Will Microsoft target Nintendo in the next generation?

[Lord N]

HappySqurriel said:

1) Over the years I have noticed that Microsoft is a dangerous company primarily because they’re really good at learning from their successes and failures, and the successes and failures of their competition.Over the years I have noticed that Microsoft is a dangerous company primarily because they’re really good at learning from their successes and failures, and the successes and failures of their competition.

2) While I could be wrong, I suspect that Microsoft might be focusing on being in a similar price, performance and form-factor range as Nintendo was with the Gamecube while incorporating a (then fairly inexpensive) Blu-Ray player and using an modified version of the Wiimote and Nunchuck; in my opinion, their focus with the Wiimote modifications will be to included most of the buttons of the XBox 360 onto the Wiimote. When you combine this with the software and services provided by the XBox 360 already, this will be a very compelling package for many (if not most) consumers.

1) Is that why Microsoft's only real success over the years has come in the OS and office tools markets? If it's one thing that I've noticed, it's that Microsoft never does too hot when it ventures away from these markets because it doesn't have an already existing monopoly that it can exploit.

2) Something like that would a) be seen as a blatant rip off, b) make whatever Nintendo offers look even more lucrative, and c) alienate their existing userbase, most of which has shunned the Wiimote since the Wii was released. There's also Microsoft's software approach. They spend all of their time trying to buy up big-name exclusives that only appeal to core and hardcore gamers all the while failing to realize that it takes a strong, standing library of games that appeal to everyone in order to capture the market. Microsoft also doesn't deal very well with paradigm shifts. They've become so used to being able to ride their windows and office monopoly and pay everyone off that they weren't prepared when Nintendo rendered this nigh-useless.