More movie studios will begin offering Blu-ray movies with an included DVD, according to a recent report by Video Business.
The article mentions that The Princess Bride, the T2 Complete Collector's Set and the considerably less cool Marley & Me will be getting this treatment, and that Disney is planning on releasing seven Blu-ray-DVD packages this year. While several Blu-ray movies include a digital copy that allows you to copy the movie to a computer, a standard DVD is compatible in more locations.
This is a smart move by the studios, as one of the biggest drawbacks to buying Blu-ray movies now is their lack of portability. Since a Blu-ray Disc will play only where you have a Blu-ray player, you can't watch your new movie in the bedroom or car, on a plane, or in any other place where you only have a DVD player.
The packaged combos may also make the relatively high cost of Blu-ray movies easier to swallow, if consumers feel like they're getting more for their money, with both discs included.
Will an included standard DVD make you more likely to buy Blu-ray movies? Is Blu-ray still just too expensive, even with the extras? Or are you waiting for portable Blu-ray players, like the Panasonic DMP-B15? Let us know in the comments.
iPhone App 
Newsletters 
RSS Feeds 
Send Us Tips 
Comments 3
Add your comment
Anonymous 8 September, 2010 13:59
I couldn't care less about getting a dvd or digital copy. The studios are only adding these things in to make you think you're getting a good deal when in fact they only cost pennies to include. It's another way of justifying the high prices which are still attached to blu-ray discs. I'd much rather the studios made a real effort to lower the prices - once they achieve that then more and more people will be attracted to vblu-ray.
Anonymous 1 April, 2011 23:14
I think inclusion of DVD copies to Blu-ray distributed movies is an excellent way to encourage the transition from DVD to blu-ray - I recently bought Inception "triple play" not actually knowing what that implied, in anticipation of getting my new PC with blu-ray drive. Unfortunately, I received my Inception blu-ray before the PC, until I noticed that it included a DVD, which was a very pleasant surprise. It would definately encourage people like me to pay the price premium for blu-ray. If, as the above commenter says, they only cost pennies to include, then there's no real way to drop the price, and so logically, there is no reason NOT to include them, since it will encourage people who are hoping to make the transition at some point to invest that little bit more without building a massive collection of content they cannot currently use. THAT, is good marketing sense.
anonymous 9 February, 2012 03:05
I agree with the first comment. I speak not just for myself on this as I know others who are the same. I have bought so many blu-rays that comes with a dvd and a digital copy and have never use neither of them. When I buy blu-rays I want to watch the movie in blu-ray. The high cost is not justified by bundling a dvd for eg. (Real Steel movie) a dvd cost $24.95, a blundled blu-ray/dvd cost $29.95 and blu-ray/dvd/digital copy $34.95, really? I feel like I got TRICKED in to believing blu-rays would get rid of dvds but with this ridiculousness that will never happen. My conclusion is that it just go to shows dvd is going no where and blu-ray is way overpriced.