Japan Introduces PPV Anime DVDs
Variety reports that Japanese DVD distributor Visionare has introduced its first anime DVD offering pay-per-view access. Consumers can now purchase Ashita no Joe DVDs from Visionare for 525 yen ($5.83) each, then unlock the ability to watch individual episodes on the discs for a period of one week for 105 yen ($1.12) per episode. The DVDs are targeted at Japanese consumers who only periodically watch DVDs and want to own inexpensive permanent, non-rental DVDs.
Article provided by Daniel Zelter
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My favorite part of the article is when they mention plans to do the same thing with BD. Do ya think if they introduce that kind of thing here, the studios will issue a lawsuit the way FOX has been doing against those Redbox vendors? ^_- Another interesting item is where they say consumers in Japan won’t buy dvds @ $30-$40 a disc, which is actually “cheap” by that country’s standards. I guess that means the otaku are actually killing the market by paying for overpriced dvds, since they’re the only ones willing to buy ’em. So companies like Bandai Visual might want to consider what they did with Patlabor here[regular and collector’s editions], if they want to succeed in the future.
I’m grateful that this isn’t another Divx or Disney scheme involving disposable media, but I’m personally still not partial to the idea of pay as you view. When a DVD is on my shelf, I want to know that I can just put it in a player and watch it any time rather than first having to go online to purchase an unlock code. Furthermore, does the DVD become useless if Visionare goes under and stops providing unlock codes?