Michael Bay blames Microsoft for HD DVD/Blu-ray war

Hollywood director Michael Bay is pointing the finger of blame at Microsoft for the HD DVD/Blu-ray disc format war and claims that the Redmond giant is attempting to kill off both formats in order to get people downloading movies instead.

Commenting on the forum on his official website, here's what Bay had to say:

What you don't understand is corporate politics. Microsoft wants both formats to fail so they can be heroes and make the world move to digital downloads. That is the dirty secret no one is talking about. That is why Microsoft is handing out $100 million dollar checks to studios just embrace the HD DVD and not the leading, and superior Blu Ray. They want confusion in the market until they perfect the digital downloads. Time will tell and you will see the truth.

Bay

This is an interesting comment.  The allegations of "$100 million dollar checks" come from two anonymous Viacom executives and this is something that Microsoft has vehemently denied. 

However, it is odd that Bay would think that Microsoft is backing what he sees as the weaker of the two formats simply to kill off both.  After all, there are some other big names behind HD DVD - such as Intel and HP - so the format would be promoted with or without Microsoft's backing.

Also, the idea that HD DVD is the weaker of the two formats is not entirely accurate.  In fact, both formats are quite similar (about the only advantage that Blu-ray has over HD DVD is capacity).  Also, both formats suffer from drawbacks relating to the fact that both standards are still in a state of flux and this uncertainty, combined with high cost, is what's really holding back both formats.  Who wants to buy a player now that might not play discs that come out in a year?  But the real weakness of both formats is that neither provides any real benefit for the consumer compared to DVD. 

Thoughts?