AfterDawn: News

First Blu-ray 'flipper' discs coming next month

Universal has announced the launch of the new Blu-ray “Flipper” discs, releases that feature the Blu-ray on one side, and a DVD release on the flip side.

The first films to be made into “flipper” discs are the Bourne Trilogy, which will be released on January 19th, individually. Each of the films will be “flippers,” and will include the feature film and bonus features.



"Universal's flipper discs are the perfect way for consumers to future-proof their collections while still enjoying their favorite movies on all their existing DVD players,"adds Craig Kornblau, President of Universal Studios Home Entertainment."The flipper disc offers an easy way for viewers to convert to Blu-ray now or at any time in the future, confident in the fact they will be able to experience their home entertainment purchases in the highest quality picture and sound when they do."

In the press release, Universal uses terms such as “industry-changing,” but I do recall purchasing HD DVD “flippers” in 2007, including Universal films. Why did it take so long for Blu?

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 2 Dec 2009 12:00

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• 20 comments

• emugamer

  Quote:In the press release, Universal uses terms such as “industry-changing,” but I do recall purchasing HD DVD “flippers” in 2007, including Universal films. Why did it take so long for Blu? Yeah, I actually have a few "flippers" on HDDVD, one being the Bourne Ultimatum.

  2.12.2009 12:06 #1

• ZippyDSM

  I never did like flipper discs...to easy to mess up and the lilllte thing in the middle telling you want side/disc is was always annoying....

  2.12.2009 12:14 #2

• DXR88

  Quote:Universal's flipper discs are the perfect way for consumers to spend more money on their collections while creating a monopoly for blue-ray,"adds Craig Kornblau, President of Universal Studios Home Entertainment.i fixed it for you

  2.12.2009 12:15 #3

• SProdigy

  Originally posted by ZippyDSM: I never did like flipper discs...to easy to mess up and the lilllte thing in the middle telling you want side/disc is was always annoying....Yeah, they are annoying. Esp those DVD's that came out before the dual layers, where you had to flip the movie half way through, though this is different, why not package the discs individually instead of pasting a BD and DVD together?
  
  Probably because of the added "value", I could buy the combo and give my buddy the DVD version. I really hate these MPAA fools, always trying to find a way to squeeze a few extra pennies out of people.

  2.12.2009 12:36 #4

• Samsunged

  I like this for our dvd player in the car.

  2.12.2009 13:11 #5

• slickwill

  There were those flipper dvd where one side was the wide-screen version and the other side was the full-screen version. You would check the center label to see which version it was then you place that side down into the dvd player only to find out that the it's the other version of the film. Finally realizing that the center label is indicating that the opposite side of the dvd is the widescreen or full screen version, not the same side of the label.

  2.12.2009 13:40 #6

• Shinraboy

  I'd rather have the cover art. If I want a DVD I'll buy it. Better yet, just bundle a DVD with it. It's so easy to scratch these.

  2.12.2009 14:15 #7

• emugamer

  Honestly, I'm gung ho HD, but SD has it's uses in my household. I'm not going to run to the store to get these, but if I do get a hold of some, they would come in handy. The lame marketing of these things always annoys me though.

  2.12.2009 15:17 #8

• XdjxedxdX

  i agree why not just put both in one god damb case .Whats a dvd or cd cost pennys and dont give me that cost of production crap its all been done and paid for all ready .There already going to charge 30 to 50 bucks for these things so why not get both?

  2.12.2009 16:00 #9

• Coyote42

  My guess as to why it took so long is that the data capacity of Bluray is just now getting used up. It still seems to soon, 50gb is alot of space to fill.

  2.12.2009 17:09 #10

• lxfactor

  whats the point in flipper disc.. if you mess up one u mess up both.. very bad business

  2.12.2009 18:00 #11

• lxfactor

  Originally posted by Coyote42: My guess as to why it took so long is that the data capacity of Bluray is just now getting used up. It still seems to soon, 50gb is alot of space to fill.what are you talkin about?

