Warner Bros. Pulls The Plug On Total HD

It was a good gesture. Seriously, we all looked at Total HD like that kid that always tried to find the middle ground in an argument, opting for the "we're not all that different" point versus the "you suck" attacks most kids use. Warner just wanted to find a happy medium for all parties involved while Sony and Micro-shiba settled their grudge match. But it's over now. According to Ars Technica, Warner has officially placed the Total HD format on the back burner.

Total HD was developed by Warner to try and help retailers save shelf space and to reduce consumer confusion. Each Total HD disc held Blu-Ray information on one side and HD-DVD information on the other so that no matter which next-gen player you decided to go with, your movies would find a way to play. The major problem with this format, however, is that Warner was the only major studio in on the gig. I can't really find a good reason why other studios did not join in on the Total HD fun, as it looks like Warner does not hold it as a proprietary format. Maybe we'll see a resurrection of the format if the industry refuses to fall into one line soon?

I think a better investment for consumers would be a player that plays both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD formats. Then consumers would be free to purchase their next-gen dvd's as they see fit, not having to worry about whether or not Superman will work on their home player. I can only imagine the headaches the poor return station clerks will on on December 26 because of the confusion!