Although it's not officially dead and buried yet, HD DVD looks to be the definite loser in the battle of the high definition format. It's a tragedy really, for them to perish at such a young age. I can remember buying my first HD DVD player not even two years ago and now it sits there – with little or no hope of seeing many (if any) new HD DVD's to play.

So what happened?

HD DVD had a lot of things going for it. First and foremost, the name. People associate HD automatically with "High Definition" (a moniker that Blu-Ray has conveniently adopted) and thanks to Best Buy and every other electronics chain in the world, the HD name is being hammered into our subconscious so we've no choice but to submit. Not that there's any submission necessary, of course. I mean, no matter which side lost the war the result is better viewing and listening experience for us, the audience.

HD DVD lacked the proper studio support from the get go with major players like Fox, Disney, Sony (obviously) and MGM only supporting Blu-Ray, there was sure to be a distant gap in what was offered and what the consumer would eventually choose. Studios like Warner and Paramount tried to walk the line and offer both formats, but one of the final nails in the coffin came just a few months ago when Warner announced that they'd no longer offer titles in HD DVD after May. Paramount abandoned support of Blu-Ray last Fall and it was speculated that Microsoft gave an undisclosed amount of money for Paramount to do this, only to rebuke HD DVD a few weeks back when the going got rough. As a result Paramount is currently offering their new movies in standard DVD until they figure out which way is up.

But more on that later. HD DVD had the advantage of coming out first and for a while it looked as if the two formats would duke it out for quite some time. Sony's Playstation 3 made it easier for the consumer to get into the Blu-Ray market as it doubled as a Blu-Ray player (and a darn good one, too). Microsoft's rival to the PS3, the Xbox had a HD DVD add on, but they missed the boat when they announced their Xbox elite and it didn't include the HD DVD drive included. This might have saved the format, but instead set it one more step back.

The lack of studio support, the clunky HD DVD player and the price might have been three of the key factors that led to the demise of the format. Many times, while in Best Buy (yes, I'm addicted) I'd notice that the price points for Blu-Ray were often at least $5 cheaper for the same title. Let me repeat that, the same title. Who, in their right mind, would pay more money for the same movie given that the audio and video are identical?

Now I'm anomaly in that I had both formats and I didn't have to pay for any of the HD titles that I received. As saddened as I was to learn of HD DVD's demise, I know that eventually all the titles will be available in Blu-Ray. But for the other 99.9% of the consumers out there who have to put down $25 a pop for their favorite titles, it's quite a slap in the face. Think of all the Star Trek fans who paid a couple hundred dollars for the "re-mastered" season of their favorite show only to wait indefinitely for a second season which will now be on a different format.

According to the market research I did for this article, Blu-Ray just kept excelling where HD DVD faltered. Studio support for Blu-Ray increased, major chains like Target, Best Buy and Wal-Mart announced they'd only carry Blu-Ray and even Blockbuster announced they'd only do Blu. Granted that HD DVD had the force of Microsoft behind it, but Blu-Ray is backed by Sony – not exactly a mom and pop operation. Add it all up and you've got a bad situation on your hands.

No matter what consumers thought of HD DVD or Blu-Ray, there is now a clear winner. Sure, there are a lot of jaded "fans" out there but maybe with one format to choose from, things can proceed forward and we won't have to worry about choosing a side.