Oh... and the fans have spoken about buying games from SE on a MS console. MS wouldn't get anything out of that either... except maybe bankrupting a major company with flop after flop. Fans would turn to Level 5 or others for their RPG needs.

no big deal.

Aside from Japan, i doubt it would make a difference.

If Microsoft buys Electronic arts it will be because they decided to spin off their gaming studies outside of MGS/Microsoft umbrellas. They can't both own EA and have EA obsorbed into their gaming empire whilst keeping the reason for ownership intact (Fifa/Madden/NBA/Tiger Woods) due to how the license system works for those titles.

I dont think it would make a difference in Japan eitheer

I'd cut myself.

I'm pretty sure they can't because this violates some monopoly/fair business law somewhere.

the RPG world would cease to exist or ATLUS and Level-5 would step to the plate and support the PS3

I can see MS buying Square Enix, if only because it would be a poor business decision based on the falling popularity and sales of the JRPG genre.

Don't the Japanese and American government have to approve purchases like this? I seriously doubt it would EVER happen. The best that can happen is MS will keep paying to publish SE titles.