Yeah Sony doesn't buy exlcusives in the same way that benefits arn't part of your salary.
They do, but instead of microsofts straight fowawrd, and honestly, more honest... Here's a big pile o' money.
Sony goes with a "We'll give you the same amount as the big pile o' money, but instead we'll just pay for some of your development costs and advertising."
They both translate into the same thing since the big pile o' money no doubt is used for the development costs and advertising.
It's all risk minimization, so as a developer you have to sell less copies of the game to turn a profit. This is becoming more and more important in the hi-def gaming scene where games are so expensive, very few turn a profit and you need to run a fire 6 games out there and hope 1 hits strategy.
