for all you people that think sony is the only company to remove features think again, the gamecube was first released with a hd capable output, but was redesigned without that hd output. they took away a feature!!!

HD-DVD players are about $200 right now.  And they come with a pile of ree movies as well (or did last I checked).  I almost replaced my DVD player with an HD-DVD player and I might this Christmas.

Blu Ray isn't close to 'winning' anything, and the war is far, far from over.  Sony has two huge trump cards: 

(1) The PS3 is a Blu Ray 'trojan horse'

(2) Sony owns some of the bigger movie studios.

HD-DVD is better for studios and consumers because it's less expensive to produce and seemingly has smaller royalties associated with it.  

Sales are so low for both Blu Ray and HD-DVD that nothing has been done that cannot yet be undone, marketshare-wise.  The PS3 was supposed to be at least twice as popular as it is which would have been enough to help win the format battle.  As it is, it's close and this holiday could easily turn the tables if the HD-DVD camp can keep pricing competitive and advertise heavily.

I think the sales numbers will speak for themselves on this device...

Anything else is speculation.

I can't remember that GC owners were mad that they could not play N64 games X_X.

Yeah but GC was outsold by the PS2

There is a huge difference between the concept of selling a Wii for $150 and selling a PS3 for $400. The 40GB PS3 is only a 20% price drop over the previous model; to compare to a $150 Wii the price would have to come down to $299. Also, a much greater number of people would consider buying a system at $150 than $399, regardless of the features. If Sony released a $150 PS3 with no BC, then sure, no one would complain about it. As they have publicly stated that the reason they removed the BC was to FORCE their customers to buy more PS3 games, I have no sympathy for them if this SKU fails, especially since it is obvious that this is a push for Blu-ray and makes no consideration for the gamer market.

 So that is a reason to not be dissapointed :s?

@Tyagi and the PS3 by the Wii so =/

Also, people keep saying that new purchasers can buy a PS2 + PS3 for less than the PS3 alone used to cost, but what about memory cards? What about extra controllers? What about a multitap? These costs need to be factored in as well.

How is HD DVD better for studios and consumers? Considering only 2 studios gone exclusive to HD DVD. Plus, 30 gb on a dual-layer disc does not make it better.

Also, New Line went with Blu-ray because HD DVD's lack of region coding and Sony only own Columbia Pictures, Screen Gems, Tristar & MGM. Lionsgate is independent and Fox and Disney is not owned by Sony.

 PS, even if HD DVD players cost $200, Blu-ray still win the format war.

 My family had a Betamax in the 80s.  I always loved going to that video store and renting Betamax and videogames.  That was before Blockbuster took over the world.

 I found a $399 blu ray player in Amazon that has a feature or two that the best PS3 doesn't have but yeah, $399 is very good if you actually want a BR player.  However, judging by the reviews, it sounds like this BR player is as reliable as a 360.  Samsung BD-P1000 Blu-Ray Disc Player
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-BD-P1000-Blu-Ray-Disc-Player/dp/B000F99FDE/ref=pd_bbs_sr_10/105-4074515-0562822?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1193017256&sr=8-10