What's the deal?

[EvilRyu2099]

]Sony had some options here as far as motivation, not all of which were evil. For example:

NOT EVIL: Wanting to compete with Nintendo in order to prove they could stand on their own in the gaming business.

NOT EVIL: Wanting to compete with Nintendo in order to justify and recoup their losses from research and development on the original project.

EVIL: Wanting to compete with Nintendo due to personal feelings of rage, to act out revenge for bruised egos.


Sony considered options 1 & 2, but rejected them. They liked option 3. What Would Vader Do?

I don't think they totally acted out of revenge.. They were angered that they were wronged but ultimately Kutaragi wanted to start a stand alone console.. He asked the CEO of Sony to make one prior and after Nintendo screwed them he finally budged..

[flamepanther]

I don't think they totally acted out of revenge.. They were angered that they were wronged but ultimately Kutaragi wanted to start a stand alone console.. He asked the CEO of Sony to make one prior and after Nintendo screwed them he finally budged..

That's the thing though. He only budged after Kutaragi appealed to his sense of anger and revenge. All of the other reasons weren't enough, but hatred was the deciding factor. There's not an honest way to gloss over that. Kutaragi's original intentions may not have been evil, but neither were Anakin Skywalker's

What I find odd is that you keep pointing out the apparent injustice of Nintendo screwing Sony, when it was Sony that initially wanted to screw Nintendo. By the same rationale, shouldn't that have made Nintendo's move justified in the first place? I'm not saying that it entirely was justified, but the logic I'm seeing here seems a little circular.

[jfrost]

I think it's awesome that the PlayStation was born out of feelings of revenge. All other consoles are supposed to be "fun". And when the competition is deemed a "kiddie console", they don't like it!

[Limewater]

I think it's awesome that the PlayStation was born out of feelings of revenge. All other consoles are supposed to be "fun". And when the competition is deemed a "kiddie console", they don't like it!

Yeah, I wouldn't hold the revenge angle against Sony at all. I would, however, hold the name against Sony. I've always thought that "PlayStation" sounded more like something you would buy a toddler than a serious game console. It seems they were very successful anyway.