  2.12.2009 18:01 #12

• bomber991

  They should just make all blurays the same price as dvd's. Once that happens, the only reason someone would not buy the bluray is because they still have a standard definition tv and dvd player. The bluray players are dropping in price, the hdtv's are dropping in price. It's looking like you could get a nice hdtv + bluray player setup for under $1,000 now. That's a lot of money for someone like me to spend, but you look at getting something like that a few years ago and that would be a hard thing to do for under $1k.

  3.12.2009 03:18 #13

• KillerBug

  I can understand the appeal of this...I would rather see packaged like Disney does...where a seperate DVD comes with the BluRay movie...but I can understand that they might not want to "give away" a DVD every time they sell a bluray.
  
  I wonder if the DVD side will be DVD9 or just DVD5...I know that it is possible to make a DVD9 "flipper" disk, but it costs more than a DVD5 "flipper" disk.
  
  It is a good thing they made hddvd "flipper" disks...sure, the customers got screwed buying a format that never cought on...but at least they still have a DVD of the movie.
  

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  3.12.2009 05:18 #14

• emugamer

  Originally posted by KillerBug: It is a good thing they made hddvd "flipper" disks...sure, the customers got screwed buying a format that never cought on...but at least they still have a DVD of the movie.That depends on your definition of screwed. I just bought a Toshiba A2 for about $100, just so I could get movies for $3.00 each. I feel that every HD DVD movie I buy is a jab to the industry. I've jabbed them about 50 times. And then I really screw them by buying blu rays used.

  3.12.2009 07:58 #15

• alexeemo

  My wife and I just bought a big screen plasma for our home(finally). We decided it was also time to buy the HDMI cables for our PS3 and we purchased Disney's "Up" on BD so we could watch our first movie in 1080p. When we got home we found not only a BD disc but also a completely extra DVD disc in the case as well. Much better having a separate disc!

  4.12.2009 09:45 #16

• flamitaz

  Disney is one of the very few companies that does that, and has been doing that for a while. I always look for these especially, the Blu ray/DVD combo. I rather pay $30 for these, heck I might even pay $35 ( depending on what movie it is, than to spend $15 for a BD ( just the Blu ray movie).

  4.12.2009 11:52 #17

• xboxd00d

  A bit pointless if you ask me, why would a consumer spend MORE on the flip version of a bluray disc to "future proof" their collection when the DVD version will be alot cheaper!!!
  
  I still buy normal DVD's and only spend more on blurays on the films that really deserve it.

  4.12.2009 13:09 #18

• domie

  / me no like these flipper discs - I have a lot of them on HD-DVD because there was no other choice ( other than not buy the movie ) but it is irritating as hell how they all look the same and you have to use a magnifying glass to see what is written in the middle.
  I store all my discs in wallet cases and keep the disc cases and inlay cards in the attic space and it bugs me having to type out and selotape little labels on the pocket of the blank silver discs in the wallet to tell them apart. It makes it look like I am building up a pirated bootleg collection.
  Apart from that, if you already have the blu-ray player , why the hell would you want to watch the dvd side instead of the high def blu-ray side ? If this is actually the contrary of that and an attempt to lure dvd watchers into buying a blu-ray disc I don't think it will succeed very much - if they are happy and still buying standard dvds then they are not going to pay out 2 or 3 times as much for a blu-ray disc that they haven't yet bought a player for.

  4.12.2009 19:06 #19

• emugamer

  Originally posted by domie: Apart from that, if you already have the blu-ray player , why the hell would you want to watch the dvd side instead of the high def blu-ray side ? If this is actually the contrary of that and an attempt to lure dvd watchers into buying a blu-ray disc I don't think it will succeed very much - if they are happy and still buying standard dvds then they are not going to pay out 2 or 3 times as much for a blu-ray disc that they haven't yet bought a player for.I can see one use. My father-in-law saw that I bought a blu ray and wanted to borrow it. I told him that he wouldn't be able to play it in his DVD player. I guess it would have been nice if it was a flipper. He was confused because I've given him a few HD DVD flippers in the past.
  
  But I wouldn't pay extra money for one. If it's there, it's there.

  4.12.2009 21:15 #20