I don't think anyone beats Microsoft. In this regard, they are always pushing bounderies... sadly.

Was Scalebound supposed to be a rpg? I had no idea! I think it was foolish of MS to approach PG and tell them to make a open world rpg. That isn't in their wheelhouse at all. As far as I know that is the only promised game in recent memory that didn't happen. But I could be wrong. I've been enjoying Lost Odyssey which MS offered for free to all XBL accounts last month. I can't recall the last time Sony did something like that without having to lose a class action lawsuit or getting hacked and having months of downtime.

And its a shame you would have to get EA Access on your PC. You could take it with you if you had a xbox. Thanks to Play Anywhere I've had more games available to me on PC for free. Xbox really is a all in one entertainment machine, but I'm glad to see they are also making sure that PC fans can enjoy their games as well.

I received Pikmin 3 for free while purchasing Mario Kart 8. I received Super Mario 3D Land for free because I had bought Pokémon X/Y and ALBW (you received the download code if you registered those games). I also received games like The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap and Metroid: Zero Mission for free on the Virtual Console of the Wii U. Bayonetta 1 was packed in for free with Bayonetta 2. The Mario Kart 8 DLC was super cheap for what it offered. 

There, I disproved your statement, lol. 

I think you're confused.  Nintendo is making the Switch, not Sony. 

Seriously, though, you act as if the VR is mandatory to play the PS4's games.  VR is optional.  A power cord is not.  But continue to excuse Nintendo's poor actions.  Fans constantly excusing poor policies will be their end.

The free game with purchase of MK8 is a good argument.  Possibly Bayonetta thrown in with Bayonetta 2.  But, Bayonetta was not of much value by that point.  I never even took the disk out of the case.  

If those VC titles were truly free, no strings attached, then I guess that's something.  

uh, I had to pay £15 for a charger for mine, which basically ramped up the cost of the 3DS, which also came bundled with a game I didn't want, which got me less store credit due to unbundling it. I've only had that issue with nintendo and no one else in years. THe idea of not including a charger or a means to charge it via USB in this day and age is silly as hell. Even mobiles and tablets come with chargers or cables to charge with. That's actual common knowledge and a common thing to do in the industry. 

I dunno about the whining part. If it's whining for something like that, then the same can be tossed right back at you when something of that caliber arises, or really anything else that can also be seen as "small talk".

Club Nintendo was ending and Nintendo celebrated it by giving out cool rewards, based on points for games you had purchased. I wouldn't call that a string as I bought the games because I wanted to play them, the points were just a nice bonus. And Bayo 1 might not be a lot of value to you, but for others it would have. 

Can't see how anyone thinks Nintendo, Sony, or Microsoft are the most money grubbing.

Anyone remember the Apple Pippin? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Pippin

For $600 you get one of the most garbage consoles of all time. You don't even get any Mario, Uncharted, Halo, or anything else cool to make it worthwhile.

Apple TV gen 4 was also a massive disappointment. Couldn't even deliver casually.

Since the WiiU/3DS, it has been nintendo, before that Nintendo was probably the most affordable of all three.

It was one of the most important argument in buying their products. Especially during the Wii/DS days.

But now? The switch is by far the most expensive piece of hardware there is. Yes it's also a handheld, but handhelds sold at more than 199$ always failed, and as a home console the Switch is 10 years behind.

So good luck selling that product at that price. It's going to be really difficult.

In inflation adjusted dollars the Switch is comparable to the Wii. In 2007 you'd be hard pressed to find a top-end gaming PC as powerful (all things considered) as the Switch, let alone home consoles. The best GPU's at the time had 1 GB of GDDR VRAM. Most GPU's only had 512 MB. And these were cards that cost $500. By the way, the PSP retailed at $250 when it first released (which is almost $300 today) and sold quite well. Not as well as the NDS, but still quite well. The same can be said for the 3DS (albeit with an immediate price drop.)