Microsoft Matches Sony's Blu-ray PS3 Incentive with Free HD DVD Offer in UK

Teaming up with HD DVD promoter Toshiba, Microsoft has just announced an incentive for purchasers of its Xbox 360 HD DVD Player, giving U.K. customers who purchase the add-on between now and January 31 five free HD DVD flicks. The offer is slightly different than the recently begun HD DVD incentive for American customers, but matches Sony's existing promotion for five free Blu-ray movies with the purchase of a PlayStation 3 or select other Blu-ray players, which runs through January 31. Purchasers of Toshiba HD DVD players or certain Toshiba HD DVD-equipped computers are also eligible for the U.S. offer, which runs longer than the U.K. promotion through February 28. Americans can pick five titles from a list of 15 HD DVD films: Aeon Flux, Babel, The Italian Job, Hulk, Pitch Black, The Thing, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Swordfish, Full Metal Jacket, Firewall, The Frighteners, U2: Rattle and Hum, Black Rain, Darkman, and Troy. For the U.K., the list of available choices has 13 titles and is slightly different, with Serenity, The Chronicles of Riddick, Hulk, Children of Men, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Troy, Full Metal Jacket, Corpse Bride, The Prestige, Swordfish, Black Rain, Dreamgirls, and Word Trade Center on offer. Interestingly, several of the available choices in Microsoft's HD DVD offer are also available in Sony's Blu-ray incentive. Regardless, the Xbox 360 add-on is the cheapest route to five free movies, at $179.99 in the states and 114.99 Pounds in the U.K. After filling out the form for either the American or U.K. offer, customers will receive their movies in 8 to 10 weeks in America or in 28 days or more in the U.K.