Nintendo is in a much better place than Sony for buying companies. And MS is probably going to take a wait and see approach until next generation. Yes they have unlimited backing and they finally turned a profit. But the 360 is the place to be for 3rd party games(for now). They are going to try and wring some money out of the 360 for a while.
Nintendo will buy some 3rd parties. Maybe they will even get Sega from Sammy.
Nintendo would not buy SE even if they can. The huge amount of money required would be better spent giving to Monolith SOft and others to develop a stable of in house RPGs and further creating Wii through development(WiiFit etc.) If they succeed this generation with hardware the software will come.
Smaller companies could be an asset to Nintendo in diversification. I predict a few PC developers to bolster Wiiware.
Sony will buy a few companies and exclusives to try and stop the drowning ship. Anything MS buys will be for the 720 and their plans for that.
Final* Word on Game Delays:
The game will not be any better or include more content then planned. Any commnets that say so are just PR hogwash to make you feel better for having to wait.
Delays are due to lack of proper resources, skill, or adequate planning by the developer.
Do be thankful that they have enough respect for you to delay the game and maintain its intended level of quality.
*naznatips is exempt
