Why Are Sony Letting Microsoft Bully Them Out Of Familiar Franchises?

[themanwithnoname]

Squilliam said:

themanwithnoname said:

Squilliam said:
Huh? I don't see any need for SE to share marketing with Sony on FFXIII as the impetus is on Microsoft to let their userbase know the game is actually coming out on the Xbox 360. Of the people who care, they all know its already coming out on the PS3 so they just need to know when to buy the game.

The same kinda applies to GTA IV as well. But the thing is, the DLC was a payment for a loan and a likely profitable one for Microsoft as well because it reinforced the strength of digital delivery on their platform.

The same applies for MGS: Rising as with GTA IV and FFXIII...

Of course, Square Enix really wouldn't care if they were advertising for the PS3 or the 360, but since they have a bundle with Microsoft, it makes sense to advertise the 360 version like crazy, which is what they're doing.

That does not explain why Sony just sat on their hands, let the game go multiplat, and let Microsoft walk away with an exclusive bundle and advertising in NA and Europe. This is the equivalent of Gears going to PS3, and the PS3 getting a bundle and exclusive advertising. Microsoft wouldn't ever let that happen, but for whatever reason, it doesn't seem to bother Sony much at all.

They don't need to really let the PS3 userbase know that FFXIII exists, but on the Xbox 360 they do. This is the reason for the advertising deals. Sony has little to gain from telling people something they already know. Thats why it doesn't bother them because to them its not important. A lot of people already bought PS3s for FFXIII even before it was announced. Whereas the Xbox 360 has a large audience of otherwise WRPG style gamers which SE is keen to tap into.

I could not disagree more. The casual gamer who only plays games like Final Fantasy, will see the commercial and the bundle and follow it accordingly. This would be different if there'd been multiple Final Fantasys released in the past few years, but there haven't been. Why would someone pay $300 for a PS3 and another $60 for the game, when they can get a 360 with two controllers, twice the harddrive space, and the game for just $50 more? If FFXIII had a bundle and the exclusive adverts on its side, you could be seeing a bundle as successful as the 360's MW2 one from last November. Microsoft didn't have to do one for Modern Warfare 2 either, everyone knew it was coming out on the 360, but look how successful that bundle was. 

The game could've been a real system seller for the PS3 outside of Japan as well, but now it will be so more for the 360 because of the bundle.