The device is Nvidia’s first entry into the video game console market, and is priced at $349. That is roughly in the same ballpark as Nintendo’s Wii U console, the PlayStation 4 from Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) due out later this year, and the Xbox 360 from Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT).

Nvidia’s SHIELD also allows users to watch streaming videos, access streaming music and use other Android apps just like an Android phone or tablet. If SHIELD has an advantage going into the market, this is it. The universe of Android apps now totals about 700,000.

The SHIELD sports a 5-inch flip-up multitouch display, which is no bigger than the largest mobile smartphone screens. The appeal of the device to gamers is the hand-held console, replete with familiar buttons, which offer more control over the gaming experience than what is available on a smartphone. The device can also be connected to a PC that uses Nvidia’s GeForce GTX graphics cards.

Whether Nvidia’s device will appeal to hard-core gamers is the big question. Shares of Nvidia are up about 1.7% this morning, at $14.48 in a 52-week range of $11.15 to $15.22.

For the full year, Take-Two reported revenues of $1.22 billion and EPS of $0.36, compared with 2012 revenues of $825.8 million and an EPS loss of $0.71.

On a GAAP basis, the company reported quarterly adjusted EPS of $0.23, compared with an EPS loss of $0.78 in the year-ago quarter.

Revenue from digitally delivered content grew 148% year-over-year and 192% in the quarter when compared with the fourth quarter of 2012.

The company’s CEO said:

Take-Two delivered strong revenue growth and solid non-GAAP earnings for fiscal year 2013, driven by robust demand for our groundbreaking new releases, iconic catalog titles and expanding portfolio of digitally delivered offerings. … Looking ahead, we have an extensive pipeline of next-generation and emerging platform titles in development, including both new intellectual property and releases from our proven franchises. As a result, our current outlook is to be profitable on a non-GAAP basis in fiscal 2015 and for the foreseeable future.

For the first quarter of fiscal year 2014, the company guided revenue to a range of $100 to $125 million and expects an adjusted EPS loss in the range of $0.55 to $0.70. For the full year, the company expects revenues of $1.75 to $1.85 billion. Full-year EPS is expected to fall into the range of $2.05 to $2.30.

Shares are trading up 4% at $17.03 in after-hours trading today, in a 52-week range of $7.37 to $16.68. Thomson Reuters had a consensus analyst price target of around $16.65 before today’s report.

While financial terms were not disclosed, EA is going to develop and publish new Star Wars titles on all interactive platforms and the most popular game genres. Disney will retain certain rights to develop new titles within the mobile, social, tablet and online game categories.

Disney has gone out of its way to indicate that there will be many more Star Wars efforts launched other than just Episodes 7,8, and 9. We called this a multi-generational win for Disney and the EA deal only goes to show that Disney is not lightening up on its efforts here.

EA even shows that DICE and Visceral will produce new games, while BioWare continues to develop for the Star Wars franchise. As a reminder, it was only about 14 months ago that EA showed that more than 2 million of the Star Wars: The Old Republic MMORPG sales had been seen.

This may just be a continued expansion of the past to some, but this and a new wave of consoles coming to market in time for Christmas should offer some added support for what is currently a turnaround situation for EA.

Activision said that the latest Call of Duty title will release on Xbox 360, PlayStation, and PC on November 5 and will also be available for next generation platforms coming soon.

The company said, “Call of Duty: Ghosts ushers in the next generation of the franchise. The new title delivers a riveting all-new gameplay experience built on an entirely new story, setting and cast of characters, all powered by a new, next generation Call of Duty engine that redefines the series for the next generation.”

If this is the newest craze to boost the company up, we are not seeing it in the price of Activision Blizzard’s shares. Maybe the YouTube “masks” preview for the game is just too uninspiring or with too little description to entice buyers yet even if they can start pre-ordering it already. Activision Blizzard shares are down 1.7% at $14.70 against a 52-week range of $10.45 to $15.08.

EA has been unable to make the transition from a company that makes games for old-style consoles to one that makes versions for the growing portable device market, although it has tried. In the fourth quarter of last year, EA revenue fell from $1.06 billion in the period a year ago to $922 million. EA lost $45 million. Mobile revenue was only $86 million.

