Warner Brothers Switches to Flipper Discs for New Releases?

[BluBrown]

Originally Posted by wormraper

when they stop making enormous profits off of DVD

Or they could just stop giving consumers the choice...if you haven't gone blu yet you apparently aren't going to. I don't seem to ever remember getting a vhs copy with any of my dvd's.

[wormraper]

it's all Chuck Norris' fault

[wormraper]

Originally Posted by BluBrown

Or they could just stop giving consumers the choice...if you haven't gone blu yet you apparently aren't going to. I don't seem to ever remember getting a vhs copy with any of my dvd's.

lol, as a businessman that would be a LUDICROUS decision. always go by the customers choice. one of the first rules of business

[madlost1]

Originally Posted by BluBrown

Or they could just stop giving consumers the choice...if you haven't gone blu yet you apparently aren't going to. I don't seem to ever remember getting a vhs copy with any of my dvd's.

The reason dvds are included with blus is the discs are cheap to manufacture and the studios figure they can bump the price up a few bucks while giving people an option to future proof their collections if they don't want to commit to blu yet.

[ZoetMB]

Originally Posted by scorpiontail60

Only way to get these idiots to switch is to release new releases ONLY on Blu-ray... which will mean much lower studio revenues for a couple of years as people begrudgingly hop aboard the bandwagon they're now being forced onto.

Someone makes a different purchasing decision than you and they're idiots? I love my Blu-rays, but there's nothing wrong with someone who continues to buy DVDs. We live in a poor economy and for someone who is struggling, but wants a little cheap entertainment, DVDs are the way to go. My local large independent electronics store always has a fairly large selection of DVDs of catalog titles for as little as $4 (and sometimes 2 for $7). If money was a big issue for me, I'd be buying those DVDs as well.

It would be one thing if BDs were priced within a dollar or two of a DVD. While BD prices, especially on older releases has come down substantially (I never expected to see titles under $10 at this point in the life cycle), they're still generally priced substantially higher than DVD, especially on new titles.

So people who buy DVDs aren't idiots. People who obsess about what other people do with their money are idiots.

[wormraper]

Originally Posted by madlost1

The reason dvds are included with blus is the discs are cheap to manufacture and the studios figure they can bump the price up a few bucks while giving people an option to future proof their collections if they don't want to commit to blu yet.

exactly, it's a marketing technique. dvd's cost pennies to press when they're already pressing thousands as it is for regular retail sales and they get to do the whole "more is better" marketing to consumers (which by the way only pisses off a very very small minority of the community ...e.g. this forum and a few others).

[octagon]

Originally Posted by ZoetMB

My problem with flipper discs is not that it's two-sided. My problem is that you don't have a normal label on the disc.

That's my main issue with them as well. I could live with the OCD fingerprint part if I could see better in the dark.

[Atreyu]

Only flipper I have so far is for Twilight Eclipse and it doesn't bother me at all.

[Blu Titan]

Originally Posted by nmycon

I hate eco cases almost as much as I hate flippers

Yeah, they both equally stink of a bad idea.

[BluBrown]

Originally Posted by wormraper

lol, as a businessman that would be a LUDICROUS decision. always go by the customers choice. one of the first rules of business

I know how business works...and I know I'm being brash with my venting, it just drives me crazy how bizarre blu-ray's path has been over the years. It just seems more logical to me that if they're going to release flipper discs then they should be pacakged in dvd cases because they're clearly meant for the dvd consumer. But instead we'll get these blu/dvd flipped combo packs on the shelf next to a standalone dvd of the same film when it should be just the opposite.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by BluBrown

Or they could just stop giving consumers the choice...if you haven't gone blu yet you apparently aren't going to. I don't seem to ever remember getting a vhs copy with any of my dvd's.

Surely you can't believe cutting off the DVD revenue stream would result in lower BD prices or make studios more likely to remaster catalog titles.

So what's in that for us? A warm, fuzzy feeling for being on the right side of hstory?

I think I'll pass.

[Edword]

I really hope this isn't true. Mostly because I usually like the slipcovers that come with the combo packs and I give the DVD to either my girlfriend or parents. Guess that won't be happening anymore if they go this route. I'll only get the single disc release.

