Yes, mostly advertising. Do you think Nintendo could take a hint or two from the likes of Sony, and similarly companies like Coca Cola.

True Nintendo's image has dramatically improved with the Wii/DS-type advertising that is prestine and Apple-like. But it lacks the cultural influence of Apple, and also Sony and Coca Cola.

Nintendo has done a hell of alot to reenvigorate their brands, but there is more to learn. I believe Sony already has that expertize, it would be good for Nintendo to take notes. Of course, there's Sony, there's Coke, there's MacDonalds, all these companies that KNOW how to be culturally relevant.

Has Nintendo succeeded in this? I think not. They have everything to make 100M, but not what it takes to make 150M.

But if there's a chef you really like, wouldn't you like to see him take a serious stab at what you like in the other chef, at least do some serious research and try to follow at least with 1 studio. Sony is trying to emulate Nintendo, why shouldn't Nintendo also try, especially when once upon a time they were able to make it happen (OP). Of course the games themselves don't sell, but they would increase the credibility of the system in the eyes of the market that is buying the competing systems. That's from a business point of view.

From a game-making point of view, if Nintendo truly are the best, they should be able to compete with Sony on all levels and genres, imho.

For a chef to limit himself to one menu is for that chef to stop reinventing himself.

Well I do wish I could play every game on a single system, but it's just impossible. And the last thing the industry needs is a monopoly.

I think we're still maybe misunderstanding one another. I'm focusing more on competing in terms of quality titles. And on that front Nintendo is doing just fine. I think (and please correct me if I'm wrong) you're focusing more on competing in terms of cinematic, immersive, adult-oriented titles? Now maybe you equate quality with cinematic, adult-oriented, etc. But what I'm saying is that I think that's misguided. So if the question is "should Nintendo borrow from the great games on Sony consoles?" then the answer is "yes." If the question is "should Nintendo make its titles more adult-oriented?" then the answer is "why?"

I'm not saying that Shadow of the Colossus or Resident Evil 4 or Devil May Cry would be as good if the developers stripped away all the mature themes, blood, and gore. What I'm saying is that there are so many more important things that factor into the greatness of a video game: graphics, play control, sound, art direction, replay value.

Apple and Coca-Cola are two of, if not the two most powerful and valuable brands on the planet. Coca-Cola has been that way for decades. Comparing the current state of Sony to the current state of those two is counter-intuitive, bordering on fallacious.

Nintendo's branding in the past five or seven years has been enormously more effective than Sony's within the gaming sphere, and taking notes from Sony within this context would only serve to weaken Nintendo's brand, not strengthen it.

I'm thinking more along the lines of the Sony that toppled a gaming giant (Nintendo), and that advanced its grip on the market with the PS2 with utter dominance even with the new threat of the software powerhouse that is Microsoft.

And today the Sony that is still able to sell 66M+ pieces of a console that was under any other circumstance doomed to failure. Not everyone wants to get a 2nd job to be honest. Ie Sony managed to make the PS3 a success despite it all, that's testament to its brand power and abilities. I'm not saying they are perfect, I'm just saying Nintendo should take cues on their successes and discard Sony's failures and what made Sony fail (of course being bleeding-edge).

Exactly, trying to get Nintendo fans to understanding Sony selling as many consoles as it has in its currrent state is speaks volumes about the quality of the way they run their Playstation brand. They aren't perfect and make too many things but its getting to the point where things need to be scaled down to save money. The Playstation brand should now be considered one of the major money makers for Sony.

I am pretty sure the Playstation brand is still in the hole, and if it isn't it's not by a lot - and that's after 17 years.

No...actually its not. Its just Sony as a company. Their gaming sector is faring better than the rest in truth.

I don't mean year-to-year. I'm sure it's at least mildly profitable as of right this second. This is including that "PS3 lost all the profits from the PS1 and PS2 era, and then kept losing money" thing a few years back.

They will be profiting until 2016. People had the same mentality about Nintendo not having enough money with Sony dominating for two gens until the Wii and look what happened? With every gen comes a slight change in marketshare and profit.