It's not about consumer loyalty with the expanded audience, it's that what the HD Twins offer they (thought I'm sure they tanget, such are perspectives.) just aren't interested. For them it's Wii or bust, percieved value is found in the Wii - Microsoft would have to make a "Wii" in or some luxury version of "Wii". Even then I'm sure Nintendo wont make it easy.

In this cycles race for market share Sony must of thought it was a potato sack race but obviously it wasn't.

It occurs now to me that there is at least a sound reason for MS to target Nintendo: MS feared Sony attempts to seize living room computing and managed to hinder them (with a not so little help by Sony itself), now, with the current market share, Sony won't be a threat on that front for a few years, even if it should grow, so for the next years MS just need to keep it at bay. OTOH, with almost 50% market share, and growing, and a wild creativity, Nintendo could be an immediate threat should it want to grab the living room, MS could even do moves that make it lose money (for example giving consoles away almost for free and buying big franchises' exclusives and lots of gaming related patents for insane amounts of money) just to damage Nintendo, to warn it to content itself of its garden and avoid stepping into which MS considers its own by divine right. And we shouldn't think, and Nintendo shouldn't too, that shareholders would disapprove, they have been quite content with MS method up until now, spending a lot to grab enough market and put as many competitors as possible out of business, tying users, then squeeze them almost forever for a lot more money than the initial investment (for example at the current market loss MS would squeeze more than 50% PC users for more than 30 years anyway, with total users growing, so that MS would grow anyway even losing market share).

Microsoft and Nintendo won't cohabitate. Nintendo only competes. Surely MS would want to cohabitate, as they don't know how to compete.

And Nintendo doesn't focus on casuals, Nintendo targets EVERYONE. You can't have a reasonable idea of what Nintendo will do, as long as you don't even understand what they repeat again and again.

So no, there will be no room to move for MS. Also, the traditional approach will be what Nintendo is doing, did you miss the paradigm shift going on? Nintendo is already blurring the boundaries between core and casual markets, and no, they're not defined by HD.

Anyway, MS has no chance but to be crushed by Nintendo next gen. People think that because Nintendo singlehandedly put the market upside down, against everyone else in the market.

Sony and MS are completely unable to do that, their actions speak a lot. So as soon as Nintendo rallies even a little part of the industry, they'll be even more unstoppable if that makes any sense.

@op - I wonder how many people are like me - own a PC and a Wii. Im sure most Wii owners also have a PC in the house too, even if its not used for gaming. I use my PC for my weather, news, etc, and my Wii for my gaming. MS has nothing to worry about losing general PC functions to the Wii.

That said, MS will definitely be implementing some sort of motion control into its next console. Yet, Im sure we already assumed that.

The reason why Microsoft would have a harder time with Nintendo than with Sony is the same reason they have a hard time with Apple.

Nintendo software is exclusive to Nintendo hardware.

Remember that whole skitch on 3rd parties not wanting to develop for the Wii because Nintendo's games are too damn good? They mean that Nintendo's games claim the highest % of share, it's actually insane that the sum of 3rd party sales barely beat out just Nintendos'. It could be understood if 3rd parties were making less games than Nintendo, but they aren't to that extent. There are at least 10 3rd party games to every 1 Nintendo game on that platform.

That being said, Nintendo still has signifigant share when you add in 3rd party sales on the HD platforms versus Nintendo. Without Nintendo the drop in software share would be around 12% (Wii only).

That is insane.

@bardicverse:

MS doesn't fear losing PC users it already has, but it behaves as it considers future PC users too its own property. MS wants future home and entertainment computer users to be Windows users and doesn't tolerate competitors joining the party with devices not using Windows as OS.

Good point Alby. I think that MS will have to entirely turn on its "hardcore" fanbase to gain the majority, the general gamer that Nintendo has acquired.

I have a feeling that Windows 7 will be successful, but on the home console side, they will still play 2nd fiddle to Nintendo even in the next generation. If MS joins the motion control market and increases casual support, focus on their hardcore support will wane. Its sort of a tricky balancing act, and even if its perfect, Nintendo only needs to push their next console with another new innovation to trump them.

I've read the thread up until this post, so I don't know what discussion has gone after this. But I just wanted to point this out, as I don't understand how you could think otherwise.

I can say with 100% confidence, that had Sony launched the PS3 $300 (give or take), they would've been in a ridiculously better position than they are right now. That writing was on the wall 5 seconds after they announced the price at E3 2006. They screwed themselves over by trying to shoehorn a media storage that wasn't needed onto their existing loyal base, and using them as scapegoats to drive down the price and get blu-ray players into peoples homes. Remember them saying they could sell 6 million consoles without even releasing any games?

They were wrong, and it hasn't really payed off as well as they had hoped for them.

Can you say with 100% certainty that the Wii/Xbox 360 would or would not have been changed to accomodate? Remember, all eyes were on Sony, if they did something differently then their competition would have too.