Thats not even my point my point is the bolded.....Ohh BTW isnt Sony report next week or sumthing? that shud be the best opportuinity to give a perfect example on what im trying to say here.

I'll be one of the people pointing out just how bad Sony is doing.  Why?  Because of the endless crap from Sony trolls, especially those cowards using sockpuppets and evading bans.  For those Sony trolls that think they're winning some kind of victory, just wait because a storm is coming like you've never seen before.  You wanted to play with fire, well prepare to get burnt.

Although a lot of "holes" it still poses a really good question: What is MS's reason for staying? They aren't making money... they aren't helping out other products within their company. Really it is unnecessary bulk from a business point of view.

But I'm not so sure I believe that. MS has always had a stake in the video game business. Started with the computers of course. It is quite possible that they moved to the console business simply because the computer video game business is starting to die out. Sure that won't affect operating systems sales but still going to take a chunk of revenue out for licensing video games for things and such. Thus move to the consoles, make a name, and eventually you'll have a stake. I really do think that is MS's goal here. To keep their stake in the video game business. I mean they are one of the largest digital entertainment corporations out there... why not have a stake in something like this.

Will MS release another console after 360? Of course. When? Who knows. With Natal and all this other stuff it could be awhile. As long as the competition doesn't put them in a pickle where they are too far behind they can ride the 360 for awhile. But MS is in for the long run. They have invested way too much in the industry to quit now. A growing fanbase, developer popularity, and a well oiled machine that is Xlive. Only thing they have to worry about... the brand. The Xbox brand has been damaged thanks to their recklessness with the 360 failure rates as mentioned in the article. Whether people here want to admit it or not, you don't want to be known as the brand that fails and unfortunately that is what they have. Who knows how much better sales on 360 could be if their failure rates were closer to that of the PS3's. Basically, MS may have to change brands next time. Call it something other than the Xbox. Kinda like Nintendo has done with Wii and DS

But I think it is silly to think that someone who has so much invested in the industry will simply just give that all away. Sega had reasons for leaving. So did Atari. MS's would be shocking though.

@squill,Shadow,Madskillz

Wellp here u go sum1 volunteered to give a perfect example of what im trying to say.

Sure they will have new console next gen, why not. Xbox LIVE is making money for them and they are improving it everyday.

"In fairness to Microsoft, Sony is not doing to well at the moment either. They will be reporting a massive loss of 2.9 billion the first operating loss Sony has had in 14 years"

There is this hope amongst Sony fans that perhaps the gaming business is a passing fancy for MS. I wonder how they will feel when the machine kicks in, and the true motives become apparent...guess what those are.

Interesting, this got to 6 pages. People need to not freak out about something, especially if there is no reason to. MS is making BILLIONS of dollars in profit. They are not going broke, they are the opposite of going broke. A $130mil quarterly loss for MS is like me accidentally washing a twenty with my jeans; bummer but I'll still be able to go on.

The whole premise of your post is based on the assumption that Xbox is losing money.  Microsoft does not have an "Xbox division" nor do they even have a "games division".  They have an "Entertainment and Devices" division that includes Xbox, Zune, Windows Mobie, Media Center, Surface - and many more.  More than one of those are (presumably) unprofitable for various reasons. Zune not competing very well with iPod, Windows Mobile getting crushed by iPhone, Surface has got to be a loss-center, even if it's a pretty fascinating idea. Xbox, by all rights, is the most successful part of EDD in terms of mindshare.  Media Center (probably) makes money if only because it ships in Windows, but doesn't really have a userbase comparable to Xbox.  As to revenue/profit of Xbox or Gaming specifically - we will never know, because this information simply is not provided publicly.

The Xbox 360 unit had revenues of $5.609B that I worked out from their financial report. They sold 11.6M consoles which is an overall increase and the cost of revenue fell 7% and the overall cost of revenue of which the Xbox 360 was a majority was $4.331B. Is that reason enough for staying in the console business to you?

Microsoft had a three part plan going into the industry. I remember when they released the very first X-Box that Microsoft and later Peter Moore said Microsoft had a three point plan. The plan wasn't elaborated on all that much but my uncle who works for Microsoft said that their was intent to build three X-Box's. The plan was one to deal with Sony as a threat to Windows and Microsoft's PC industry.

So what is the 360 accomplishing? It's hitting the PS3 really hard in North America and Europe which used to be two of Sony's strongest markets. Its outselling the PS3 globaly by over 10-million units and regardless of operating losses Microsoft is gaining far more then they are loosing. As stated Sony took losses of 2+ Billion opposed to Microsoft's 130 Million.

The idea of the X-Box was never to gain profit. It was to make Sony loose profit. To damage Sony's user base. As my uncle put it Sony was calling the PS2 a computer and all hints pointed to a possible Sony OS and computer system. Microsoft feared Sony might turn the PlayStation brand into a PC brand.

So Microsoft used a pre-emptive strike to kill any chance of Sony building an OS and PC by crushing Sony's so called computer. As long as every X-Box is one less PS3 owner Microsoft is winning. THe goal is and always has been steal the market share from Sony!