Well, I can tell you what brought me to this thread. The pure repetition of it. It caught my interest. Maybe that is something that 3rd parties are trying to do?

Jesus man, just press post once in the future.

Thanks! :D I'm really sorry about that

I put this in one of the threads that got deleted, so I decided to put it here lol

No idea what you're talking about :) There's no proof that anything happened here :p

Now - back on topic!

I have no idea what happened here based on everyones posts... but i think this is an interesting topic.

i think the key to 3rd party success has been down to multiple factors. i think this is evident in terms of the new IPs this gen, that have had to compete with well established brands, yet some 3rd party games (Assassin's Creed) which are relatviely new have been able to go toe to toe with the annual Call of Duty release.

the first thing has to be when it came out, the reason i think Mass Effect, Assassin's Creed, and others new IPs are so popular for the moment is because they came out so early in the gen. because of their originality and the the exposure they got when they came into the market we were very early in the gen. they didnt even get great reviews. yet because they established the brand so early in the gen, with relatively little competition their sequels have been very successful.

if we look at other games this gen, say Castlevania LOS, or Enslaved, we can see they were recieved very well, yet have not performed commerically well. i think this is because they have come out relatively late in the gen. while they are competing with Assasssin's Creed, or other new IPs, they cant compete with the fanbase those franchises built up from their inital installments. despite how mediocure those predecessors may have been.

i think the 3rd party market is over saturated, and the main way a game can be successful is by internet recognition. Demon's Souls comes to mind, the game got stellar reviews and i think the reason its done so well is because it was a PS3 exclusive. the internet gave this game massive exposure. and now Dark Souls is multiplatfom. the game is a guarrantted success because its already selling to a pre-established market from Demon's Souls.

theres only a handful of new IPs i would say have done well, based on timing etc. but the reviews make or break a game these days. the difference between 8.5 or 9 from IGN could determine a few hundred thousand copies sold. sadly it has meant many amazing gaming experiences, like Castlevania or Enslaved get lost in translation. and in this type of gaming climate a first party exclusive can sometimes guarrante success. i mentioned Demon's Souls, but another example is say Heavy Rain, which was doomed to fail. however a different set of factors come into play with the Wii, as i think we will find out from Xenoblade.

I am guessing the situation is the same as that happened to the danny guy...I miss that epic image.

honest mistake i know. it happens with post for most of us.

the secret is great software and relations with the hardware dev, but the hardware dev's audience has to be excepting of the genre and ip aswell.

look at wht sells well on each console for the past 3 gens.

PS2 and PS1's era's was a mixed bag of sorts while this gen its all one sided in that of shooters. even medal of Honor which had many problems sold very well on consoles.

its all about the console makers market. who do they cater to, wht genres do you find most often on there hardware, wht is the console maker developing for it audience? those are the questions you'll have to think about.

also look at wht gamers keep asking for cause if your not making that then you've closed off a likely profitable market.

surely its all about money like most things but ubisoft have got it right haven't they with assasins creed and just dance

the wii and the hd's appear to have muddied the waters but the ds had no problems with 3rd parties did it

I find it strange that the DS did well with 3rd parties where the Wii did not