chipanalyst.com

    So it sounds like Grouper.com has become newest online version of “America’s Got Talent”. They have decided that they no longer want to compete in the user-generated video space with the likes of You Tube, Google, Yahoo!, AOL, and My Space. Instead they have decided to use the site as a talent agency for Sony films and TV productions.

The thing that gets me is that Sony purchased grouper.com for something like $60 million! Now I’m no expert, but I’m pretty sure that they could have created and marketed a brand new site for a few million. It just seems like kind of a waist to buy a website for $60 million that was created for one purpose and then just turn around and change directions with it. They even changed the name to “Crackle”. Huh? Why?

Like I said, I think I would have just taken crackle.com and put a few million into it and gotten the same results.

Well it’s certainly not the worst website purchase ever made. It’s not as bad purchasing something like broadcast.com for say… $2 billion.

    I read about the Playstation 3 reporting that they are cutting the cost of the 60 GB unit down $100 to $499. In my opinion, it is not enough of a cut if they really want people to start buying massive amounts of these systems. The price is still to high. The graphics are a bit better than the PS2 but I’m not too sure it’s worth forking out $500 for.  There aren’t enough games out yet either.  I’m not sure why Sony chose the strategy of selling less consoles at a higher price. Look at how well the wii has done. Certainly the graphics and game play isn’t as good as PS3 or Xbox 360. I personal don’t like using the wand for the Wii. I think it’s pretty lame. But it’s a reasonable price.

Bottom line, the prices for the PS3 and Xbox 360 are just still too high. The prices have doubled from the last systems but I don’t think the quality has.

Good news in the gaming world.  Microsoft has announced their plans to release the new Xbox 360 Elite by as early as August 24. Not sure on how soon a descent amount of games will be released for the console but the list of games coming is off to a good start:

Halo 3, Madden 08, GTA iv, Gotham Racing 4, Dynasty Warriors Gundam, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Stranglehold, Guitar Hero III, Beautiful Katamari, Lost Odyssey. NBA Live 08, Mass Effect, Fatal Inertia, Medal of Honor Airborne, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08, Air Combat 6: Fires of Liberation, NHL 08, Assassin’s Creed, Spiderman Friend or Foe, The Simpsons Game, Splinter Cell Conviction, NASCAR 08, Eternal Sonata, Tony’s Hawk Proving Ground, Crash of the Titans, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Valve’s Orange Box, Bee Movie Game, Rock Band, and Naruto: Rise of a Ninja.

Microsoft has really been bragging about Halo 3, Madden 08, and Grand Theft Auto IV. They even brought out Reggie Bush to demonstrate Madden 08.

This all sounds pretty exciting but let’s just hope they did a better job than with the original 360. The 360 is nice but not all that impressive.