WOW, someone asking if it can finish 1st? Thats new lol, I'm so use to seeing will it come 2nd. 360 doesn't stand a chance in hell against the Wii. And after 2009, it's going to be left behind when PS3 takes itself into 2nd place.
I still believe Microsoft should just be like SEGA and make/publish games. Least that way they can make a ton of money without little worries. Saying that, I actually want them in the competition, makes pricing more aggressive and we can enjoy games at good prices =D If it weren't for Microsoft, PS3 will prob still be 1000AUD, 599USD!

They are going to try to keep making profit, the bigs guns of Sony are out of reach, yes, but the damage is done, the next gen MS probably will get even more support from the devs, their game sells, live makes money, they are almost in the right track to be more competitive in the next gen...

It will be about equal with the ps3, It would come second if it didnt bomb in Japan.

@Op. Besides stating the obvious and agreeing with it. Is this a kick them when they are down thread?

Can they? Of course they can, if they do all this.

Win Japan: By purchasing Capcom for 1 billion dollars and SE for 500 million. Making them the first party and with Mistwalker, 360 will win Japan.

Win US: Buy T2 for 2 billion, buy the rest of Ubisoft. Pay LOADS of money to Bungie to make Halo 4 and 5.

Win Europe. Make the consoles 99 and 199. massively cutting game prices, buy PES and pay EA for Fifa exclusive rights for all europe.



Is it possible? Yes, will it bankrupt Microsoft to make it happen? Probably, that's why it will NEVER HAPPEN.

 They would also have to purchase all of the casual games on the wii that sell millions to go with their ripoff  inovative controller coming this year. 

once the x720 is out the ps3 will be an unstoppable beast.
it will have to deal a big installed base + games that take full advantage of ps3's graphical power + ps3 will be really cheap at that point.
basicly it 1st year games will have only slightly prettier games while the console itself will be around 3 times as much $$.

just bringin out a new console as soon as the current one doesnt sell anymore isnt so easy
also nintendo will probably bring out a new console around that time.
i realy dont see how microsoft is gonna deal with this

 we all know that the only thing selling on Wii is really Nintendo's mascots, with the odd exception of Carnival games. so, there's no point. ;)

@kingofwale: nothing can bankrupt Microsoft. They make more money every year than all of those purchases would cost.

And I don't think it'll work against the Wii. The Wii mainly sells on it's first-party games. Maybe your plan would work in the US, or it would at least slow down Nintendo, but in Europe and Japan it wouldn't work. I would foresee doom for SE if they were only able to produce on Xbox, and Europe might love football games, but that wuldn't stop Nintendo.