Anyone here believe or hope that Microsoft will end up taking such a loss in the videogame industry that they will drop out and stop making videogame systems?  If so, is it just a fantasy you are sure won't happen, or do you actually believe it is possible?  If it is possible, how do you see it coming about?  Thinking stuff, at least, along the lines of Sega or Atari.  In short, no longer have a console on the market.

And if you are one who longs for this happening, what would you want to see the world to be like?  Do you want Sony and Nintendo to be the only two remaining companies (or there to just be one), or someone else to come along?

Anyhow, I am curious about this.  Please keep this a civil discussion.  I am posting this also because people have speculated about Sony leaving the videogame business in the past.  Both Microsoft and Sony have interests in other areas besides videogames, so it would be natural to speculate either one of them leaving videogames completely (even if it isn't going to happen).

Nope, they've created huge innovation on the software front for modern consoles, without Live I very much doubt we would have had PSN and Steam advanced so far in such short space of time. They might not be liked as a company by some people on here but they have contributed a lot of innovation to the current gen and will continue to do so for the remainder of the generation.

Unfortunately your comments on keeping this civil are in vain as there are too many people on this site with an irrational hate for the 360 and sadly the people who might defend the opposite view, in the main have all been banned mysteriously recently....

I would like to see MS treat video games more seriously. Knowingly releasing a failure-prone console just to increase marketshare was a huge slap in the face to the gamers of the world. Sure they have a lot of great successful games, but let's try to get the games without the "industry" and "business" rearing its ugly head.

The competition is great for us. Keep the xbox coming, but let's see a serious effort to deliver.

it would be alot harder for microsoft to leave the games industry because of xbox live (same for sony with psn) . Thses online services really make it harder for either company to leave . Nintendo on the other hand ...

I don't see it.

I mean:

1st console powerful but expensive.

2nd console powerful but too cheap.

3rd console probably just right.

Or:

1st console derivative.

2nd console iterative.

3rd console innovative (natal 2.0?)

Or:

1st console unprofitable.

2nd console break even.

3rd console profitable???

Microsoft seems to live by the rule of 3. Windows 3.0, Dos 3.0 etc in that every third version is their biggest winner.

Halo 1, 2 then 3. Then Halo Wars, ODST then Reach. Also Direct X 9 was the big release on that front as well. I prefer Star Trek though as I don't have to wait as long for good releases as its all about the even numbers.

No, the 360 is the best gaming console ever.

I wouldn't mind if Nintendo disappeared. I don't care how much they sell, I just don't care for their games.

In the unlikely situation that Sony leaves the market AND they can't make much profit AND they see no more threat from consoles to their main business.

OR something happens to their main business.

No one should leave ... Competition is Good , without Microsoft there was no InFamous or Killzone ... without Sony there was no Forza MotorSport or Gears of War .

Nope, I trully expect Microsoft to continue in the Videogame business, because it brought good competition and games overall, and as a gamer, i'm thankful for that ;)

I agree that they have some rough edges to smooth in terms of hardware though, I guess they'll improve vastly on this on the next generation of consoles.

Also, I wouldn't mind if Sega came back to the console world, but this time, offer a true console support instead of just offering a massive amount of add-ons that did them no good back in the Sega days, or poor games support worlwide in the Saturn and Dreamcast days.

Oh, and those who say that Nintendo dissapeared, I just want you to remind yourselves that the Videogame industry as we know it today, exists because of Nintendo, at least be thankful for that. Plus it's the most succesful videogame corporation of all time, they won't ever leave the business :)

The only possibility that I can think of for microsoft leaving the video game industry is that if someone takes microsoft to court, filing a case against the xbox 360, and win. This could be quite dangerous because some fans may take extreme action to cope with the discontinuity of the xbox brand. Like cutting themselves, etc. Thats besides the point but still.