Blu-ray deal: Buy a player at Wal-Mart, get a $100 gift card

Starting next week, the retail behemoth will give you a $100 gift card if you buy a Blu-ray player—and it looks like the same offer currently applies (for now, at least) to the 40GB, Blu-ray-equipped PlayStation 3.

Reuters is reporting that the $100 gift-card deal will run from June 8 to 14, and will apply to any Blu-ray deck in the store.

Checking today on the Wal-Mart Web site, I only found two non-PlayStation Blu-ray players on sale: the old Sony BDP-S300 for $388 (BD Profile 1.0 only), and the somewhat more attractive Magnavox NB500MG9 for $298 (BD Profile 1.1, good for picture-in-picture video commentaries).

But you may find more players in the actual stores—and indeed, Reuters notes that Wal-Mart will start selling decks from more manufacturers, including Samsung and Panasonic.

Also, while checking Wal-Mart's site online, I noticed that you can get a $100 Wal-Mart gift certificate if you order the 40GB PS3 ($399) right now. It's not clear whether the PS3 will be included in next week's deal, so if you're interested, better strike now while the iron's hot.

As for Blu-ray movies, Wal-Mart says it will sell certain titles—including 3:10 to Yuma, Shooter, and 300—for $15 next week. Not bad, considering that Blu-ray movies often cost $25 and up, compared to $9.99 for many DVD titles.

Related:
Wal-Mart pushing sales of Blu-ray players [Reuters]