Once upon a time a voracious tech company called Atari dominated the video game landscape. Though initially perceived as little more than a fad destined to fade over the years, toy companies like Mattel and eventually Nintendo would enter the ring and revolutionize the medium. It’s funny to think that video games were thought to be up there with knick-knacks like POGS or beanie babies at one time. We don’t think we need to remind you that it’s become a multi-billion dollar global industry these days.

We bring this up because it’s important to remember that competition was a major factor in the growth and innovation, that's present in the gaming industry since the beginning. Competition is, of course, the life and blood of just about any industry. But, it allows countless copycats or trend-chasers to throw their hats in the ring. As a result, plenty of companies were considered to have copied or ripped-off their competition.

Today, few really care about how similar Atari’s 2600 was to the Fairchild Channel F, but the roots of these once-heated arguments still persist. We remember it being a total fixation of many console fanatics during the 7th generation. Wasn’t Sony’s PlayStation Network just a poor man’s version of Xbox Live? Wasn’t Microsoft’s endorsement of HD DVDs a lame imitation of Sony’s blu-ray implementation? These arguments continue to persist more than a decade after the fact. As the 8th console generation slowly enters it’s twilight, qualms like this are sure to grow in intensity as whispers of what’s coming next begin to creep into the public consciousness.

20 PlayStation Copied Xbox: Duplicating The Design

Xbox 360 PS3
via: lifewire.com (left), nebeep.com (right)

Sony’s PlayStation 3 was met with more than a few criticisms when it was first announced in 2006. For starters, most of us have only recently recovered from the sticker shock Sony gave us when they announced that they would be charging a staggering $600 for the pleasure of owning their gaming console.. Beyond that, however, gamers were upset about some of the design choices implemented in the Japanese tech company’s 7th generation console. Do you remember that horrible banana-shaped prototype DualShock controller that floated around the internet leading up the console’s announcement? Thank goodness that thing never actually saw the light of day.

One flaw that did make it to shelves, however, was the overall design of the PS3’s launch model. Unlike the boxy-yet-appealing PS2 which could fit well enough next to any display, the PS3 was a bulky beast that, comparatively, wasn’t all that pleasing to the eye. Sony remedied the situation in 2009 with the release of the first PS3 Slim model, but, in terms of design, they had already been badly beaten by the sleek form factor of Microsoft’s Xbox 360. The original Xbox was a bulky behemoth, but the new version improved on it in just about every way.

19 Xbox Copied PlayStation: Always Online

Xbox One Always Online
via: theverge.com

Microsoft’s reveal of the Xbox One didn’t go to well. They wanted it to seem like some revolution in media consumption, but it all boiled down to a bunch of semi-useless features that nobody really wanted on their consoles. Why would we watch TV on our Xbox when we need a TV to use the Xbox? We would have to buy cable, we suppose, but, thanks to some ridiculous tenants of the console, we would be forced into purchasing an internet connection, anyway. We might as well throw cable in on top of that.

Looks like your console needs to check in with Big Brother. 

The internet was in an absolute state of upheaval when Microsoft announced during their 2013 console reveal that the Xbox One would have an always online requirement. Every 24 hours an online check would be done to make sure that gamer has the license for the copy of the game being played. While, an hourly check would be done if you were accessing the games through your library from another console. They bungled it so badly that a Microsoft rep actually stumbled over his words and implied that those without decent connections might as well stick to their 360s. Sony, of course, didn’t have that problem. In the wake of lagging sales and diminishing consumer trust, Microsoft backpedaled and followed in Sony’s non-internet commitment.

18 PlayStation Copied Xbox: PlayStation Live

Xbox Live Logo
via: digitaltrends.com

Though PC gamers had been outmaneuvering and blowing each other up in games like Quake III and Unreal Tournament for years, online gameplay was not popular among console gamers. With the release of the 7th generation of consoles, that’s when online play really became a big deal in the living room. Yes, the GameCube, Xbox, and PlayStation 2 did feature some online connectivity, but, as far as we know, that could only be done through a wired connection. The whole setup wasn’t nearly as ubiquitous as network gaming would become with the introduction of WiFi and true online services.

