Months ago, a lot of HD DVD haters gleefully quoted from a Los Angeles Times article which seemed to imply that Walmart was ready to “boot stand-alone HD DVD players from its shelves in favor of Blu-ray.”

Or so it seemed.

Instead, Walmart got November off to a big start with a $99 deal on Toshiba’s HD-A2 player, helping to put several tens of thousands of units into people’s homes. So what comes next? As November draws to a close, Walmart has started offering Venturer’s SHD7000 HD DVD player for $199 in the USA, just a short while after it first went on sale in their Canadian stores. This player debuted at Target a couple of months ago for $249 (and it’s still $249), but Walmart is cranking up the competition and selling the same player for 50 bucks less.

This, again, completely contradicts what many people thought Walmart’s HD DVD plans were for the holidays. Walmart execs had been quoted as saying they would only sell a major brand name player, but here they are offering a second or third-tier brand.

Pretty sneaky of Walmart to misguide their competitors, huh?
(more…)

Another Tuesday brings another set of HD DVD movie releases, and this time the theme appears to be light-hearted fun with the release slate full of comedies, and one of them likely to do really well with the kids.

Ex-Saturday Night Live comedian Will Ferrell stars in two of the discs, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and Old School, and after he dropped out of the next movie, current Saturday Night Live comedian, Andy Samberg, filled in and brought the laughs in Hot Rod instead.

These faces and names are familiar to American viewers, and they’re joined by the amazingly funny British comedian, Rowan Atkinson in Mr. Bean’s Holiday. The Mr. Bean character is basically all about slapstick comedy, and this title is likely to be excellent family viewing fare for the holidays. I’m a Rowan Atkinson fan from his earlier Blackadder series, and it’s been great to watch his success with Mr. Bean.

Since there needs to be something for everybody, we also have Charlton Heston in The Omega Man, a sci-fi thriller based on the “I Am Legend” novel, which also happens to be coming out in theaters as a new movie starring Will Smith in just a couple of weeks.

(all movie links go to Amazon ordering pages)

Old School (2003) Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn Directed by Todd Phillips Unrated (movie was originally rated R)

The Omega Man (1971) Charlton Heston, Anthony Zerbe, Rosalind Cash Directed by Boris Sagal Rated PG

Mr Bean’s Holiday (2007) Rowan Atkinson, Steve Pemberton, Lily Atkinson Directed by Steve Bendelack Rated PG-13

Anchorman (2004) Will Ferrell, Christina Applegate, Paul Rudd, Steve Carell Directed by Adam McKay Unrated (movie was orginally PG-13)

Hot Rod (2007) Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, Bill Hader, Isla Fisher Directed by Akiva Schaffer Rated PG-13

Here’s some of that over-the-top Mr. Bean slapstick to occupy a few minutes of your busy day… It’s Mr. Bean in a French restaurant.

click here if the video does not appear above

Seems like I was just saying the other day that putting players on sale moves plenty of units into people’s homes.

It was estimated that the momentum of the famous $99 Walmart weekend (along with other retailers matching prices) added 90,000 units into the installed base. A press release from the North American HD DVD Promotional Group now puts a very solid number on exactly how many of us are enjoying HD DVD in our homes.

Here’s the press release that just came out minutes ago:

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 27 — Following landmark Black Friday promotions through major retail chains, the North American HD DVD Promotional Group today announced that sales of dedicated HD DVD players exceeded the 750,000 mark. The data is based on retailer reports and other point of sale data, and includes standalone set-top players as well as the Xbox 360 HD DVD player.

“HD DVD continues to gain momentum and market share with consumers,” said Ken Graffeo, executive vice president of HD strategic marketing for Universal Studios Home Entertainment, and co-president of the HD DVD Promotional Group. “With more than four weeks left for holiday shopping, HD DVD is turning out to be a perfect consumer electronics gift.”

HD DVD continues to step up marketing and education efforts, helping consumers to see the quality and value of the new format. In addition to an enhanced presence at major retailers, HD DVD has added educational sections to its website at http://www.thelookandsoundofperfect.com/.

I’m sure there will be more interviews and statements as the day progresses. Stay tuned for updates!

People buy stuff when it goes on sale. This simple and intuitive business rule has proven itself time and again, and especially for HD DVD. A couple of weeks ago, the now famous $99 deal for an HD DVD player appeared at Wal-mart and was soon matched in whole or in spirit by other retailers. The result was the addition of several tens of thousands of new HD DVD owners.

