There are very little absolutes in life. Mine right now is that I will absolutely not buy a PS3 at launch because of the price. But after spending the last couple of years watching HD movies on cable and satellite, and salivating at the new format’s ability to provide some stellar extra content, I am ready to move to the next generation of recorded media. Last year I invested in an Xbox 360, and I’m excited for the upcoming HD-DVD add-on drive. So, naturally, I’ll use my original investment to subsidize my DVD upgrade.

Hence, I want my HD-DVD.

My message to Microsoft, then? If you want to beat Sony in the Great DVD Format War, you have to beat them to their own game. At this point, there are more HD-DVD titles available, and HD-DVD hardware and software sales are outselling Blu-ray over the same period after launch. HD-DVD has the momentum.

I, like probably countless others, am waiting for the format war to declare a winner before I start sinking my money into one or the other. But I see what HD-DVD is offering now compared to Blu-ray, and I like what I see. There are about 10 titles on HD-DVD either available now or shipping in the next month that I would buy without a second thought. I am ready to take the plunge, cash in hand. But I won’t – not until I get my HD-DVD drive for the Xbox 360. And most likely, if I adopt a format early, I will stick with that format.

Hopefully Microsoft sees this opportunity, because what they should be doing is targeting a release for the HD-DVD a month or so before the PS3 launch, around mid-October. This means that people who have already purchased an Xbox 360 console will be able to adopt the format with relatively minimal expense. It also means that with Xbox 360 shipments of over six million units, there is the potential to inject HD-DVD into a large consumer base fairly quickly, thereby trumping Sony at their own game. And once those people jump on the HD-DVD train and start loading up on HD-DVD titles, the less chance they would adhere to a second high definition DVD format – namely, Blu-ray.

Granted, I probably won’t go gangbusters into a format without feeling better about its longevity. But the longer Microsoft takes to get out the HD-DVD drive, the less comfortable I feel about its chances.