Multiple sources have been rumbling about it all weekend, and now CNBC has basically confirmed it. The format war is over, and HD DVD is dead. Go buy a Blu Ray player.

Here’s why: Toshiba, the company making HD DVD players, has scrapped them. They will no longer make HD DVD players, and will now switch to Blu Ray players. They’ve waved the white flag, given up, and we’re all the better for it. HD DVD is now Betamax.

It’s just a pity it took this long. Countless numbers of people have invested money in HD DVD players and dvds, and those people are now screwed. Among those people is Cinema Blend’s own Rafe Telsch and a lot of other friends of the site who will now have to console themselves with buying up as many HD DVDs as they can find in the next few weeks at what will surely be significantly reduced, dirt cheap rates.

If there’s any silver lining for HD DVD owners, the Wal-Mart bargain bin should be fun for awhile.... or would be if Wal-Mart hadn’t announced Friday that it too was abandoning the format and would only stock its shelves with Blu Ray. Whoops.