Xbox 360 HD DVD player sales rise 1,000%

by Dustin Burg { Aug 2nd 2007 at 9:00AM }

We just learned what happens when you discount the price on the Xbox 360 HD DVD player and throw in five free movies. Our conclusion, they sell more than they did before. Looking through Amazon.com's sales rank movers and shakers, the Xbox 360 HD DVD player's sales increased over 1,000% since the $20 price drop. Who needs economics 101 when you've got Amazon.com. And if you're looking to cash in on this super sweet deal, give your local Best Buy a try, some stores are offering it for $149.

Tags: hddvd, hddvdplayer, xbox360hddvd

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Boff @ Aug 2nd 2007 9:08AM

I'm still waiting to see what's happening with the Video Marketplace in the UK before I make a decision on the HD-DVD drive.

My mate said the other day that he saw the drive for £100 but half the problem is I'm not really one for buying films, just renting them.

And Amazon (.co.uk) aren't doing HD-DVD rentals yet...

Neeko @ Aug 2nd 2007 9:11AM

Am i the only one who thinks payign $30 for a movie is to expensive. Ill wait till HD or BR drop to DVD prices before i jump in. IAM CHEAP DAMNIT.

BrianM @ Aug 2nd 2007 9:11AM

Holy hell.. Good job

DjDATZ @ Aug 2nd 2007 9:20AM

Meh...with the XBLVM promised to come to Canada this fall, I'll be getting my HD movies from there...and not HD DVD. Plus, I'm like Boff...I don't really buy movies...I rent them or go see them in theatres...OR just download them...

edhe @ Aug 2nd 2007 9:31AM

Boff -> lovefilm.com / movietyme.com

How i'm seeing the 360 play out is that with the hd dvd you have the format but the XBLVM will provide content that's signed up to bluray (Disney..) albeit in 720p.

I want an HD format, i want to watch films at the highest rest my TV can muster.. just hurry up about sorting out the stupid 'war'.

Grant @ Aug 2nd 2007 9:30AM

to be honest, 1,000% raise on amazon really isn't that big when a price drop happens.

ususally when it's a video game perhipheral and something like this happens, it reaches the 5,000 or more level.

Then again, if the player was already selling well, i guess that would dwarf the numbers and my comment is useless. ohhh well.

CrazedCow @ Aug 2nd 2007 9:36AM

it doesn't mean that they're selling 1000% more, it's just determined by how it went up on sales rank. read the thing at the bottom of the movers and shakers index. it's at 16 but it was at 181, which means that it increased 165 sales ranks. since it is at 16, 165/6*100% = 1031%.

still though, going up that many places means the sales jumped enormously. for something to be at #16 on amazon it must be selling like hotcakes.

Boss Tempo @ Aug 2nd 2007 9:35AM

The HD Drive is awesome. I netflix HD movies, buy them used for less than 10 bucks or purchase new (like 300 for instance - just badass) for normal DVD prices. Not sure where you go to pay 30 bucks for them, but you're either not looking hard enough or getting ripped off. Plus the extra features smoke BluRay DVDs ten fold.

RUSKULL @ Aug 2nd 2007 9:48AM

DjDATZ, where did you hear that XBLVM is coming to Canada this fall?

Dead Insomnia @ Aug 2nd 2007 10:03AM

I just purchased it and I wish I would had done it sooner! HD is awsome, I actually would rather watch a movie at home now, then at the movies. I picked mine up at Sams club for $120.00. Call and ask before you go because I belive its only select Sams.

Dmitri @ Aug 2nd 2007 10:04AM

The move to canada for xblvm as well as europe was announced at the last e3, not even 3 weeks ago

Iced_Eagle @ Aug 2nd 2007 10:06AM

I bought this yesterday at Best Buy for $150 :) So now my HD collection consists of 300 and King Kong.

It will soon have The Rundown, Tomb Raider, The Chronicles of Riddick, U-571, and Constantine. I can't wait!

LordOfChaosTM @ Aug 2nd 2007 10:22AM

Yes! No price drop in the UK, and no free DVDs!

Hooarah!

Espiox @ Aug 2nd 2007 10:28AM

"My mate said the other day that he saw the drive for £100 but half the problem is I'm not really one for buying films, just renting them.

And Amazon (.co.uk) aren't doing HD-DVD rentals yet..."

Use LOVEFiLM (www.lovefilm.co.uk). They're great and do both HD DVD and Blu-Ray rentals.

Also, yes the drive is £99.99 in the UK. Or at Gamestation anyhow. Well worth the cash if you have the TV to match.

h0mi @ Aug 2nd 2007 10:38AM

Hopefully this will lead to more HDDVD sales and even out those Nielsen ratios a bit, but MS would need to sell at least (another) 100k of these to make this kind of dent.

Boff @ Aug 2nd 2007 10:45AM

@6 & 14: Thanks for the info, I know Lovefilm do them (and they've got quite a few too) but I left Lovefilm about 6 months ago and went back to Amazon cos I was never getting the films or games that were ANYWHERE NEAR the top of my list. My mate and I joined at the same time and paid exactly the same, he always got his #1 and honestly it felt like someone at Lovefilm had it in for me!

So it's Amazon and Boomerang instead.

And now out of principle I won't go back! (Yes, cut off my nose to spite my face.)

bigshynepo @ Aug 2nd 2007 11:28AM

Don't waste your money guys, you can't even enjoy the full features of HD-DVD on this add-on and HD-DVD seems to be losing the format war as we speak...
X-Box is talking about 45nm chipsets for '09, by then we'll see HD-DVD included or a Blu-Ray add-on accessory.

ymmv @ Aug 2nd 2007 11:27AM

I still don't see why you'd want to support a format that has only 50% of the movie industry behind it (compared with the 90% backing that Blu-Ray has).

