Sony first to set prices on Blu-ray Disc titles

Sony is the first major studio to announce their pricing model for the upcoming release of their Blu-ray Disc titles. BD films fresh from the theaters should hit the shelves for $23.45 while catalog titles will drop for $17.95, wholesale. Yeah, that's a 15-20% premium over what new-release DVDs cost back at their '97 release but, according to Sony, it's meant to "accommodate the sell-through and rental markets" which DVDs initially avoided since the world was beset by video rentals at the time. But you won't see a Sony MSRP slapped to the back of their BDs. Instead they will allow retailers to set their own margin of profit (like Amazon who lists catalog BDs for $22.49) allowing for the invisible hand to sort it all out. Sony also plans to bundle in DVD and/or UMD formats (not for free, dig?) with some BD releases as a key component of their marketing strategy. While this allows you to watch your new flick on multiple devices, it doesn't mean they've given up on managed copy. That's something they (and a few notable others) are "still working on."