Amazon offers Blu-ray and HD-DVD titles for pre-order

If you pre-ordered your Toshiba HD-DVD player then don’t forget to throw down for some flix, kid. Amazon.com now has HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc titles available for pre-order too. Of the 60 or so titles listed, at the moment only "Chronos" actually shows any details calling for a drop date of 14 March at $22.49 in both BD and HD-DVD formats (hey, wasn't Blu-ray supposed to cost more?). And in case you’re wondering, the same title is available on straight-up DVD for $9.98 giving you an idea of what that hi-def fix is gonna cost ya.

[Thanks, Eric]

[Cheek @ Jan 30th 2006 9:02AM]

The production costs are higher, but they probably can't afford setting a higher consumer price.

$22.49 actually isn't that bad for a 'next-gen'.

[John Doe @ Jan 30th 2006 9:10AM]

This article is just stupid. Do you know how many factors change the price of a movie? How well did it do in the theatres? How long as it been on the market? What content is included on the disk? How well is it selling?
Are they first gen media where the production house may be eating the cost of the media? Anyone remember the insane deals you could get on DVD's when they first came out? Buy a player get 4 free. Buy 3 get one free. Buy 1 get 1 free. Save up your disney "bucks" and get a movie free. Etc.

I think someone needs to grow a clue.

[Paul @ Jan 30th 2006 9:37AM]

John Doe.. your comments are just stupid. If you look at current releases on DVD they are generally all the same cost, regardless of how good they did in the theatre, same goes for content.

Yeh you could get an insane deal with free DVD's, but nowadays you can pick up a DVD player for not much more than the cost of a DVD itself.

Someone else needs to grow a clue - you.

[Greg Perkins @ Jan 30th 2006 9:39AM]

Well, they've been showing Cronos on inhd for over a year now, it's even on this week. It looks great as do all the imax movies they show.

[Dan @ Jan 30th 2006 9:41AM]

But you have to see the key difference here: We aren't moving from casette to cd or VHS to DVD. Manufacturers were relatively secure knowing after people saw the benefits they would be willing to pay the costs to upgrade, not to mention the money they would save- they can charge the same amount for a DVD as they would a VHS but the production costs are far less. This is not true with the jump from DVD to HDVD/Blue Ray, so I think its pretty fair to say that for this generation, we are seeing pretty good prices.

Also, how much a dvd costs at *release* has nothing to do with how good the movie was, how long its been on the market, or its content. That price will eventually drop due to these factors, but allmost all production houses release DVDs at a set price to get all the first-comers to spend the most money possible.

[Ray Morris @ Jan 30th 2006 12:01PM]

I'm (nicely) surprised at that $22.49 price, if they aren't 'introductory' prices. Either way, they will still always cost more than standard DVDs, simply because of the 'quality'. Though, $22.49 for something unproven, that could still go under, it's better to wait and see if, at least one, just might!

[Nobuyuki Idei @ Jan 30th 2006 3:17PM]

It'll be interesting to see how many of the Blu-ray movies will be in 1080p. Like non-anamorphic DVDs, non-1080p won't sell at all, because the early adopters care about this.

[John Doe @ Jan 31st 2006 12:56AM]

Um Paul. Playback hardware has NOTHING to do with how much it costs to press a DVD and you obviously haven't taken a stroll down Best Buy or any other consumer electronic store. DVD prices range from $5.99 to 29.99 to $130 for a series. We'll also ignore the fact that not all DVD's are created equal. Some of those uber cheap DVD's you can tell were made on cheap manufacturing hardware. Go out and buy Paramount's Star Trek movies and take a look at the disk quality. The quality of the disks degraded after about Star Trek III.

Grow a brain you moron.

[lol @ john doe @ Feb 7th 2006 12:39AM]

heh you're funny john. i think you make a good point, but you just ruined any shred of credability due to your rash immature reaction. :)

[Joe Average @ Feb 27th 2006 7:14AM]

Lions Gate has announced actual retail pricing for there Blu Ray movies as 24.95.
Add in the fact that Sonys catalog selections are 17.95 wholesale, or the same price as sd dvd in 1997, and I would say that Blu Ray not only has far stronger support from studios like Fox, Disney, Pixar, Columbia Tri Star, Touchstone Pictures, Miramax,Lions Gate, MGM ect, that it would be a dumb move to support hd dvd at all at this point with its less than 40% studio support.
Blu Ray is clearly the supported format for the next generation.