I’ve been waiting for The Illusionist to be released for home viewing (the 2010 one not the 2007 one). It was released this week. But I am pitting the releasing company, Sony Pictures.
What possible justification is there for only releasing it in a DVD/Blu Ray combo pack? 99% of the people who want the DVD copy don’t want a Blu Ray copy and 99% of the people that want a Blu Ray copy don’t want a DVD copy. But Sony decided if you want either copy you have to buy both.
Why doesn’t Sony just go whole hog and make everyone buy a VHS, Laser Disc, and Betamax version as well? Call it the Deluxe Fuck You Package.
And they did this with an animated movie, probably figuring that parents would succumb to the pressure to buy it anyway.
This is the reason for video piracy. People steal from these companies because they get tired of being robbed by them.
Errr…are you not from the US? “Robbed” is a pretty common euphemism for “ripped off” here. I’m pretty sure the OP does not mean that Sony Pictures is literally stealing money from him.
Well, that sucks. You can either buy the double pack and treat it as future-proofing your investment in case you buy a BD player later, or just wait for a drop in price. Surely it’ll be discounted within 12 months.
Actually I was looking at the Blu Ray players today as well. But if I had a Blu Ray player, I’d want to buy the Blu Ray version and I’d be getting ripped off by being forced to buy the DVD version.
And you’re right. What I’ll end up doing is waiting until I can buy a used copy in a few months. (Maybe sooner, there’s probably going to be a lot of people dumping the unwanted copies of this movie for a few bucks.)
I had this happen when I bought my copy of a girl who kicked a hornets nest. Usually I would buy the pre viewed copies of what ever movie from blockbuster, which is usually only DVD or Blu.
I get this copy and its both, my thinking is that sony has to justify their blu ray division and forcing you to buy a dual means that they can inflate the blu sales and inconviently forget about the dvd part.
That’s probably the way to go until Sony realizes the mistake they’re making. And I agree with your OP - bundling redundancy is not the way to go, and they’re probably only doing it for the reason Declan said.
And right there is my guess why Sony is doing it. Probably thinking they can drive BD player sales. Get enough Blu Ray discs in DVD households and eventually they will take the plunge.
This thread underlines everything that is wrong with Sony.
The used to be a company that made great, innovative devices. Ever since they became a content provider as well they have sucked.
Their bits of kit are all hobbled with DRM and their content is sold is stupid ways like this. They’ve really lost their way, if they don’t get thier act together I think they will become irrelavent.
This reminds me of a few years back when I would rent movies on VHS. There would always be an ad for the same movie on DVD. Brilliant! Do you think that if I had a DVD player, I’d rent it on VHS?
The fact that the OP justified people stealing off film studios (an actual crime) because those people were being “robbed” by the film studios implies that he/she is talking about actual theft. Although melodramatically.
If I find that a product costs more than I think it is worth, I generally don’t buy it. I also don’t complain about it as I know that I sell products for more than what some people are willing to pay. No one steals my products but I guess if they did it would be my fault, cos they didn’t wanna pay the RRP?
How many years has blu ray been out? I think it’s safe to say that until Sony absolutely forces us, we’re not caving. I only know of a few people (all guys) who have Blu Ray.
Then again, I don’t have an Apple anything, so maybe it’s just me.
I got tired of buying kids dvds, so I told my son he could get them on ebay with his own allowance. Not only does he scratch them, but $30 for Bambi?!
It’s better to complain. Not buying accomplishes nothing, because the company doesn’t know why you aren’t buying. Even actual boycotts give reasons. It’s silly to think that simply not buying stuff is more efficient. Word of mouth is worth a lot, or companies wouldn’t intentionally cultivate it for their products.
No, complaining, even to unrelated entities, is a valid part of the free market system.
As for the OP: I think it may be the retailer. You can buy the bundle from eBay for $18.28, half the price you are quoting and then sell the other disk for half again, or split it with someone who wants it.
You could even try waiting to buy the disk from someone who does the above. Either way, $9.14 is a pretty fair price, don’t you think?
Essentially what I’ve been doing. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World came like this–three-pack with Blu-Ray, DVD, and coupon to download a Windows Media HD version.
Well, lookie here, my buddy only has a DVD player, my brother likes downloaded movies, and I have a Blu-Ray player. And we’re paying $13 each on release day. =)
That right there is why Sony is going to stop doing this.
