As we all suspected last night through internet rumours, Microsoft has pretty much closed the deal on buying up Skype for $8.5 Billion in cash. Now that Skype is owned by Microsoft, there are worries that support on non-Microsoft platforms like iOS, Mac OSX and Android could disappear, but Microsoft was quick to respond that there will be support for all platforms moving forward. Hopefully that also means Skype support on the 3DS and NGP later on. Hopefully they don’t kill Skype with bloatware and errors before someone can start up a new freeware VOIP service similar to Skype.
This is not the first time that this is happened where Microsoft has bought up a competing company or blatantly copied something for their own benefit. *cough*giveRarebacktoNintendo!*cough* I’m really hoping that they don’t pump it up withuseless garbage like they did with MSN Messenger. That’s the main reason I’ve pretty much given up on MSN and had been using Skype instead. All I hope for now is that Microsoft can keep their grubby mitts off of Twitter!
(via Geek)
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I can’t see them making it available to 3DS or NGP owners, just because of the company rivalry among Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony.
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Hopefully Microsoft will keep to their word of keeping Skype relatively OS neutral and available to the major computer and phone OS’s that are out there. I’d hate to lose Skype on my Mac & Android phone even if Microsoft has any squabbles with the other competing companies. Although it is available on the PSP, I don’t think it was utilized enough, although I wouldn’t mind if the 3DS/NGP had games that could link to your Skype account and voice chat in the background.
good article, I agree with most of it… except this part where you alluded to Microsoft giving Rare back to Nintendo. The point is that the Rare they(Microsoft) had bought (from Nintendo) was a shell of its former self. Most of their “key” members had moved out of that company and either into other ones or to start their own. Hence probably the main reason why Nintendo sold Rare was that it just wasn’t the same and Nintendo knew this. That said I still think it would be glorious to see the Rare of old making a comeback with a Killer Instinct reboot on either the 3DS, or the new system Nintendo is unveiling at e3 (or really any other system that I can either afford or manage to play on).
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I know M$ had bought out RareWare a while back, which has partial rights to the DK franchise if I remember correctly. And if memory serves me right, that’s the reason we haven’t been getting that many good DK games as of late.