Sony & Microsoft to be allies in next console war?

[makingmusic476]

kain_kusanagi said:

makingmusic476 said:

I'm trying to imagine any reason why this would happen.

Both Sony and Microsoft are jumping into the wider ecosystem battle with Google and Apple. The next Xbox will be integral in bringing Microsoft's services to the living room, through their Live accounts and access to Microsoft's app store, as will the next PlayStation be integral in bringing Sony's burgeoning Sony Entertainment Network to that same space.

This is simply not something they would cooperate on.  If they unified under a single hardware platform, they'd still have competing software platforms on those same devices. Working with their own individual hardware leaves open the possibility of one performing better than the other, thus that one having a larger audience to which they can sell their digital content.

It'd be equally as unlikely as Microsoft suddenly working with Apple or Google to produce phones.

Maybe it's really Windows 8 that Sony fears. MS is about to launch a unified OS across all platforms that is rumored to be the heart of the next Xbox. All software and games made for one will work on another, or so the rumors say. If true maybe Sony would rather swim with the current than fight the tide. Sony lost a lot of money on the PS3, right now they have a lot to lose on hardware, but a lot to gain with all their software developers. Maybe they are starting to see the world like Sega and are tired of having to throw money at hardware and hope to make it back in software.

Then I'd imagine they would have not released the PSV.

If I see Sony partnering up with anybody, it's Google.  Google could use a strong avenue into the living room, and Sony has had a history using Android on their phones and tablets.  An Android-based console with Google's services and Sony's PlayStation legacy and properties would do well for both companies, I'd think, and could put both companies in a better position to combat Apple and Microsoft.

However, you'd still have heavy competition between Google and Sony's music and video services, as well as a myriad of other reasons why such a joint project wouldn't work.  Both companies would want their content to be the focal point of the device.

Any such merger with any of these companies would hurt Sony's larger, company-wide strategy.  They're not going to suddenly abandon a long term strategy they're hoping will save the company in exchange for a small boon in the video game arena.

We have to remember that SCE aren't just a video game company.  They exist as part of a much larger enterprise.