| Qays said: It's true that it's not like DVD won a format war because of the PS2 (whereas you can really make that argument with Blu Ray and PS3). But Sony has a vested interest in selling more DVDs in a way that Nintendo and Microsoft (and Sega) do not - precisely the reason that the PS2 was the only console of its generation to feature the supposedly easy option of DVD playback (not counting that bizarre and shitty Xbox dongle). Similarly, Microsoft has a vested interest in keeping developers and gamers using its software. These are big companies with their hands in a lot of pots: both of their agendas for video games go well beyond making profits directly off the machines and license fees. |
Eh, DVD was largely seen as a 'loss' for Sony format wise after CD, the majority of technologies and specification used were from Toshiba and Matsushita. That's (in part) why Sony went around the DVD-forum for Blu-ray, and started the ensuing format war.
The only reason Sega didn't include a DVD drive in Dreamcast was due to the high cost when it originally launched in 1998. There was talk of refitting DC with DVD for the western launch in fall 1999, but Sega decided to go for affordability, and there was no way they'd meet the $199 price point SOA wanted with a DVD drive at that time. In the press, the lack of DVD was seen as one of Sega's many stumbling blocks though.
Nintendo avoided DVD movies (and still does) because they see them as competitive, and would prefer pursuing support of formats which they directly can profit from. Though Nintendo did allow Panasonic to release a DVD playable GameCube variant (Panasonic Q) in Japan (it was also planned for America, but that got canceled when the platform struggled at market).
Microsoft used the Xbox dongle/remote as a way of avoiding DVD license fees in the already overbudget, loss incurring Xbox. It was a smart move imo, all license costs being offloaded to the peripheral then. For 360 they just went ahead and included playback upfront, in part because license fees are next to nothing these days.
