Four Traits Sony Has And Microsoft Needs

When you have two companies who’ve been in business longer than many gamers were born, it’s hard to comprehend why haven’t they implemented certain traits that would make them even stronger. Even if it means looking at the competitor’s strong points and and utilizing them in your own company; after all, they’re in this to win right?

In the gaming industry, the three giants play hardball against each other generation after generation hoping to gain the upper hand in order to win, we have some advice for them: look at what you competitors do best and do it even better. Note, this is pertaining to Sony and Microsoft’s gaming division, not company-wide so read on with that in mind. Here are five traits Sony has and Microsoft needs.

Brand Recognition

Sony’s been in the games business for over 20 years, Microsoft is new to the field, so people naturally recognize Sony as the leader amongst the two in the industry, this type of respect only comes with time. But that’s no to say Redmond can’t speed up the process, in fact they’ve already gained tremendous steam especially here in the U.S. When you talk about games in America, more and more people are linking the medium to Microsoft’s Xbox 360. They’ve suffered some major setbacks though, especially with the RROD fiasco, a failure that has caused them not only money but their reputation and if they hope to be on par with Sony in the future, this hardware problem cannot happen twice.

Patience

RROD, many will argue up to this day that if it wasn’t for Microsoft’s anxiousness to be the first console maker to jump into the seventh generation, it would not be an issue. The faulty hardware that resulted from their rush has cost the giant billions of dollars in losses and that’s upon the billions it took to launch the console in the first place. Not only that, many people also believe had Microsoft waited at least one more year, the Xbox 360 would be as powerful as the PS3 and even more so. Now, game development suffers because work must be down to suit the less powerful which in turn holds back the more powerful system.

Dependability (Hardware)

Again, this is another area that Microsoft suffers from because they tried to jump in before Sony and Nintendo. There’s reason for this, you see Microsoft tried to make a dent with the original Xbox and was not successful so I’m assuming they thought that the only way to at least give the aforementioned companies some competition is to get a head-start. Nothing’s wrong with that but in doing so they should have placed extra care in making sure that even if the console is rushed out, at least it’s dependable. That’s not the case and believe it or not, some gamers will be somewhat reluctant to purchase the next Xbox whenever it comes out.

Self Sustainable (First Party Studios)

That is a trait Sony learnt forcefully after the mass defection occurred a few years back when Microsoft started buying out some exclusives away from Sony and those that were not bought off just couldn’t sustain being on a single platform no more, especially when development cost had gone through the roof and said platform was lagging behind its closest competitor by a wide margin. But they’ve learned their lessons, however Microsoft has not done much to enhance their cause either; let’s take a look at how the two companies march up head-to-head in the first party development studio department:

Sony:

United States

Naughty Dog – Crash Bandicoot, Uncharted series, Jak & Daxter series
Santa Monica Studio – God of War series, Warhawk with Incognito Entertainment, Kinetica
San Diego Studio – NBA, MLB: The Show
Sony Bend – Syphon Filter, Resistance Retribution
Sony Online Entertainment – EverQuest
incognito Entertainment – Warhawk with Santa Monica, Twisted Metal series, Downhill Domination, Calling all Cars
Zipper Interactive – SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs series, MAG

Japan

Clap Hanz – Everybody’s Golf, Everybody’s Tennis
Japan Studio – Ape Escape, Siren, LocoRoco, Patapon
Team ICO - Shadow of the Colossus, Ico, The Last Guradian
Polyphony Digital – Gran Turismo

UK

London Studio – SingStar, Eyetoy,
Studio Cambridge – MediEvil, PlayTV
Studio Liverpool – Wipeout, F1
Evolution Studios – MotorStorm, World Rally Championship
Bigbig Studios – MotorStorm: Arctic Edge

Continental Europe

Guerrilla Games – Killzone series

Now let’s look at Microsoft’s:

343 Industries – Future Halo titles
Rare Limited – Banjo-Kazooie series, Conka series, Perfect Dark series, Viva Pinata series
Lionhead Studios – Fable series, Black & White series
Turn 10 studios – Forza Motorsport series
Wingnut Interactive – No games yet
Xbox Live productions – Fable II Pub Games, South Park Let’s Go Tower Defense Play!
BigPark - JoyRide

As you can see, Sony is far ahead and if Microsoft is not careful, the gap could get even wider. They need to adopt and do it quickly or else suffer a huge embarrassment in the exclusive games field. It’s not too late though, and one should ever count Redmond out.

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