The Money Making Game #3: Is OnLive the Next Big Thing?

We certainly have no problem getting caught up in the fun of playing games, but the people who create them have their pocketbooks to worry about, too. In this column, finance expert and GameSpy contributor Chris Morris guides you through the tricky corridors the gaming industry’s financial side, touching on big-time business decisions and how they matter to the common gamer.

OnLive’s initial announcement of its self-titled, gaming-on-demand service prompted a lot of skepticism. With vaporware services like Phantom still fresh on the brain, gamers didn’t trust the company’s claims of immediate streaming and strong publisher support.

Even the inclusion of CEO Steve Perlman — who previously led development on the technology behind QuickTime and founded WebTV — didn’t do much to lower eyebrows about the project. Infinium Labs’ Phantom, you’ll recall, had Xbox co-founder Kevin Bachus running the show.

Read more at GameSpy

The Money Making Game #2: The PlayStation Phone

We certainly have no problem getting caught up in the fun of playing games, but the people who create them have their pocketbooks to worry about, too. In this column, finance expert and GameSpy contributor Chris Morris guides you through the tricky corridors the gaming industry’s financial side, touching on big-time business decisions and how they matter to the common gamer.

While the Internet has been buzzing about leaked images and details of what seems to be a prototype PlayStation Phone from Sony Ericsson, the debate has generally circled around whether the leaks were real or faked. The question no one seems to be asking is: Is this a good idea in the first place?

Just for the sake of argument, let’s assume Sony is, in fact, working on a PlayStation Phone. The company, after all, hasn’t done much to quell the rumors, with CFO Masato Kato stirring the embers during a quarterly results conference call earlier this month when he said “The PSP … was more concentrated I’d say [at the] core gaming segment rather than the light game, but now we are addressing that market as well.”

Read more at GameSpy.com

Apple near deal for TV show rentals?

Rumors started last month that Apple was making a hard push to begin offering streaming rentals of recent television programming for 99 cents. Now those whispers are beginning to solidify a bit. 

Bloomberg reports that the Cupertino-based company is in advanced talks with News Corp. for 99-cent rentals – and CBS and Disney are engaged in similar discussions with Apple.

Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog