It’s a question that I have thought about many times over. It isn’t a heavily discussed topic, but it is certainly an intriguing one. What if Nintendo and Sony managed to partner up back in the 90’s and actually moved forward in the gaming industry together? Just for the sake of “in case you didn’t know,” back in the early 1990’s, Nintendo had tapped Sony to build a CD-Rom variant for the Super Nintendo console. Nintendo then backed out of the deal and went with the company Philips, to develop for them instead. From there, Sony further developed their CD-Rom and the PlayStation was born. Sony has always been a very different company than Nintendo. From the moment the first PlayStation console dropped, Sony was offering content that was more mature for gamers. Nintendo was and still is considered the more family friendly console. Sony carved a space for the PlayStation brand in the gaming industry and changed everything. Sega was seemingly pushed out of the console making space and became a third party developer after the Sega Dreamcast failed to make sales needed to keep the company a float. We watched as Nintendo began to struggle and Microsoft entered the gaming space with the highly successful Xbox, thanks to the release of the PlayStation 2, which still holds the record for most units sold as a single console. The PS3 had a staggering start when it released one year after the Xbox 360 and came with an extremely high price tag. What may have very well ended another company, Sony came back with additional models of the PS3, lowered the unit price and did manage to outsell the Xbox 360 in lifetime sales. While Sony and Microsoft battled it out for the market, Nintendo did manage to comeback with the Wii console and of course, dominated sales in regard to handheld devices. Since then, Sony has dominated the market with the PS4 and both Nintendo and Microsoft have managed to stay in the game… No pun intended, but it is fitting. Now in present day, we prepare to see the Playstation 5 revealed and by holiday this year, the ongoing battle for top console sales will start over once again. With that, I circle back to PlayStation’s beginning. What if Nintendo didn’t back out of the deal it had been working on with Sony? Let’s speculate, shall we? There are many possibilities to what could have happened. In all actuality, we will never know, but here is how I imagine things could have gone down. After Sony had gone ahead and announced a partnership with Nintendo, the big N, graciously confirms said partnership. With excitement in the air, Nintendo and Sony make waves in the gaming industry. The tides are turning and not only does this partnership excite gamers around the world, but SEGA is getting excited too!. SEGA was far ahead of the curve when it came to video game tech. Maybe … Read More
Sony and Microsoft announce partnership to improve cloud gaming!
In an interesting announcement from Sony and Microsoft, the two companies have formed a partnership to better the use of cloud gaming. This is a pretty big deal. While there was no mention of the PlayStation or Xbox brand, cloud gaming is the specific and considering both companies own major gaming divisions, this 5 year partnership could very well lead to a very massive and very profitable future for both companies, all the while coming up with plans to stay in the game industry as we await the inevitable end/change of traditional console gaming. First off, this announcement won’t change the fact that there is another round of consoles around the corner. These companies both want us to buy their specific brand over the other. Setting the upcoming PS5 (assuming it is named PS5) and the Xbox One – Two aside, many people in game industry believe that consoles will transform into stream boxes and physical discs will become obsolete. I don’t know how soon that would actually happen myself, but I do believe it’s going to happen eventually. CEO and president of Sony, Kenichiro Yoshida said: Sony is a creative entertainment company with a solid foundation of technology. We collaborate closely with a multitude of content creators that capture the imagination of people around the world, and through our cutting-edge technology, we provide the tools to bring their dreams and vision to reality. PlayStation itself came about through the integration of creativity and technology. Our mission is to seamlessly evolve this platform as one that continues to deliver the best and most immersive entertainment experiences, together with a cloud environment that ensures the best possible experience, anytime, anywhere. For many years, Microsoft has been a key business partner for us, though of course the two companies have also been competing in some areas. I believe that our joint development of future cloud solutions will contribute greatly to the advancement of interactive content. Additionally, I hope that in the areas of semiconductors and AI, leveraging each company’s cutting-edge technology in a mutually complementary way will lead to the creation of new value for society. Some believe that this the answer back to the upcoming Google Stadia, the streaming box that google announced recently. While I can appreciate the speculation, I think this has more about securing the future in the industry, rather than to compete against the Stadia. I’m just throwing my opinion out there so, I could be wrong. Who really knows? Time will tell, I guess. So, there isn’t much else to go on at the moment, but I can only imagine what rumors and theories are about to float around the internet. It’s going to be interesting. What do you think this new partnership could to lead in the future?