By Luke Anderson
While I haven’t picked sides of the HD format war (see: haven’t actually bought a player), I have been silently rooting for HD DVD. Sure, I’m rooting for the underdog, but when you’re a Bears fan for so long, you get used to it. The reason that I think HD DVD could still snag a victory is the price. Toshiba broke the $200-mark late last year, which was a huge milestone. Now according to a new announcement, they’ve chopped another $50 from the low-end of their offerings.
That’s right, you can now pick up a Toshiba HD-A3 player for just $149. Unfortunately this still doesn’t make up for the fact that most of the studios have jumped ship to the Blu-ray camp. I’m greatly saddened by this, as Sony has priced their players much higher than the competition, and when (if?) HD DVD goes under, I don’t see them lowering them for the fun of it. Just look at the PS3, they kept the prices as high as they could for some time, despite poor sales.
Either way you look at it, the war is nearly over. I still think HD DVD has a chance, although it’s not much of one. I wouldn’t’ be surprised if the next six months was enough to give us a clear victor.
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