EA’s layoff announcement said:

In recent weeks, EA has aligned all elements of its organizational structure behind priorities in new technologies and mobile. This has led to some difficult decisions to reduce the workforce in some locations. We are extremely grateful for the contributions made by each of our employees — those that are leaving EA will be missed by their colleagues and friends.

These are hard but essential changes as we focus on delivering great games and showing players around the world why to spend their time with us.

According to Joystiq:

“EA is sharpening its focus to provide games for new platforms and mobile. In some cases, this involves reducing team sizes as we evolve into a more efficient organization,” the company told Joystiq. “These are difficult decisions to let go of good people who have made important contributions to EA, and whenever possible we retrain or relocate employees to new roles. Streamlining our operations will help ensure EA is bringing the best next-generation games to players around the world.”

We continue to work on finding out the extent of today’s impact, but we believe we have a better grip on today’s layoffs at EA Mobile Montreal. Our understanding is that 60 to 70 permanent employees were let go, along with over 100 people working under EA’s contract system. These are mostly quality assurance testers. We’re told by one source, “If you walk through the office all you see is a bunch of already cleared out desks, and people cleaning out their desks.”

The top five free app downloads from Apple’s App Store include three games and two Google apps, YouTube and Google Maps. Two of the top five free downloads from Google Play come from Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB), another is Skype from Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), and there is only one game. The other hit at Google is WhatsApp, a messaging app that replaces the SMS text messaging programs that mobile carriers charge money for with a free messaging system.

Just looking at the free download data, which comes from analytics firm Distimo, indicates that the most popular Google apps are related to social networking. The Facebook app is the most popular download at Google Play, and Facebook Messenger is the fourth most popular.

Among paid apps the story is much the same. WhatsApp is the top download for the iPhone, but the other four are all games. At Google Play, the top paid download is a keyboard utility, SwiftKey, and only one game — Minecraft — is among the top five.

For generating revenue for the app developer, all five top downloads from the App Store are games. The same is true for Google Play, but of the top five apps, four generate more revenue in Asia than in the United States.

Some observations:

• Google’s Android-based phones are being used for more social networking, which very likely means that the owners of these phones are younger.
• With the exception of a paid version of WhatsApp for the iPhone, the preponderance of game downloads from the App Store could indicate an older demographic that is using the games as a way to get familiar with smartphones.
• Apple has no replacement for YouTube, and its fiasco with its mapping software gave Google another foothold inside Fortress Apple.
• Samsung’s advertising for its Galaxy 3 phone was spot-on: the iPhone is your father’s Oldsmobile.

The Distimo report is available here.

These aren’t the only contenders. The makers of game controllers are also in the fray: Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) has added video streaming capabilities to its Xbox; Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) will include game streaming on the coming PlayStation 4; and Nintendo and start-up controller firm Ouya already support video streaming.

The list of music and video streaming providers is seemingly endless. And all of them rely on the same thing: content. Most of that is controlled by well-established entertainment companies like The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS), CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS), Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA), and other movie, TV, and music producers. And the cable and wireless carriers also want a piece of the action; see for example, Verizon Communications Inc.’s (NYSE: VZ) deal with Coinstar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSTR) for an on-demand streaming service.

The leader in video streaming, by a long mile, is Google’s YouTube. Google is trying to monetize the popularity of its video programming, but the efforts there have just begun. Intel is making a big push into building an ‘over-the-top’ box and is in negotiations with producers like Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) and Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAB) for content. How successful Intel is in negotiating prices remains to be seen, but the world’s dominant chipmaker is likely to have to pay a premium price for content, first because it’s large and can afford it, and second because the content companies are scared to death that they’ll leave a nickel on the table.

One additional wrinkle in video streaming is the potential sale of Hulu, co-owned by Disney, Comcast, and News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWSA). A sale would almost have to include content licensing for a long time at a reasonable price to the buyer. Without that, the streaming players are better off with Hulu going out of business. How Hulu’s co-owners handle a sale of the company will speak volumes about their thinking for the other licensing deals they’ve made or will make in the future.

