Engadget reports that the first Neilsen VideoScan numbers for 2007 are coming in, and Blu-ray software is outselling HD-DVD software two to one.

Yeah, it looks like a rout, but I’d raise a couple of cautionary points.

First, the data isn’t title-specific, leaving us no idea whether a given dual-format release — say, Paramount’s “World Trade Center” or Warner’s “Lady in the Water” — is moving two Blu-ray editions for every HD-DVD sold.

And it follows that, if said date isn’t title-specific, then the sheer number of available Blu-ray titles would naturally lead to disproportionate sales when compared to HD-DVD, since HD-DVD only has Warner and Universal supporting its platform, while every studio but Universal is releasing titles to Blu-ray. There’s simply more Blu-ray available to be bought. (And Fox is releasing “The Marine” next week! Dudes!)

What the numbers do seem to imply is that the release of the moderately priced, Blu-ray capable PlayStation 3 has had precisely the effect that Sony expected it would — people are using it to watch high-definition movies as well as play games. And they’re not just upconverting their standard DVDs with it; they’re buying Blu-ray discs specifically for HD playback.

Christmas = PS3s. PS3s = Blu-ray sales. Blu-ray sales = eventual format domination. I’m not sure how underpants fit into it, but I probably just forgot to carry the three.

Oh, and if you want a peek into the die-hard, frothing mind of the early adopter, read the comments on the Engadget piece. It’s a lot more fun if you read them aloud in the voice of this guy.

I didn’t bother to mention it when Engadget broke the news over Christmas that HD-DVD’s vaunted copy protection system had been broken, since it appeared the protection itself remained intact, and only a few titles would be “liberated” by the hackery … but now, it looks like the wizards behind the HD-DVD crack have dented Blu-ray’s armor, too.

This isn’t terribly surprising, since both formats employ the same protection, called AACS, as their first battlement against duplication. But Blu-ray uses a second tier of encryption, BD+, that has yet to be hacked.

Oh, it’ll happen someday — everything gets hacked eventually — but right now it looks like another strike against the HD-DVD platform.

Especially when one sees something like this turn up online.

Ow.

This arrived via Purolator, promoting MGM’s upcoming “Fiddler on the Roof” SE.

It’s a challah. A fresh challah, specifically, from the Open Window bakery.

Look, I’ve got nothing against being the recipient of random baked goods — honestly, who could say the world wouldn’t be a better place if cupcakes fell out of the sky every now and then? — but I get this, and I think: Someone’s marketing department has too much money.

On the other hand, Kate now has toast for the weekend. So that’s something.

UPDATE: Hey, I’m not the only one who gets this stuff!

It always comes down to porn.

Sony’s Blu-ray format may have a greater percentage of Hollywood studios on board — everyone but Universal, really, and that’s only a matter of time — but it appears the adult film industry has other plans.

According to Fleshbot, dirty-movie distributor Digital Playground has just switched its affiliation to Toshiba’s HD-DVD platform after initially releasing some titles to Blu-ray. (Another distributor, Wicked Pictures, sided with HD-DVD from the start.)

The decision makes some sense, since HD-DVD allows for combo discs with a standard DVD side — a good way for a company to hedge its bets as consumers move hesitantly into the high-def field — and it also avoids the inevitable bad publicity when some child finds Daddy’s grown-up movie in the family PS3.

It’ll be interesting to see how (or if) this affects HD-DVD player sales; personally, I have to wonder whether there’s really a demand for high-definition porn in the first place. I mean, the whole point of pornography is an idealized representation of sex … does that include being able to see Tera Patrick’s razor burn?

Of course, the format war is awfully close to being a moot issue: Engadget reports that LG’s high-def combo player will ship early next month.

Just in case you think I’ve been shirking my duties as a DVD enthusiast while I’m away in Palm Springs, here’s some interesting news from CES: Warner Home Video announced that it’ll be shipping its dual-format high-definition DVDs in the second half of this year.

Not a dual-format player, mind you, but a dual-format disc — one that contains both Blu-ray and HD-DVD versions of a given movie. They’re calling it THD, for “Total High Def”, and it’s an elegant compromise in the format war, since anyone who’s already picked a side no longer has to worry about his format of choice going extinct … but it’s no dual-format player.

Fortunately, this is. Kinda clunky-looking, though, and pretty obviously constructed around this DVD-ROM drive. It’s also a little pricey at $1200 USD; I’m thinking we might want to wait for the inevitable Chinese unit, which will surely arrive within a few months and compensate for its inelegance with a far smaller price tag.

One more Engadget story: Blu-ray has called “Mission Accomplished” on the whole format war. I think that might be a little premature, but it does seem to me that HD-DVD is lagging pretty far behind in studio support these days.

Engadget posts a link to a survey it says suggests Sony’s proprietary contender is being dissed mightily in the high-def format war, but the spin is kind of weird, with the author apparently relaying the idea that gamers are upset at being “forced” to buy a Blu-ray drive in their PlayStation 3s.

I have to wonder: Are gamers really complaining about that? Or was the question in the survey designed to generate that response?

“The Xbox 360’s HD-DVD drive is an external option; would you have preferred to save $200 by purchasing a PS3 without a Blu-ray drive?”

Look, I’m the first to say that Sony’s technological developments have been endlessly undermined by its business administration, but this seems like a bit of a stretch. And Darren Murph’s contention in the Engadget piece that Sony’s previous innovations have failed to catch on is an outright misrepresentation: Betamax and MiniDisc didn’t break through to consumers, but they’re still essential tools for broadcast journalists.

The ATRAC codec, though, that just sucked. And let’s not even talk about UMD.

Engadget reports that Sony’s set-top Blu-ray player is finally shipping. Not bad, really; after all, the thing was only supposed to be available six months ago.

Of course, the $1299.99 pricetag is a bit annoying, when one considers that a PlayStation 3 lists for about half that … but good luck trying to find a PS3. Especially since the early availability estimate of 400,000 units for North America turned out to be kind of, well, overstated.

Still. The player’s finally available, claiming its rightful space on the shelf alongside Blu-ray units from Samsung, Panasonic, Philips and Pioneer. Which is encouraging, I guess, given that HD-DVD is still a single-manufacturer format … and that single manufacturer is having a little trouble with its second-generation players.

Did you know the Philips player was available exclusively at Wal-Mart, by the way? I didn’t. But then, nobody tells me anything.