That said, Microsoft outdid themselves with the introduction of Xbox Live. Yes, the service was present on their first console, but it hadn’t really taken off until the release of the Xbox 360. Though it was a premium feature, it offered online connectivity that hadn’t really been seen before. You could chat and play with your friends, share messages, and hangout online in a way that would have seemed downright Jetsonian to gamers ten years prior.

Sony’s answer was the PlayStation Network, but, in the eyes of many, it could never really live up to its competition. It was free, though gamers could opt to purchase a premium subscription, but the features offered pretty much paled in comparison to what Microsoft was up to at the time.

17 Xbox Copied PlayStation: Mid-Generation Upgrades

Xbox One X PS4 Pro Comparison
via: flipkart.com (left), theverge.com (right)

Rumors of Microsoft’s fabled Project Scorpio had been swirling around the internet seemingly since the announcement of the original Xbox One. For years, the thing seemed so confined to the shadows that it became an almost Lovecraftian entity. Spoken of in hushed tones, never seen directly, teased and rumored, only to disappear in a veil of smoke. Perhaps that’s a bit of a dramatization of the lead up to the announcement of the Xbox One X, but we also feel like Nintendo’s Switch was the “NX” for a very long time.

Who needs slightly shinier water effects, when you can have actual water. 

We finally got our hands on Microsoft’s upgraded console late last year and, for many, it was a bit of a disappointment. From a hardware standpoint, it is the most impressive gaming console to ever be built, but that doesn’t count for much when there’s hardly anything out there to take advantage of. Who wants to lay down half a grand just to play Sea of Thieves with slightly shinier water effects? Plus, though I’m sure the Xbox One X was in development for a similar amount of time, Sony’s PlayStation 4 pro released earlier, costs less, and seems to be an all around better product. Perhaps it isn’t exactly fair to call Microsoft a copycat in this instance, but, compared to Sony’s mid-generation upgrade, the One X seems like a pretender, like it was only put on the market to compete with whatever Sony was doing.

16 PlayStation Copied Xbox: Pay To Play

Playstation Plus
via: nerds4lifeblog.com

One of the strongest arguments in favor of the PlayStation Network back in the 7th console generation was that it was, at the very least, free. It may have offered less in terms of features, but at least you didn’t have to nick your parent’s credit card in order to play Call of Duty with your buddies. If you wanted to live in luxury, you could purchase a PlayStation Plus subscription. The subscription would give you a bunch of free games, in addition to other features. But, that particular aspect of the service wouldn’t really see much use until the PS4 rolled around.

Microsoft had always asked for money upfront before letting you online and it’s a feature that Sony just had to replicate in recent years. We can’t remember the exact circumstances of the statement, but we do seem to remember a Sony rep saying that the company just couldn’t afford to keep offering such a service for free anymore. They may have been feeding us a bit of a line when you consider just how well their console has sold. But, nevertheless, it’s definitely a move derivative of Microsoft’s 7th gen business practices. On a personal note, we feel that Sony offers a bit more bang for your buck, through Microsoft’s new Xbox Game Pass seems like a tempting offer to those who actually own an Xbox One. We're sure they’re out there, but we've never known any Xbox One owners personally.

15 Xbox Copied PlayStation: Games First

Xbox Media Briefing
via: game-insider.com

In 2013, Microsoft had somehow come up with the idea that nobody actually wanted to play games on their game consoles anymore. No, we all wanted to use our $500 fancy new pieces of hardware to browse the internet and Skype with each other. Even the launch titles, which were famously underwhelming, shoehorned in some gross Kinect input or voice control feature. What ever happened to playing games with a simple controller? We thought we were all in agreement that that was what worked best.

Who needs to game when you can Skype with grandma.

Sony had a field day with that mentality and they came out swinging with the reveal of the PlayStation 4. They made it clear that this was a console designed to play games first and foremost, not a machine designed to let you accept your grandma’s Farmville invitation from the comfort of your living room. Though we're not sure why you would be doing that these days.

Don’t misunderstand, multimedia functionality is an important aspect of these machines to some people. But, if features of this nature are so vital, why not just buy a low to mid-tier gaming PC? We don’t want to sound like a PC Master Race activist, but dumbed-down multimedia functionality doesn’t really sound like much of a selling point when most of these things can be done to much greater effect on a PC.

