Microsoft Acquiring EA: 8 Major Things That Could Happen

4. Sony & Nintendo Are Encouraged To Follow Suit

Remember back when Xbox Live Arcade launched? We'd never even seen downloadable full games or old classics available digitally, and it changed everything.

Sony stumbled with PlayStation Minis (which were terrible), but before long we had Nintendo's Virtual Console letting people emulate everything from Game Boy originals to N64 titles and beyond.

Basically, digital downloads of video games were so clearly the future; so clearly the right way to go, that the entire industry shifted. But it started with Xbox Live Arcade.

If Microsoft show that recruiting a company and their catalogue can lead to groundswells of interest and multiple fanbase investment, it makes total sense that Sony and Nintendo will start snapping up their own third party "representatives" too.