In the last couple of weeks, those new HD DVD owners started looking for movies to buy, and retailers have slowly responded with various sales on time for Black Friday. Heading into the heart of the Christmas shopping season, people will be looking for HD DVD titles for themselves as well as for gifts, and it’s likely that we’ll see even more deals on movies. As mentioned earlier, when desirable stuff goes on sale, we can predict more business for the merchants who put on those promotions.

While not a perfect indication of the overall market, Amazon.com’s sales data provides some insight into trends that are likely to be happening at other retailers. It’s not a perfect predictor or estimator because Amazon often has a sale that’s not directly comparable to what’s offered at a competitor. For example, the “$50 Bourne Trilogy” and “47% off Universal movies” deals are their own creation. There are also cases where Amazon is slow to offer a promotion that’s already been available elsewhere, such as when Best Buy and Circuit City ran their own “$199 HD-A3 and 10 movies” as well as “buy 1 get 1″ or “buy 2 get 1″ offers days or weeks before Amazon took notice.

Amazon is not the perfect indicator, but they’re not a bad reference point either.

The guys at HdGameDb.com plugged into Amazon’s sales data for the purpose of comparing stats about video game sales, and the folks at High-Def Digest are currently using this technology to track sales of high-definition discs — you can even make a chart of this data. If you’ve read this far along, then you can guess what I’m about to report, so perhaps I’ll just skip to a picture instead of a thousand words: (more…)

(includes some movie deals too, like Amazon’s “Buy 2 Get 1 Free”)

UPDATE: Except for Value Electronics, it appears that all of the HD-A3 deals have expired after the holiday weekend. Perhaps some will be resurrected in the weeks ahead.

There are lots of Black Friday deals on HD DVD, with many changing their terms all the time. For example, Amazon’s original deal of an HD-A3 for $199 and ten movies changed for one day to $169, and as I checked this morning, it was at $187. Just because any particular deal listed below does not appear to meet your requirements, it’s still worth a visit in case a merchant has improved the deal in some way.

The following list of deals will be updated as new information comes in, and you’re welcome to share your own news in the comments.

These tid-bits of information may help you in comparing various deals:

• Verify the model number before you buy. The HD-A2 is the older model and should always be less expensive than the HD-A3.
• While these deals are all on the A3, it’s possible that the same merchants have something interesting on the A30 and A35.
• ALL of Toshiba’s HD DVD players are eligible for the “5 free movies” offer which expires on February 29, 2008. The Xbox 360’s add-on HD DVD player is also eligible for this offer, as are purchases of Toshiba’s laptops equipped with HD DVD drives. You receive these movies after mailing in a form, and it can take a couple of months to get these movies.
• The HD-A3, HD-A30, and HD-A35 come with 300 and The Bourne Identity in the box. This results in a total of 7 free movies overall. It means you get to start watching two HD DVD movies right away.
• In-store and instant rebates are always better than mail-in rebates.
• For offers where you can choose extra movies at the time of purchase, make sure you know about pricing or other restrictions.
• Don’t forget to include tax and shipping costs in your comparison.
• Consider whether the merchant has the items in stock and how long you’re willing to wait for your HD DVD player.

And here’s the list: (more…)

What’s lost in quantity is more than made up for by quality in this week’s HD DVD movie releases. First off is a sci-fi comedy about creatures living underground, followed by a BBC presentation of a classic opera, and rounded out by the new release of a cultural phenomenon.

The voyages of the star ship Enterprise boldly go into the world of high-definition, as CBS and Paramount release the box set of a remastered and enhanced first season of Star Trek, exclusively on HD DVD. The reviews on this disc set are positive, though just a few purists are upset that their time-honored classic was modified at all. It should be noted that this effort wasn’t to simply convert the footage to high-def, but that the film was also cleaned up to remove defects such as stains and spots. A boxed set of the second season is reportedly coming out next spring.

There are a couple of interesting promotions related to the launch of the Star Trek boxed set. The first 150 customers to purchase the set at two Virgin Mega stores (120 at Time Square and 30 at Union Square) will also receive a free Toshiba HD DVD player on which to watch their new discs. The StarTrek.com site also has a contest ending this Friday where you can win the boxed set along with an HD-A3 player.

The odds are much better, however, that you can take advantage of the special “Phaser” remote promotion. Featuring sound effects (that you can turn off), the specially made remote controls your HD DVD player and is free when you purchase the boxed set and a new Toshiba HD DVD player between now and February 29, 2008, while supplies last. The form to fill out for this offer comes in the boxed set, so make sure you save all of your receipts and packaging.