14 PlayStation Copied Xbox: Here’s Lookin’ At You

Xbox Kinect
via: windowscentral.com

While it technically had a predecessor in the PlayStation Eyetoy on the PS2, the PlayStation 3’s PlayStation Eye never really found commercial success in the United States. It suffered from competition in a market inundated with accessories of this nature. We never actually managed to get our hands on one of these. But it seems to have essentially been a webcam which was also intended for use in a few games, most of which never really made it outside of Japan. Perhaps a precursor to the augmented reality features of some modern-day games, the PlayStation Eye is more of a forgotten relic sought after these days only by hardcore PlayStation fans or collectors.

It was also the initial version of what would become Sony’s PlayStation 4 camera, which is about as blatant of a rip-off as you could possibly get. You could easily mistake this for a Microsoft Kinect. We're sure many an unsuspecting parent or grandparent who know very little and refers to everything game related as “the Nintendo”,  accidentally bought their Xbox-owning offspring a PlayStation 4 camera mistaking it for the other brand. It doesn’t look like it moves around or does any of that motion tracking junk. But, that’s hardly a feature that anyone really cares about anymore. At the end of the day, Sony stole this almost design from their competitor. They didn’t even make half an attempt to hide it.

13 Xbox Copied PlayStation: You Are The Controller

Kinect Sports Ad
via: gamingcypher.com

When Microsoft’s Kinect released in the U.S. in late 2010, it was the hot item for the holiday season. The Wii had been dominating the console market for years at that point, and other companies were itching to get in on the action. The issue, however, was on ubiquity: everyone owned a Wii because it was billed as a family-friendly console. But hardly any of the older generation interested in control schemes, owned an Xbox 360 and a brand new console on top of this $150 peripheral didn’t exactly make for the most attractive offer. As a result, the Kinect failed, though it wasn’t for a lack of trying. Microsoft spent truckloads of money trying to shift units, but it just wasn’t to be. They wanted it to seem like some crazy, world-changing new invention that doctors and teachers were going to use? Are you kidding me? 9 out 10 gamers don't recommend the Kinect.

Sony quickly jumped ship and abandoned their PS Move as soon as the motion control fad died down, but Microsoft doubled down on their motion capture tech. Bundling it in with the Xbox One as a mandatory extra purchase, it certainly didn’t help sell their new console. Nobody wanted this thing anymore, but the Green and White couldn’t read the writing on the wall. Eventually, they followed Sony’s footsteps and abandoned the “you are the controller” gimmick, but it was an indelible stain on their reputation.

12 PlayStation Copied Xbox: PlayStation Move

PlayStation Move PlayStation VR
via: news.softpedia.com

There’s two sides to every coin. Microsoft may have copied Sony in their reluctant abandonment of the Kinect, Sony could be thought of as derivative of their competitor when they introduced the PlayStation Move in 2010. Thought it was released the same year as Microsoft’s Kinect, Sony’s motion controller felt hopelessly similar to the Kinect and, more importantly, the Wii controllers which happened to be the trend everyone was chasing at the time. Nevertheless, partially thanks to Microsoft’s marketing budget, the Kinect was everywhere and it painted Sony’s Move as the inferior rip-off. Though we would still argue that very few 360 or PS3 owners were interested in the stuff at the time, Microsoft at least had the edge in the fact that you didn’t even need any kind of controller at all.

The 7th console generation was kind of a rough time for us, and, we would guess, most gamers. Games were suddenly catered to our arthritic grandmother. She could play tennis or go bowling, only this time she didn’t need to leave the house. We don’t want to sound like a “hardcore” gamer here, but it felt very much like a time in which games were being diluted to the point at which they were appealing to everyone and no one all at once.

11 Xbox Copied PlayStation: HD DVDs

Xbox HD DVD
via: pinterest.com

We’re all still laughing at Microsoft’s decision to back the flatlined HD DVD platform during the 7th console generation. A couple of years prior, the PlayStation 2 had managed to destroy the competition because, in addition to it being a fantastic games machine, it was also a great DVD player. It was an all-in-one package to which few could turn their noses. With that in mind, when Bill Gates’ company was in the midst of designing their next gaming product, they wisely considered the fact that people occasionally liked to play other forms of media on their hardware. They just flat out failed to predict which platform would succeed in the future, backing a medium that quickly went the way of the laserdisc.

