Toshiba, the group who led the HD DVD charge, has released a statement to say that the format is far from dead, and that no decisions on the future of HD DVD have been made. Of course, anyone with eyes and ears can see that Sony may have its first truly successful format ever with Blu-Ray.

It looks like the HD-DVD Blu-Ray war is just about over. Another blow was struck today when Netflix, one of the biggest online movie rental houses, announced it is dropping HD-DVD in favor of Blu-Ray for its HD rental format. Oh boy.

According to Sony, total Blu-Ray disc sales across Europe have topped the 1 million mark. Of course, Sony claims the Playstation 3 is responsible for this, and they are likely correct. On top of that, Sony reports that 73% of all HD discs sold were of the Blu-Ray variety, and only 27% were HD-DVD. If this is true, then the PS3 certainly had a hand, no question. Click read more for the full info.

PRESS RELEASE

LONDON – (27 November, 2007) –Total Blu-ray Disc movie sales across Europe have topped one million units, it was announced today by the Blu-ray Disc Association European Promotions Committee. Of the High Definition movie discs bought by consumers year-to-date in Europe, 73% were in the Blu-ray Disc format and 27% were HD DVD, according to sales data provided by Media Control Gfk International.*

Sir Howard Stringer, the Sony CEO, downplayed the HD video format war. Speaking in Manhattan, Stringer downplayed the importance of the battle, claiming that it was mostly just a matter of prestige who the winner was in the end. "We were trying to win on the merits, which we were doing for a while, until Paramount changed sides," he went on to say. Sounds like Sony may have been hurt by the Paramount switch more than they let on.

PRESS RELEASE

OCT. 9 | UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif.—HD DVD set-tops have reclaimed their dominance over Blu-ray standalone players, according to weekly NPD Group unit sales figures cited by Toshiba. (source video business)

Sony has announced a huge increase in Blu-Ray sales in Europe. This is due, of course, to the release of the Playstation 3. More than 180,000 films have now apparently been sold for viewing with the PS3. Sony's plan seeems to be working, for now.

Of course, this goes in the rumor mill for now, but according to an eCoustics forum post, 2CH in Japan is reporting that Microsoft is planning to release an external Blu-Ray player for the Xbox360 before the year is out. This would be a huge blow to Sony if true, you can read the Japanese language links yourself and decide.

Warner has officially announced it's total hi-def hybrid disc. These hybrid discs are able to hold dual layers of both HD DVD and Blu-ray on one disc. Engadget is reporting the first Total Hi Def releases will hit in the second half of this year, but no specific titles have yet been announced.

This would be such a surprise if Microsoft would switch to Blu-Ray format after putting so much effort into the hd-dvd rom. Microsoft said that it is very possible to develop a Blu-ray player compatible with the Xbox360 system just like the current external HD-DVD player. Take it with a grain of salt for now, but that would be pretty cool if the 360 would support both formats.