I think the idea is
that the Blu-ray Disk players are more expensive, the movies are not. Therefore to offset the cost of the player the studios should offer a couple free movies when you buy a player.
Assuming the typical low end HD-DVD player is $100 to $200 less expensive than the typical low end Blu-ray Disk player -- without any incentive or obvious benefits of the BD player over the HD-DVD player there will be a high percentage of consumers which will buy the cheaper player.
If, on the other hand, the BD player came with coupons for 2 or 3 free BD movies then the perception changes. The consumer can buy an HD-DVD player *and* three movies for about the same price as buying a BD player and getting to choose any 3 movies to take along with it.
So long as this is *NOT* done with mail in rebates (i.e., the consumer buys and pays for the movies and then mails in the proof of purchase along with some forms found in the box) as mail in rebates almost always are very consumer unfriendly!
The additional free movies will cost the studios virtually nothing and it almost guarantees that the consumer will buy more (or at the very least rent more) once they get used to the experience of 1080p movies on their home set.
Everyone wins.
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