The article argues that the reason that they should merge is that the two systems are both similar, and the fact that a far different system is outselling them both. What he doesn’t realize is that competition leads to innovation, which is the driving force behind all new technology. Just look what happened last generation, the GameCube got all but disseminated by the other two systems, and Nintendo realized they had no hope to compare to the technology this generation brought. So what were they forced to do? They had to be innovative is a designing a completely new system architecture. The new “useless” technology he states is relative and a matter of opinion. Yes it may be overwhelming to the average consumer, but to the core video game audience, the PS3 and Xbox are marketed towards, it’s very important.
The author fails to also recognize that if there was a merger between the two companies, they would maintain a monopoly over the entire core market. You know what that means right? Inevitable you’re paying more for hardware and software. Good for business, not for us :) Core gamers would have no choice to fork over even more money to play games of higher difficulty. What choice would they have? Play the next gen Wii? I say competition is great, so long as the consumers remain the focus of the industry.
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