Microsoft's ambitions are far grander than Sony or Nintendo. They're stocking up to compete against companies like Meta and Tencent who are trying to eat their way into the industry. Microsoft is preparing for that future by buying publishers so that they can have the advantage over any incoming player.

It's very different from Nintendo and Sony who are moreso investing in themselves rather than prepping for a subscription based metaverse future.

It's completely off topic but I disagree with this statement. I believe Sony and Nintendo will acquire publishers in the future, although in Sony's case, it will be in the near future. 

Nintendo is more talented. Better quality games with smaller teams. Nintendo is greatly unmatched in first-party studio talent. Sony outs out a lot of good looking highly produced games but standard game mechanics that don't stand out for the most part. Nintendo is often innovative in software as well as hardware. People may clown on Wii sports but it brought in people who don't normally play games. Sony tried to copy that with PS Move and Move sports.

Horizon and BOTW going for that open world. BOTW has a lot more attention to details like shooting the grass with fire and the grass burns for example. (not saying Nintendo invented this btw) Horizon nothing happens as everything is just a setting but not really an interactive world. HZD is pretty typical of most AAA big world games. Games like that are more worried about completing a character animation than a character's action.

I've seen plenty of times Sony try to chase a Nintendo idea in software. Most notably Smash Bros. Before someone tries to say Mario Maker copied little big planet. Mega Man Powered up for one came out before LBP and two Nintendo had the concept for Mario Maker in the 90s but didn't have the ability to do it. Oh and Excitebike track editor Not Saying Sony copied them but I am saying Nintendo didn't.

I think the most ambitious Sony franchise the last decade or at least one of them didn't have a large budget. Gravity Rush. Don't get me wrong it had some problems esp in mission design but the flying in that game is genuinely the best sense of superhero flying ever in a game. Spiderman did have a great Swinging mechanic...but the open world is pretty Ubisoft. So once the checklist in the map is done and the story is done. Nothing brings me back. BOTW I can always go back. Sony and MS are not. "dur Naughty Dog" yeah in the visual set-pieces but not in gameplay. Pretty standard shit. Feels dated. Days gone everything from visuals to characters to writing to menus to UI to gameplay feels like every game released that gen. It is just so damn generic. Not terrible but just another one of those. 

Despite how much money MS has spent. All those studios put out glitch filled problematic games and do anything but innovate as they have to keep the status quo t appeal to the mass. They are just studios that put out stuff that suffers from every bad AAA game habbit. So meh.

Nintendo can make anything they want and usually be great. Nintendo puts a focus,philosophy and level of critical thought into their gameplay with attention to the smallest details that are unmatched in the industry by a long shot. Nintendo are master craftsmen at game design. Mechanics and little gameplay touches.

ftr I do like some first party games. I liked Spider-Man a lot. Just because I don't think Sony are the craftsmen Nintendo is. Doesn't mean I dislike Sony nor love every Nintendo series. NOt into a lot of Nintendo franchises tbh.

I agree with most of your points except acouple. Firstly Nintendo is simply amazing and are front runners in leading the industry however i place Valve in Nintendo's league when it comes to redefining the industry. Valve may not make many games as Nintendo however Valve's outputs are just as legendary. 

Secondly, you underestimate MS's 1st party quality. Sure some games release with bugs, as do majority of games. MS games are also quite ambitious. MS Flight Sim, Sea of Thieves, Halo Infinite etc arent basic type of games. Sand box games are well known for bugs, its one of the hardest genres to polish. If you want polished visuals, check out the entire Gears of War series just to name an example. Especially Gears 5.

I doubt it. I think Sony and Nintendo both know they're going to have to get creative to counter the consolidation. Sony's acquisition of Bungie didn't seem like a response to anything Microsoft was doing, but rather something that Sony needed to fix a problem that's plagued their lineup for the past several years.

Gears is a dated TPS in it's gameplay and G5 open world is pathetic. VanQuish remains unmatched in best TPS gameplay. Monolith know how to make open world games that are solid. Xenoblade 1 was near unbreakable in that engine. Not saying glitches don't exist in Monolith games or BOTW but yet to run into them. Valve doesn't make anything anymore. I don't know of any studio on Nintendo's attention to detail. I only know of 3 individual developers. Kamiya,Itsuno and Sakurai.

So many answers and not a correct one.

Nintendo will continue be to be undisputed master because they put game play first.

There are a lot of words in this thread and they are all about how pretty Sony games are and how polished the games looks. But not a word about game play.

Unknowingly they answer the question to why Sony plays second fiddle to Nintendo.