MS payed big money on games. That wasn't done with the 3DO. Plus from a financial perspective the first xbox was a big failure.
However MS succeeded cuz they made a fairly good system with good games and they garnered a user base which has allowed them to make money this gen. Plus it was their strategy to keep Sony from monopolizing console gaming and that was also a success.
Online wouldn't be what it is now without them however improving tech has made it impossible to build a system without some sort of internal storage memory and have it be accepted by users so that would have happened anyway. No one wants to swap memory cards regularly like in the PS1 days and HDD would have become standard regardless.
Kickin' Those Games Old School. - 201 Beaten Games And Counting
