No, the industry need new ideas, not less competition. The battle between Sony and MS has been great for the industry and Nintendo is the great innovator in alot of ways. I would want Sega in the race as well :).

You're proving my point. Sony overcharged for the PS3, and look what happened. People didn't pay! The "monopoly" they had with the PS2 didn't mean squat.

Well in gen 7 Nintendo and Xbox thrived on Sonys mistakes. When Sony wins, competition gets choked of any potential to prosper.

So logically the best ecosystem for 2 manufacturers to prosper and be healthy is one without Sony, despite the joy they give to many of you guys.

Funny thing is that I also think this is a possibility.

I´m not sure about that....

...would lack of options and lack of variety do good for the industry right now?

Considering how the industry is losing weight for some time, maybe it would be better to have just two main manufacturers by now, at least those two would still have (sort of) healthy business, instead of two struggling companies with uncertain futures and one just afloating.

MS offerings are similar to Sony´s, so I think MS could go away without hurting the market at all.

Now if MS and Nintendo join forces in the future, that would be a win-win scenario for both. We would have Sony + Nintendo/MS. Two main manufacturers with great products. Maybe THAT would help the market to grow again. Maybe.

I don´t see how the market would benefit with Nintendo´s absence of the home console. WiiU is not selling well, but its audience would not go to either Sony or MS products anyway - it would go to whatever platform Nintendo decided to develop for, and I doubt they would care, in this hypotetical situation, to develop for another device rather than PC´s, tablets and phones

I think Nintendo needs more competition. Sony and Microsoft are competing against one another, but Nintendo doesn't have a serious competitor to their home consoles or handhelds.

Three competitors ensures enough competition to the point where one or more entrants are really giving it their all.

It gives third parties an upper hand as they can collect higher royalties from sales on a platform. Powerful third parties help keep console manufacturer's power over the industry in check.

It produces more games in general -- giving us price competition for games as there are more alternatives available to players.

I think one E3, a MS rep will take the stage and say "We officially bought Sony. Playstation is as of this moment, discontinued". Then he drops the mic all gansta style, and leaves the stage. The MS E3 presser is over. The audience is shocked as an errie silence lingers for minutes. No real facts myself, but just a theory, coupled with my personal embelishments ;)

There are only 2. There's 2 home console manufacturers and 1 media center manufacturer.

Don't worry. I believe Microsoft will leave the console business in less than one year and Xbox will go away in 3-4 years.