Yes, absolutely.
The game console leadership position can oscillate generation to generation. Any one generation is not as valuable as controlling the new movie format.
However, Sony admitted they do not anticipate winning the HD format war, and they have downplayed it saying that it's not the ~50 billion dollar windfall over the next decade that they entered it for, but for corporate pride.
BD is a very, very long way from winning the format war. In actual numbers, they're effectively in a complete stalemate with HD-DVD. Right now, it's a war of perception: if people think one format is winning, it will have a huge advantage because it will get more support and more people will be interested in it. However, either format can still get that edge, and the cheap HD-DVD hardware is a comperable advantage to PS3 hardware.
And yet, if Sony, Toshiba and the MPAA want to try to keep HD media prices in the stratosphere, both HD formats will continue to lose badly to DVD for the forseeable future.
