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landguy1 said:
S.T.A.G.E. said:

LOL I have no idea what you're so afraid of. You really need to brush up on your gaming history. If Sony didn't corner the multimedia and OS market Microsoft would never have come to the gaming industry. Microsoft tried to partner up with them because they had dominated the gaming industry and amassed a great marketshare, but Sony turned them down. They vowed to stop Sony and "save the PC market" from Sony.  Bullshit...MS wanted to be chummy, chummy with them because they were dominating the console race and wanted to be associated with them. 

Read this Joachim Kemper spoke out about his time at Microsoft and his relationship with Steve Balmer, describing him as a "bully" and why MS is in the gaming industry.

"Speaking with IGN, Kempin now states that the only reason Microsoft entered the console market was to challenge Sony head-on, suggesting that there is some bad blood between both parties. The decision – he says – came directly from Bill Gates himself."

“Yeah, they bought Windows for their PCs but when you really take a hard look at that, they were never Microsoft’s friend. And Microsoft in a way wanted them to be a friend because they knew they had a lot of things we could have co-operated on because they are, in a way, an entertainment company, you know?

“I mean, at least a portion of Sony is and they had some really good things going there, but as soon as they came out with a video console, Microsoft just looked at that and said ‘well, we have to beat them, so let’s do our own.’”

http://www.vg247.com/2013/02/07/microsoft%E2%80%99s-entered-the-console-race-to-stop-sony-claims-former-exec/

 

Their one aim...their one goal is to crush Sony. They could lose profit and would still come after them because Sony refused to be their "friend". It hurts Microsoft to their very core that a company like Sony could outsmart them and this is why they rushed the 360 to beat them to the market this gen and this is why they are scrambling to save this somehow unimportant power differential to save their perception issues. Tell me, have you ever seen a company scramble so hard to get back at Sony? Wait...oh yeah...Sega.

You actually made my point.  M$ recognized they needed to be in the console space for their long term goals.  If Sony won't partner with them they had to do something.  That was then.  Google and Apple were nothing back then.  In 2013, Sony is still a hardware company.  M$ only manufactures hardware to advace in areas that they can't make the right alliance to do so.  Do you really think that M$ sits in meetings and says "let's get Sony"?  They spend their time on how to get more penetration of their pay systems.  Of course they need to be sucessful in gaming, as it is hooked up to the TV.  Do they need to be 1st? No, not when your the only other person that can outsell you is not in your core business.  Based on the information that you posted above from 10 yrs ago, which is not obviously really relevent today, M$ would probably only be happier when they prove to Sony they should have partnered together for the long term.


Yes...I really do think Microsoft sits in meetings saying "lets get Sony". I've read up enough of the history on how the Xbox was made to come to this conclusion. Nintendo's fued with Sony has more relevance because it was a failed business venture where Sony was left out in the cold in front of everyone at CES. The brainchilds of the Xbox wanted to make a videogame system out of a clear love for gaming and suggested Microsoft shoudl expand. Microsoft was about to turn them down until they saw Sony as a threat to the PC multimedia and OS market. They didn't save the PC market from a thing, they actually took the light away from PC gaming and shed it upon console gaming, leaving PC gaming in darkness only to rise again because of Valve with Steam. 

As for Sony feeling bad for not partnering with them, the only reason they probably should've is for fear of being bullied. Microsoft can outsmart Sony with OS, but with hardware, thats their funeral. The smartest thing Sony could ever do with Microsoft breathing down their neck is to think about profitability. Luckily the PS4 will profit wayyyyyy earlier than the PS3 did.