Hulu has been highly praised for its sleek design and vast amounts of commercial content, stifling nay-sayers by bringing competing networks together to share content and audiences. But these networks can’t seem to understand how important convenience is to attracting customers away from piracy and file-sharing.

I already wrote about Hulu getting into a technology pissing contest with Boxee, trying to prevent the media center software from making it more convenient to watch Hulu.  This was likely meant to prevent consumers from watching Hulu on their televisions.  Now Hulu has blocked the PS3 web browser and the Windows Mobile Skyfire browser from viewing Hulu content.  None of these browsers changed Hulu content – all the advertising was still in place.  Hulu likely is blocking these sources simply to give the content providers more control – and allowing them to use the television and mobile phone as addition revenue streams.  But this hurts everyone. Consumers loose the convenience of Hulu and go back to piracy (where they can download and watch content however they choose) or they find other content served in their preferred medium. Hulu looses audience and spends resources hurting consumer value rather than increasing it.  Consumers can’t be forced into consuming content like the networks prefer. Giving the consumers choice is the only way to compete and grow.

With the next-gen races begun, this year’s E3 looks to be a major turning point for the Big Three, Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft. From exclusive games to price cuts to redesigns to new colors, each console (and handheld) has a lot of hype (Nintendo) and bad press (Sony and kinda Microsoft) to trounce. While everyone’s doing their predications (PSP redesign, I hope), I figure I’ll instead go over what each of the big three has on the line at this E3.

Nintendo

Everyone’s favorite underdog rules the roost (enough cliches?) this E3 with the best selling Wii and DS and massive profits perfect for game development and R&D.

Nintendo needs playable AAA games that finally show the Wii isn’t just a fad. Super Smash Brothers Brawl is out, but look for Metroid Prime 3 and maybe even Mario Galaxy. Announcing no more supply issues would, of course, make everyone happy, though who knows how realistic that is.

But the two biggies: online strategy and a hard drive. WiiWare, the upcoming Wii channel with original games, is the Wii’s answer to Xbox Live Marketplace, shows Nintendo isn’t just using digital distribution for milking their own library. And while their at it, Nintendo will reveal its Mii and online codes for 3rd party developers so we can finally start getting some multiplayer party games. And instead of keeping a library of twenty SD cards with WiiWare and inevitable Sega Saturn and NeoGeo games, let’s just have a hard drive peripheral.

Verdict: For all it’s hype, Nintendo will meet expectations with games, but the buzz with start moving to other places…

Microsoft

This slow and steady giant has a staggering fall line-up of exclusive must-have titles, Halo 3, Mass Effect, and Blue Dragon, plus its own editions of once-PS3 exclusive blockbusters like Grand Theft Auto IV and Devil May Cry 4. But Microsoft won’t let the past limit its future. They’ve still got tricks up their sleeve.

Aside from getting the glowing praise it’s AAA games deserve, Microsoft should and will already prep the future, either with a new game announcement or some new exclusive stolen from Playstation. Either way, Microsoft needs to hype its stellar holiday line up, and accent this with a small but headline generating price cut for the 360. Maybe even announce a Halo 3/360 bundle. And free Xbox Live would stick it to Sony’s anemic online presence.

Microsoft’s wild card will be the long-rumored gaming handheld. While the disappointing Zune may leave a sour taste in Microsoft’s…hands, the Xbox’s growing brand name is proven and soon to be profitable. A handheld puts Microsoft in the larger and cheaper end of the gaming market. Even the “failed” PSP, with 25 million units sold, has outsold all three next-gen consoles combined. Microsoft could again aim for third place in this handheld generation, offering more of a portable PC than a handheld Playstation.

Verdict: The games will impress. The announcements will generate buzz. And a new handheld could be the announcement of the year.

Sony

The PS3 has failed to meet the staggering expectations set by the PS2. Sony has the most to lose should their games and announcements not start showing why the PS3 is worth $600.

First things first, price cut. The free press alone could save Sony enough marketing cash to make this worth it. And with some playable Metal Gear Solid 4 and several top secret announcements, the value of the system will begin to make sense. Also, more information about HOME and a download service for the PSP and PS3 will reveal Sony’s elaborate and free online strategy. Rumbling gamepads and a PSP redesign are near certain announcements.

Unfortunately, the only hype Sony needs to generate is in games, and ones that come out this year. Microsoft and Nintendo have mega exclusives this holiday season but the PS3’s killer apps are months if not a year away. Heavenly Sword and Lair must meet and beat expectations, and hands-on at E3 need to support this. Some other AAA games, even if they’re original IPs, will make the PS3 worth buying before the new year.

Verdict: The PSP will generate huge buzz with its redesign and new download store, both out by the fall, but the PS3 will still suffer from being an inexpensive Blu-Ray player that also happens to play games.

While working at Boston.com, I got to test the Boston Globe’s preview PS3 this weekend. We compared Resistance: Fall of Man on the PS3 to upcoming first-person shooter Gears of War on the Xbox 360.

Without question, the PS3 looked better (Sony also sent us a 40-inch HD TV to get the real effect). The textures were far crisper; the lighting and particle effects had far more detail. Gears of War, with extremely complex controls, had subtly better gameplay and AI, but for the supposed killer-app of the Xbox’s holiday season, little shocked and amazed.

Most interestingly, we tested some PS2 games on the new system. Set up took a bit, trying to figure out the virtual cards on the hard drive. I tested Okami (cause it’s one of the best looking games on the PS2). Once in high-definition, the pixils became gigantic and saturated. Nevertheless, the game went wide-screen without effort, a real treat.