[Tom Hiddleston]

Originally Posted by wormraper

lol, as a businessman that would be a LUDICROUS decision. always go by the customers choice. one of the first rules of business

Very true, and this customer does not want a flipper disc. I want a single sided blu ray with all of the special features that a flipper disc has. And someone, I forget who, brought up the excellent point that families would have to take their blu rays on trips and the like if they bought a flipper disc. The reason why I have been po'ed over this is I can easily see this becoming a reality.

[Tom Hiddleston]

Originally Posted by madlost1

The reason dvds are included with blus is the discs are cheap to manufacture and the studios figure they can bump the price up a few bucks while giving people an option to future proof their collections if they don't want to commit to blu yet.

I would not call it future proofing your collection if the flipper stops working.

[neo_reloaded]

Originally Posted by BluBrown

I know how business works...and I know I'm being brash with my venting, it just drives me crazy how bizarre blu-ray's path has been over the years. It just seems more logical to me that if they're going to release flipper discs then they should be pacakged in dvd cases because they're clearly meant for the dvd consumer. But instead we'll get these blu/dvd flipped combo packs on the shelf next to a standalone dvd of the same film when it should be just the opposite.

I agree with this - from the perspective of "getting people to switch to Blu-ray," it makes more sense to put BD/DVD discs in DVD packages.

But the issue is, the studios don't want people to switch to Blu-ray because it's a better format. They want people to switch so they get more money per purchase, since Blu-ray is the "premium" format. They can't sell a DVD/BD in a DVD case for less than just the Blu-ray, as millions of cheapskates would just buy that version. And if the DVD/BD combo is equal price to the Blu-ray, they either have to lose the Blu-ray premium pricepoint, or raise the DVD price to the point that they piss off consumers. Lose/lose.

Really, I don't understand what the studios are doing with combo packs, as there isn't a clear line of reasoning nor a clear customer for these packages. The "better" (more special features, more attractive packaging with slipcover, etc.) release, i.e. the more expensive release, is the one with the DVD copy - making it very unlikely that DVD customers will decide to future-proof their collections. It's not just a few dollars more than the DVD - maybe the Blu-ray-only release is a few dollars more, but the BD/DVD combo is a few more than that! So what is the supposed market for the BD/DVD combo? I guess just collectors - maybe it's nice knowing you have the "superset" edition, with a DVD for the rare occasion you might need it. But now the flipper strategy (if true) pisses off the hardcore collector as well, so I don't know what the point is anymore.

The best compromise I can think of is turning the lower-priced movie-only BD-only versions into movie-only BD/DVD flippers. So for just a few bucks more, a DVD consumer can upgrade to a version with a Blu-ray disc too. Maybe put THIS version in a DVD case. And then either leave the combo packs as-is (special features, separate BD and DVD discs), or drop the DVD altogether from the combo packs.

DVD as the reason for a price increase in the combo packs is silly. If they want to have a more expensive version, just market it as the special edition, i.e. the one with special features. That model worked fine on standard DVD for years. They didn't feel the need to throw in a VHS tape to justify the higher price on the edition that collectors would want to buy.

[FT-86]

This is going to be annoying but ill get over it. I do enjoy the artwork that comes on the disc, even though I see it for two seconds(though Universal is lazy about that). As long as they dont pull a Schindlers List and release a movie with two parts, with each part on each side. That was a dumb idea.

[wilky61]

Eco-cases don't bother me, but I ****ing hate flipper discs. Unless it's really a movie about which I'm crazy, I won't buy them.

[Scorch]

It's like they put out a press release specifically to tell me that they don't want my money.

[blu-ray_girl_fan]

Originally Posted by wormraper

*yawn, who really cares a lot of people on here will, but 99% of the rest of the world won't give a crap

as for reliability, except for a few issues with HD DVD in it's early stages (that were fixed later on) I've NEVER had a flipper blu or flipper dvd crap out on me. I put them in my player and they play fine, I put them back in the case afterwards and they dont' scratch. seriously, flippers, slip covers, digital copies ... people on here can get so OCD on here I wonder if I'm actually on a site that discusses MOVIES and not just a packaging site.

+1

Do people put their Blu-rays in Blu-ray players, or do they sit and stare at disc art for hours on end?

[Cat III]

So how many people do you think just glanced at the name of this thread and thought that Flipper was making it's Blu-ray debut?