I know no one’s going to be terribly shocked by this, but I thought I’d point it out just in case you missed it. Engadget HD, after another stroll through AVS Forum’s message boards, is reporting on how Circuit City, Wal-Mart, and Amazon have lowered the price of Toshiba’s HD-A2 HD DVD player to $198 (Amazon’s deal includes free shipping).

This kind of price drop on standalone HD-DVD players has been widely expected and we think you may see $180 by Black Friday.