Last I wrote in this blog I was asking about games in November!? My truancy has nothing to do with Gerstman*, though, and nothing to do with concerns I have about editorial bias or compromising advertiser-inlfuence on the site; just a lack of inspiration and enthusiasm. GS is still the only enthusiast site I'm interested in participating in.

So what is it that finally inspires me enough to return? This, of course. It's a joke, obviously, and I don't take the content itself seriously. It does strike me, though, that the 360's HD DVD player could use a little bolstering, in the face of greatly exagerated rumours of its demise.

For the sake of disclosure, I did adopt early, and I did have an interest in HD DVD either winning this format war or continuing as an alternative to BD with the rise of hybrid players. Now that a single format has established itself on the market, though, the question I'm forced to confront is whether keeping the 360 peripheral is necessary. The short answer: of course it's not necessary. Even if I hadn't adopted early, though, with prices rapidly dropping as they are, I'd happily pick up the add-on even now. First, it continues to work. Yes, even though Toshiba has abandoned the format, their players still turn on, still play discs, and still provide entertainment. Second, and this is the crucial point for me, it plays SD DVDs. I own 10 HD DVDs and a box set or two; replacing them isn't much of a headache. SD DVDs, though -- I own hundreds. Between movies and box sets, the one thing I never planned to do is replace that collection. So this, then, is how I see it: there's no tragedy in having a second DVD option in the entertainment center, especially one that takes up little space and coordinates well with the other devices. I think of it as a tiny indulgence. I can leave a game disc in the 360 and play a movie in the peripheral; I can have discs one and two from a box set up and ready to go for a marathon viewing session, or the two discs from the LotR extended edition, all with no need to disturb the cat that's usually sleeping on my lap to get up and switch a disc. I know, lazy, but like I say, it's an indulgence. The real point is that the HD DVD player isn't a useless paper wieght, despite the end of a format war and the obsolescence of HD DVD. If, like me, you paid a premium price for this 360 peripheral, try not to despair -- it's a great SD DVD player; if you haven't picked it up yet, as the cost of adoption plummets, maybe the time has come? You'll get a copy of King Kong and a great universal remote, too.

*A new podcast is available here. I felt a uncomfortable listening to it; the quality's poor and it's pretty long. Is it relevant? Is it necessary? I don't mean to speak ill of two former and still beloved GS personalities, not at all, but with all the content and analysis already out there, it's worth asking what distinguishes this one.