200°

Blu-ray prices drop at retail

Blu-ray Disc new release pricing is on the slide at retail, hovering at an average of $26 so far in 2009, according to Adams Media Research, as retailers try to find the right carrot to dangle for the thriftiest consumers in years.

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videobusiness.com
Unicron5540d ago

God... I love BluRay. I've actually RE-purchased a few films that warrant it (Matrix Trilogy, Pirates Trilogy... bring on LotR EE and Watchmen DC!)

All they really need to do is drive those prices down and keep the transfer quality high. Next up... the Terminator 2 Directors Cut (what can I say, I love the extra scenes a ton).

xlx-russ_925540d ago

bring LOTR to Blu-ray , and 10 seasons of Stargate SG1.

Cajun Chicken5540d ago

Things'll start booming as soon as Star Wars the original trilogy comes out on Blu-Ray. Bound to happen.

KruLLit5540d ago

Lucas released the Star Wars trilogy in DVD not too long ago, so I don't think the BR releases will come in the next 2 years.

harrisk9545540d ago

I have a huge BR collection and I rarely spend over $20 for a movie. Amazon constantly has deals like buy one/get one or 50% off.... They are also cheaper at Costco... and I was in Walmart last week and saw a bunch of older titles on sale for $10.... what I have noticed is that the prices of new release DVD titles is going up.... DVDs like Dark Knight, Iron Man, the new Indiana Jones, etc. were retailing for about $23... only $5 less than full price on their BR counterparts (which, by the way, no one in the media is reporting on)... Even Blockbuster is now selling pre-rented BRs for $16! And anyone that remembers the early days of DVDs knows how expensive they were ($50 or more for some titles!!)... any talk of the high price of BR discs is complete and utter BS if you simply look around.

VenomCarnage895540d ago

BJs pretty much the same as costco, just not as well known i dont think, no costco around here but i mean the day The Dark Knight came out i got it for $21 at BJs on blu ray! couldnt believe that deal thats like $5 cheaper then dvds at rip off best buy and any other store like it.

Mikerra175540d ago

I cant agree with you more, but its smart on their part, if they release the hobbit(which I thought would be in the works by now) then they will release the Blu ray of those, it is smart because while they market the hobbit they will have an excuse to market the bluray in the commercial.

about star wars, why this hasnt gone to bluray i have no idea its really rediculus

Unicron5540d ago

Star Wars? Because MORE changes are being made, I'm not joking. They have footage on one of the DVDs... Sith I think, of Yoda puppet in Ep 1 being replaced with the Ep 3 CG Yoda.

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 5540d ago
II Necroplasm II5540d ago (Edited 5540d ago )

You can buy older classic movies on Bluray for around the same price as an older movie on DVD. and that's cool. anything else I just get off of Ebay with much better prices than retail.

^_^ Screw FYE. Target you're cool though

nnotdead5540d ago

ive seen a bunch of older movies on blu ray for $10 at walmart. i picked up Reservoir Dogs for that price.

dcbronco5539d ago

Blu-Ray has come close to that new yet. $10 is still more than twice the price. And listen to what one of the retailers said. The studios were expecting larger margins on Blu-ray. (Translation) They were looking to rape the public and pad their pockets to cover the losses on all the crap they green light every year.

Theoneneo815540d ago

yeah Amazon has a great blu ray sale right now the 2 disc set that doesnt include the digital copie is at 16 Both Narnia Movies are around 25 i think. anyway next movies i want to hear announced on blu ray

Toystory 1/2
Finding Nemo
Lord of the Rings
incredibles

II Necroplasm II5540d ago (Edited 5540d ago )

Lord of the Rings on Bluray?

That would be sooooooo nice

Panthers5540d ago

Its supposed to be coming this year. No word on Star Wars though. That wont be out for a long time I think.

I really want Bad Boys 2. Amazing movie.

LoydX-mas5540d ago

prices drop when people are not buying.

Dave20015540d ago

I guess that explains the price drop for the xbox 360 then!:p

LoydX-mas5540d ago

Actually, that is true.
Since MS dropped the price, 360 sales have been breaking their own records.

But, there is a major difference when the retailer HAS to drop the price to entice purchasing and the manufacturer telling the retailers this is what the new MSRP is.

When MSRP drops, the retailer usually sees the same drop in their price but with this Blu-ray price drop, I highly doubt the studio is dropping their price.

