The rumor has been spreading through the interwebs like wildfire over the past few days: The possibility of Sony and Microsoft teaming up on a joint venture to usher in the next era in console gaming. There are a few key ideas that support these claims, and even more reasons why it SHOULD happen, even if they aren’t planning it.
Sony-Microsoft.com & Microsoft-Sony.com
Last week someone registered both of those domain names. It has now been confirmed that Microsoft bought the names and claims they did it as “a defensive domain hold.” So does that mean that at some point in the future Microsoft plans on working with Sony? Possibly. You may be asking: “why does this mean anything?” Well, under normal circumstances it wouldn’t, if there wasn’t an already popular rumor about Microsoft and Sony being in active discussions together regarding their next consoles. So the creation of a website sporting the names of both Tech giants makes me a little giddy.
Microsoft Has Hardware Problems
We all know about the infamous red ring of death: the sign that your Xbox’s organs have melted inside its skeleton and its gone to Console Heaven. Microsoft lost billions of dollars replacing systems and trying to find a permanent fix to the problem. Personally, I’ve owned my Xbox for well over 5 years now, and never had a single problem (I have the arcade version that lacks backwards compatibility, so maybe that’s got something to do with it…I’m also good at taking care of my technology as the result of my father’s overbearing OCD). Well, guess what: Playstation has never had such problems, and Sony’s hardware track record is spotless. If there’s one thing they do well, its the guts of consoles.
Sony’s Online Gaming Woes
And everyone is aware of what recently happened with the Playstation Network: it was hacked, more than once, and there was the distinct possibility of users’ personal information being leaked. and Sony spent lots of time amping it up with all sorts of new security. Bonus: Sony has also had several aborted music download services, leaving them very weak in the networking department. Meanwhile, the Xbox Live network is great for all sorts of downloadable games, media, and networking with friends, and has never had an issue as serious as PSN’s hack. Add in the billions of dollars that Sony lost just getting the PS3 launched.
And So…
Fiscally, it does makes sense for the two giants to team up for a console, unless they both happen to get it right on the first try (and let’s be honest, the chances of that are slim to none). It would also give Nintendo’s Wii U a serious run for its money, even though the system wouldn’t launch until a few years after. But are the two companies willing to forgo their egos and sacrifice their exclusive platforms for a combined effort on one monster of a system? Probably not. So you can dream of the day when Sony combines their hardware with Microsoft’s software (wait, don’t Sony laptops already run Windows? Interesting), but don’t get your hopes up.
