Why did Microsoft enter the console race?

When you download a movie/music onto your Xbox 360 it syncs automatically with your Windows Live I.D. which contains all your DRM and your car and mobile phone/Zune player download and store that movie automatically. When you turn on your TV you do it using their Natal interface, when you play games you play games on a Microsoft product.

Something like that?

What Sony was hyping the PS2 to be and what the PS2 ended up were two very different systems ...

Before the PS2 was released there was a lot of talk from Sony about how the PS2 would allow people to add a keyboard and connect the PS2 to the internet so people could browse the internet and check their email from the comfort of their couch; and the PS2 even had a printer port and Sony (tried to) encourage companies like Corel to produce productivity software because Sony believed it would be easier to sell PS2 systems if people believed they were PCs.

We know now that Internet television was a short lived experiment, and most of the use of the PS2 as a PC never happened, but Microsoft did see a threat from Sony and responded with the XBox.

Yes it was a threat to computer gaming. Then ms created a great thing.

Because Sony kept winning the console war two generations in a row, each year PC game sales were declining and they thought it would get really bad

to quote bill gates i believe, "it will be fun".

Because one late night at the office when Bill and I were stoned out of our fucking minds. We were talking all kinds of crazy shit like touch screen tables and full body interaction and something about how much SNES was the best console ever and Sony was a bitch. As we were hitting like our 5ht joint he was laughing hysterically about the extra 10 billion he had no idea what to do with. I said why not buy some African country and make them fight in death matches, he said no let's totally fuck Sony.

That's when it really got interesting.

He suggested Nintendo wasn't able to win because Sony could outspend them, I agreed. Then he started on a tangent about sunspots, wtf? lol. I suggested taking a PC and putting it in some cool looking minicase and instead of Windows and other PC stuff, make it 3 times more powerful than the PS2 and buy a bunch of software houses, in particular Rare because they were the shit.

He then said great idea superchunkasaurus, lol, but what to call it. I said PS3 just to piss sony off, lol. He said no, I've been putting X on everything for fun, so why no Xbox.

Then later that morning we put our clothes back on and started to remember what we were talking about. He called a few people and about 10 days later Xbox launched.

That's about it. Prime source right here folks.

So I could play halo.

Its because theyre plan is to merge console gaming into PC gaming. ONLIVE is the future for both consoles and PCs believe me that is where we are heading. Paying monthly fees to have servers run our games and programs for us and never have to upgrade hardware to play the latest game.

Well I think my uncle who worked on the X-Box and 360 for Microsoft put it best. I asked him why Microsoft entered the game console wars!

Sony was marketing the PS2 as a computer, Microsoft feared that Sony would soon make the jump from console to computer and challenge Microsoft's monopoly over the computer industry. As he asked me "What would happen if Sony launched their own OS" he said Microsoft saw Sony as a potential threat to their monopoly.

First Microsoft looked at aquiring Nintendo, then looked into various other buisness propositions before finally deciding to develope their own platform.

Their was a three phase plan made. Break into the market (X-Box) expand user base (X-360) and dominate the market (NextBox). Now Microsoft is beating Sony in the console market and the idea of Sony producing a computer and OS are now things of the past. At least I don't think Sony will launch their own computer OS anytime soon!