Fixed that for you. =)

Specifics never hurt anyone. Thanks for that. :)

I'm failing to see what Nintendo gets out of this in any way. If they wanted to make an Xbox, they'd get one made. If they wanted an online infrastructure to rival Xbox Live, they'd get one made. If they wanted an OS similar to Xbox One, they'd get one made. It's not like any of this is incredibly secret IP. Microsoft works with many other companies to develop these solutions, and Nintendo could do the same, they just choose not to. All this would do is bog down Nintendo's resources that they could be using to focus on Nintendo's own shit, and lock down their own hardware with an operating system they didn't develop and they don't maintain.

Nintendo would be absolutely insane to even think about joining team Xbox, and this proposition of how is probably one of the most nonsensical yet.

I would say it's a combination of both.

For example, nobody wanted Wii U despite having some great games because the hardware was unappealing.

On the other hand, Switch is doing very well with it's two biggest games being available on Wii U because the hardware is appealing.

There are other factors as well but I think it's a balance of hardware and software that sells a device.

Yeah, the idea becomes even more ridiculous when you consider that the Xbox brand seems to be declining and borderline irrelevant outside of US/UK while Nintendo seems to be having a resurgence and expanding the brand.

Nintendo really gets no benefit out of this.

Nah, Nintendo is in a stronger position right now. They don't truly get any benefits with this partnership. Xbox as a brand is in a weak position right now. And it seems things are getting worse....

Saw thread title, came to write this exact thing, was already done by you. Letting Nintendo take over the Xbox brand would be a terrible idea, their philosophies simply collide on almost every front and in every facet and this would only crash and burn, even worse than MS manage themselves with One and Nintendo with the Wii U.

Just about the only thing they have in common is a case of control mania and a fondness for borderline or actual extortion as well as market rigging and price fixing through monopolies.

I fully agree. It seems to me that MS is trying to pivot their Xbox brand into windows PCs.

Which in itself is a tough task because of Steam. Microsoft's gaming business is in a tough spot at the moment.

On the console side Xbox is getting beat badly by Playstation and on the PC side, Steam is heavily preferred over Windows.

That's the problem with head on competition, if you aren't the preferred choice than your product/service risks being seen as redundant because there is a superior option.

It's really the exact opposite of Nintendo. Nintendo's success/failure comes down to whether or not they are able to differentiate themselves by offering things that the others don't.

Basically at this point Xbox/Windows regaining marketshare/mindshare depends largely on PS/Steam shooting themselves in the foot and being able to steal some of their audience while Nintendo can succeed regardless of what the others are doing.