There are few companies in the world able to match the financial muscle of Microsoft. That’s a lesson Sony has learnt and the reason, according to SCEA’s senior VP of publisher relations Rob Dyer, why his company’s approach to third party publishers has undergone a radical transformation in the last few years.

“It's not about just taking share away from Microsoft,” Dyer told Gamasutra. “It's about expanding the pie. It's about giving people a reason to want to buy this game.

“I'm not going to sit here and try and figure out who's got the bigger you-know-what between me and Seattle. They're going to win when it comes to money anyway, anytime, all day, all night. It doesn't matter. Let's figure out how to make the industry bigger. Let's grow this thing.”

Dyer went on to explain the difficulties Sony has faced in the post-PS2 ear. Coming from an era of total market dominance, the early PS3 years saw Sony stepping back from what it worried had become quite a balanced viewpoint. It’s forced Sony to find new ways to win back third-party loyalty.

“I think it's a work in progress,” he added. I think we've gotten better. I think that question is better posed to publishers. How do they feel about Sony now? Is it something that they have seen a noticeable difference? Do they benefit from that relationship? Is it better?

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/39129/Sony-MS-will-always-win-when-it-comes-to-money

I wonder, if Microsoft went on a buying spree for studios, would that be classed as "stealing"?

deeeeeeeeeeeeeepppppppppppp

It's true.

Every time you hear about a once PS3 game gone multiplatform, it always ends up that Microsoft had paid a large amount of money for that to go down.

things you hear on the internet...

When Sony saw more financially healthy days, they moneyhatted a lot too. ie. GTA series. It's just that right now, Sony is in the red so they have to be more wise with their investments. Microsoft is still making healthy profits during the recession. And the computer OS industry isn't exactly recession-proof either so M$ is lucky things are still going well profit-wise. People (as well as corporations) during these times are more likely to hold off on new computer purchases, which hurts M$ because most computers come pre-installed with Windows. And cash-strapped shoppers are less likely to upgrade to Windows 7 right now.

Can't disagree there.

I like Rob Dyer so far... his PR has always been very sensible.

I would take Wallmart over Microsoft any day.

Hmm, was it Sony who introduced massive money hatting as competition method in video game business back in 1990s, or I'm mistaken?

//Did they just change their PR rhetorics to "get industry bigger"? I don't remember anything like that when last time I read smth that's been said by Sony exec.

loves2splooge and mai are both right.  MS learned from the best.  Its like PS1 all over again ...