Bill, stop trying to make HD DVDs a thing! 

Few outside of the Xbox sphere even remember that HD DVDs existed as Blu-ray went on to become the defacto medium of the 2010’s. Sony had, of course, backed that platform, and it was one of the best inclusions to a console that struggled to best its competitor during its lifespan. They even had the good sense to include it in the actual product, while Microsoft made there's a peripheral entirely separate of the Xbox 360 itself.

10 PlayStation Copied Xbox: Play Anywhere

Xbox Play Anywhere
Let's all laugh at the inclusion of Scalebound in this image - via: cnet.com

The Xbox One admittedly started out with more than a few kinks that needed ironing out.  A few still linger from the days in which Microsoft thought everyone would be chatting with each other using their $100 motion tracking webcams, the product as a whole has been vastly improved over the years.

It’s difficult to deny, however, that Sony has been outdoing Microsoft when it comes to exclusive titles. Games like Horizon: Zero Dawn, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End and the recent God of War have helped the console to stand out against its competitors. This is extremely evident in the wake of Microsoft’s cancellation of once-hyped releases and introduction of lackluster exclusives like the disappointing “Rare-vival” Sea of Thieves.

Where Microsoft has dropped the ball, they’ve picked it up in terms of backwards compatibility. Many have criticized Sony’s apparent abandonment of the 7th generation, and they have sort of caved to popular demand by rolling out the PlayStation Now service in which you can stream older PS3 titles for a monthly subscription. It’s a far cry from what Microsoft is doing and, with the introduction of Xbox Game Pass, it seems even more ridiculous of a concept.

9 Xbox Copied PlayStation: Mixed Reality

Microsoft Mixed Reality VR Headset
via: theverge.com

VR has made its mark on this generation and is, in essence, what motion controls were to the last generation. The concept has been around for decades and it’s been explored in the works of science fiction for generations. However, it’s still pretty expensive and it has a ton of technical limitations which must be overcome before the platform can flourish. That said, Sony has put a good amount of their eggs in the VR basket and it may not have been a great move on their part. Given the price point and ubiquity of the PlayStation 4, PSVR seems like the most cost-effective method for jumping into the world of virtual reality, but it comes with a good set of caveats like motion sickness, eye strain, and a serious lack of good games.

Why not try some... mixed reality? Or not. 

Microsoft has recently started chasing this trend with a set of VR headsets dubbed to be “mixed reality” peripherals. They essentially seem to be headsets priced to compete with the likes of the HTC Vive and the Oculus Rift, but it seems like a move they’ve made simply because many of their competitors have made their way into the VR market. They don’t seem to be pursuing the concept with the gusto of Sony. Xbox One VR compatibility is still a subject which is very much up in the air. If the whole virtual reality thing survives the next couple of years, it may see a resurgence in the next console generation.

8 PlayStation Copied Xbox: X-Input

Xbox One Ps4 Controller Comparison
via: customcontrollerzz.com (left). controllergear.com (right)

We’ve run into a few dedicated weirdos who claim the DualsShock 2 or original Xbox controller to be the best controllers to ever grace the gaming world. The Xbox 360 may well go down as having the best controller ever created. If you want to talk about ubiquity, there’s hardly anything that could possibly compete. Microsoft made the controller drivers available on PC soon after they released, and the plug and play capabilities of such a setup are nearly impossible to beat. In the past, if you wanted to play a game with a controller, there was a difficult and convoluted set up process involved. But, that’s been a thing of that past for around ten or so years now. Plus, the Xbox One controller only refined the design and it’s improved upon the horrible d-pad included on most 360 controllers.

After a while, drivers were made available on PC for the DualShock 4 line of controllers and it seems like a lame attempt by Sony at selling more of their peripherals. The DualShock 4’s touchpad is hardly a selling point and we doubt many PC gamers will be clamoring to get their hands on one.  This indicates that Sony is a bit behind the curve when it comes to controllers this generation.

