The Entertainment and Devices Division now processes significant revenues – $10.17 billion in 2013 – although its margins are very different from the license and software-based divisions. Operating income on that revenue was $848 million – a considerable improvement on 2012′s $380 million. And, although the division (now reorganized) mashed together the Xbox line and Xbox Live subscriptions with Skype, Windows Phone and other strange bedfellows, and the Xbox revenue share went down as buyers awaited the next generation of consoles , gaming is strategically vital to Microsoft. It’s something outside its traditional markets where it has, recent blips aside, a solid reputation, and something which can extend onto and tie in all Microsoft’s device plays, with SmartGlass, companion apps and cloud gaming tying together the device proposition.
Put another way, gaming is something Microsoft seems to be pretty good at, and something that the consumer markets who are withdrawing from the PC are interested in...
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The driving concern is not public policy, but which special interests get to pocket the financial rewards. Previous efforts at legalization stalled because tribes, card clubs and others could not agree over how to split up the potentially lucrative online poker pie. This year is no different: SB 678 reflects the proposals of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, which operates a casino near Highland. But other tribes, including the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians near Temecula, and the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians in the Coachella Valley, are crafting their own Internet poker plan.
Refereeing those disputes is not a job for the Legislature to take up at the last minute, when bills receive scant vetting. Three other states have licensed online poker, and California will likely join that list eventually. But neither legislators nor average Californians should mistake Internet gambling for a public interest concern; the real issue is jockeying over private profits...
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