Almost everyone who follows gaming knows that Sony's PlayStation 3 will support Blu-ray and Microsoft announced plans to release an HD-DVD drive for the Xbox 360 at last week's CES. The New York Times has an article that does more than hint that the future of the next-generation DVD format might rest in the hands of gamers.

The PlayStation 3 launch (the NYT article expects the console this spring), to me, mirrors Sony's PlayStation 2 launch, with a caveat. Are consumers really ready to upgrade to a next-generation high-definition DVD format? I don't know if I'm even remotely ready to trade in my stack of "plain, old, normal, DVDs," for Blu-ray or HD-DVD, let alone only being able to purchase some movies on each format. On that note, I disagree with the Times article that suggests that gamers could determine the winner in the format wars, simply because I don't think it's time for a war. DVD is still fine. What do you think?

Gamers Could Influence Next DVD Format [The New York Times]
Xbox 360 HD-DVD Announced

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