Format war? Meh.

I don't know about anyone else, but this format war stuff is getting a little old.  It seems like every 15 minutes we get more propaganda from one camp or the other.  These days I don't believe what's being put out for numbers sold, attach rates, blah, blah, blah.  The only thing that this is doing to the industry is causing confusion and irritation.  Let's look at the situation as it applies to our favorite toys. 

Microsoft launches the Xbox 360 with two SKUs, and a pretty good price point.  The HD-DVD would be released in late 2006.  Good news for the HD-DVD camp?  Kinda.  The problem with the 360 is that the console seemed rushed to market and did not include an HD drive.  In my mind, next gen means an increase in all the systems capabilities, and this just doesn't hold true with the 360.  The exclusion of an HD-DVD drive did, however, lower the price point and help to achieve the early build-up and install rate for the system.  

Next comes the Playstation 3 (the Wii does not have one of the two competing formats so I'm not including it in this blog).  Sony did some things right and some horribly wrong.  At almost double the price of the 360 when it launched and amazingly stupid statements from Sony (you know the one, about people wanting to work more hours to buy one), plus the other acts of blind arrogance by the previously mentioned Sony, just about killed all momentum for the system.  If it wasn't for the inclusion of the built in HD drive, we might not have seen the capabilities of Blu-ray.  With all PS3 games on Blu-ray disks, the results of the product can be seen out of the box (with the minimal cost of cables).

The results are still out on whether either system truly has an impact on this current situation.  Both Microsoft and Sony have pushed hard with deals for free movies with the purchase of their systems and good price cuts to boot.  With the current situation though, if the analysts are correct, we may not see a resolution at all.