Movie entertainment fans now can enjoy HD DVD Player only for $179 comparing to its previous price of $199.

The new price will be effective August 1. In addition of the price cut, Microsoft also offers five movie DVDs of your choice for free. You can choose any of existing 15 titles, including ‘Apollo 13,’ ‘Seabiscuit,’ ‘Constantine,’ ‘Casablanca,’ ‘We Were Soldiers,’ ‘U-571’ and ‘Blazing Saddles, if you buy a Xbox 360 HD DVD Player between August 1 and September 30.

“With the price reduction to $179, the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player continues to be the most affordable way to enjoy high definition,” said Jeff Bell, corporate vice president of Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft.

“From the beginning, we set out to offer Xbox 360 owners an unrivaled high-definition experience, with a choice of optical discs on the HD DVD format and digital downloads through Xbox LIVE Marketplace — both of which have a selection of the best content Hollywood has to offer. Today’s announcements around ‘300’ and ‘Heroes: Season 1’ are great examples of how we believe HD content can be offered to consumers.”

This surprise is a great addition to the previously announced deal with Warner Bros. Now you can purchase HD DVD Player at a lower price and enjoy Disney movies coming to Xbox starting from August 14. This is a good combination of deals making movie entertainment fun and affordable.

But Xbox 360 HD DVD Player price still doesn’t make Microsoft offering the most affordable. Just a short while ago Sony announced price cut for its PlayStation 3. Now its 60GB version costs only $499. It comes with Blu-ray player and five free movies of your choice till September 30.

Xbox 360 itself costs $399 for the 20 GB version, HD DVD Player comes with new $179 price and five free movies. This makes the whole package $578, which is still more than Sony’s offering. But still the price cut sound attractive and makes competition stronger. HULIQ