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.