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OK, we know that HD DVD is theoretically, practically and literally dead by now, and that Microsoft (with its refusal to directly influence the high-def format war) is partially responsible for some nails in the coffin, but isn't Blu Ray on the Xbox 360 supposed to actually give PlayStation 3 the upper hand?!...

Japanese electronics behemoth Toshiba is likely to dump their agonizing HD DVD business this Tuesday, after a board meeting during which the company will re-evaluate its strategy in the HD battle with Sony. That means that what everyone was suspecting since the debut of this year's CES (Blu Ray's clear win) is finally getting contour- a decision that has sent Toshiba's shares sky-high at the Tokyo Stock Excange in Japan.

However, this leaves Toshiba's former ally Microsoft without an important weapon in the console-war: the HD DVD drive. While we know that the Redmond giant has a clear orientation towards HD-movie downloads from Xbox Live (and this is the reason for which they refused to include the HD DVD by default into their Xbox 360), it's obvious that since XBL is not available in every country, Sony will reap more profits out of selling Blu Ray DVDs and out of selling HD movies online (after all, they do have Sony Pictures in their back yard, PlayStation Store is up and running and PlayStation HOME is ready to debut).

So what's the solution? Why, of course, going Blu Ray-exclusive. According to the Aussies from SmartHouse, an Xbox 360 with a Blu Ray drive is likely to debut in May, with minor details about marketing remaining to be solved.
Michael Ephraim the Managing Director of Sony Computer Entertainment, was qouted by SmartHouse as saying: "We would welcome Microsoft to the Blu-ray stable. In fact it is quite logical for them as the PS3 has been very succesful in driving consumers to Blu-ray. In fact we believe that it has done more to win the format war than traditional Blu-ray player". For those of you wondering what can Microsoft win out of this situation, just think of how much money Bill Gates' company makes out of every Vaio laptop sold out there... So yeah, it's a console war alright, but... with mild punches and lots of back-pattings...