FPShooter5540d ago

in 2008 over 36 million blu-ray titles were sold up 300% increase from 07. world wide sales on pace for 100 million in 09.

www.blu-ray.com/news

according to this sales have been steadily increasing. but nice try.

Mikerra175540d ago

they lowered the price because as the years go own technology and these disks dont cost as much, do you remember when dvd came out

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 5540d ago
OOG5540d ago

you can usually get great deals on amazon for blu rays

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50°

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Here's our guide to the best GPUs for V Rising in 2024, now that the game is out of early access - the best from Nvidia, AMD, and even Intel.

70°

MSI releases new RTX 4060 Ti bundle that fans of Monster Hunter will love

MSI celebrates the 20th anniversary of Monster Hunter with this unique bundle that features a matching RTX 4060 Ti and game controller.

290°

Why Xbox believes it must cut costs and close studios

Companies, particularly public companies like Microsoft, need to grow.

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eurogamer.net
gold_drake1d 6h ago

i mean its pretty simple, they spent close to 30 billion in acquiring activision, they thought they'd make it bk no problem, and that didnt happen.

its just shit that because of MS's miscalculation alot of people lost their jobs.

Jingsing1d 3h ago

This is exactly what many people said would happen including the CMA and FTC. Lies lies and more lies and they allowed a $69 billion buy out to happen.

gold_drake1d 3h ago

oh yeh it was 70 billion. that was my bad haha even worse.

JackBNimble5h ago

MS has educated financial advisers, they knew there was little chance to recoup the 70billion just to break even on the Activision deal let alone whatever other nonsense is going on in MS.
This whole thing was to corner the market for leverage.

thesoftware7301d 3h ago (Edited 1d 2h ago )

gold,

You can't be serious, right?

Do you think that MS thought they would make 80bill in a year & Half? They haven't even released titles under MS yet, lol.

But in fact, that A/B revenue is already paying off, look at the last earnings call. That $80 billion is long-term money, my guy, no sane person/company would think they would make that back in any short-term situation, it's a long-term investment.

Let's play silly then. If MS's reason for laying off staff and closing studios was due(which it really was not) to the A/B deal, tell me what Sony's reason was for past studio closures, the recent 900-person layoffs, closing Sony London, shutting down Dreams, and closing Japan Studio? Zipper? Psygnosis? cuts at all their internal studios.

Keep in mind, you are claiming MS's reason is because of the A/B deal; please explain Sony's reason.

Hofstaderman1d 2h ago

You actually still defending them? Sheesh.....

gold_drake1d 2h ago

this is not a sony vs MS debate. dont make it something it isnt.

and of course not, but im pretty sure they thought they'd make more money after the deal. they didnt, and closed off some studios.

its pretty insane to think there is any other reason for the closure of studios in this case.

romulus231d 2h ago (Edited 1d 2h ago )

(It really was) due to the Activision Blizzard deal and the loss of physical sales due to gamepass. You keep bringing up Sony in all your posts about this, stop deflecting and trying to change the topic, this is about MS and what they are doing.

BehindTheRows1d 2h ago

Has nothing to do with Sony. Stay on topic.

notachance1d 2h ago

once in a while you see someone too invested in their make-believe console war that everything happened has to be connected to said war…

a bit of banter between fans is normal, this crusade you’re doing now isn’t.

Chevalier1d 1h ago

Wow idiotic. You bring up very old closures not that there haven't been recent ones from Playstations, but, seriously stop deflecting. This has NOTHING to do with Playstation.

Does Playstation got $3 trillion behind them and daddies wallet? No they don't so stop making a fool of yourself.

Xbox has never been profitable really and they just keep losing money so between their worst hardware sales, terrible 3rd party sales and now terrible 1st party sales.

Gamepass numbers that are no longer being announced shows their numbers after 3 years of missed targets has flatlined. Plus their recent gains up to 34 million were ONLY because they folded Gold members in too. Absolutely take your idiotic rhetoric out of here. Keep on topic without deflecting.

S2Killinit1d 1h ago

Ayayayay with these xbox/MS excuses.

Reaper22_20h ago

How dare you mention Sony! Everyone here knows when Sony closes a studio and lay off workers it was the right thing to do. Even when they bought Gaikai and fired almost everyone it was the right thing to do.

