| Mr Puggsly said: Where do we draw a line on 1st party? I mean Microsoft didn't own Bungie. So those aren't 1st party games? I don't believe those Mario Party games were developed by Nintendo either. |
We don't draw the line, the industry does.
1st party - software developed by part of the company that manufactures hardware.
3rd party - software developed by a company not owned by the hardware manufacturer.
3rd party games can still be published by the hardware manufacturer.
Some people like to distinguish 2nd party, which would be a 3rd party developer who essentially have a an exclusive agreement with the hardware manufacturer. Hal Laboratories is sometimes considered a 2nd party, but it is wholly owned by Nintendo making them a first party or a subsidiary.
Microsoft did own Bungie up until shortly after Halo 3. All the Halo titles prior were 1st party, and those after were 3rd party published by Microsoft.
