Microsoft , Nintendo , Sony , which is the EVIL company? (Discuss)

[mike_intellivision]

In the past, Nintendo has committed many "sins." Its deals with third parties were one-sided. However, it planted the seeds of its own downfall when it broke an agreement with Sony to work with Phillips. The new competition (Sony) and the software makers gleefully worked with each other when the PS1 came out, leaving Nintendo to wither.

Since then, Nintendo has finally realized it cannot always bully to get its own way and has pretty much allowed people a much freer hand with software on its platforms. This has led to greater quantity (and occasionally good quality) third-party releases.

Microsoft came into the video gaming industry with the hubris it displayed in computer OS and productivity software. Its greatest "sins" deal though with its current entry -- the Xbox 360. It released it rushed and not full featured. While there are varying numbers on the frequency, most people believe that Microsoft's rushing out of its X360 to beat the competition to a certain extent led to the console having its infamous hardware problem (RRoD). Be it hurried engineering, inadequate testing, or bad karma, Microsoft has been paying the price and trying to do penance ever since.

An even bigger problem though is the lack of a hard drive requirement for the Xbox 360. That was a move backward since the original Xbox had a hard drive. The move has restricted software install possibilities. And worst of all, it allowed Microsoft to sell overpriced proprietary hard drives (this "sin" of expensive hardware add-ons dates back to the original Xbox and also is seen in wireless adapters).

Sony too has "sinned" this generation. It basically could do not much wrong and was a relatively benevolent market leader. The "sins" were indecision and synergy. Indecision because it could not decide what it wanted the PS3 to be. Synergy because it the incorporation of BR-DVD technology was useful to the corporate bottom-line, but had many drawbacks for developers and gamers (difficulty to program, high price, etc.).

Mike from Morgantown