The other day while watching my high-definition copy of Blade Runner on my Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive, I received an Xbox Live message thanking me for keeping the dream alive. Oh come on, where else can you buy a copy of The Bourne Identity for $US2.39?
They called us foolish for supporting HD-DVD over Blu-ray, but who is laughing now? Other than them? Us! That’s who. While they struggle over whether or not to purchase their copy of the latest big film on Blu-ray for a $US10 premium over normal DVD, the Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive owners are laughing all the way to the bank, paying pennies for hit movies, as long as they’ve been out for longer than three years.
I picked up my Xbox 360 HD-DVD player a month before Microsoft discontinued the product, effectively surrendering to Blu-ray. I still believe that Blu-ray won on the merits of case colour rather than technical prowess. The translucent maroon HD-DVD cases never really did it for me.
Still, you can’t beat the prices. Those of you lucky enough to pick up an Xbox 360 HD-DVD player after they were discontinued got the hardware at a steal (I paid $US125). Even now, when other HD-DVD players leftover on Amazon are running upwards of $US200, you can score an Xbox 360 drive for around $US60.
Then the savings begin!
Check out the deals going on right now at Amazon’s HD-DVD page. Transformers for under $US3. The entire first season of Battlestar Galactica for under $US10. Sure, that’s a series collection you’ll never complete, but you can’t beat the value.
It gets even better when you look at Amazon sellers instead of Amazon proper. Folks are selling off new HD-DVD movies for a penny, charging only shipping cost. And just think: Eventually you can own every HD-DVD movie ever released, without breaking the bank. It’s a buyers’ market!
So I thank my Xbox Live friend for reminding me how much I love my HD-DVD player. I just ordered ten movies from Amazon for $US25 to celebrate this love; a love that will never die.
Until the hardware fails.
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