Its just based on the game. Games like GTAIV and Fallout 3 sold more because they went multiplatform. In fact, those games even sold better on the XBOX360, the 'less graphical' platform. So you can't deny that some games benefit from going multiplatform.

However Final Fantasy XIII is a special case, because it was heavily publicized for YEARS and for many of those years, it was pushed as a PS3 exclusive. Then it was announced to be coming for XBOX360, so some people suddenly had to decide which version they wanted. That doesn't help a game sell more units, it hinders it. Sure, it might have sold more units to those who weren't going to buy the PS3 just to buy the game, but there's undoubtedly others who now are not buying the game because they don't know which version to buy or lost the 'hype' in their purchase.

Then there's the case of those games where exclusivity does help the game. Aside from obvious titles such as Nintendo titles like Mario or Pokemon, let's look at another SquareEnix title. Something like Dragon Quest. Its a title people actually go out and buy physical consoles for. Such as the recent surge in DS sales when Dragon Quest IX went on sale in Japan and undoubtedly the increase in sales for Wiis when Dragon Quest X is near launch. Does exclusivity aid in some titles? No doubt. As there's no reason for this title to go multiplatform. People are already flocking TO the system of choice for the game.

No.

Five of the top selling 20 games are exclusives on the PS3... but how many would be top 10 including 360 sales? I'd guess the list is... pretty much none.


In fact... exclusivity HURT a LOT of early PS3 games because there weren't enough people for word of mouth.

Final Fantasy 13 just didn't have the chops to sell more on two non-leading platforms... let alone 1 non leading platform.

It's trending lower then FF12 for a few very good reasons.

Yes, but it is no guarantee of course. Even with a large userbase, which is something a lot of developers had to learn on the Wii over the last 2 years. First and foremost the benefits of exclusives are:

1. Cheaper than if the game was on multiple platforms (in the same form)
2. More "spotlight", giving it an advantage over titles that aren't exclusive

Obviously, still comes with the risk, of not as large of potential customers. Exclusives, i would say are more risky than multi-platform titles, but the benefits of a successful one I think are far greater than a multi-platform title.


The problem what you are seeing with there, is there have been very few exclusives this generation that are of the same quality, AAA budget, and marketing of the multi-platform titles. Really, the only extremely successful ones have been coming out of Nintendo, which isn't something surprising. Outside of Nintendo, the main successful ones have been on the 360, with also some first party involvement with Halo and Gears of War.

Really, the problem is trying to differentiate these exclusives from the mass of popular multi-plat titles that are just taking over. That "exclusive" advantage for spotlight, seems to be fading because the multi-plat games are bigger. And I really think this is a failure on the makers of the game, as they aren't taking advantage of that "exclusive" marketing they have. None of them are willing to take that extra risk to make it as big as it could be, because failure is just so daunting this generation.


I still think that exclusivity can help a game's sales, but you have to go all out when you do it. Obviously, you won't get Nintendo like success because you'd need some extreme brand recognition to accomplish what they do, and maintain it like they do. But if you put the same effort they do (what Ubisoft has quoted as Nintendo quality) then you can at least you say you tried. I see very few companies trying that with their exclusives. They'll attempt that with their multi-platform titles but not the exclusives ones. And I think that'll be a trend for the rest of the generation, especially as the motion sensing market starts to mesh as well.

Yes.

I doubt Heavy Rain would have sold as much as it did if it weren't an exclusive. Same with MGS and Mass Effect.

MW2 sales have nothing to do with being multiplat.MW2 was kind of a cool thing to get this season kind of thing,the hype was what propeled the sales

Mass Effect sold 2.16 million.

MGS sold 4.59.

Assassains Creed... a game that was VERY hit or miss with all around less popularity then both in just about every metric sold over 7 million.

RE 5 sold 5.5 Million.

Heavy Rain MAYBE only because it really was never supposed to be a "Big budget" game... but big budget games are going to sell better multiplatform wise.  The fact that they're big budget themselves is what will get people excited regardless.

Exclusivity can really only help middleground games... like say Modnation racers that isn't going to get much advertising and will rely on internet hype and word of mouth.

For new IPs - yes, without solid expectations of how a game will sell, and in this financial state of the industry, plenty of games like LBP wouldn't have been made if they were made multiplatform, since they wouldn't have the backing of a major company, both for development and advertising.

For old IPs - no.

So you're saying that exclusives don't get hyped or are never the cool thing to get in the season they're released?  That doesn't make any sense to me as exclusives do get hyped and there are exclusives like Gears of War for example that were the cool thing to get at the time it their release.

Which is actually why people think exclusivity helps.

It's because to get exclusivity they usually pay to have ads all over the airwaves.

u really think people wud have the same opinion they have about MGS4 now as  when it wud have been multiplat.no chance.

and comparing established franchises like RE and MGS with Mass effect and Assasins creed isn't fair.

Assasins creed got big discount,the first one got hyped as a PS3 exclusive then major advertising for both the version.there is no way the second game would have sold so well without discounts