AHHHHHH! You know what. Forget it. I will use Betamax and forget both formats altogether. I don’t mind hearing news about this creative difference, but man, get a clue!

Now it’s official. Or, officially unofficial? After several months of “will they, won’t they?”, Sony Computer Entertainment President Ken Kutaragi quipped recently that it’s “game over,” referring to talks between Sony and Toshiba to avert a format war over the successor to DVD. This has led a number of sites to report that all hopes of unified format have died.

However, this is looking all the more like the nine lives of a cat every day. Nikkei Net is now reporting that renewed talks may begin following shareholder meetings later this month. Boardroom reshuffles at both Toshiba and Sony may result in more interest in a compromise between the Japanese electronics giants.

We have previously reported that there was a possibility for a hybrid format. The putative hybrid disc would have used Blu-ray’s physical structure and adopted the data structure of HD-DVD. With Kutaragi at the helm, the two parties each refused to adopt any aspect of the other’s standard, with the Sony camp proclaiming the superior data capacity for Blu-ray, and Toshiba preferring the cheaper manufacturing costs associated with HD-DVD, an advantage that may not last long. [Read the rest]