Like a pendulum swinging back and forth, we get good news, then bad news, about a possible Blu-ray / HD-DVD merger. Good news… and bad news. Here’s some more of the latter.

Toshiba’s top negotiator, Yoshihide Fujii, was quoted as saying that unifying the formats “would be extremely difficult at this stage.” His comment comes after a weekend of negotiations between Toshiba (in the HD-DVD camp) and Sony/Matsushita (Blu-ray) — which we’re picturing as the ultimate geek summer camp with Toshiba and Sony facing each other across the lake and duking it out via tug-of-war and canoe racing — and couldn’t be confirmed by a Toshiba spokesperson.

Link: engadget - unifying DVD formats may prove too difficult
Link: the INQUIRER - Toshiba, Sony Talks Stall

Talks in Japan aimed at unifying the two leading high-definition formats broke down early Monday without reaching a solution, according to sources who tracked the discussions closely from the U.S.

Although new talks could still be scheduled, sources in both the Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD camps said they now see little choice but to proceed on the assumption that a compromise will not be worked out.

Link: VideoBusiness Online - HD Unification Talks Stopped