I hope I'm right when I say if most people were given the choice (from some higher being or something) for one of the big 3 to fail, that most if not all would refuse.

Apart from the extremists of course, even people that have a passion to hate Microsoft, Sony or Nintendo, must be able to see that competition is great and is what, is making their console better than what it would be without competition. Personally I hope Sony never leave the gaming ring.

That said LBP on my 360 would be sweeeet!

Will the higher being allow me to get rid of 2 of the big 3 and replace them with gaming companies of my choice?

well i think people want to defend their choice in a way,but personally i cant say i want any company to fail,why would i?

I'd say some of it is purchase validation. People may only buy one console and go out of their way to defend it, some going as far as spreading FUD about the competition. To these people the idea that they may have bought the wrong console is unfathomable.

People wanting Nintendo/Sony/Microsoft to actually fail completely and close up are really just the extreme fanboys. They see their given choice as the only right or reasonable one, and any other choice is idiotic. These people love their particular company so much they'd like to see others pushed out so that the only option that remained was the one they deemed acceptable. These people may spin it differently, but they want to force people into their way of thinking and may be so butthurt that they want a certain company to close out of spite.

The abundance of sales discussion this generation (and obviously on this site) seem to make people forget that we all enjoy video games. Just from reading this site, you see how people rationalize anti-consumer implementations time and time again like they're viral marketers or stockholders rather than video game enthusiasts. I wish people would stop for a second and try to remember why they started playing games in the first place, instead of the mindless sales induced circle-jerking and partisanship that I see here all the time.

I couldn't care less. I don't dislike Sony, but I'll live if it's only Microsoft and Nintendo. I prefer the exclusives on Xbox360, and I can't get old Nintendo classics anywhere else but the Wii. However, having three healthy consoles out there gives a larger intalled base for third parties to survive and thrive.

I myself don't want any console to fail.

As for others who do want a particular console to fail, one can only speculate. My only opinion as to why, would be that its psychological.

Maybe they have somehow projected themselves to relate to their respective machines and that they just want to belong (ex. how some people pick and choose their automobile). Maybe the fear of their choice being the wrong one, in terms of lasting appeal (Value) so they want a competitor to fail.

Who knows... I definitely don't, thats why I'm just guessing.