alt Hacker NewsSony and Nintendo only sell games. They don't gate access to banks, investments, health insurance, auto insurance, news, movies, social media, car control apps, appliance apps, grocery stores, e-commerce, etc...
That's not to say Sony and Nintendo shouldn't be opened too but their impact is much smaller (game devs) than Apple (nearly all businesses)
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It should be pointed out that they have way less of a monopoly on the market and way more gaming alternatives exist than Apple and Google.
Apple, Google. Two app stores that are basically necessary for existing in the modern world with a smartphone, which include apps covering Japanese government services.
In the gaming space, you’ve got PlayStation Store, Xbox Store, Nintendo eShop, Steam, Epic Game Store, GOG, a bazillion publisher storefronts, Apple and Google (again), Itch.io, physical media for the big 3 consoles at dozens of brick and mortar retailers, or even installing games directly with no store at all (Minecraft originated from its own online purchase portal).
If anything, that’s their excuse for keeping it locked.
“Mr hacker man can trick you to download an app and take all of grandmas money from the bank”, “North Korean hackers can tap into your baby cameras unless we gate the app installation process and charge 30%.”, etc.
Apple didn’t start that way though. Better to open it up now no? Also, a better law would be making the web first class, not adding more stores, with other gatekeepers…
The switch eshop has youtube which I would count as social media.
I just got a PS5 and there are bunch of media apps available. I was looking at moving my AppleTV to a different TV and just using the PS5 on that screen.
On Apple platforms, for most of the things mentioned, web apps are an option and don't have any restrictions. This was Apple's original plan, but the people fought for local apps. Now companies fight for space on people's home screens. If they get an app on the device they can get more info and send notifications and things, which they apparently love. A lot of apps these days are glorified web apps. There are also the ones that exist for a one-time setup, which then sit on people's phones for years. It's kind of a mess the way companies use apps.