Buy Microsoft Office Home & StudentWith E3 returning to its old, bigger-is-better format, there seemed to be more at stake at this year's show. Could Nintendo provide enough compelling news to hold onto its lead? Would Microsoft trot out something to create new enthusiasm for its Xbox 360 platform? And could Sony reveal anything that might give it some much-needed momentum?
Alas, as it goes most of the time at E3, none of the companies truly hit it out of the park and a lot of what was announced was already leaked to greater or lesser degrees before the show started. However, that doesn't mean we can't try to objectively determine which companies did themselves some good--and which companies may not have.
Here's a quick recap of the news conferences from each camp and my quick assessments. But nevermind what I say, feel free to add your own comments--and try to be objective.
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A lot of folks have been talking about a potential PS3 price cut to spur sales, but with Wii sales on the way down, the question is will Nintendo need to do some price trimming of its own to keep its system from floundering?
Last week, Silicon Alley Insider posted an article titled "Nintendo Wii Losing its Shine," in which author Dan Frommer cited some interesting figures. Yes, the Wii remains the best-selling game console, with 340,000 units sold in the U.S. in April (that gives it a 2-1 advantage over the XBox 360 and nearly a 3-1 advantage over the PS3 for the month). And yes, Wii Fit, Mario Kart, and Wii Play made up three of the top four games. But Wii sales are down an eye-opening 52 percent year-over-year.
The article goes on to mention that Citi analyst Brent Thill finds this notable "because the Wii is no longer supply-constrained, is relatively cheap, and didn't have to compete with huge games on other consoles, such as Grand Theft Auto 4."
One could argue that with its lead, Nintendo can afford to wait until 2010 to cut prices. It also doesn't hurt that in just a few weeks, Nintendo's going to roll out its new Wii Sports Resort and Wii MotionPlus motion sensor add-on, which should give the platform a little boost. Yet bloggers continue to take swipes at the Wii, mocking it for having PS2-level graphics, gimmicky controls, a limited selection of good games, as well as accessory requirements that raise the cost of ownership to less affordable levels. And while the Wii's precipitous sales drop may be a reflection of the gaming industry's recessionary blues, it's also probable that the Wii's hype has worn off and it is now harder for the Wii to stand on its own merit.
What do you think? Is the Wii just fine where it is at $249.99? Should it cost $50 less? Or would you never buy it anyway, no matter what it cost?
Netflix's consumer survey has brought hope to PS3 owners with Netflix subscriptions.
(Credit: Engadget)In recent days, rumors have been percolating about the PlayStation 3 getting Netflix streaming video support. Most of the rumors revolve around a survey that Netflix has out gauging user interest in adding its service to Sony's game console for a fee. No one seems to know whether Netflix or Sony commissioned the survey, but either way, it's certainly raised hopes with PS3 owners that they would get something that Xbox 360 owners have had for a while. (For what it's worth, nearly identical rumors of Netflix on the Wii have also been making the rounds.)
Interestingly, as the rumors make their way around the blogosphere, Sony's been trying to promote how robust its Playstation Network Service (PSN) is and how great a media extender the PS3 is. A few weeks ago, a few of us from CNET spent some time visiting with Sony PR and marketing reps in a hotel suite going over what PSN had to offer, including Home, Sony's online virtual community that's hit 5 million registered users. And just yesterday, I got a voice mail from a PR rep encouraging me to do a story on what a great media extender the PS3 is.
I said I'd do a story--but only in context of the Netflix rumors.
"Why doesn't Sony just add Netflix?" I asked.
Of course, I knew it wasn't as simple as that. ... Read more
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