[Unfiltered]

Originally Posted by dgrycan

I just started doing some more buying of media these past couple of weeks after a bit of a slow period. I also took some time to check out some of the local retailers to see what's going on - and what I see is retailers taking the steps to give BD the best chance for successful adoption. (Obviously they lose big time in a Digital Download world where they get no cut.)

Walmart seems to be remodelling their home media areas, they have the new Magnavox player at less than $300, and they seem to be coming down on prices.

Best Buy still has some work to do on their pricing (Fox isn't helping them with their ridiculous MSRPs, either), but every once and a while there are some good deals to be had - especially for new adopters. Seeing "300" on the shelf for $16.99 is going to open my eyes. While I was browsing yesterday, I noticed several people flipping around the "R" area of the section. Everyone was looking for the new Rambo movie, and they were informed that every copy the store received on Tuesday was gone before 3PM that day.

I think the timing of three things back-to-back is going to really propel Blu-ray into next year. The first will be Paramount and Universal officially joining the party. This will finally solidify the format. Second will be the holiday push, which will not only see cheaper hardware, I expect, but also exclusive HD presentations of what looks to be a blockbuster summer of movies - maybe better than last year as far as selection goes. Finally, after the holidays, the eyes of the country will be on HDTVs once again in February, when the switchover to digital occurs. This will be the ideal time for people that decide to invest in a new set over a converter box to grab a nice HD player to go with it. The bundle options will be extensive.

The economic trends aside, areas like this seem to be able to buck the majority, as people see real value is buying a movie for $20 to watch multiple times comparied to a trip to the movie theater at quadruple the price for a family of four with goodies at the concession.

Werd.