Xbox 360 HD DVD Add-on price drop & 5 free HD DVD’s
The HD DVD Promotional Group announced today that Microsoft will be slashing $20 off of the price of their HD DVD add-on, which can be connected to Xbox 360 gaming systems for high definition movie playback. The price drop is set to take effect on August 1st and will bring down the MSRP to $179, keeping the Xbox 360 HD DVD Add-on as the most inexpensive high definition capable drive on the market.
In addition to the price cut, HD DVD Add-on purchasers will soon also be eligible to qualify for 5 free HD DVD’s via a mail-in program. The 5 free HD DVD offer was previously only available to purchasers of a Toshiba HD DVD standalone player.
Xbox Live to promote HD DVD
Along with the price drop and 5 free HD DVD promotion, Microsoft has also announced that they will be promoting the release of “300” and “Heroes: Season 1” on HD DVD through free exclusive content, which will be available on Xbox Live.
I think it is a good move by the HD DVD promotions group to extend the 5 free HD DVD offer to the Xbox 360 HD DVD Add-on drive. Along with the price-cut, this should help spur some additional growth for the HD DVD format. The corresponding Xbox Live HD DVD promotions are also a good start, but Microsoft should have been doing this type of collaboration from the get-go if they are completely dedicated to the HD DVD format. All in all, this is probably just a minor plus for the HD DVD format as a whole, so let’s hope that the HD DVD group can continue to build on this with some additional announcements in the near future. The full Microsoft press release is available here.
Microsoft XBox 360 HD DVD Add-on rebate update
The rebate form for this offer can be found here: http://thelookandsoundofperfect.com/_pdf/xbox360_offer.pdf