Did you buy the HD DVD drive for the Xbox 360? Yeah, me either. Unfortunately though, some people DID buy the now-antiquated add-on and thought they were stuck with a movie player that won’t have any new movies for the forseeable future. For those poor souls, Amazon is offering a $50 store credit to anyone who purchased the defunct player for use on new products from their online store. This came to the attention of many Amazon customers when they received this kind message:

Dear Amazon.com Customer,

As someone who purchased an HD DVD player from us before February 23, 2008,* you might like to hear about a special offer available from Amazon.com.

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.** Just use promotional code XXXXXXXXXX when checking out. The code is valid through April 9, 2009, so you have plenty of time to use your credit. Purchases from third-party merchants on our site are not eligible.

* On February 23, 2008, the last manufacturer of HD DVD players announced it was ceasing production of those players.

** Offer cannot be used to pay for special-order titles, e-books or downloadable e-content, wireless service plans, gift certificates, gift-wrap, taxes, or shipping and handling charges. $50.00 promotional credit is per HD DVD player purchased prior to February 23, 2008–up to 10 units for a maximum credit of $500.00.

You see, good things CAN happen in this world, even when your format of choice just doesn’t work out like some folks thought it would. Are any of your going to be taking advantage of this deal? We’d love to hear what kinds of things you purchase with your format death consolation money…