If MS doesn't come 1st next gen or the gen after , should they pull out ?

[Bitmap Frogs]

Alby_da_Wolf said:

In fact, while I believe MS wishes to prevent competitor console makers from becoming strong enough to seize the living room computing, I don't believe by any means it plans to destroy the console market, it's an impossible task, like you wrote, and the best MS can do is live with it, and if possible, try to profit from it and have some synergies with some of its other products. This said, the danger that still Sony, or, currently more likely, Nintendo tries to do what MS fears is still strong, and the only way MS could prevent it is to make XB720 become the first console next gen and make it the best choice of media hub for people not wanting to get stressed by a PC. The danger this gen is still low, PS3 has too little RAM for the task and it's the weakest contender, Wii is the strongest but it has even less RAM, no disk storage and no DVD playback.
To cut it short, this gen Windows was pardoned by PS3 weakness and more generally by HW trade-offs, but next gen each console will be able to become a media centre PC even without their respective manufacturers actively promoting this function, so the stronger XB720 will be, the less sales "stolen" from Windows will go to MS competitors and the more will obviously go anyway to MS.

 

You are operating under the misconception consoles could become PC substitutes. That's a mistake, because precisely the allure of consoles is simplicity - turning a console into a viable PC alternative for the most common tasks means it would necessarily become more complex and thus experience market rejection. See Wii vs. PS360 for more on that. I can't understand how you mention Wii's hardware limitations as the reason why it isn't becoming an expanded multimedia hub; have you ever listened to Iwata? They do not want the Wii to become a PC like device because they want to sell tons of those little white boxes. 

Even if you are just talking about "media hub", computers are safe - because they are more than a media hub. Just as the loss of gaming would make a negligible impact on the PC platform.

Microsoft ain't on the console market because they were afraid of consoles overthrowing windows-equipped PCs, they are there because they can leverage their know-how in customer-oriented platforms and services to deliver a compelling consumer services platform on top of another synergies like a common DirectX architecture which protects Microsoft's interests on that front. Internet-enabled customer offerings/services are a huge market and everyone who can is trying to get a piece of the pie. Even Nokia is trying and they already make billions on the hardware alone. As internet availability and bandwith grows there are a crapload of goods and services that can be delivered through connected devices and Microsoft's move has more to do with having a foothold on such a lucrative market than protecting what does not need to be protected since it hasn't been threatened at all.

To think PS3's weakness has "spared" Windows is ludicrous. Linux on PS3 is just a gimmick and never was anything but marketing fodder for Sony.

Additionally, you are contradicting yourself there, the stronger XB720 will be, the more sales are gonna be stolen from Windows because Microsoft unlike Nintendo does want the console to become a service-hub as the revenue streams are very very strong and offset the loss of marketshare. Heck, both the PS3 and 360 are already complex media-hubs and it isn't denting Windows at all.