How is competition bad for gamers?
To blame Microsoft is sad.
Just because sony and nintendo are not as rich as they could have been doesn't mean Microsoft should not have made a console.

It must hurt to see that Mircrosoft is making money now and 360 is still selling well.

Without Microsoft in the video game console industry. A PS3 would of been less high tech and would of had a launch price between 200 - 300 dollars US. A complete different scenario. But purely hypothetical.

 I disagree. MS did one huge thing for the industry, and that's uniformity. Sure, the stole there UI designs from Apple, but Apple was going to lose back then anyway. Before Windows, If you knew one spreadsheet or word processor, it didn't help you at all with another.

people forget that printing a file, or opening one for that matter was a chore before Windows. Fire up Word Star, or Word Perfect, or Textra, and it was totally different on how you used it. You had to train someone on how you write a letter. Put any 10 year old in front of Word, even if they have never seen it, and they know what to do. To open a file you select "file -> open", just like every other windows program.

That's huge, and MS made that happen (even if they had to steal a good idea to do it).

As for making total crap, that's only recently. (they always made crap, but it was never total crap). Apple is now up to 14% market share, and that's not because they are doing everything right to win it, it's because MS is doing everything wrong to lose it. 

There are always consequences for your actions :) 

 If that's true, thank you Microsoft.

so PS3 made a mistake trying to up on microsoft. They should have been smarter, like nintendo, and make a quality innovative $250 console. So don't blame microsoft, blame Sony.

I wish starcraft was here to help boost the post count of this thread. It would be interesting to hear what he has to say.
BTW: MS has only just started to make profits on XBox gaming division. in the past year. 6 years of losses were made on Xbox gaming division.

 We have three outstanding consoles (other then the RRoD thing). Why blame anyone for that?

We all hope MS does not release an improved console within two to three years. I have a feeling the next XBox will arrive in the month of November, the year uncertain. November is the most common popular for console launches.

November 2010 we could see a new Xbox is a possibility.

I want GE, MS, Apple, Google, and Intel to merge into one giant American company that just pisses off everyone. Would be fun to read about how the company "killed the crayon market" or how "soft drinks have been ruined ever since they entered the market"

I say the more the merrier. I like how we have 3 viable consoles to choose from this generation, all of which are likely to be more succesful than the Xbox and Gamecube were last generation. It's an indication of a healthy industry. Monopolies are never ideal, and percentage wise, we wont see the dominance that Sony enjoyed last gen.