Nintendo vs Microsoft/Sony Styles (Pure Games vs Multiple Product)

[Bodhesatva]

Sqrl said:

Bodhesatva said:

I thought of a simple way to explain what I mean in that giant post above this one.

There is no technical issue that stops either Microsoft or Sony from operating using Nintendo's marketing model. However, there is a very real limitation stopping Nintendo from using the MS/Sony model -- that is, they aren't a conglomerate that can draw on funds from outside the video game market. Therefore, the MS/Sony model is inherently superior.

This theory assumes that the availability of funds from the outside is a purely positive impact.

 

I would submit that the fact that your company is reliant on a single field of products to keep the bottom line healthy is a substantial motivator for putting the most into your product. People who feel like they are "just another cog" often produce work that is substandard to what they would produce if they were to feel their contribution is beyond meaningful and actually completely essential.

 

With that said their are ways to motivate that can be incorporated into the conglomerate model but you can only go so far with that and ultimately it proves to be another source of expense which directly counteracts (partially) the supposed benefit of beinga conglomerate.

It truly depends on what your goal is. If it is purely profit based and we are only comparing the division of the conglomorate to the specialized company I would take the specialized company in almost every case.

I absolutely agree with all of this, and it highlights the fine distinction I'm trying to make here.

As you said (and so did I), in reality, having multiple fields of production seems to muffle the emphasis and/or quality on any singular field. However, this isn't necessarily and absolutely the case, it's just... an empirical observation of what tends to happen.

By contrast, Nintendo's situation is unavoiadable and inescapable. They don't have money from outside resources -- in either the real or ideal world, that doesn't change, and that option is simply not open to them. 

In short, Microsoft and Sony could change to the Nintendo model if they were resolutely determined to do so. However, Nintendo could not switch to the Sony/Microsoft model.