Sony Home Pictures seems to be planning the final portion before the launch of Blu-ray. it has now released information that states it will launch the new system on May 23. The launch will contain Samsung’s first commercial Blu-ray player called BD-P1000, available in stores (USA) at launch. Whether the poeple in Europe will be able to get a hold of a player at day one remains uncertain. It will of course also launch a whole bunch of Blu-ray movies at the same time and as we earlier eported the prices are staggering. The wholesale prices for Blu-ray movies are actually higher than the current store prices for DVD. Not a good omen.
Now it seems that more information about the movies has surfaced and it seems you will hav to pay up between $23 and 40$ for a Blu-ray movie. New titles will cost $39.99, a lot compared to the regular $25 we are used to at worst. The question is if the HD format is worth the extra pennies, or if perhaps HD DVD will arrive as the knight shining armor bringing lower prices. We will have to wait and see until May 23 and then we will know what Blu-ray has to offer. We would like to know though when and what HD DVD will do about this.
“The eight Sony movies that will usher in Blu-ray are: 50 First Dates, The Fifth Element, Hitch, House of Flying Daggers, A Knight’s Tale, The Last Waltz (MGM), Resident Evil Apocalypse and XXX. Three weeks later, on June 13, six additional titles will be released: Kung Fu Hustle, Legends of the Fall, Robocop (MGM), Stealth, Species (MGM), SWAT and Terminator (MGM). Other studios are currently preparing to announce their own launch titles.”
Source: Ars Technica
