It's kind of funny but the reason I first loved Nintendo was because of third party games. With the notable exception of Zelda and a few lesser titles, I was never a big fan of Nintendo games. I've owned at least three Mario games, for example, and never finished any of them.
Likewise, that's how it started with Sony. I became a big fan of the PS1, my favorite all-time console, because it was a haven for RPGs. I didn't care for the Sony mascot games any more than I did the Nintendo mascot games.
The first real change in that was probably Gran Turismo. That game, that series, blew my mind. After that was Ico, another game that changed my perception of what games could become. These were the kernels of what I could come to associate with World Wide Studios.
Really, that's something I want to make clear: during the PS3 era, I considered myself a WWS fan much more than a Sony fan. Sony itself deserved a ton of criticism during that time but WWS, for me, was their redemption. Because of the diversity and creativity they've exhibited over the years, I consider them the best game development organization in the world. I think Microsoft is smart to copy their approach--and, yes, that's a compliment.
Now, with the PS4, I probably consider myself more a Sony fan than I did previously, mostly because guys like Yoshida and Cerny seem to be at the helm of the Playstation division. They've improved tremendously in a lot of areas and I think they deserve a ton of credit for that.
At least until they fuck up again because of hubris, which history tells us is likely to happen to any gaming hardware company that gets too happy with itself.
