810°

Why Microsoft should acquire Sony's gaming division

Don Reisinger of CNET Writes: "As I was thinking of something to discuss today, I peered beneath my HDTV and saw my Wii sitting next to my Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. And as soon as I looked at all three, it had me thinking: the Wii is a wildly successful platform, but the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 are still limping along in the hope that they'll compete with Nintendo's platform at some time in the future.

But when we objectively consider the state of the industry, it becomes blatantly clear that Sony and Microsoft simply don't have what it takes right now to compete and more consumers are more excited about Nintendo's platform than anything Sony or Microsoft can dole out.

Realizing that, why wouldn't Microsoft acquire Sony's gaming division and consolidate its power and influence in the gaming space? I know, it may sound radical and at first glance you would think that Sony would never agree to such a deal, but keep an open mind for a minute and hear me out.

Sony's gaming division is quickly becoming a drain on its financial stability and shareholder confidence, while Microsoft is chugging along at a pretty good clip even though it has little influence in Asia. And although neither company can beat Nintendo alone, don't you think it's entirely possible that Microsoft and Sony could become a powerhouse in the industry if the former acquires the latter, thus making it a valuable idea?"
Syko 360 - moderator
Published: 503 days 19 hours ago | Article | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360 | Wii
 
 

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Showing: 1 - 50 of 212 Comments
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pwnsause - 503 days 20 hours ago
1 -
not surprised this is a cnet article. they still think microsoft is rich.
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Captain Tuttle - 503 days 20 hours ago
1.1 - Microsoft is rich...
It doesn't mean this is a viable idea though.
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TOSgamer - 503 days 19 hours ago
1.2 - Don't blame all of Cnet
Its just this one idiot who writes a blog there. The same idiot that said the 360 would win the console war as late as Feb of this year. He's a moron and cnet really should remove his blog.
1.3 cahill | 503 days 19 hours ago - User only got 1 bubble - Show
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Jamie Foxx - 503 days 19 hours ago
1.4 - STUPIDEST,DUMBEST
article i think i have ever read...oh look theres a pig flying
1.5 theKiller | 503 days 19 hours ago - User only got 1 bubble - Show
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Captain Tuttle - 503 days 19 hours ago
1.6 - Cahill...
NET Tangible Assets are all that matter and both companies are about equal. Sony has a ton of liabilities, $90 billion or something.

I agree that it's a silly article. It'll certainly generate alot of discussion though.
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sonarus - 503 days 19 hours ago
1.7 -
I seriously doubt they can afford it
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DaKid - 503 days 19 hours ago
1.8 - Cahill
here is a definition of Market Cap, it also uses Microsoft and IBM as expamles of what Market Cap means.

http://www.investopedia.com...
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hardmetal - 503 days 19 hours ago
1.9 - Even my grandma can come up with less worse idea.
Really she can. She would advise MS to buy Nintendo instead.

lolz
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DrakenSilverwing - 503 days 19 hours ago
1.10 - @ Cahill
Yer right! i knew Sony was big and rich.. i mean i see Sony's name on everything.. well around my place.. Microsofts name is basically just on the computer.. not many other places(there may be a few)

^$#@ thats alot of liabilities tho... i suppose ya really have to spend money to make money... hehe but wow...
1.11 cahill | 503 days 19 hours ago - User only got 1 bubble - Show
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marinelife9 - 503 days 19 hours ago
1.12 -
The other day I was eating a chocolate bar and decided to dip it in my guacamole and I thought hmmm what if someone put the two of them together... then they could together take on Almond Joy's.
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n4gzz - 503 days 19 hours ago
1.13 -
I have nothing against Sony, MS. I just like good product but I just don't understand that how in the hell stupid people can get job like that!!
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OOG - 503 days 18 hours ago
1.14 -
Oh here we go with people playing business man..........

Cahill get off your crack dude,,,,why would MS have a ton of money in assets when they are primarily a software Giant...they dont need a ton of assets.....

It all comes down to which company is more profitable and MS makes way more money each year then Sony....plain and simple dont even have to play with numbers.....

but anyway.....this is just a worthless article about something that would never happen in the first place
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morganfell - 503 days 18 hours ago
1.15 -
Okay, I had to quit reading right after he said the games division was a drain on Sony. the games division is growing and helped boost sales.

http://www.edge-online.com/...
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Ateanboy - 503 days 18 hours ago
1.16 - LOL!!!!
What an imbecile!

"More interested in NINTENDO" he says...

There's no such thing as a gamer being more interested in the Wii than the PS3 or 360.

There's only the elderly who where given a Wii as a gift... and parents who want to buy their little children cheap consoles... and those parents' little children...

And they don't play video games. They just started playing now because of the Wii. Those aren't GAMERS.

There's no such thing as a "CASUAL" gamer. You're either a gamer, (maybe a hardcore gamer), or not a gamer at all.

