Hmm..
Let´s see here.
Im all for a synergy between Microsoft and Sony, I think that there are more benefits than negatives.
And for the people saying that it hardware will become more expensive, sure, it can happen (However, I cannot imagine it will be more expensive than the PS3 was at release and besides, people buy more expensive PC gaming rigs, so obviously, price is not a problem).
One of the problems facing the business is that there are more and more things competing for our time and also, we are really in the time when we have to "consume" things more rapidly, hence the popularity of app games (that you easily can pick up and play and finish in a couple of minutes, an hour tops). The whole mentality of today is that we have to consume things fast and immediately go to the next thing.
So therefore mobile phones is becoming more of a threat now to traditional console gaming.
There are other things that needs to be adress as well and one of the things I would like to have "fixed" is the how do we or how can we access old games in an easy way and play them legally?
With music, books and movies, you can easily buy classical movies, books or music but with games, it is very difficult to for example play battletoads or attic attac because to do this in a legal way, you have to buy a NES or a spectrum and connect it to the tv.
With todays tech, we should be able to find a way to have all the games (or many of the games) made and sell then cheap through DD. Perhaps an "OnLive" style of service with emulators already in place, all you have to do is choose the game you want to play and go (and perhaps even offline-sync with your mobile device and continue the game there).
Most importantly, in this time and age, it is really stupid to have to buy 3 different hardware in order to play all the games. The hardware is just a "necessary evil" in order to play the games.
And also, the battle for the living room, it is really over. With the arrival and development of mobile hardware, the battle is now for everywhere.
I see more benefits of MS and Sony making a joint venture this time. How many more generations can we see the same development? This way, it is better because you release a hardware that everyone can buy without thinking that they will be missing games on it (except NIntendo but that it because it is a small company compared to the others, gaming is their bread and butter)
The real differentiator should be in software.
Imagine the following:
You buy a console BUT you can choose which Online service you want to use, XBL or PSN (or have both). And imagine even further, a console were you can keep adding services (like Steam?). So the hardware is becoming a hub for all your gaming desires/whishes/etc that you yourself choose what service/games you want to use.
So instead of saving up money for stupid hardware because of some games, you buy one hardware and the rest of the money goes to software.
A joint hardware is somehow also something that helps out both MS and Sony and the gaming business in general. Games are becoming more and more expensive to make with the advancement in technology. Next generation, with the potential capabilities, will allow developers to make games with an amazing audivisual fidelity but it will cost much more.
In order to increase the chance of getting that money back, they have to have access to a vast marketshare, as big as possible. Instead of the segmenting the business with 3 different hardware and 3 different marketshares, why not releasing to a hardware that has 100% (or 70% or whatever it will be). It is easier to sell more copies this way...
Anyways, im rambling on here..
but I see much more benefits with a joint venture than negatives.
What are the negatives except potentially more expensive hardware??
