Microsoft: the great negotiators?

[Bodhesatva]

I'm going to simplify and distill my last post for people:

Negotiating is money. I wasn't suggesting that Microsoft are such golly-gee swell guys that everyone wants to develop for them, I meant that they do a good job of distributing funds to third parties -- via marketing agreements, exclusive content arrangements, or timed exclusive contracts -- to encourage development on that platform. And yet they still make a profit these days.

Microsoft is using their video game funds to encourage third party development.

Sony isn't making video game funds. All of their "funds" are going in to to selling the PS3 at a loss to drive market penetration. 

Nintendo is doing god knows what with their massive, massive funds. It's probably really good (Nintendo knows what it's doing), but it also probably isn't serious marketing deals with third parties.