M$ probably wont be adapting a blu ray drive or a hd dvd drive into the xbox360. it would be like screwing the 17m xbox360 owners with a standard dvd drive as they wont be able to play any hd dvd or bd disks.  and game developers wont be making 2 versions of a game for just one system, this is assuming that M$ does adapt a hd drive. 

Too bad, HD-DVD looked promising. Now I guess I'll stick with upscaled DVDs til a new format is released.

I expect the oposite will be true, without any competition there will be less deals and lower comitment from Studios and other Blu Ray hardware companies. Blu Ray burned bridges with Paramount and Universal so don't expect anything from them for years to come.

If that is true, than for me it will be a confirmation that MS not only invested millions in Studio-support from Universal and Paramount, but that they also talked Toshiba into the HD-DVD adventure and invested some millions into HD-DVD production and marketing just to confuse consumers and make Downloadable HD as the answer and solution to all questions.

Nevertheless, it would be a smart move from Toshiba.

I personally know the man that was in charge of HD DVD for MS (he has since moved to a different post) and they didn't give any money to Universal or Paramount.

A smart move for Toshiba is to make sure that if HD DVD doesn't succeed then do what they can to kill Blu Ray as well.

Parmount and Universal would ultimately lose revenues if they do not support BR-D in the future. They know this; everyone knows this.

Toshiba is also not blind to the fact that there is profit to be made in producing BR-D players. As it stands now, the majority of HD DVD players that are being moved are entry level units that are currently being sold for a minimum over production cost if not at a loss due to inventory clearing. Once sub $99 units become standard, and more retail outlets announce they will not be restocking, they are officially dumping inventory.

If Toshiba starts producing BR-D players soon, at the very least, these are more profitable than standard DVD players, which have been suffering from diminishing returns as they became cheaper and cheaper.

Blu Ray (and HD DVD) is a loss maker for both studios and hardware companies. Nether the studios or Toshiba will be in any rush to move over.

Oh don't be foolish.  These are major businesses, not children in a playground.  The second BR is the only HD format both studios will release for it and Toshiba will release BR players.

As for sales of HD movies the uptake is still unknown.  All we've seen so far is early adopters willing to risk getting stuck with wrong format because they like new tech/higher resolutions and PS3 owners buying a few titles to see how they look vs DVD.

Its only once HD DVD formally drops out and BR is the only HD format that we'll really get to judge how quickly the format will sell and in what ratio vs DVD format.

As for less commitment it will very probably be the other way around.  The studios were playing a waiting game while the onus was on the HD DVD and BR camps to promote.  The second there is a single format the studios will consolidate behind it and you'll see a more concerted and continuous push for the format.

 Are you that big of a fanboy? Seriously, you have an HDTV and Blu-ray players will become standard and are still dropping in price.  You honestly hate Sony (er I mean blu-ray... right) so much that you will only use upscaled DVDs? You sound like a child,  "Screw you, I don't need you or your sandbox, I've got my own, its just older >P.  

A lot of people are that sour about the whole backing a losing horse issue with HD DVD. Most of them felt that it was the better format due to the cheaper overall price and full set of features (admittedly, most of which were very gimmicky) that have yet to be fully implemented in BR-D.

So sure, the natural response for some of those will be "I'm taking my marbles and going home."

Well, in all likelihood, there will be no future optical disc storage media format. BR-D and HD DVD will most likely be the last. Assuming a life cycle on par with DVD (ten years), BR-D will eventually be supplemented by HD downloads once the data infrastructure is robust enough to handle the bandwidth. In ten years, solid state memory should have developed enough in terms of storage to cost ratio that moving drive based media (optical or magnetic) will no longer be a necessity.

But to say that you'll "hold off" on HD media until this happens? Keep waiting. And waiting. And waiting. Those that have HD entertainment set ups are going to want their HD content today. And once players and the media become cheap enough, no one will think twice about buying them when there's only one format.