back...i thought i could grab some for cheap, but noooo
All the film companies distribution points will have gone into panic thinking "Shit, all these really expensive HD DVD films are going to be available for next to nothing....hang on, let's make sure we can still release them on Blu-ray and not get humped!" Ergo...gone off the shelves pending re-release! Expect the vast majority to be destroyed and written off the companies books.
@ madhatter256: Silly me. @ Parris: That's exactly right, the actual productions costs for the HD discs are low enough that it only makes sense to trash them all (at comparatively little loss) and seek profit in repressing and reselling the films on Blu-ray. ~Krelian
Those of you who are happy to see HD DVD eliminated, there's an interesting article over at www.avs.com showing that the prices of Blu Ray standalone units is now going up thanks to the fact that all competition has been eliminated from the HD optical disc segment. I for one do not see Blu Ray ever gaining widespread support from the general public. Instead, it will co-exist as sort of a modern day LaserDisc along with standard DVD. That said, you'll never see me buy or collect any Blu ray products...I refuse to support Sony in any fashion. That rotten company needs to be buried as far as I'm concerned.
Actually, there's a feature on engadget today about a copy of Bee Movie which got through into retail channels and supposedly fetched upwards of $400 on eBay. For all intents and purposes, Bee Movie was pressed and packaged and awaiting shipment but got pulled at the last minute prior to the release date. Rumors abound that a few copies made it to some stores but I personally haven't seen any myself. Wouldn't mind snagging a copy one day though.
I think there is some kind of deal going on where retailers can send back the discs and trade them in for blu-ray equivalents or cash back. It was apparently set up to ease retailers concerns about potentially supporting a dead format and both the blu-ray and HD DVD groups offered the guarantee.
Modern Day Laser Disc? I know in Japan some people still buy laser discs, but I haven't seen one for sale in the united states since the mid 90's, and that was just for karaoke.
well at least in Germany, Amazon carries a stack of HD DVDs for cheap. http://www.amazon.de/gp/feature.htm..._7?ie=UTF8&plgroup=1&ie=UTF8&docId=1000153763 most of them <10 EUR. Well under DVD pricing. tubo
i knew it! :icon_bigg that's pretty crazy. at least it was for Bee Movie. That movie was hysterical. Highly recommended. i wonder what other HD-DVD movies were produced but not released...
I saw last week that the futureshop ad mentioned BeeMovie on HD-DVD, then again...those ads are printed months in advance.. Interestingly, this week, it lists that I Am Legend is getting an HD-DVD release this week 0_o
They are selling Bee Movie on HD DVD in the local Walmart for $20. So I am guessing this got an official release. There were loads in a special display box. I saw them this afternoon.
