Sony’s Blu-Ray seems to be gaining ground over Toshiba’s HD-DVD, but why doesn’t an industry strong-man (or a group of strong men?) just step into the situation and slap everyone around like a mafia crime boss would and lay down the law: “It’s Blu-Ray or nothing…or else .” It’s obvious that the high-def format standoff between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD is self-destuctive and killing interest among Average Joe’s in buying a high-def DVD player.

DVD sales are flattening out and an affordable HD-DVD format that catches on could change the whole picture, but it’s not happening because of the stubborn egos of a few men in the industry’s tech arena. This is insane. If Tony Soprano, Chris Moltisanti, Paulie Walnuts and Silvio Dante had any influence over this situation, some limbs and ribs might get bruised or broken but Toshiba’s HD-DVD players would be out of the picture before you know it. And then everyone could start making some money.