| Black Fist said:
If we realistically think about it, there is no point in MS supporting the PC when they have a console to sell. Unless the rumors that existed back in 08 are true, and the next Xbox will be part of Windows 8 and not a physical console. |
Actually, there is a very good reason for MS supporting PC gaming- the vast majority of it is done on Windows and Windows and its Office and developer ecosystem is the cash generator for the company. Losing significant market share there is far more detrimental to the company than the prospect of losing out on licensing fees for 360 sales if people buy them for the PC instead. With Apple slowly moving into contention with an OSX Steam client, many games going cross-platform to the Mac with Steamplay, and the iphone absolutely wiping the floor with Windows-based smartphones, there's a real danger that the current small and steady slippage could become something much larger.
Microsoft backed the wrong horse in the early part of this century- they feared consoles and Sony-made consoles in particular would become convergence devices capable of threatening Windows' dominance. In actual fact it was the emergence of smartphones that is by far the greater threat to them, especially as they've burned through so much money on establishing the XBox and fucked up so spectacularly with stuff like Kin, Windows Phone in general, and the Zune. You have to wonder whether the huge amount of money they're spunking on Kinect is a shit-or-bust punt, as surely there's no way their investors can continue to allow them to squander the amount of money they have been doing for minimal return.