(all movie links are to ordering pages at Amazon)

Star Trek (1966) William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols, George Takei, Majel Barrett Not Rated

Tremors (1990) Kevin Bacon, Fred Ward, Finn Carter Directed by Ron Underwood Rated PG-13

Midsummer Night’s Dream (1999) Mendelssohn, Pacific Northwest Ballet Not Rated

Here’s a quick look at the remastering work done on Star Trek:

click here if the video does not appear above

“Black Friday” is different this year than in the past, with many retailers either starting their deals earlier or (deliberately or accidentally) “leaking” news about their sales. We already know that Sears is planning on offering the HD-A3 for $169 this Friday, but for only half a day. This is a pretty good deal, but Amazon has come up with a few more convenient HD DVD deals that are worth considering as well.

First off, they have the HD-A3 for $199 with 10 movies. They are throwing in three movies at the time of your purchase, which is similar to deals that Best Buy has been offering. The other seven movies consist of the two that come free in the box (300 and The Bourne Identity) and five from the “5 free movies” deal. This deal is better than the $169 at Sears, because you don’t have to brave the crowds at the mall on Friday, and can take advantage of it immediately. By the way, the 10 free movies part of the offer also applies to the HD-A30 and HD-A35, except those players are not on sale.

The other Amazon deal is a 47% off sale on several Universal discs, making them all $16. This seems to be an extension of a previous 47% off sale on only six Universal titles. No expiration date is listed, but these movie sales are usually only good while supplies last, or for a limited time.

Special thanks to reader Josh for tipping me off on the $199 deal. We’ll list as many of the good holiday HD DVD sales as we find ‘em, so feel free to send in your leads via the comments.

As mentioned in the last post, the new design for The Look And Sound Of Perfect site has an area where you can get more information about recent and upcoming movies.

One of the highlighted movies is Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix which is due on December 11, both by itself as well as in a box set that includes the previous movies. This is the latest of the Harry Potter movies, and there hasn’t been a ton of information out yet about this HD DVD disc. In fact, you couldn’t even pre-order it at Amazon until very recently.

The information for this movie at TheLookAndSoundOfPerfect.com mentioned a “Live Community Screening” feature which is described as follows:

Gather your own army of fellow wizards for a live community screening party. Invite other owners of the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix HD DVD to simultaneously watch from their own internet-accessed players and text with your remote, PC or cell phone. When you host an invitation-only viewing, you control the film by pausing and playing the feature on everyone’s machine. You can chat live with your friends as you watch.

That last sentence is really important. (more…)

Site visitor Jaime tipped me off to the redesign of the TheLookAndSoundOfPerfect.com site. This is the site that the HD DVD North American Promotional Group uses to em… promote HD DVD … in North America. It’s certainly different now, with one aspect being very useful and another part being a little confusing, at least to me.

The confusing part is this new Flash-based “HD DVD Simulator” at the top. I’m not really sure what this is supposed to be and how it simulates or shows off HD DVD. For one thing, they don’t use high-res video, the audio is either non-existent or underwhelming, and there’s no text or voiceover explaining anything. The interface itself requires a few tries to figure out. The little segments they play are cute in a way, but it would be nice if this was more to the point. It really just feels like watching somebody’s art portfolio.

My problem with it is that it’s the first item that all visitors see, and that top-billing should have gone to something truly useful and informative. In the old site, a video would play automatically (which can be annoying too), but I think it would have been better as the default presentation. They should have had something very obvious, and left these stranger elements for the user to discover. The old video is still there, by the way, but you have to explicity click on it to view the thing.

One of the items featured in the big central panel is a “Songs in the Key of HD” cartoon which is cute, but it’s not a high-resolution Flash video, and it’s not really about HD DVD. I think it would have worked better the song was better tied into HD DVD instead of making it a generic HD feature.

But it’s not all bad news. The site does look nice. They made it easy to learn about current and future HD DVD movies, where you can click on them to learn more about those discs. I never used the equivalent feature at the old site enough to know whether this part has been enhanced much or not, but I liked the presentation of information.

The site does not totally suck, but as an HD DVD fan, I think it could be better. Of course, I’m not the one to talk right? The first version of this hddvd.com site was not exactly stellar, and there are lots of things about the current design that could use improvement.

• TheLookAndSoundOfPerfect.com