The exclusive deal with Ubisoft for Splinter Cell is along hte lines of what I envisioned for MGS and 3rd party developers:
http://www.n4g.com/events_e32009/NewsCom-356146.aspx?CT=1#Comments
Get in early, and help the developer defray the cost of developing games, and ensure you reduce their risk and exposure to a failed title. The game is ROI, and a bird in the hand, is far better than a thousand in the bush. MGS needs to be far more agressive in push out some of those those MGS IP, and locking in development by 3rd parties, effectively making them 2nd party for certian titles...just like sony has done in some cases.
"...You can't kill ideas with a sword, and you can't sink belief structures with a broadside. You defeat them by making them change..."
- From By Schism Rent Asunder
