HD Format Wars

Alterdestiny has turned into some kind of home electronics/Netflix discussion group all of a sudden. Don't know how that's happened. Anyway, Netflix sent me an email this evening to break the sad news that they will no longer carry the HD-DVD format in preference to Sony's Blu-ray.

"In order to provide the best selection of high definition titles for our members, we have decided to go exclusively with Blu-ray as well [as the studios]."

First of all, since Netflix carries pretty much every DVD under the sun, I don't see how going exclusively one format provides me with the best selection. Still, I wouldn't normally care about something like this, but I was forced to make the format choice a few months ago and went with HD. This format has lost the war due to Sony's influence. A format war does not benefit the consumer in any way. It has forced every person who shelled out hundreds of dollars on the "wrong" format to do so again in if they want a continuing level of quality. On top of it, it gives all the studios who had released HD exclusive movies the opportunity to charge upwards of $30 again so all those saps can replace their discs that are now obsolete. I'm a sucker because my DVD player broke. That's great. I don't know when I'll be able to afford it and, until then, it carves away options for me to review for DVD Verdict. Format wars are fucking hogwash.