Microsoft has decided to slash the price of its Xbox 360 HD-DVD add-on.
Microsoft’s decision to cut the price of the add-on from $179.99 to $129.99, may be a last ditch effort to stave off what could possibly be the inevitable — Blu-ray winning the format wars. Warner Bros.’ decision to go Blu-ray exclusive has been seen by many as the final nail in the coffin for HD-DVD. But Toshiba has remained stubborn has decided to do one last marketing push by slashing the prices of its HD-DVD players and even putting up an ad in the Superbowl.
With Microsoft following Toshiba’s tactic, what is happening is really just the opposite in my perspective. Instead of making it look like a fight, the price cuts now just look like a fire sale to unload inventory before they decide to throw in the proverbial towel.
Personally, I think only the diehard HD-DVD fan or those who never read any tech news on the net will be lured by these offers. Me? I’ve extended my Xbox 360 policy on the HD-DVD — I’m not even going to go near one.
Blu-Ray winning is a little annoying as it means I will have to drop a grand on a media PC to get around the region encoding.
I don’t really want Sony to win the format wars this time around and I certainly don’t want DVD to vanish anytime soon. I won’t be buying an HD-DVD player for my Xbox 360 either!