In reply to your three (very good) points:

1 - MSFT doing content development. I think that this is good for a big, mature company. Personally, I don't see Microsoft as a growth company any more. I think if they start to develop games than it would just add another revenue stream. Just think of what they could do if they had a 'franchise' game like EA with Madden, NBA Live, etc. Kind of like what they have with Office and Windows where people keep upgrading/updating and would lead to another recurring revenue stream. Also, from what I've read and heard, with Visual Studio .Net it is possible to develop games for the Xbox.

2 - Justice Dept. I don't see this as an issue. There are a lot of established gaming companies and also some newer up-and-commers. EA is a huge player in this field and THQ is becoming one quickly. If MSFT does end up getting V's game division I don't really see them making another move for a while. I don't see them using their cash to buy up more gaming companies, nor do I see the purchase of V's game division cause any uproar. I think it could go smoothly for them - especially if they don't ONLY develop games for the Xbox, but also for the other platforms (any idea about this?).

3 - Microsoft vs. Sony. This could shape up to be very big with Microsofts push into consumer products such as watches, phones, etc. Could be very interesting indead.