Blu-Ray to bribe HD buyers with free films

ANYONE LOOKING to buy a Blu-ray player or a PS3 might do well to hold off a couple of months - the Blu-ray Disc Association has announced a new promotion that will see each new optical player ship with five (count 'em) movies in the box, according to sources.

While Blu-ray players typically retail for a minimum of $200 more than their HD-DVD equivalents, lobbing in five movies means about $100 off the sticker shock.

However, since most of the bundled movies are likely to be turkeys, if these promotions in the past are anything to go by, picking up an HD-DVD player and the movies you actually want to watch may well still be a better option.

The marketing move is designed to coincide with Blu-ray's one year anniversary in the North American market and to pile the pressure on HD-DVD, which has done fairly well out of Xbox 360 owners.

The format wars are far from over, and we can only hope that they get more interesting than crummy bundles. Where's the sex, death and intrigue? µ