I went into Town Central to get the Danny Summer in Concert DVD, and also wanted to pick up the DVD for “Infernal Affairs”. There were loads of Infernal Affairs VCDs (two different packaging) but the cashier lady said that the DVD version was sold out(!). I have also heard that the Danny Summer DVD is selling very well.
A couple of observations:-
- People are still willing to pay for good movies on VCD/DVD.
- People like DVDs, and there are a lot of DVD players out there.
On the matter of protection of intellectual property, it is entirely possible to contain the damage caused by piracy. By publishing the VCD/DVD and making them available for sale shortly after the movie’s public showing in cinemas ends, the general public get a viable choice, and there is no reason for them then to resort to pirate copies. There are always going to be a small number of folks who can’t or won’t spend the money to get the genuine item no matter what, so they are lost cases anyway.
I think the DVD format has reached critical mass. The quality is good and the price is right, so people are more likely to go for DVDs rather than VCDs, especially if the software is of good quality.