Just like the attacks on Fort Sumpter launched dissatisfaction to a full blown Civil War, Paramount Home Entertainment’s announcement to support only HD-DVD has become a turning point for many on both sides of the format war, moving towards far more vocal competition.

The decision by Paramount and its subsidiary Dreamworks, to go HD-DVD exclusive at this point in the game has caused a lot of discussion in the wake of the current sales of Blu-ray. Directors Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg have both come out publically against the decision. Although Bay later posted on his journal that he believes his initial outburst was an over-reaction. More scathing are articles from the New York Times and Daily Variety hinting at a $150 million payoff to the studio for exclusivity.

In any case, the Paramount announcement has caused the flood gates on both sides to come out. It looks like more exclusive titles on both sides are going to cause some woes for us all before it’s over.