Price: There's little doubt that gaming in the next cycle is going to be more expensive. At least one major publisher (Activision) has gone on record saying it plans to increase wholesale prices on its AAA games. Others will likely follow its lead. That will probably result in retail prices jumping $5 to $10 per title.

Will hardware prices follow that trend? At least one analyst believes so. Tony Gikas of Piper Jaffray said in a recent note he expects the Xbox 2 to break beyond the traditional launch price for new consoles, which has stood at $299.

"We think Microsoft will price its next generation system at or above $300 for the base model," wrote Gikas. "We also think there will be a model that includes accessories or network devices that could price as high as $350-$400/system."