HD DVD Player Sells Out at Amazon

Putting an ironic twist on the PS3 versus Xbox 360 battle, and the issue of gaming consoles sporting hi-def video features, amazon.com has sold out of its preorder batch of Xbox 360 HD DVD drives.  It appears that at least some Xbox 360 owners agree that a next-gen console should cost $600 and include a state of the art video player.

The external HD DVD will only work with the Xbox 360 and costs $200.  Due to hit stores on November 7th, the first shipment will include an HD copy of Peter Jackson's King Kong.  Maybe people can't get enough of Kong and Jack Black in high detail.

The success or failure of the HD DVD add-on in the coming months will play out like a big catch 22:  If Microsoft's effort at supporting the HD DVD standard fails, it will prove that they are not clairvoyant when it comes to consumer desires and technology trends.  On the other hand, if Microsoft gaming fans scoop up the $200 peripheral by the truckload, it will prove that Sony's logic for a $600 game console with high definition video included was not such a bad idea, after all.

Oh, the conundrum.  HD DVD, FTW?