By : Erik Gruenwedel | Posted: 17 Feb 2009
egruenwedel@questex.com

HD DVD has been officially declared dead for more than a year. But that hasn’t stopped Fry’s Electronics from offering the former high-definition packaged media rival to Blu-ray to video game aficionados — at bargain prices.

The San Jose, Calif.-based chain is offering the HD DVD player attachment for the Microsoft Xbox 360 game system and five movies (King Kong, Batman Begins, 300, Troy and Blood Diamond) for $54.99 online at Frys.com and select stores, according to a newspaper circular.

The same player bundled with Kong, Heroes: Season One and Battlestar Galactica: Season One can be had for $49.99 (and $39.99 with just Kong). Select HD DVD titles are available in stores (right next to Blu-ray) for as little $4.99.

“We do have quite a bit of HD DVD movies,” said a Fry’s employee at the Fountain Valley store. “We did get a lot of them in before the end of the format war.”

The staffer said that for the price, the deal was a good one for Xbox 360 owners. He said Blu-ray is the default standard for high-definition packaged media going forward, with BD players approaching the quality of Toshiba’s original HD DVD players, specifically the menu options and Web-connectivity.

“I even bought one,” he said. “I’m not so sure I’m going to find every title I want, though.”
 

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