We don't even really know how to approach this one, but we all well remember the talks that went down between Toshiba and Sony (et. al.) before Blu-ray and HD DVD hit the market; they were going to truce, they were going to unify, it was going to be more like DVD, less like Betamax and VHS. And, of course, we all know how that went. And no matter how many times we think talks might still be in the cards, they get shut down for one reason or another, bitter rivals to the end. Except when one of the most powerful men in the Japanese electronics business, Toshiba President Atsutoshi Nishida, tells investors "We have not given up on a unified format. We would like to seek ways for unifying the standards if opportunities arise." Oh sure, we could take that at face value and all, but it sure does go a long way to assuage stockholders' fears that a format war might yet render Toshiba's technically inferior HD DVD format obsolete and useless, telling them that a unified high definition video format might still be in the cards. Call us pessimists, but we'd love nothing more than for these guys to prove us wrong.

Both sides have announced, built, and even begun selling their devices -- if you don't think the next gen optical war between HD DVD and Blu-ray for the high definition living room hasn't already begun, well, you're probably not a regular here. But just in case there was any hope that these two factions would come together and truce before too late turned into too too late, well, sorry, consider those hopes dashed; according to Panasonic CEO Kazuhiro Tsuga (pictured right heading to work) regarding unifying with HD DVD, "We are not talking and we will not talk," and that "the market will decide the winner." Just like that. You hear that Toshiba? Bring it on, they say. Man, we can't wait to start reporting all the flaming-bag-on-doorstep incidents that are so going to occur between Blu-ray and HD DVD executives.