sony doesn't need them , they need japanese developers, BADLY

edit : i mean they don't have to buy them , they need their sly and infamous, but Sly 4 need to be made >_>

Good for them. 

Agreed.  That actually reminds me of Insomniac's podcast about Girl with a Stick, the unnamed project they were working on prior to Ratchet & Clank.

Apparently the game just wasn't any fun.  They were just kinda going with it, and on the surface it looked like a quality title, with all the basics in place, but it didn't really have a certain spark that a good game usually has.  They talked to Sony about the project, and Sony basically said, "Look, we trust you guys, and we're willing to support you on this, but honestly, we don't see this title performing all that well." It was then that Insomniac realized they had a problem, so they went back to the drawing board and came up with Ratchet.

Granted, it would've sucked if we had actually gotten Girl with a Stick instead of Ratchet, but that trust is what makes Sony so awesome.

Assuming, of course, that you're a developer worthy of such trust.  Sony has shown they're quite willing to drop you if you suck.  Though they've also shown that they've got quite a good eye for talent, and can spot quality and ingenuity in places where it might not be so obvious (Guerrilla Games being the most notable, but also Media Melcule, looking back at when LittleBigPlanet was nothing more than a prototype).

This is THE reason to own a PS3 imo. I've never been as excited about  a console as I am about the PS3. I am constantly enjoying the highest quality games and next year won't be any different.

They do.

I doubt that Sony will be looking for new aquisitions. It is hard enough developing and releasing games on a small userbase when the typical project size is 30M or less, it gets far harder to develop and release games when a blockbuster game might leave little change in $100M in the next generation, marketing inclusive.

So my best guess is that they are going to start ramping up for the next generation, hence the office space increase. If a new I.P. can take 4 years they ought to hit at the right time for the next generation and at a later date they can decide whether exclusivity is right for them.

Speaking about freedom. You can tell this is exactly the reason why certain devs choose to stay loyal to Sony and not to go multiplatform. I remember reading an article where one of Microsofts head honcho's stated that a Halo every 2 years is not enough.. So you mean to tell me they will just try and push out crap like Call of Duty every year cause of money? Hmm this is why I stuck with the Sony brand from back in 95' all the way until now.