The HD DVD Promotional Group, a consortium of companies backing the format, has responded to Netflix's decision to phase out HD DVD rentals and Best Buy's decision to focus on the Sony-backed rival format, Blu-ray.

A statement^† issued by the group reads:



The first sentence is, of course, entirely predictable. The second part of the statement, however, has the ring of a spurned lover making apologies for their ex-partner and grabbing at the scraps from their table. The phrase "at least" certainly suggests that HD DVD is accepting a consolation prize.

The outcome of the high-def format war is seen as crucial to the console war between the Xbox 360 and the PS3 by many thanks to Sony's inclusion of a Blu-ray drive in its machine and the 360's support of HD DVD.

For more on HD DVD's recent woes, see SPOnG's report from yesterday.

^{†Source: cnet}