The 32-pound player had a retail price of about $350 ... Between 1975 and 1977, both Betamax (from Sony) and VHS (from JVC) formats appeared and this led to the infamous format war in the 1980s.

Sony was convinced that its Betamax tape format ... as it fostered competition between the various companies making the VHS players and, in turn, eventually drove the prices down to a level ...