At the end of 2006, I chose my side in the HD video format war. Knowing there was no clear winner, I commited to Blu-ray as my next-gen HD video format of choice. I don’t think that was early enough to consider me an “early adopter.” I just didn’t expect the PS3 I bought in November 2006 to be such a completely waste as a gaming machine. As much of the gaming nut that I am, I’ve seriously purchased a single game for that hunk of crap that was quickly beaten and re-sold. This being the case, I gave my $699 “investment” some worth and started buying Blu-ray titles. Since then, I racked up a cautious Blu-ray library having purchased my 50th title (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford) a little more than a week ago. I nearly shit a brick when Paramount and Dreamworks announced they would be supporting HD DVD exclusively back in August 2007 and almost brought balance back to the format war. At this point, it was said Warner Bros., having not chose an alliance yet, would be the defining production company to call a winner. They did so a month ago when they chose Blu-ray and then started the death watch for HD DVD. Numerous major retailers and rental companies soon dropped HD DVD support in the last couple of week. Smaller production companies followed. This morning, about an hour ago, Toshiba released a press release throwing in the towel and officially ending the format war. The end of this format war today is a good day for all consumers, including HD DVD supporters. Now all there is to do is pick up my copy of Michael Clayton later today and wait for Universal, Paramount, and Dreamwork to announce their pledge to Blu-ray as well.