7 Xbox Copied PlayStation: Backwards Compatibility

Xbox 360 Backwards Compatable
via: windowscentral.com

When the Xbox One and PS4 launched, the gaming populace was understandably upset that neither of the products would include any kind of backwards compatibility. It was a real shame and it seemed like an attempt to force us into purchasing an endless slew of digital editions and remasters of older games. The things is, we all knew that it didn’t have to be this way. One of the greatest features of Nintendo’s Wii as that it allowed users to play GameCube games on it, which was probably the most consumer-friendly thing Nintendo has ever done. Microsoft eventually caved and allowed their 8th gen console to play most 360 titles, which was a welcome edition and would have been a major selling point had they included the feature from the get go. So close Microsoft, so close.

Though it was an awesome inclusion, it’s something Sony had been doing for years. The PlayStation 2 was backwards compatible with PS1 titles, and the PS3 was able to play both PS1 and PS2 games until the ability to emulate the latter system was patched out. All in all, while Microsoft seems to really be taking the high road this generation in terms of user-friendliness (and that’s not something we say lightly given their downright Orwellian console reveal) Sony has been at it for a while. It is a bit sad to see that they weren’t interested in hosting PS3 games on the new console, though.

6 PlayStation Copied Xbox: Get A Load Of That Vue

PlayStation Vue Reveal
via: worldsoccertalk.com

We’ve brought it up a couple of times already, but when the time came to unveil their new gaming equipment in 2013. Microsoft really threw the baby out with the bath water and went all in on the all-in-one concept. The trouble was, however, that nobody cared about any of those ancillary features and were instead interested in the kinds of games which might be coming to the system. With a bunch of weird, self-produced shows on offer in addition to stuff like Netflix and Amazon Prime, these features were a bit lukewarm. As the years went on, Microsoft seemed to slowly distance itself from the idea of an all-encompassing entertainment system.

Sony could have simply sat back and had a laugh at the misfortune of it’s competitor, but it opted to fumble with the same topic, as well. While the PlayStation Vita had done very well in Japan, sales just didn’t match up in the States. As a result, Sony released the PlayStation Vue, a hybrid streaming machine/microsystem console that could both stream all of your shows and play Vita games. It was a decent little concept, but it couldn’t handle Vita games that featured the rear touchpad, and the whole things just seemed like an attempt to ape Microsoft’s multimedia concept, albeit on a smaller scale.

5 Xbox Copied PlayStation: Game Streaming

Xbox One Game Pass
via: gamespot.com

Years ago, the world wide web seemed like a confusing knot of suspicious websites and slow speeds, eventually it evolved to be something bigger than life itself. We remember in the mid 90s when simply turning on a computer and connecting to the internet was a process to which one may have had to dedicate their entire afternoon. Now, it’s become so widely-used that it’s dethroning the television as the primary entertainment provider for most people. We can stream shows, we’ve been able to do that for quite a while now, but now we’re on the cusp of streaming games, too. We think most people will tell you that the tech isn’t quite there yet: you need a really good internet connection, and even then it eats through data, but it’s at least a possibility at the moment.

Microsoft: 1. Sony: 0. 

It’s a concept which Sony has been playing with for some time now. PlayStation Now is intended to provide subscribers with a giant library of content which they can enjoy without the hassle of downloading everything. Microsoft sort of stole the idea and refined it. Yes, services like Gamefly have been going strong since the 7th generation of consoles, but Microsoft’s Game Pass might end up as the most prolific of these programs. You aren’t streaming the games, as far as we know, but it’s a cheaper platform. We think it will ultimately prove to be a more successful version of Sony’s concept.

4 PlayStation Copied Xbox: Exclusive Showdown

PlayStation Xbox One Exclusives
via: psu.com (left), ebay.com (right)

We think most will agree that Sony got absolutely walloped by Microsoft in the 7th generation when it came to exclusive games. Sure, the PlayStation 3 might have had the excellent Uncharted series, but the Xbox 360 had all of the Halo games, the Gears of War series, Forza, Fable, and the list goes on and on. On the other hand, well, does anyone remember Fuse? It was a game Sony touted as the Halo killer back when that series was at its peak. It turned out to be flat out awful, and it really exemplified Sony’s issues in the 7th generation: why buy a PS3 when Xbox seems to be where it’s at when it comes to games?

