by Kevin Hurley

mid all the Phantom Menace hype last May, George Lucas spoke passionately to film critic Roger Ebert about a topic dear to his heart. No, not Jar Jar Binks, but Sony’s new Playstation videogame system that was released this March and will hit the United States this September. Comparing the power of the Playstation 2 to his own special-effects computers, Lucas said, “They put this toy on the desk that is more powerful than anything we're using. It can recreate what we're doing in the movie. I mean, it's like we struggled for four years to get there and a year from now, it's gonna be available to everybody. It's not quite the same quality as what we're putting on film, but it's high enough quality for TV. It's astounding.”

In Japan the new Playstation sold nearly one million units in its first two days on the market. The machine can also play DVDs and music CDs. It has drawn the attention of Bill Gates because the Playstation 2 will also connect to the Internet through an ethernet connection to a broadband network. In fall 2001, Sony users will be able to download games directly to the Playstation’s hard drive and play online.

A visitor takes a close look at the new Playstation 2 at the Makurari Messe near Tokyo during the media preview of PlayStation Festival 2000, Friday, February 18.

Of course, this is probably one of the reasons Microsoft rushed to announce the fall 2001 arrival of its X-Box, a new gaming system that supposedly will contain all the features of the Playstation 2 and more computing power. Microsoft is trying to become more directly involved in the home entertainment market, and Sony wants to expand into the Internet. The advantages for consumers are obvious: adding gameplayer and Internet connections to the TV will make the “box” more versatile, interactive, and pluralistic.

These moves embody the long-expected convergence of computers and television, but another technology is creating an unexpected convergence of advertising and entertainment. Personal Video Recorders (PVRs) are unique, expensive add-ons allowing consumers to record programs directly onto a computer drive. The top two versions, ReplayTV and Tivo, allow a user to edit out commercials and advertising. These new devices led Josh Bernoff, a media analyst for Forrester Research, to say, “I declare the end of network television." Of course, there is little chance of this happening (ER fans, rejoice!), but these devices could lead to new and rather sinister alliances between networks, advertisers, and PVR makers. In fact, Tivo president Michael Ramsay confirmed that eventually the machines would have the capability to insert their own commercials, "but we plan to do it in partnership with the network." Tivo has already signed a deal with General Motors that may lead to customized advertising on PVRs.

This technique, of course, could bypass the ads played by the current network broadcasters and cable stations, despite the Tivo president’s assurances. Sony has a clear advantage in the race to take over the box’s advertising power, as a major supplier of TVs and home stereo equipment with a PVR on the way that could be built directly into its TVs. Theoretically, Sony could set up a customer’s TV lineup to insert advertising for Sony-related products—or anything else—at any point while accessing any type of program. Videogame ads could be inserted into children’s programs, and ads for Sony music artists could be placed between episodes of Friends and The Simpsons.

The real effect of this new technology, however, may be in further blurring the lines between advertisements and entertainment. At a recent Game Developers Conference, Sony VP of third party relations Phil Harrison said, “We should think of games in new ways. We should think of how we can merge games and online content, eliminating banner ads from sites, and bringing them into games. Racing games could have ads on blank racing course billboards. Sports games can charge money for ads in baseball stadiums and basketball courts. And games can be delivered in episodes.” As Harrison suggests, these new entertainment technologies will most likely incorporate new types of ads directly into a game, show, or movie. Consumers, of course, may thus be forced to forfeit control over their own televisions and sit through advertising that is unavoidable because it is incorporated into a videogame or PVR schedule.

Despite all the hype over the liberating abilities of new media technologies, the ultimate TV system may well bring consumers an unpleasant loss of control over their TVs. Companies like Sony and Microsoft will soon offer consumers far more entertainment options than ever before, but these firms will gain greater control over the advertising that goes along with this entertainment revolution. Consumers will be able to watch and interact with hobbies more than they ever thought possible, but these companies will gain a lucrative advantage in influencing which products will sell. Entertainment in the future may be like being in one of those hotel rooms where the TV remote is screwed to the bureau. You get more channels, but you won’t be able to switch away when the commercials come on.

Kevin Hurley is a freelance writer in Indianapolis.

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