Thursday, December 24

Microsoft Forced Sony To Do Better: Cheaper PS3, Overhauled PSN, Topnotch Exclusives (Year End Articles)


There are some things that people know is true, and yet will never admit it, they will summon all other excuses in an effort to turn away from the truth. The simpler solution would be to come clean, be honest and get the load off their backs but no, they choose to go the difficult path of making excuses in an effort to defend their stance.

This is displayed perfectly among some PS3 owners who passionately defend their console and fail to see or recognize anything that's good from the other side. One of the issues being the clear evidence showing Microsoft forced Sony to be a better company by forcing it to stay on its guards, not leaving not an inch of room for error, or else get punished for gazing. The software giant kept the heat on the hardware giant and because of it, PS3 owners spend less cash, get better service and second to none exclusives. Let's look at some of the benefits caused by the pressure Microsoft placed on Sony.

A cheaper PS3:


Some will argue that Sony always does this with all its consoles, that is true, but the PS3 Slim came rather early, in fact earlier than all its predecessors and the reasons are so blatant that even a blind person would comprehend. The PS3 is just over 3 years old and Sony has dropped the Price of its flagship console three times. The Reason: Microsoft's Xbox 360 was constantly outselling PS3 globally save Japan, causing Sony to lose market share precipitously; therefore, it had no other options but do something drastic. They did, in August of this year, Sony announced that there would indeed be a redesigned PS3 that would be sold a the new price point of $299. Thanks to Microsoft.

Overhauled PSN:


Ah, many a times people have complained about PSN in the past. I said in the past because they were comparing it to the service that introduced online play and in the process revolutionizing gaming forever. Xbox Live first debuted with the original Xbox and since then the service has grown by leaps-and-bounds. Sony followed suit with PS3 but initially the service was a dud. There's no denying it, if Xbox Live was not established, we probably would still be stuck with only campaign modes in our videogames today. Not only that but the people who complained about PSN in the beginning as being weak and stale, (rightfully so) we inevitably comparing to Xbox Live.

Sony needed to do something, and that's exactly what they did. Overtime the service has grown almost identical with Xbox Live marching its experience in almost every way. Sony also issued a major overhaul to the service recently with firmware 3.0, giving PSN new life and a fresh look. Again, Microsoft deserves credit for forcing the company to create a better online experience.

The Exclusives:


While Sony has been delivering great exclusive games throughout its over 15 years in the industry, a lot of said exclusives were from third party devs. Think Square-Einx - Final Fantasy, Rockstar - Grand Theft Auto, Konami - Metal Gear Solid and Namco Bandai's Tekken. As you can probably tell by now, all of the aforementioned are no longer PS3 exclusives but can now be found on other consoles, namely Microsoft's Xbox 360. So all the great titles that made the PlayStation brand what it is were ending up on the competition's system. That was a problem, a big one that needed immediate attention.

Full throttle, Sony started pumping out fresh IPs from first party devs and some third party partners with whom relationship ties ran deep. New IPs Like Resistance appeared, Uncharted, and MAG helping to beef up PS3's lineup and leading the industry with innovation. MAG will be the first game to handle 256 players at once, Uncharted has surpassed all else in terms of narrative and graphics, and Resistance has been revolutionizing the FPS genre in its own way.

There's one company you should thank, it's Microsoft. They kept the heat on Sony, and the results are benefiting PS3 owners across the globe. So the next time you go to a store and collect a great exclusive, the next time you go online to play against your friends, or the next time you're thinking about buying a PS3 because of its cheaper price point, think and thank Microsoft. Because although Redmond is not solely responsible for all the changes made at Sony, they definitely are responsible for some.

12/24/09 Ernice Gilbert

3 comments:

  1. You´re kidding right? So everything that SONY does is because of Microsoft? That´s a stupid way to think of it.
    Weak and lazy ending of the article as well with this:

    "although Redmond is not solely responsible for all the changes made at Sony, they definitely are responsible for some."

    The whole article has been boasting Microsoft>Sony and then that ending is presented... weak.

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  2. This article almost had good points, but then ruined by by adding in a bunch of speculation and BS. I was particularly amused by the parts where it basically said, "Yes, Sony's been doing this for 15 years, but NOW they're doing it because of Microsoft!"

    Are you serious? You can seriously admit that Sony has been doing something for 15 years, but suddenly attribute them doing the EXACT SAME THING to a company that's only been in this game 7 years?

    They're attributing the redesigned PSN and new PS3 Slim to MS? Did they miss us on the PlayStation.Blog directly telling Sony that was what we wanted?

    Also, I like how this idiot brings up exclusives like MGS, GTA, and Final Fantasy, but seems to have forgotten about Wild Arms, The Getaway, Sly Cooper, Jak and Daxter, Gran Turismo, Ratchet and Clank, Syphon Filter, Dark Cloud, Ico...you know, games that SONY put on the map for their past consoles. He just pretends like it was third parties doing all the work.

    Thank Microsoft? No: f**k Microsoft. It's their money-grubbing ways that has held this entire f'n generation back, just because they were obsessed with beating Sony to market.

    You want to thank someone for the steps that Sony has made? Try thanking the PlayStation community and Sony's willingness to listen to us.

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  3. The the person above, you would be in denial to think Microsoft had nothing to do with the better service Sony now offers to us. I own all consoles and tell is like it is.

    Let's take for example the redesigned PS3 Slim and the new $299 price point. Sony released said console and price point a full year earlier than they usually do. Do you think that would have happened if competition from Microsoft wasn't so stiff? Xbox 360 up until PS3 Slim, was outselling the console on a monthly basis globally save Japan.

    The article in no way is trying to downplay Sony's strides and great Playstation department, but it is true that they were extremely pompous from the onset and received a surprising beating from Microsoft - it caused them to start advertising their products more, creating venues (like the US PS blog) to listen more closely to their customers and taking a more humble approach at business.

    Sony is a great company with outstanding products, but they faltered in the beginning this, the seventh generation of consoles..

    Ernice Gilbert.

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