I'm trying to decide whether or not to throw in with either high-def DVD format. Everything I've seen suggests that Blu-ray is winning the format war, but right now there are lots of reasons to go with HD DVD.

The first thing to consider is content. I made a list of currently available movies in both formats that I would actually purchase. Some movies are available on one platform and not the other, while some movies are available on both. Here is the list I compiled...

Blu-Ray Movies
300
Blackhawk Down
Bridge to Terabithia
The Descent
Planet Earth
TMNT

HD DVD
300
Batman Begins
Bourne Identity
Children of Men
Christmas Vacation
Constantine
Dawn of the Dead
The Last Starfighter
Mallrats
The Matrix
Planet Earth
Serenity
TMNT

So far, HD DVD has the edge.

Now it's time to consider the hardware. I personally wouldn't buy a stand-alone player for either format, but would rather choose between the XBox 360 (which plays HD DVD movies with an optional add-on device) and the PlayStation 3 (which inherently plays Blu-ray movies). Both are roughly the same price, so it's kind of a wash. However, the XBox 360 has had a huge defective rate (nearly a third of the consoles have died), and it will be a while before the defective generation of XBox 360 machines will be off the shelves. Plus, there is a rumored price-drop coming in mid-August. The PlayStation 3, on the other hand, just had a price-drop and is a solid piece of hardware (I haven't heard any complaints so far).

So, the hardware edge goes to Blu-ray.

At this point, it's hard to decide which one to go with. I have to look towards a third factor, that on the surface has nothing to do with the format war at all--the games. Deciding which hardware to buy is going to depend on what games are available on each next-gen gaming console. There are five games I would like to play on the XBox 360 (Gears of War, Dead Rising, Halo 3, Grand Theft Auto 4, Call of Duty 4), all of which are already out, or will be out soon. There are absolutely NO games currently out for the PlayStation 3 that I want to play. The only cool games on the horizon (Metal Gear Solid 4, Grand Theft Auto 4, Call of Duty 4) won't be out until late this year and early 2008.

Score another for HD DVD.

So... It looks like I've made my decision.

I'm going to save my money for now and play my Nintendo Wii this weekend!

Woot woot!