When it comes to video game consoles, Microsoft Inc.’s Xbox 360 and Sony Corp.’s wildly popular PlayStation 3 boast super-fast processors and the highest-definition graphics.
Now comes Nintendo Inc.’s new Wii (pronounced “we”) console, which doesn’t come near its rivals in terms of state-of-the-art technology. That could, however along with its lower price make the simpler, more intuitive player every bit as popular as its rivals and even expand the audience for gaming.
Rather than having players press a combination of buttons on a traditional controller to affect on-screen action, Wii players move a wand-like controller as if they were a character in the game.
“We hope that we can grow the market dramatically,” said George Harrison, senior vice president of marketing and communications for Nintendo of America. He said that many people find video games intimidating because of all the buttons on a typical controller, he says. “They don’t want to have to read a manual and learn a bunch of button combinations to play a game.”
The $250 Wii system comes bundled with a game-software package called Wii Sports. That title features five sports games, which were designed to be easy to understand and to play. The sports are baseball, tennis, bowling, boxing and golf.
The Wii is the cheapest of the new consoles. The Xbox 360 costs $299 or $399, depending on the configuration, and the PlayStation 3 has models costing $499 and $599.
Nintendo makes money on its hardware, while its rivals sell their machines at a loss. Sony and Microsoft then make up the difference by selling high-margin game software.
Nintendo has the support of game developers. Wii games can be developed for as little as a half to a third of what it costs for the next-generation consoles from Sony and Microsoft, says Brian Farrell, chief executive of game publisher THQ Inc. Games for the Xbox 360 and PS3 can cost $10 million to $20 million to develop, he says.
“That’s a huge win for the Wii,” Farrell said.
His Calabasas-based firm has produced “Cars” and “SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab” for Nintendo. Santa Monica-based Activision Inc. has put out “Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam” for Wii.
“There’s probably no chance we’ll meet demand” this holiday season, Harrison said. That’s been a problem with all new video consoles, including the PS3 this year and last year, the Xbox 360.
Joining the Band
It may not rank with M & Ms; adding colors or the Chicago Cubs playing night games, but the new direction taken at Internet provider United Online Inc. represents a cultural shift nonetheless.
After years of specializing in providing low-cost dial-up online service to consumers, the Woodland Hills-based company is now offering DSL broadband service as part of an agreement with Verizon. The broadband service will available under the NetZero DSL name, including a consumer service priced at $14.95 per month for six months, and a business service at $19.95 per month for six months.
The service is available to customers within Verizon DSL coverage areas.
United Online’s dial-up strategy has served it well despite some analysts questioning its long-term viability. The firm’s Internet access, email, and VoIP services accounted for more than 70 percent of its $135 million revenues in the second quarter, during which time its earnings rose 3 percent to $22.3 million.
Space Spat
Only days before L.A.-based Universal Music Group sued MySpace.com, claiming that the popular social networking Web site infringes on the copyrights of thousands of its artists, MySpace announced it was launching a tool that would allow copyright holders to easily remove content that they believe is unauthorized. The tool, tested by Fox Studios and MLB Advanced Media Inc., allows copyright-holders to flag user-posted video content that they believe is unauthorized. MySpace would then remove those videos in order to comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and block re-uploading of the videos by other users.
Both of these developments can be traced to the inability of Universal Music Group to work out a deal with News Corp., which owns MySpace, and its chief executive, Rupert Murdoch.
It had appeared a deal, structured along the lines of Universal’s arrangement with YouTube.com, was in the works. But when the music company insisted on back payment for material that had previously appeared on MySpace, the deal fell apart.
Murdoch delighted a recent gathering of News Corp. shareholders by describing his response in one New Jersey-tinged word: “Fuhgeddaboutit.”
Staff reporter Dan Cox can be reached at
[email protected]
or at (323) 549-5225, ext. 230.