Sony did its homework. The next console generation saw a renewed effort by the Japanese hardware developer to focus on exclusive experienceswhich couldn’t be found anywhere else on the gaming market. They totally outdid themselves in this and their PlayStation 4 console became the de facto machine to game on if you weren’t already a dedicated Xbox or PC fan. Until Dawn, The Last Guardian, God of War, Bloodborne, and on, and on, and on. We may catch some flack for saying this, but we honestly feel bad for anyone who opted to purchase an Xbox—they don’t know what they’re missing.

3 Xbox Copied PlayStation: D-pad Dysmorphia

Xbox 360 Fix d-pad
via: ifixit.com

An undeniable fault of the otherwise fantastic Xbox 360 controller was the d-pad. While most games had evolved to either relegate its use to ancillary functions or flat out remove it all together, it was still an awful hunk of gross plastic. It’s honestly ridiculous to think about how bad they bungled this one. Console developers have been getting this one right since the days of the NES, why did Microsoft see fit to cut the quality of their d-pads so severely? We’ll assume that they either did it to cut costs or perhaps they just thought that it would be a feature which would eventually be phased out of modern gaming.

You had one job.... make a good d-pad. 

It was a particularly great issue when it came to PC game emulation. We know that some people will instantly reach for their phones and dial the FBI at the mere mention of that, but it must be said. Playing old Nintendo games with a keyboard and mouse was usually no fun and you couldn’t really play any old sidescrollers with that horrible d-pad. Which meant that you had to go out and try your luck with the build quality of some third party pad. Sony had it right from the start, so much so that the first ever DualShock controller didn’t even have joysticks. Microsoft obviously took a page from Sony’s playbook and slapped a version of their d-pad on the Xbox One controller, but it made for such a better gameplay experience.

2 PlayStation Copied Microsoft: A Gaming Adventure

Microsoft Adventure Case
via: digibarn.com

Few people actually remember this, but Microsoft was one of the first companies to venture into the realm of PC gaming… well, we suppose they were one of the first companies to venture into any kind of household gaming. In 1979, the company released Microsoft Adventure and barring the horribly unoriginal title, it was a variable success for a product which had a relatively small install base and an even smaller audience. Text-based and beyond archaic, it was a primitive yet definitive step in the right direction for a company which would go on to be one of the biggest players in the video game market.

It’s hard to say that Sony exactly copied that rend, as they didn’t get into the market until decades after Microsoft. It was more to do with a botched deal with dedicated game manufacturer Nintendo than any dealings with Bill Gates. Nevertheless, they are currently direct competitors in the market and it may be fair to say that. Without the early involvement of Microsoft, gaming wouldn’t be what it is today and Sony never would have realized the money-making potential hidden within the at-the-time miniscule sector. They weren’t directly copying their rivals business decisions, though could really sort of did it by proxy.

1 Xbox Copied PlayStation: Jump In

Xbox One Jump In
via: polygon.com

While Sony’s entrance into the console market may have been a subtle imitation of Microsoft’s business model. Microsoft’s eventual release of the original Xbox could be thought of as a much more intentional duplication of their competitors actions. For a long while, the video game market wasn’t really scene as a viable place to do business. Since the arcade scene faded from relevance in the early 90’s, there was a period where few companies had any interest in developing consoles or games.

A new challenger is approaching. Welcome, Microsoft. 

That said, Sony’s PlayStation 1 hit the scene in 1994 and it changed everything. Games evolved beyond the Nintendo vs. Sega debate and they slowly seemed to be maturing and gaining a wider audience. This, of course, caught Microsoft’s attention. The company got to work on a piece of hardware which could be used to grab a stake in the burgeoning economic sector. Sony can’t be credited as the sole inspiration for Microsoft’s jump into gaming, but the do seem to be a pretty large reference for Bill Gates’ and company. Since then, Microsoft and Sony have been engaged in heated competition, while Nintendo more and more seems to be headed in an entirely new direction.