Will the last HD DVD be a collector's item?

(Credit: Amazon)

Tomorrow, the HD DVD version of the Irish flick Disco Pigs goes on sale along with the Japanese anime collection, Freedom: 6. According to Wikipedia's entry on HD DVD, these will be the last HD DVD titles to be released in the United States (though Bandai Visual says it wants to release the remaining episodes of the Freedom Project series on HD DVD). The final big studio releases, Warner's Twister and P.S. I Love You, hit stores in May.

Personally, I wish The Last American Virgin was the last American HD DVD. That film, a minor 80s classic, was marked by a brutal ending that showed that sometimes nice guys do indeed finish last. HD DVD, a good format to many, shared a similar fate.

So, anybody out there still buying HD DVDs? Any collectors plan on buying Disco Pigs?

[chrkeller]

I never understood why people thought HD-DVD had a chance. With every ps3 sold there is yet another Bluray player in the hands of the consumers. The ps3 worldwide has been selling well over 500k.... HD-DVD never had a chance.

[couchpotato99]

If Microsoft had included HD-DVD drives in the XBOX 360, like Sony did with the PS3, instead of making the drive available only as an add-on option, there would have been a level playing field, and HD-DVD would still be a strong contender.

A major marketing blunder by Microsoft!

[CptGreedle]

Not a blunder at all. They never fully supported HD DVD, because they want downloads to win, not discs. It was their strategy to weaken Blu-ray so downloads would have a better chance against it.

[dgrumich]

I've been arguing that very point with my 360 owning friend since the beginning. I would go so far as to say HD-DVD would have won if Microsoft had included it as a builtin drive on the 360.

[dgrumich]

Download will never completely replace physical media.

[CptGreedle]

I thought Freedom 7 was due out in early to mid August. I clearly remember Bandai Visual saying they wanted to release the entire series on one format despite the format war ending. I was sure they had a date and everything, and that Freedom 7 was due to be the last HD DVD title released. However, I have been looking for it and can find NO MENTION of Freedom 7 anywhere! It seems to have vanished without a word. So is this really it for HD DVD? Is there no finale to Freedom 7? Will they drop that afterall?
Not tat I am complaining, I have been an avid Blu-ray supporter since last June and love my PS3 as a Blu-ray player. I just hope these studios catch up with their HD DVD releases and get them on Blu-ray soon so the rest of us can enjoy it!

[DCBRONCO]

Everyone keeps mentioning how many PS3s there are out there. They somehow connect that to Blu-Rays success. How come nobody mentions that Blu-Ray does not sell well. A Sony spokesperson admitted that they had sold less than one disc per player. Blu-Ray is a failure.

http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news/news.phtml/14455/15479/sony-ps3-blu-ray-poor-sales.phtml