If you're NOT a gamer, then your interested in Nintendo.
And if you ARE a gamer, then you're interested in the PS3 or the 360.

Lol. This guy's a complete moron.
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hardmetal - 503 days 18 hours ago
1.17 - @morganfell:"I had to quit reading right after he said the games division was a drain on Sony"
You should have stopped reading after you read the title.
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Tarasque - 503 days 17 hours ago
1.18 -
Wow it is really getting hard to sift through the trashy articles that get posted on here.
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Domenikos - 503 days 17 hours ago
1.19 - @cahill
LOLs at your comment... Assets doesnt measure how rich a company is.

U can increase your liabilities or ownership equity in order to increase ur assets.

Liabilities+OE = assets, the only thing that you proved is that Sony is a bigger company than MS but that doesnt mean its richer.

Ur facts = MEH, anyway, MS buying Sony Gaming division = DUMB (get some financial knowledge first)
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perseus - 503 days 17 hours ago
1.20 - @OOG
"MS makes way more money each year then Sony"

I'm sorry, do you even bother to research your claims before you make them? You will find Sony on the list below of the top 100 richest companies, but guess who you won't find?

http://money.cnn.com/magazi...
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Ace Killa 08 - 503 days 16 hours ago
1.21 - Wasnt it IGN or some other website
that posted that they do not dare mess with MS on the release of Halo 3? i remember that MS would sue with mighty force and really messing with MS is like messing with GOD, and honestly if some one were to say im going to be better than god or have two gods. the first god is ganna kick the other ones a$$ and make sures its dominant
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DrakenSilverwing - 503 days 16 hours ago
1.22 - @ Perseus
Right on! couldn't be much more clear then that!

----------------------------- --------------------

Most ppl just don't realize how big Sony really is.. and how much influence they have.. Microsoft might be big. and likes to buy things but they can't touch Sony.
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DaKid - 503 days 16 hours ago
1.23 - @perseus
Microsoft does make higher profits then Sony. Sony makes a higher Revenue.

Revenue ≠ Profit
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superaktieboy - 503 days 16 hours ago
1.24 - for those who care
the day that this will happen is when Microsoft announced that they bin Windows for a free Linux kernel, and they use these keywords in one sentence in the same sentence when they announce this:
Bill Gates, ass, Windows, Crap, Linux, Ownage, bin, Windows, New OS, Linux Kernel

there ya go..
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morganfell - 503 days 15 hours ago
1.25 -
@ hardmetal, ha ha you are dead right about that. Right after the title I should have been wailing on that back button.
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BattleAxe - 503 days 14 hours ago
1.26 -
We've had this discussion before, Sony has far more revenue comming year after year. Sony is also one of the richest and biggest companies in the world. It would never happen and Microsoft(as big and rich as they might be) just could simply not afford to do such a thing. I think Microsoft would have a better chance at buying out Nintendo.
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ThanatosDMC - 503 days 13 hours ago
1.27 -
I have the answer to this article. Wouldnt it be simpler for M$ to just kill their gaming division?
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Pain70 - 503 days 13 hours ago
1.28 - Revenue doesn't mean S*it
using above "posted" website, compare these two companies. does Sony sell a crap load of goods? hell yes!!! does MS put more in the bank? just compare!!!!!! profits is the number to look at if your interested. remember assets incur depreciation on balance sheets. $1 spent doesn't equal $1 gained which doesn't equal $1 saved. you might have to spend $4 to make $5 only to save $1.

http://money.cnn.com/magazi...

http://money.cnn.com/magazi...
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The Lazy One - 503 days 8 hours ago
1.29 - Microsoft is a lot smaller
Sony has worse return on it's investment a lot of the time though.

The game division is a very very small part of their company; even though they're incredibly well known for it.
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Coheno - 503 days 6 hours ago
1.30 - I think
MS should buy SONY AND NINTENDO, then where's the competition, now see that would have been a GREAT article!!! And a win win for all if you use this guys common sence...yeez...
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Matpan - 502 days 23 hours ago
1.31 - @Perseus
69 Sony 70,924.8 1,080.1

139 Microsoft 44,282.0 12,599.0

U know I could be simplistic as you and state that the sheer fact that Sony is a Hardware seller makes it OBVIOUS that it will have an overall bigger income... and that would also mean it needs to do a much bigger effort and sell much more in order to make less than the 10% of MS annual profit...

MS is still one of the most profitable companies (has one of the best Revenue/Profit relation of that list)

Anyways, these articles are plain stupid... there are far more important aspects than just money in game here... If a thing like that would happen it would most probably be a merging into a new company... and even then... there surely are lots of company policies that would defer from one another...

