This is the reality of modern technology. The mobile is the most threatening example of multi purpose technology around and Apple know this all too well.
Look at whats happening to tvs, theyre getting built in hard drives and pvr's in addition to internet access. Look at mobile phones, internet, cameras, video, etc.
Look at all the latest downloadable everything products, cloud software, gaming, etc. Smaller laptops, your not going to need big memory if its all online for you.
All this stuff is a threat to somebody. MS along Sony or Nintendo are being threatened by this new wave of multi function everything.
Remember that Nokia is now the largest manufacturer of camera's in the world.
I believe the first sign of what is happening occurred, not when MS got into gaming but, when Apple decided to make phones. They crossed over into virgin (arguably bcoz of the lack of user friendly aps on high end mobiles) territory and have been slowly converting their ipod customers into Apple software, gaming and hardware users.
I have no conclusion but i do think all 3 console makers, along with many other companies, are going to be surprised by competition which they didn't expect.
“When we make some new announcement and if there is no positive initial reaction from the market, I try to think of it as a good sign because that can be interpreted as people reacting to something groundbreaking. ...if the employees were always minding themselves to do whatever the market is requiring at any moment, and if they were always focusing on something we can sell right now for the short term, it would be very limiting. We are trying to think outside the box.” - Satoru Iwata - This is why corporate multinationals will never truly understand, or risk doing, what Nintendo does.
