blu-ray

In what will probably the beginning of the end of the HD DVD format, Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer and architects of the Deathstar, has joined Netflix and Best Buy in backing the Blu-ray high-definition DVD format. To be fair, poor HD DVD really never stood a chance. The format was backed by Toshiba, while Blu-ray has Sony — and it’s library of 4,000,000,000 films (estimated figure) — in its corner.

According to Wal-Mart’s resident blogger (I wonder what that pays) Susan Chronister:

“So … if you bought the HD player like me, I’d retire it to the bedroom, kid’s playroom, or give it to your parents to play their John Wayne standard def movies, and make space for a BD (Blu-ray disc) player for your awesome Hi Def experience.”

Ouch. Look at this way, if you always wanted an Xbox 360, which currently only supports HD DVD, now might be the time to get one cheap.