Not in the next two decades... maybe after 2020... who knows :P
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The Mikester - 502 days 20 hours ago
1.32 -
Microsoft is rich...there one of the richest companies in the world and i'm not surprised that there so rich.
I think it's cool that Sony is richer than Microsoft though....never thought that they were though.
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The Mikester - 502 days 20 hours ago
1.33 -
O and this is a reply to Coheno's comment.
Do you know how that Sony and Nintendo will never be bought by Microsoft. They are competitors and i don't even like the idea of Microsoft + Sony + Nintendo put together to make one big company. Especially when i hate Microsoft.
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kingxtreme81 - 503 days 20 hours ago
2 -
That was the single stupidest thing I've read in a long, long time.
2.1 yankeebrit | 503 days 19 hours ago - deleted by mod -
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supahbad - 503 days 19 hours ago
2.2 -
so stupid, their next article,"If you're hungry, buy a sandwich." totally irrelevant

2.1-what?
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Adamalicious - 503 days 15 hours ago
2.3 -
No kidding! How do you get a job a CNET - show up and say "I know nothing about tech, economics, or anything whatsoever"?? What a moron.
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slave2Dcontroller - 503 days 20 hours ago
3 - MEGA LOLZ
CNET next article should be appropriately titled- "Why CNET journalist are R-Tards".
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Lekumkee - 503 days 19 hours ago
3.1 - Agreed....
That article is just plain WTF?!?! Not only what he propose makes no damn sense, it's absolutely impossible. It's so stupid I don't no if I should laugh or feel sorry for the guy for being so absolutely clueless.
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dktxx2 - 503 days 20 hours ago
4 -
Your a moron if you think that Sony's game division is draining "financial stability". They are already seeing quarterly profits while taking such a massive loss on the ps3. There's no way in hell this would happen. Sony buying Microsoft's game studio is more likely than this.
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orakga - 503 days 18 hours ago
4.1 - Yep, exactly
Two problems with that CNet article (and that Don guy really has no clue... this isn't the first time he posted something completely far-fetched and disconnected from facts):

1) Sony's gaming division is one of the few divisions at Sony that's making money ("profitable"). So I don't know how he thought he'd get away with a statement like "with the gaming division draining investor confidence". If anything, the gaming division is the only division keeping the stock prices from crashing.

2) The fact that he still thinks the Wii and PS360s are competing in the same market. I hate to open myself for more flame, but let's come together as a crowd already and accept that the Wii users and PS360 users are completely different. Nintendo has done a heck of a job catering to the non-hardcore gamers, but they are far from winning the hardcore users.

To be fair, the concept of Microsoft acquiring Sony's gaming division (though practically impossible due to deep-rooted hatred between these competitors) is intriguing, and I could see myself supporting that move as a consumer.

But, like many bloggers on the internet, the basis of his arguments and his evidence fails the first smell-test.
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Relcom - 503 days 20 hours ago
5 -
Bwahhhhh?
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PirateThom - 503 days 19 hours ago
6 -
Microsoft couldn't afford SCE, just like Sony couldn't afford MGS, so it's a moot point.
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PimpDaddy - 503 days 19 hours ago
6.1 - Actually they could afford SCE
But it makes no sense to spend that kind of money. I mean they were prepared to spend between 40-50 billion to aquire Yahoo. But that didnt make financial sense either.

Better to do what Sony did and slowly aquire developers or create your own.

Edit: Wow I have a bubble stalker. If your going to hit disagree at least have the courage to say why.
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Kigmal - 503 days 19 hours ago
6.2 -
I am pretty sure that Yahoo is worth more then SCE, and MS offered 44 billion for Yahoo. Come on dude .....
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PirateThom - 503 days 19 hours ago
6.3 -
There's a difference between "being able to buy" and "being able to afford" a company.

Yahoo is nothing but a money maker (not to mention, Microsoft would have to borrow money to buy Yahoo), so they're guaranteed to make money back.

Buying SCE may be another MGS and never make the company money overall. They already have huge debt from two consoles, which they'll probably never make back, the lsat thing they need is another division like that.
6.4 cahill | 503 days 19 hours ago - User only got 1 bubble - Show
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DaKid - 503 days 19 hours ago
6.5 - @6.3
"They already have huge debt from two consoles, which they'll probably never make back, the lsat thing they need is another division like that."

I know many on here think that microsoft as a huge debt from the Entertainment and Devices division, but company's don't actual keep track of that money lost as if it needs to be payed back. It's money gone to them, there is no account at Micro$oft that has the amount they have lost. Same with Sony they may have lost billions early on, but thats just money lost to the business, they actually don't pay that back.
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PimpDaddy - 503 days 19 hours ago
6.6 -
Nasim. Lay off the crack pal. Look at the net worth of both companies.

Sony:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/...

Microsoft:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/...

Microsoft has a worth of almost 6 times as much as Sony. Go spread your FUD elsewhere.

Edit: I see the fact that Nasim/Cahill got agree's shows people either can't read or those were his multiple accounts.
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