Competition is generally considered a good thing, but that’s not the case when it comes to technology formats. One might have thought that the great videotape throwdown of the 1980s--in which consumers were trapped between VHS or Beta--would have been a lesson learned.

Perhaps because gamers are willing to accept that a silver Sony disc won’t spin in a Microsoft machine, the mega-corps thought they could force the general public into a new format war over our high-definition movie-watching. But games have always been console-specific while we've grown rather accustomed to slipping a DVD into any old player, regardless of the manufacturer.

Still, Sony sidled up with its proprietary Blu-ray technology while Bill Gates sided with HD-DVD and neither seemed willing to blink. To a degree, anyway. Sony boldly put Blu-ray into its PS3, even if it meant the now-gen console was stuck with an exorbitant asking price. Microsoft, however, hedged its bets and released its Xbox 360 without a built-in HD-DVD player, instead selling an add-on player.

Now the 360’s lower price point no doubt helped its launch and year one growth as much as Sony’s sales-tag hindered it, but it might also have given Blu-Ray the upper hand.

Ubiquitous rental giant Blockbuster has come down on Sony’s side, announcing that next month when it expands its high-definition inventory (after all, watching a standard-def DVD on your HD set is like digging out your old VCR) it’s gonna stick with Blu-ray.

A few test stores had both formats and, after the PS3 came out, Blu-Ray nabbed 70% of the brick-and-mortar rental market, a figure reflected in over all next-gen DVD purchases so far this year (on the other hand, online rental company Zip.ca claims Canadians are picking HD-DVD by a 2-to1 margin).

A rep for Toshiba, who make HD-DVD players, dismissed the move in Variety by saying "I think this fundamentally reflects that PlayStation 3 owners who are finding a dearth of games are renting movies."

Fair enough, but the limited games (especially third-party exclusives) are partly a result of cagey consumers not wanting to shell out extra for a PS3 that might contain a losing format. But if Blu-ray does, in fact, become the de facto successor, then the PS3 becomes a more reasonable purchase and more buyers equals more games.  

Since a Blu-ray loss could cripple the PS3 while HD-DVD taking a dive only hurts the fraction of Xboxers who bought the extra drive, it is a much-needed victory for struggling Sony. And since most folks have been waiting to see how this all plays out before investing in a high-def player, if this is the beginning of the format war’s end, it's a win for the rest of us as well.