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Thanks to back-to-back, fall-season releases of three next-generation video game consoles--Microsoft's Xbox 360 in 2005, Nintendo's Wii and Sony's PlayStation 3 in 2006--the industry no longer needs to use GDC to hype the eventual emergence of those machines. The era of the development for consoles is maturing. And in that context, the theme of this year's GDC is "taking control." To Moledina, that means two things. First, it's a literal reference to the new era of game console input devices, such as the Wii remote and the PS3's Sixaxis motion-sensitive controller.

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Will rising costs mean increased sales? Almost every technology driven business relies on the bell curve of early adopters at the front end with high costs and small demand then a transition into the mainstream with dropping costs, increased product supply and broad adoption. Think of anything from PCs to cell phones to DVDs. The game business has the opposite trends now. Currently a minority of released titles are profitable. With the next generation development costs are increasing rapidly, which means more units must be sold of each title to turn a profit. The PS3 requires a level of financial investment that clearly puts it beyond the impulse buy of a mainstream entertainment enthusiast. Will Blu-ray be enough to drive its sales to the mass market?