If you want to see the 100 most popular movies of whatever year, there's a 50% chance it will appear on HD-DVD while Blu-Ray fans have a 90% chance. The only reason it's not 100% is because Universal is holding out. If Universal changes its policy (which they may well do, since Blu-Ray is outselling HD-DVD 2 to 1), there's absolutely no reason at all to back HD-DVD.

Cardshark @ Aug 2nd 2007 11:28AM

Well, the way I see it is that since this is so inexpensive, it will not matter if blu-ray wins.

The worst that can happen is that you can't get fresh new movies for your HD-DVD player.

Maybe by then a blu-ray player will actually be affordable.

Bobicus @ Aug 2nd 2007 11:55AM

Just got mine from Best Buy for 150...if you think watching 300 in 1080p isn't worth it then you haven't seen it.

Jared @ Aug 2nd 2007 1:03PM

@ Cardshark:

EXACTLY! I'm enjoying HD DVD movies in absolutely brilliant 1080i and love it! Who cares if blu-ray wins!

When/if they do I'll be the first in line at "whereeverthefuck" big box retailer (that is NOT Wal-Mart or Sam's)to get all the $4.99 HD DVD I can get my grubby little hands on.

rob @ Aug 2nd 2007 1:50PM

anyone who says they will just get there HD movies off xbox live are not gonna get the same quality as HD-DVD. the picture is much crisper and sharper then anything on marketplace, plus your gonna get better sound on HD-DVD

Fezmid @ Aug 2nd 2007 2:03PM

@17: "If Universal changes its policy (which they may well do, since Blu-Ray is outselling HD-DVD 2 to 1), there's absolutely no reason at all to back HD-DVD."

First, Universal has been reiterating over and over again that they're not going Blu.

Second, BD is NOT outselling HD DVD 2:1; they're pretty much neck-and-neck. BD had an advantage at the start of the year because there weren't many HD DVDs being released, but that has changed and so has the ratio - it's roughly 50/50 at this point.

Also, HD DVD actually has MORE studio support than Blu-Ray. According to DVD Empire, there are 29 studios supporting HD DVD and only 26 supporting BD. And even if BD did have more support, the number of movies released is also very even -- 291 for BD, 282 for HD DVD (roughly).

While Fox and Disney may claim that they're exclusively backing BD, check out how many movies they've released. Fox hasn't had one since February. Disney has maybe 6 or 7 released. That's hardly a ringing endorsement for BD.

And regardless of whether BD or HD DVD (or my prediction, both) win the war, for $180 (with 6 free movies), what's the problem? The format war will last at least another year or two so I think you'll get your $180 value out of it. :)

D. Gray @ Aug 2nd 2007 2:05PM

This is included in the Best Buy "Xbox 360 HD DVD Bundle" description:

"Make the move to wireless, as the console is built to support both wireless controllers and networking"

Is this misleading, or is it just me?

BeyondtheTech @ Aug 2nd 2007 5:07PM

Percentages can be misleading. Who's to know if they only sold 3 HDDVD drives last month? A 1000% increase means they sold 33 this month. Big whoop. :)

Zrolimit @ Aug 2nd 2007 6:55PM

@18.

Wow you could say,"don't support Sony's format because you can't enjoy the full features of Blu-ray and NONE of their players support it."

And exactly what features am I not enjoying on my add-on??? Hmmm...I still think the features outnumber what Blu-ray promised.

GL @ Aug 2nd 2007 8:58PM

Fezmid,

Did do you even know the world sales of Blu-ray vs HD DVD? And no, not dvdempire either. Take a look at the monthly sales. Not the weekly.

Next, it's interesting how you say that Universal will never release on blu-ray. But you fail to mention that Sony, Disney, Fox will never release on HD DVD (they are BDA board members). The reason that Disney and Fox have few titles is because they are ramping up releases for the holidays. And THAT'S a RINGING ENDORSEMENT! Ding, ding, ding! :D

Next, regarding the studio support. You might want to check which studios are listed for HD DVD. I'll give you a hint.

Warmart, IBM, and Dell are a tiny bit more significant than say, Quickie Mart, ADI Tech, and Joe's Computer company.

Fezmid @ Aug 2nd 2007 10:48PM

@GL: "Warmart, IBM, and Dell are a tiny bit more significant than say, Quickie Mart, ADI Tech, and Joe's Computer company."

Wow -- you're a moron if you think Walmart, IBM, and Dell are studios. *laugh*

And talk about pure speculation on Disney and Fox. First it was waiting for BD+ (extra DRM) to be finalized, then it was waiting for profile 1.1, now it's waiting for Xmas.

If you want to believe LIES, then go for it, but BD isn't outselling HD DVD 2:1 worldwide or US-wide. Last I heard (back when BD was selling a lot earlier this year because there were no new HD DVD releases), BD had sold something like 1.5 million disks compared to HD DVD's 1.1 million disks. Since the sales of HD DVD have picked up tremendously since then, there's no way it's a 2:1 ratio.

But again, believe what you want.

compvter @ Aug 4th 2007 2:10PM

It is good news that prize is dropping... it means blu-ray camp has to rethink their prizes. i for one dont want to pay over 100£ for device which could be useless in few years and can´t write. although i really would consider this if renting wasn´t the problem (i dont live in uk).