Gamers can be such hypocrites sometimes.

andy8519h ago

Is it? That's revenue not profit. Completely different.

fr0sty10h ago

The earnings call only showcased how dire the situation is... Even with ABK and Bethesda, they still couldn't make enough to keep investors happy, gamepass subs are stagnant, and hardware sales are tanking.

+ Show (7) more repliesLast reply 10h ago
thesoftware7301d ago (Edited 1d ago )

Drake,

"this is not a sony vs MS debate. dont make it something it isnt."

You are correct that it's not an MS Vs Sony Topic, but when exaggeration and imagination mix from a one-sided social group, similar examples are needed to ground radical thoughts; in this instance, the example was that shutting down 3,4,5, even 6 studios during a restructure/ buyout/acquisition is not some anomaly(it can suck) that has to be dissected or spell doom and gloom.

"But I'm pretty sure they thought they'd make more money after the deal. They didn't, and they closed off some studios."

But they did make more money, a lot, actually; the last earnings call showed a huge growth in profit, almost all due to A/B revenue.

"its pretty insane to think there is any other reason for the closure of studios in this case."

The fact that they did make money, kinda throws this out the window, and besides, you don't wake up and say, hey let's close a studio, you look at the output, you look at the dev as a whole, the long term and short term, you weigh it against all other studios and goals, you keep key members, ect..then you close if they are the weakest links...which by MS analysis they were.

Again, I will make a small Sony comparison, just so some of you can understand and see past the bias; Insomniac, ND, and Bungie have made some of the best games ever created, yet Sony saw fit to cut jobs in every of these studios, even tho Insomniac & ND are the biggest producers of PS games, leagues ahead better than Tango and Arkane, yet, they saw cuts, mind you, while being the TOP produces of PS first party. They were told to cut costs, and more jobs may be on the line, and Bungie is being threatened by a hostile Sony takeover. Put that in perspective, as I know that layoffs and dev closures are different, but if the best of the best is getting cut off, it is less than surprising, that lesser studios are closing.

@Cheva,
My response fits well with your comments as well. You even went on to prove that the dev closures are not just due to A/B acquisition. Then you point out Sony has less money than MS, inferring that MS should keep devs open that they see as lesser earners, while Sony having less money makes it okay to close them. lol...it doesn't work that way.

gold_drake1d ago

im not reading all of that. u have ur opinion, i have mine.

thats rly it.

but this aint sony vs ms.

ApocalypseShadow23h ago

You're trying to compare a 100 billion company to a company that has 3 TRILLION worth. SIE has to live or die on their own. And in turn, PlayStation has helped the main company again and again. Sony has to balance out what is working and not working in the company.

While Xbox has Daddy Warbucks footing the bill to keep the platform afloat. They have been bleeding money from Nvidia hardware in the OG Xbox, the RROD fiasco, the attempted 2013 DRM nonsense and the lies about being the most powerful console in the world and the losses of paying out millions to prop up a service hoping it catches on with enough subscribers to justify its existence.

They're not comparable if Xbox isn't allowed to live or die by its actions. It's subsidized. Revenue isn't profit. And if they were profiting on their own, they wouldn't be closing developers. If they were profiting, they wouldn't need Daddy Warbucks spending 80 to 100 billion buying up 3rd party publishers to sustain a loss leading platform.

They stopped announcing game sales, stopped announcing hardware sales, stopped announcing game pass subscribers, they are putting games on their competitors platforms but you're telling us that they are doing great even after killing jobs and closing developers at Xbox.

Stop drinking the Kool aid. You're drunk.

Chevalier14h ago

Again at which point did Playstation have a $3 trillion company shift the market with a giant purchase?

"But they did make more money, a lot, actually; the last earnings call showed a huge growth in profit, almost all due to A/B revenue."

Lol. No they didn't. Increased revenue was ONLY due to adding Activision Blizzard revenue in. Growth was only 1 percent. It's idiots like you that have no idea what they're talking about is why Xbox isn't better than it is. You guys just make excuses continually.

If Xbox got so much profit then why did they stop announcing hardware numbers? Why did they stop announcing Gamepass numbers? Oh right because they're NOT profitable. Their sales in every category has dropped off the face of the planet. It's why Spencer will be closing more studios and canceling upcoming projects too.

