Is Hitman's Next Target Assassin's Creed? 
Why Kotaku Australia Should Never Work With Children... Or Robots 
Three Words I Said To The Man I Defeated In Gears Of War That I'll Never Say Again 
New Doom 3 For Xbox 360 And PlayStation 3 Supports Head-Mounted Displays 
Far Cry 3 And The Stranger In A Strange Land 
Why Robin Makes Batman Better With HD DVD done and dusted, you’d think Sony would have time to chill out, max and relax. Nope! The U.S. government is investigating Sony and other companies that developed Blu-ray (Samsung, Sharp, Hitachi, Nokia, Panasonic, among others) for patent infringement. The investigation kicked off due to a compliant by senior citizen Gertrude Neumark Rothschild who claimed that Blu-ray infringed on one of her patents and will focus on “certain short-wavelength light emitting diodes, laser diodes, and products containing same”. Rothschild isn’t just some old lady, she’s some old lady who’s a Professor Emeritus at Columbia University and has done pivotal research into blue and violet LEDs. This could get interesting. Then again, it could get really, really boring. Who knows! Gov’t Investigating [GameSpot via Shack News Thanks, John!][Pic]
Are you one of the unfortunates stuck with a now useless HD-DVD player? Did you purchase it at Best Buy before February 23rd? If you answered yes to both of these questions, you can return that old door stop to Best Buy and get a $US 50 gift card in return. According to CNN it is estimated that upwards of $US 10 million in US Gift cards. HD-DVD owners will be found through Best Buy’s Reward Zone program, service plans and online orders. The gift cards will automatically be mailed out to qualifying folks at the beginning of may. If you are not a Reward Zone member you can bring in your BB receipt or credit card info. They will also be offering an online trade-in centre where customers can unload their unwanted players beginning March 21.
Those stuck with HD-DVD players getting gift cards [CNN.com - Thanks, Robert]
Man, losing is hard. Not only that, it’s expensive. Back in February, Toshiba pulled the plug on its HD DVD, thereby ending the format war. That, along with the falling price of flash memory chips, means that profits are expected to drop 125 billion yen, compared to the 137.4 billion yen profit it recorded last year. The decision to stop making HD DVD players alone will cost Toshiba 65 billion yen. That’s $US 666 million dollars. 666? That’s certainly an omen! HD DVD Defeat [BBC]
This week there’s been a juicy rumour that Circuit City is taking back HD DVD players in exchange for Blu-ray players. Now our sister site Gizmodo has confirmed it from a variety of sources. If you purchased an HD DVD player—even if opened—in the last 90 days at Circuit City, you can turn in your HD DVD player for original credit on a Blu-ray player purchase.
With the demise of HD DVD, I imagine most retailers will be dumping what stock they have as quickly as possible to make way for boatloads of Blu-ray discs.
EzyDVD has decided the best way to empty its warehouses of HD DVD movies is to sell them for pennies. Those not being sold for pennies are being sold for Australian dollars.
Obviously, if you don’t own an Xbox 360 HD DVD drive or a standalone player, this might as well be a garage sale for old Betamax tapes. However, if you do have the hardware in your possession, then Under Siege could be yours for less than a fiver!
HD DVD Price Crash [EzyDVD, thanks Gavan]
In December, Microsoft released a $US 2,999 Xbox 360 HD DVD emulator that allowed developers to test HD DVD projects on the 360 from a USB drive or networked PC. It was an easy way to check how a project would run on the console without printing endless discs (aka coasters, aka microwave fun).
Now, because timing is everything, Microsoft has released their emulator to the public free of charge (go forth and to with it what you will). Developers who already paid for the program will be refunded. Xbox 360 HD DVD Emulator – Now Free [A Dullard's Guide via Gameguru]
My dogs have expressed little interest in my lamentations on the subject of HD DVD and my brother even less. While I don’t realistically expect more from this audience, the allure of large numbers compels me to share these final thoughts on the demise of HD DVD.
I’ll start with the admission that I am one of the early a-duh-pters that has the HD DVD add-on for the XBOX 360. That doesn’t make me a MS fanboi, I would instead describe myself as an evil-company-hateboi. And if you want proof that I’m not in MS’ camp just talk to me someday about Vista and its wonderful support of earlier versions of Office.
With retailers slashing Xbox 360 HD DVD Player prices, now is a good time to pick one up! (Thinking of doing that myself.) But what about those who paid full price? They must be kinda bummed out. Or worse yet, those who paid full price for a lot of HD DVD stuff. Those like this poor bastard. Why Me [Danny Choo]
While Microsoft struck down its Xbox 360 HD DVD Player last week, Xbox Japan was still milling things over last we heard. But today, no more! As of today, Xbox Japan has decided to wash its hands of the HD DVD Player. Surprised? No one is! This just, you know, makes it all official and shit. Xbox 360 HD DVD プレーヤーの生産を終了いたします [Xbox Japan][Pic]
Oz Gets Cheap Xbox 360 HD DVD Drives: Microsoft’s local presence has confirmed that the price reduction on the Xbox 360′s now-retired HD DVD drive includes Australia. The new cost is $49.95, which means we’ve been spared any US dollar shenanigans.
