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I recently, within the last few months, bought a Toshiba HD-A3 HD-DVD Player.

It was an impulse buy as I wanted to get into the next generation of DVD but wasn't set on which format to buy.

Yet, as I saw a sale price of $199.99 plus two movies (The Bourne Identity and 300) in the box as well as another three free movies from BestBuy and another five from Toshiba, I couldn't resist.

So, imagine my surprise when Paramount decided to end it's exclusivity contract with HD-DVD and switch it's backing to Blu-Ray.

(First Warner Bros. ends it's support for both formats, then Universal makes a similar statement as Paramount before their announcement and now this).

I wasn't into this whole "format war" thing to begin with. To me, it just felt like two spoiled kids fighting over whose new toy was better.

But now, I have inadvertently chosen a side (by being seduced by the ten free HD-DVD's) and I must live with the consequences.

If you have chosen HD-DVD then basically you have chosen the LaserDisc format.

The only thing to do now, imho, is acquire as many HD-DVD's as possible before the content becomes extinct.

On a side note, Toshiba has cut prices again for all their HD-DVD players. Some say this is a move to entice consumers. Still others say this is because retailers want to move HD-DVD products, clear shelf space, or both.

Either way, I will more than likely buy a Blu-Ray player sometime in the future.

I am just not sure when.