The Wood6h ago

How can they be profitable when they're not selling enough hardware, software or subs. You need take a seat on this one my friend unless you can prove you angles

jwillj2k45h ago

Sony didnt shut down the studios you mentioned after they made last of us or ratchet and clank or destiny. Cutting jobs is not equal to closing studios. Sony cuts are a candle in the sun of Microsoft’s closures.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 5h ago
WelkinCole19h ago

I am pretty sure MS knew this would happen and this was part of their plan. I mean if anyone with half a brain can see this happening I am pretty sure a multi billion company like MS knew this would happen

The whole strategy in buying Beth and Acti/Blizzard is for

1. Buy established games they can have under xbox because they have done a horrible job in building their portfolio internally for the past 15 years

2. Following from 1, try and boost xbox competitivenss against a dominat PS which MS after 3 tries still can't crack

3. Follolwing from 2, try and weaken Playstation dominance by taking out these massive multiplats from the PS

4. Following from 3, try and profit off from the PS domiance with selected games they will still have on the PS to make money like COD

5. Obviously get the IP's by buying them instead of creating them which again as I mentioned in number 1 they have been woeful in doing

None of these had anyting to do with keeping all the devs they accuried. MS has always been very shitty to Devs under them. Look at what happned to Bungie for example.

I believe MS in court truely mean it when they said they had to do something because PS was just too dominant. This was their last roll of the dice.

And from the looks of things. It has not panned out as MS had hoped. PS5 is still as dominant as ever and xbox is still behind. Worse still their MP's they got is not irreplaceable as they thought. Starfield? lol!. There have not been any major shift in momentum in this console war in their favor so now its time to start cutting their loses and it starts with the most expensive cost for any company. People.

Michiel198917h ago

for a comparison, sony laid of a bigger % of it's staff this year than ms, it's what companies sadly do nowadays. If you think with GP and Bethesda + acti aquisition they were looking for quick cash, you couldn't be more wrong. It hasn't even been a year, "they thought they'd make it bk no problem, and that didnt happen." shows you have 0 understanding of how a business operates.

thesoftware7304h ago

@ Michiel1989

Exactly this!

I'm reading these comments, and it's mesmerizing how off-base most of them are.

I posted a few comments above, and their rebuttals have nothing to do with the points that I presented; when they start doing that, I just ignore them because, at that point, they're debating all over the place.

Profchaos10h ago

30 more like 70 to 80 plus 7 for Bethesda

Tzuno5h ago

meanwhile everything turned woke an inevitably went downward, i'd say it serves them well if they promote such kind of approach, mwuahahahahahhh!

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 4h ago
anast1d 3h ago

They are going to use AI for a large portion of the game development process. Upper management need bonuses and the shareholders need more money. So, people will lose their jobs.

Skuletor1d 3h ago

Maybe they were already using AI to make business decisions, which would explain why they closed Hi-Fi Rush's studio, then said they need more games like Hi-Fi Rush not long after that announcement.

Crows901d 2h ago (Edited 1d 2h ago )

They shouldn't have bought any studios. Some is okay...but they went on a shopping spree...stupid

Einhander19721d 2h ago

The better question is why did Microsoft buy publishers for a service they were subsidizing they knew couldn't support.

And why are so many websites trying to make people feel sorry for Microsoft instead of truly criticizing the fact they are closing studios and killing jobs that would have been fine if Microsoft themselves hadn't gotten involved.

Quit feeling sorry for Microsoft and start feeling sorry for the industry and the all the gamers who are actually losing out.

THIS IS MICROSOFTS FAULT.

RNTody1d 1h ago

The first thing that happens after any major acquisition or merger is a consolidation of the whole new portfolio, which includes cutting any excess, bloat or portfolios that don't fit the larger MO of the big boy. So far, it's been par for the course with Microsoft and that's why gamers have been so against this acquisition. Tango Gameworks is the beginning. You think Microsoft wants to pay to keep small timers like Ninja Theory in business?

There is absolutely zero evidence to suggest that Microsoft will improve any of these studios, but plenty to suggest that they will get rid of what they don't need and hold onto the IP. The real agenda of the acquisition was always to acquire The Elder Scrolls, Diablo, Fallout, Call of Duty, Candy Crush etc. that will create millions in passive revenue stream for Microsoft regardless of where the games release. Microsoft simply wants their cut.

Because of Games Pass Microsoft has no interest in investing in new IP which is risky and requires creative talent they can neither nurture nor manage. Game Pass has also not grown in the way Microsoft expected it to, even post acquisitions. Therefore the logical thing to do, without serious money makers to release, is to cut as much cost as possible.

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