Well, it's just about done. We told you the other day that Toshiba would most likely concede to Blu-ray this week, and they have officially done just that. With the manufacturer and distributor of HD-DVD consumer products out of the way, one assumes Blu-ray will reign supreme within the next couple of months. For those that have already invested in Toshiba's HD-DVD products, they will still offer support and continue to stock parts for the next eight years. There's no word as of yet whether Paramount and other Hollywood HD-DVD supporters will turn, though we should expect announcements in the very near future.

Keep in mind I don't know all the technical differences between the two formats (sorry folks, I'm limited in that area), but at first glance -- and from a marketing standpoint -- I totally thought HD-DVD would eventually win this war. My friend and I always said that consumers would go with the name they most easily related to. If they had an HD TV, they would buy an HD-DVD player. It just seemed right. But I guess the flashier name won out. On a personal note, I'm happy I opted to side with Blu-ray this past Christmas, because now I'm not out all that money. Had you picked a side yet? And how do you HD-DVD supporters feel about all this?

For the complete Toshiba press release, head on over to our sister site Engadget.

Forget all those retailers and studios abandoning HD DVD. Here's the biggest domino to fall: Toshiba, which was surely the biggest and most important exclusive supporter from the beginning, releasing the first commercially available HD DVD player back in 2006. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Japanese company is expected to discontinue production of HD DVD products, including players and other devices related to the format. Apparently, however, they will continue selling existing equipment and have only ceased development and manufacture of new HD DVD products. There has been no formal announcement, though, from Toshiba. The trade quotes a vp of marketing for Toshiba America as saying the company still believes HD DVD to be technologically the best high-def format (over Blu-Ray) for customers. The decision, if in fact true, comes on the heels of, and is surely an effect of, last month's news that Warner Bros. and then (maybe) Paramount were going Blu-ray exclusive and recent announcements from Netflix, Best Buy, Blockbuster and Wal-Mart that they would each stop renting and/or selling HD DVD discs (or in Best Buy's case, stop selling HD DVD players yet continue selling the discs, but push/recommend Blu-Ray as the favored format) within the year.

The Hollywood Reporter details some of the more recent HD DVD history, including Toshiba's desperate moves to stay in the game after Warner's abandonment. The company significantly cut the cost of their players, but still Blu-ray was the champion in the market. Additionally, new Blu-ray movie titles are constantly out-selling new HD DVD movie titles. The trade mentions that Toshiba's "last ditch effort" was a TV commercial that ran during the Super Bowl and which cost the company $2.7 million. Now all eyes are on the few HD DVD supporters that are left: Microsoft; Universal; DreamWorks and Paramount. How long before they all admit defeat? Within the week?

Harvey and Bob Weinstein have reached an agreement with Toshiba that their spandy-new company, The Weinstein Company, will support the HD DVD format. The boys based their decision on a number of factors, most notably that they think they can make more money by supporting the format. In a mutual statement, the brothers said, "We are impressed by Toshiba's technology and very much look forward to working with them."

The Weinstein Company will have a slew of films coming out on DVD, including Kevin Smith's new film The Passion of the Clerks, School for Scoundrels, with Billy Bob Thornton, and Grind House, which will unite one of my fave directors, Quentin Tarantino (who, hopefully, will not be acting in the film) with one of my least fave directors, Robert Rodriguez (yeah, I know Sin City rocked, but I still haven't forgiven him for the 90 minutes of my life I wasted screening The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl in 3-D).

Harvey Weinstein has decided that his new studio, The Weinstein Company, will exclusively support Toshiba's High Def DVD format, HD-DVD. The announcement wraps up a big week for the DVD format wars. Since most of what actually happens in the pointless tug of war between Sony's Blu-Ray and Toshiba's HD-DVD is boring as hell, I've thus far spared you, but now that the big fat stars are picking sides, I thought it was probably time to get up to speed.

• Toshiba scored another point in the battle when they announced they'll be able to roll out their players about three months ahead of Sony's Blu-Ray machines.
• Sony, Lionsgate, and Fox, exclusive Blu-Ray supporters, announced their upcoming rollout plans for the format, with Fantastic Four, Hitch, Saw and House of Flying Daggers all set to come out in early 2006. Paramount, who have backed both Sony and Toshiba, plan to High Define Aeon Flux, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, and Sahara (which, having just watched it recently, I can safely say was the Best Looking Bad Film of 2005).
• At CES (where, according our friends at Engadget, High Def DVD players are "growing on trees"), Microsoft announced that it'll ship an external HD DVD drive for the Xbox 360 sometime this year. Peter Moore said: "The new drive will offer millions of Xbox 360 owners the ability to easily enjoy HD DVD movies and will provide consumers with even more choices for experiencing high-definition content, in either physical or digital form."

What other morsels did I miss in this totally exciting and revolutionary battle on the order of VHS or Beta?