The lead in music streaming probably belongs to Pandora, but Spotify has been pushing hard with its subscription model. It has been successful enough that Apple and Google are both said to be considering jumping into the music streaming business. Apple is apparently holding out for better pricing from the music publishers, but those guys have learned their lesson from iTunes and won’t be giving away the store again this time.

Another interesting wrinkle in the battle for the living room is Spotify’s reported plan to offer streaming video. According to a report at Business Insider, Spotify is looking for partners to help it fund the creation of its own content. Spotify, which is still privately held, has a paper value of around $3 billion, but one has to wonder how long investors will continue putting up big money if either Apple or Google launches a competing music service or Intel launches a killer video streaming product. Original content is expensive to produce and while it can be a big winner, it can also be a loser. HBO started out showing old movies and gradually moved to producing original content like “The Sopranos.” Spotify apparently believes it can shorten the cycle and go directly to producing original content. That’s a big gamble.

How do investors sort out the winners and losers? Obvious winners are the media companies like Disney and HBO that produce content. But the revenues from adding streaming licenses is likely to be only incremental. Disney’s a $100+ billion company that reported more than $11 billion in revenues in the December quarter. The 3-year deal Disney signed with Netflix is worth a suspected total of around $1 billion. That’s not chump change, but Disney won’t likely go broke without it.

And if any of the streaming video or music services really takes off? Then the content providers will jack up the prices and force the also-rans out of the bidding.

As for the streaming providers themselves, if Apple or Google gets into the business that could spell the end for the smaller players, whether solely streaming companies or hardware companies. Intel is committed and would have to slug it out with the other big two if one or both jump in. The Verizon-Coinstar joint venture has a chance, but a slim one.

Netflix, which we’ve noted elsewhere today, is currently a darling again after having spent 18 months or so in the doghouse. The stock is flirting with $200 a share again, but that’s still $100 a share below its peak. The company’s bet on its original production of “House of Cards” won’t be known in any specificity until Netflix reports first-quarter earnings. Interestingly, Netflix followed the HBO model of starting with old movies and then moving to original production and, in Netflix’s case, some big exclusive licensing deals. We’ll know better in a few weeks how that worked out and whether Netflix can maintain its status as an entertainment darling.

And Pandora and Spotify? They remain at the mercy of the music publishers who have historically been merciless. Without some serious financial backing it’s hard to see how either makes it, especially if Apple and Google are about to jump into the streaming music business.

This is a move which signals that business remains challenged, and its implied guidance also confirms that. The EA board of directors has appointed Larry Probst as EA’s executive chairman while it looks for a permanent CEO. EA has signaled that it will consider internal and external candidates and will also hire a leading executive search firm.

The company’s quote included, “We have mutually agreed that this is the right time for a leadership transition.” That might not be a firing and the departure might not be on bad terms. The flip-side is that this confirms that the company knows it will take new blood to drive initiatives in whatever form they are going to take on.

We noted that the implication is for more weakness. EA signaled that revenues and earnings for the current quarter will be at the low-end of expectations or will even fall slightly below its previously issued guidance.

Still, the stock is up on news that new blood will bring new direction for the company. EA shares closed down 0.9% at $18.71 on the day against a 52-week range of $10.77 to $19.51. Being that close to a 52-week high is very misleading. EA shares were peaking at almost $25 in 2011 and its stock was north of $50 back before the recession took hold.

EA shares are up over 3% at $19.31. A CEO has to feel bad when issuing an earnings and sales warning but thew stock rises because a new unnamed CEO will get to change things.

New blood is what this company needs. The question which remains to be answered is whether or not EA has waited too long to bring in new blood. Hopefully it doesn’t think that an out-of-favor recently fired daily deals CEO in Chicago is the answer.

This movement has pressured both console makers Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) and has eroded revenue at game creators and marketers, particularly Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA).

According to Edge Online:

The software charts saw an overall year-on-year decline in unit sales of 30% compared to February 2012, though there were a similar number of new releases. Total video game software sales at retail amounted to $352 million in February 2013, compared to $484 million the previous year.

Shares of Electronic Arts closed yesterday at $19.34, in a 52-week range of $10.77 to $19.51.