Now that the demise of the HD DVD format has been announced, it was only a matter of time before crazy low clearance prices hit the Web. Similar things are happening in Japan, and now it seems that the Xbox 360 HD DVD player is selling pretty well there.
According to AkibaBlog (not always safe for work), the reduced HD DVD drive for Xbox 360 made it to number 4 in the game category of Amazon Japan as of February 29th. Of course, the new price of 4,980 yen (about $48) didn't hurt things.
Mr. Geek says that the player is selling pretty well in the stores, too. Asobit Game City in Akihabara put up a point of purchase message that said "Thanks, We won't forget about you. Appreciation to Toshiba, it's 4,980yen." How sweet! A store staffer said, "we got them just for fun, but actually, we sold them pretty well."
He also says that Akibaoo 1st Branch also sold it "as a loser." Aw, that's mean!
Have any of you sought out a cheap HD DVD drive for your Xbox 360? Do you think the movies will become coveted collectables like many Laserdiscs have? Or is even $50 still too much for you?
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Dale North is Destructoid's Editor-In-Chief, a founding editor, and specialist in Japanese gaming. An accomplished musician, Dale was reporting from Japan during the earthquakes of 2011. Luckily, he got the fuck out alive and is home in America now with his wife and beloved corgi, Einstein. Dale is also a co-founder of Destructoid's sister anime site
Japanator. Likes Corgis, Sega Saturn, PSP, iPhone, Photographic tools.
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Contest:
11:02 AM on 03.01.2008
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I'll buy Blu-Ray when the players are finally universally upgradeable and don't run the risk of being outdated, but until then I've got all I need... Batman Begins on HD-DVD!
Also, I have a great deal on Beta-Max if anyone's interested
If I'm not mistaken, as long as you have your 360 hooked up via the VGA cable (the only way to get 1080p via the HD-DVD addon), then your 360's DVD game drive will upconvert.
As far as this goes...I bought maybe 5 total HD-DVDs, the rest were free during deals and all. I don't want to be left trying to find a player in a few years, so I've dumped all mine on ebay...my main source of anger being the Matrix Trilogy I bought as that was the highest purchase I made. And I'm picky and want all my movies same-format anyways.
Hopefully no one buys one anytime soon.
Yes, discontinued magically means the same as sucking.
Total fanboy BS. Blu-Ray winning does not mean HD-DVD player and movies suddenly break down.
I bought one for $50 at Futureshop on the 27'th (the price listed on the website).
also, microsoft is a quitter.
The PS3 is the only upgradeable Blu-Ray player, which is nice. But I'm not ready to buy a PS3 either. I think the PS3 launch definitely suffered because of the inclusion of Blu-Ray and the fact that some games have to be installed because the Blu-Ray read time is so slow is laughable. But, when they put in faster Blu-Ray drives (like they put in faster UMD drives with the PSP slim), I think that will be a really nice unit.
Honestly though, the PS3 is the only Blu-Ray player worth purchasing right now.
No dice, Toshiba.
Tell that to Beta-Max fanboys, chump.
Beta movie still work, assuming the tape didn't degrade (which is less likely with digital optical media.
And beta tapes did beat VHS in commercial recording, since quality was more important than length (sing they wold be bought in bulk anyway).
It's not about any actual qualities of the format. It's about gloating and name calling. Blu-Ray could rot and die as long as its supporters get to rub in HD-DVD losing first.
I want it.