well they're very fair measures, seems like everyone at sony is going to be taking some of the hurt

why is it always the same people shouting how Sony are practicaly F**ked?

I work for NUCOR (the no. 1 steel provider in the United States). 2008 was a record year for us. I was very blessed that I received around $7000 in bonuses, gifts, and profit sharing before taxes. But things are looking very slow for 2009 so I really predict that the extra income will be little to none. But that alright because I still have a job, and NUCOR strives to keep their employees on board when there is lack of work for over the past +40 years. Some people have lost their jobs at SONY because of the turndown, but at least some steps were taken to save a few more.

Not neccessarily.  All the companies with the expection of SONY and Nintendo that you mentioned primarily makes products for productivity such as computer and computer related products.  So products bought from these companes will take priority over a/v entertainment products that are SONY's primary line of products.  Of course Nintendo took a less expensive route in Wii development that SONY did with the PS3, tus the Wii is profitable and more affordable to the average consumer.  This doesn't mean that Microsoft isn't more conservative.  It's just that examples you gave are inconclusive of your assessment.

I wasn't talking about profits or sales in that statement, read the paragraph again.

Okay.

See, I would just freeze the employees. Thaw them out when business is good.

nintendo is the only company sitting back and picking money off trees.

About the M$ incentives, as NJ5 says, they're preparing for the future. If you look at what's happening around the financial world, you'll notice that people are getting laid off, that will propably cut down peoples will to upgrade their computers (and this means less operating systems sold). Companies cutting down their investments and sacking staff means less operating systems and office applications sold for companies. Also, Apple has been gaining ground on laptops.
Netbooks are getting more and more common, up to an extent that Apple is showing interest to the market and Nokia is going to release its own netbook.

Apple and Nokia are important players, since both have big resources and neither is dependant from M$ operating systems. Apple uses its own OS and Nokia could go with Symbian. The key here is, that leaving M$ out of the equation, you could sell your computer cheaper and have better profit margins at the same time.
The main interests for netbooks are emerging chinese and indian markets, while they are eating up a chunk from the western markets.
Add Google, with Web 2.0, as the service provider on non platform specific applications, and you'll notice what's the position of M$ at the moment.

I think that Sony's strategy, of holding onto their most important assets (their employees) will certainly pay off for them in the long term, whereas MS is just setting themselves up for a future struggle, and a reboot of their gaming division, which will cost a ton.

I suppose you could argue that they have to prepare for the likely impending poor sales of Windows 7 (or whatever its called), thanks to the economy, and companies/individuals unwillingness to upgrade. But that shouldn't impact how they do business, with regards to games.

I have to wonder... why the shift away from 1st party development? Why the closings? I thought they were successful and profitable, even during the poor economic downturn? Many of their 2nd party offerings have been utter failures (some were decent though)... are they abandoning the X360 to the 3rd parties, and the occasional 2nd party contract?  Have the studio closings temporarily inflated Microsoft's recent operating income reports, while their current lineup of great 1st party titles moves off the shelves?

So many questions is a bad thing. Sony doesn't seem to be hiding anything -- they're curling up, rationing, and trying to ride out the storm, such that they can come out swinging when its over. Microsoft chopped off some of its appendages so it could fit inside a smaller shelter, instead. That doesn't bode well for the future, IMO. Good dev studios are not commodities to be bought and sold at will. You don't let them go, to survive on their own, when you're finished with them -- you support them, and encourage them to grow. Turnover is one of the game industries worst problems, and lack of turnover is almost universally cited as the main reason studios like SCE's studios, Blizzard, Bungie, Value, etc. do so well, product, after product, after product.

MS has taken that knowledge... and kinda given it the bird.  Bold, I guess.