E3, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, is underway, and the new generation of consoles are being readied for their respective coming-out parties. Yesterday Sony announced its PlayStation 3 will sell
at $500 or $600, depending on how much built-in memory you want, and we also learned a little more and got a little more used to Wii, Nintendo's poorly-named new console. As the Associated Press,
which provides good coverage of the show, points out, the x-factor in this next iteration of the console wars will be Internet connectivity--which, while still not a requirement, is strongly
recommended by each company for the "full experience" of the new console. In my opinion, Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft should have made these new systems unplayable without Internet connectivity--in
other words, a Wi-Fi card should have been built in--because they'll be lucky to pull 30 percent of their total audience online, greatly diminishing the prospect for in-game advertising (which all
will be deploying in some capacity) and massively multiplayer online game subscription revenue. As everyone knows, this industry badly needs solid revenue stream alternatives.
Read the whole story at Associated Press / CNN.com »
