The selfish acts of Microsoft is what killed the HD DVD, period. Let me explain how this came about.
During the VHS vs Beta Max battle adult content played the big role in who won the format war, supposedly.
This time around, it is the gaming crowd that decided who won the war. Gaming community was willing to take sides. Both camp had their opportunities. Sony played well and decided to include the blu-ray drive in to every next gen console they sold. That was smartest move in this round of format war I have to say. The price of the console kept it from becoming the leader in the overall console sales. But Sony kept its focus on the big picture.
Sony owns a big movie studio, they have both movie and music content that is reasonably large. They also own a consumer electronics division that makes HDTV, Blu-Ray players and everything latest. They also have a strong computer division that makes PC’s and laptops. All these elements along with PS3 played into getting blu-ray in to hands of maximum number of customers. In the case of PS3, customers did not have to think about buying separate pieces of hardware to watch movies in high definition. They got that free when they bought the console.
Microsoft had an early lead on current generation consoles. They decided that the consumers should make their choice by buying a separate piece of hardware to watch HD DVD. It was in their interest not to sell too many HD DVD add-ons because that would impact the market place movie rentals. So, they never made the HD DVD drive an integral part of xbox 360. That one decision probably is going to be the single most reason why xbox 360Â may loose the console war this round. Can xbox 360 play catchup?
Toshiba says marketing was their weakness. I think the partners who were not fully committed to the cause were their weakness. One way Toshiba could have won is by making arrangements with Microsoft to include the HD DVD drive in ever xbox 360 sold. Microsoft could have extended the technology to have games on the format as well.