Yes Sony DID do good in this regard. They allowed gaming to become more global than before. Sony took it a little further than a family-friendly or kids device and brought more adults back into the scene. I'm not so happy about them bringing in this classification thing that's strangling the gaming community about "mature" & "kiddie" but their receptiveness to 3rd party allowed 3rd party to have a headline showcase that built Sony to the top.

No longer behind Nintendo's masterpieces 3rd party got to be the mainshow and pull for Sony's systems even though Sony had some monster 1st party hits like Gran Turismo.

I remember this 47 year old guy I worked with talking to me about a Playstation 7 years ago. He talked about Lara Croft and Tomb Raider and some other titles & I realized how big the Playstation name had gotten. It was nice to see someone you wouldn't expect to play games talk about them like he did. Before I heard of Sony's manufacturing quality problems I really liked the Playstation & wanted it for myself.

The emergence of the more realistic look of the 5th gen through polygons helped Sony's direction as well. When games looked more abstract you could never make them out to be as "adult" as you wanted no matter WHAT the cover art. Sprites are sprites. Pit-Fighter, Mortal Kombat and Killer Instinct were early implementations of the grittier look & feel that would come to define the 5th & 6th gen. Now characters could look a bit more menacing or intense to make the viewer react in a whole new way. Resident Evil could not have quite the same impact in 3rd gen or 4th gen systems. Just wouldn't. Sony with its experience in the TV & Movie field brought more and more cinematic flair to gaming which is why now everybody expects a "story" to a game. Sony is the epitome of the Cinematic Era laid out by Sean Malstrom's Theory of Cycles.

Nintendo's Wii Revolution INDEED benefitted from the Playstation Revolution and will take it much further than ever before in expanding this game business to more audience raising the legtimacy of this medium to the "mainstream". Though Nintendo DOES and HAS innovated and changed WITHOUT competition (who was there to take on Game & Watch to create Game Boy and who made Nintendo switch from Game Boy Color to Game Boy Advance), competition puts more fire under Nintendo to do its very best. Sony served a purpose. As much as I have problems with certain things they brought into this industry I can't knock the changes they made by their existence in this field.

John Lucas

I'm more confident on there being a next Sony system than there being a next Microsoft system. Microsoft isn't going to hang around unless they seem themselve potentially dominant in the console market, or at least someone that can compete for the top spot, which with their image as the Windows company probably can never happen. We continue to see their problems basically everywhere outside the States. Even if the PS3 ends third there will be a next Sony system. I think ultimately the PS3 does outsell the 360 world wide, but even if it doesn't don't be surprised to see Sony continue on and Microsoft to say hell this isn't worth it anymore.

Microsoft leaving the market = far fetched but plausible.

Sony leaving the market = what are you sniffing, and can I get some of it?

Both Microsoft and Sony leaving the market = fanboy pipedream in a parallel universe. If Microsoft were to leave, Sony would be able to get not just FF and MGS exclusives, but they'd have Halo, GTA, and every other worthwhile non-Nintendo game. Yet even with all that, it still would apparently not be enough to sustain them, and they'd still leave the business. Why anyone would talk about a Nintendo monopoly as if it's a good thing is beyond me.

I'd be more likely to believe Nintendo's leaving the market of the three, but that's not very believeable either.

epic games on handhelds suck. the reason DS is doing so well is the simple games

When did the term "epic game" enter the gamer's vocabulary?  I think it's an awful, dirty word -- just like "hardcore gamer".  How are these words anything more that hollow attempts to valorize one group over a second?  In fact, Kwaad's very example of an "epic game" was 3 games in 1...  I'm fairly certain that when people say "epic" they really mean "story driven" or perhaps "many gameplay hours".  If I'm right then I see no reason why the DS cannot have "epic games" on it.  In fact, contrary to the assertion above the DS is getting many "epic games" in the form of JRPGs; the latest being Pokemon.

Hah. You would be saying the same about Atari in the early 80s, and Sega in the late 90s. They both had a long run in the videogame console industry, but both eventually pulled out when they weren't making money. Don't be suprised if Sony pulls out of the industry when they realize they aren't actually making any money at all, and aren't selling enough Blu-ray movies to make it worthwhile.

Nintendo was here in the beginning, Nintendo will be here in the end. Videogames is their only business, so they have a much bigger reason to innovate and stay afloat, even in the face of very harsh, very powerful competition. There was fear when the PSP was announced - the gameboy SP could not compete against that! But Nintendo prevailed in the end. I, like many people over the age of 20, remember a time when Sony was NOT in the videogame business. The playstation1 was not the first console ever, guys.

 Did you read what I said?

An epic game is a game like Oblivion, Morrowind, X3, FarCry, GTA, God of War. Many RPGs I dont feel are 'epic' Infact, I dont feel most are.FF10 is a prime example. It felt linear, single pathed, the game never strayed from the simple story. The story wasnt even amazing.

I like a game you can spend 100 hours exploring. A game you can spend 1000 hours building your empire. A game you can see for miles without load screens, so it seems your walking miles. Games where you can take over an entire established city with your organized Crime.

FF6-9 = epic

FF:CC = NOT epic

FarCry = Epic

Doom3 = NOT epic (nothing really stood out other than the graphics)

Oblivion = HOLY COW EPIC

Metroid Prime = Rather Epic

Mario Galaxy = Epic

Wii sports = No way in hell Epic.

X3 = sweet jesus epic.... Nothing compares to X3 in scale.

I like games with an epic scale. Large scale. Graphics, gameplay, design, theory... Anything 'epic' Epic means Large Scale. 

Why would Sony leave the video game industry again? they had the two best selling consoles ever consecutively...

You seriously telling me FF X is not epic but God of War is? You telling me you can spend 100 hours exploring God of War? no, you can't you can play it over and over again but that's about it.

Anyway I think both are epic, but whatever.

On the most technical of levels, only games like Gears of War and the Unreal Tournament series are *truly* Epic Games.

Although, if you wanna stretch the definition a little, Jazz Jackrabbit could be included, too. 

 Nintendo will be here in the end? and you think the Sony guy is unrealistic? you sound like you have a mario altar at your place where you sacrifice virgins or something...