Before or after Microsoft's stockholders and board of directors engage in corporate lynching?

Before.

Then hopefully the money is spent on first party instead of securing timed exclusives and what not. Worst part is that that many on this thread actually want exclusive DLC and timed exclusives instead of new games.

Get help people........get help.

They should spend all the money on Crackdown 2. Making the greatest game of all time.

I would rather Microsoft spend that money on bringing Ensemble Studios back...

Great idea! why don't you have Microsoft put a down payment on my pe**s while youre at it. That way all you X fannies will have something to suck on when you grind your 360

LOL YEAH!!!

id rather have some new 360 games than some DLC

They should just purchase Take-Two and then they'd have Grand Theft Auto, Bioshock, Max Payne, Civilization, Red Dead Revolver, etc, franchises.  In one swoop they would acquire 18 development studios as well as gaining exclusivity to many games in development including Bioshock 2, Red Dead Redemption, L.A. Noire, Max Payne 3, Borderlands, Mafia 2, as well as several other big games that are also likely in development.  I'm sure that would end the attacks on Microsoft's upcoming lineup and would make Microsoft's first party development abilities far more formidable.

that is certainly possible.  with the economic downturn take two is pretty vulnerable right now.  They are only valued at about 750 million, so if microsoft threw a billion dollars at them that would probably do the trick.  Thats quite a bit more than 200 million though, and while it would give microsoft tons of exclusives, take two isn't exactly the most profitable company.  Microsoft would probably have to do some major downsizing to take two to make them profitable.  I just don't think microsoft would see a ROI for a long time and microsoft doesn't need to saddle their entertainment divsion with more debt.  I don't see it happening.