Jason Dunn
04-19-2006, 10:29 PM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=technologyNews&storyid=2006-04-19T044652Z_01_N18305414_RTRUKOC_0_US-HDDVD.xml' target='_blank'>http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=technologyNews&storyid=2006-04-19T044652Z_01_N18305414_RTRUKOC_0_US-HDDVD.xml</a><br /><br /></div><i>"HD-DVD players and software went on sale Tuesday at Best Buy and other select retailers, and a trickle of early adopters came to buy, even though only three movies are available. "The only people who bought are the hard-cores," one industry observer said. More high-definition titles will begin hitting stores next week, but with only three -- Warner Home Video's "The Last Samurai" and "Phantom of the Opera" and Universal Studios Home Entertainment's "Serenity" -- in stores when players hit the show floor Tuesday, there hardly was a stampede of consumers. When a Best Buy in Costa Mesa, Calif., opened at 10 a.m., four copies of "Samurai" and a single copy of "Phantom" were stocked in a display at the front of the store, equipped with a lounge chair and a high-definition TV. A customer looked at the two titles but bought neither, saying he was disappointed by the selection. A nearby Fry's Electronics store had "Samurai" and "Phantom" in endcaps, but no player on display."</i><br /><br />I wasn't expecting much for the North American launch of HD-DVD, but this is so bad it swept under my bar of expectation without moving the air. Yikes! It sounds like the Wal-Mart launch mentioned in the article will have more oomph behind it, but how can you launch a product with three movies? That's just sad, like me in a sprinting contest.