Amazon to ease pain of format war win

Those who purchased an HD DVD set-top player through Amazon will be eligible for a $50 credit towards a future purchase..

Customers can choose to spend the money in any way they see fit, including putting it toward Blu-ray player. It is not the first time a retailer has attempted to appease those who may have bought into HD DVD: Best Buy and Wal-Mart have done the same.

To qualify, a customer had to purchase the players before February 23, which is the date Toshiba announced its plans to stop producing the next-generation players.

Amazon has put some restrictions on the offer, however. The coupon does not cover purchases from third-party merchants made on the site, and the maximum credit any on customer can receive is $500 (for 10 players).

Customers are also restricted from using the credits on select items, the company said.

"New technologies don't always work out as planned. We at Amazon.com value our customer relationships more than anything and would like to support customers who purchased these players by offering a credit good for $50 off any products sold by Amazon.com," an e-mail to eligible customers reads.