Did you know that the PS2 is still selling more units than the Xbox 360 or PS3? And that the Wii outsells the Xbox 360 and PS3 as well? A large part of the success of these items lies in their affordability. Most people want a quick and simple solution, and they’re not overly involved with or attached to brands or certain technologies. If you want to get a videogame system to keep an elementary school-aged kid busy over the summer, then you can get a new PS2 for real cheap, and your kids can choose from thousands of new and used games. In the end, your child (probably a young one — because I’m sure an older one child would want a 360 or PS3) gets a game system, and you get to keep more of your money for other expenses… like a mortgage.
The same thing applies to HD DVD and Blu-ray adoption. Despite monthly claims from Blu-ray and HD DVD representatives that “our side outsells the other guys,” the reality is that people are still buying standard and enhanced DVD players (those that up-convert standard DVD output to HDTV) in large numbers almost as if they are unaware of or don’t care about the high-definition formats.
In a Reuters news story, Steve Nickerson, a Warner Bros. spokesperson, pointed out that price-sensitivity is very important in regard to the success of the high-definition DVD formats. Nickerson said, “you can’t get to mass-market consumption until you get to mass-market pricing.”
In the same article, Olivier Van Wynendaele, spokesperson for the European HD DVD group, revealed that surveys indicate 70% of consumers would buy a high-definition player once prices fall below $200. He didn’t answer when Toshiba would cut their prices to that level, but he did acknowledge that this kind of pricing was coming in the future.
I’m sure that even Blu-ray players will one day sell at those price levels, but the question is how long are YOU going to wait for that happen? I think it depends on whether you have the $300 today to get an HD DVD player (or $500 for Blu-ray), AND how fed up you may be about not getting the ultimate and total use of your HDTV set.
As for me? I have a Wii and you can already guess which high-definition DVD format I own. I am not uninterested in getting a PS3 or 360, but my family gets enough fun and usage from our Wii that we’re not missing much by not having those other systems. The same is true about our DVD format choice.
