That was an interesting read, but there's a flaw in your argument involving this paragraph:
As a warning to Xbox and Playstation fans everywhere, I would like to add that the same applies to you. If you demand more and more expensive technology and more sequels to GTA, Halo, Final Fantasy, Call of Duty and Metal Gear, that's exactly what you'll get, but companies that appeal to a broader audience and innovate will eventually resign your demographic to Gamecube-like proprotions and I don't know whether Sony or Microsoft have the willpower to deviate and rejuvenate themselves like Nintendo did.
Zelda, Mario and Metroid are published and developed from the same company. FF, MGS, Halo, GTA and CoD don't allowing the franchises more freedom to innovate from different minds. I can agree that many franchises have trouble innovating, but FF DOES innovate. They've always innovated in some way shape or form. The same can be said about the GTA transition into 3-D and then in GTA4 the mechanic that insures that you will never see the same pedestrian twice adding a lot of variety in what you see and hear adding to the experience of the game.
Basically, the reason Nintendo was going down in the dumps at that time is because of their third-party issue. I don't think that will happen to either MS or Sony since they allow more third parties to grow financially than Nintendo.
Sony doesn't control the FF, MGS, and GTA franchise. Just like MS doesn't control the Halo, Bioshock and GeoW franchise. They have influence over them, but at the same time give the developers freedom. They may even be involved in the development process but they don't take over.
This will only take a moment of your time. *steals your watch*
