I take it that most that would buy it would be because they only own an xbox. Anyway, clearly OP doesn't know how hiring devs works, so i rule this as a troll thread imo.

I don't think it's that clearly cut.

Let's take FFXIII: 4.7M on PS3, 1.8M on X360.

Now let's make the counterfactual hypothesis that it had remained a PS3 exclusive, then the sales wouldn't have been these. FF might well be the most successful JRPG franchise over here but it's still an entrenched niche product: I expect it mainly to sell to people who are in FF or JRPGs already.

So, how many of those western JRPGs and FF fans would be owners of an X360 only? If the X360 version didn't exist I expect most of these 1.8M sales would simply have been PS3 ones. Let's say a 75% factor, then the PS3 version alone would have sold (4.7+1.35)=6.05M. That's a 450K sales loss compared to actual ones, or about 8%. Does that 8% pay for multiplatform development (usually quantified in at least 10% increase in costs for tools and porting)?

Probably not, but on the other hand Squeenix probably had other goals. Maybe they thought that the X360 version would have been an easier way to expand into the western market. That surely didn't work out very well, and certainly they lost some cred in the most rabid fanboish audience... Maybe they had different projections, or maybe they were interested in better business opportunities with MS for their future projects - FFXIII on the X360 might not have been a great deal for Sq.x, but it certainly was worth a great deal for MS, image-wise.

As I said, not that clearly cut.

What`s wrong with ports? Most people are not really that bothered by multiple discs. FF13 performs just fine on X360.

PS: Why not try saying I prefer the PS3 for this game because.... instead of saying "Naww, I'll stick to playing it on its superior console: PS3". That right there made your post troll worthy and whether the rest of your post was meant to just be friendly discussion or not that first sentence really was not needed.

First of all. FFXIII was PS3 exclusive in Japan for what 2 years? I doubt going MP affected sales in Japan. So we're only talking Americas and EMEAA sales, which has the PS3 version at 2.8 million sales, and the 360 version at 1.8 million.

That doesn't change the math one bit. 75% of 1.8M + 2.8M + PS3 Japan sales = 6.05M. The only important parameter here is the 75%.

I also disagree with much of your logic. First of all, 75% of sales migrating to PS3 if this were exclusive? That's far too high. I don't have any direct axample to compare to, but look at Mass Effect 2 on PS3. The PS3 version only gained 20% of the 360 versions sales. It's a different situation, but I think the extra boom of being an exclusive is at best around the 25% margin.

You're actually giving me more evidence here. Small adoption of ME2 on PS3 is an index that many people had already played that game and weren't interested in rebuying it just for the extras. Low sales on later PS3 version indicates big overlap of the ME2 potential buyers, i.e. a big number of owners of both consoles (or PS3+PC gamers). Of course we're speaking of a different genre of RPG with ME, I expect even more overlap for JRPG lovers.

So PS3 FFXIII sales would (theoretically, IMO) be maybe 700k higher? That's still a 1.1 million unit loss, or 23%. That's still not huge, but SE has no reason to stay exclusive, and expanding their audience is essential to staying alive.

I do agree that they hoped to expand their audience. Sadly they would have had more luck by delivering a system seller ... but I'm not here to talk about the quality of the game.

Also if 360 FFXIII owners did own both a PS3 and a 360, I'm sure most would buy it on PS3, so there isn't much cross over for this.

The two versions were similar enough that the decision on which one to buy could be steered by lesser issues. Controller you're more familiar with, gamescore and achievements instead of trophies, friends list for chatting while playing, shelf uniformity etc.

If it had been an exclusive the PS3 would have had from the 360 side of sales

a) those 360-only owners who loved JRPGs last gen when PS2 ruled and were still waiting for a big exclusive to be sold to the PS3

b) those early adopters/importers who loved JRPGs last gen and expected the PS3 to deliver them this time, but that instead chose to buy the 360 version for contingent reasons.

Basically the missing 25% of 360 sales would be the sum of genuinely new customers that somehow chose to start playing FF at number XIII, but don't own a PS3. I don't think that's a low percentage, but the rest is still 75%...

...

Final Fantasy has a name, and with it SE can appeal to new gamers on the 360.

I understand, but basically to have extra sales you have to target players that don't own a PS3 or would not buy one for your biggest project. My point is that I did not see all this effort to bridge to a different/more mainstream/new audience in the west. The game was presented exactly like FFX or XII and marketed in totally analogous ways. Do you really think that they supposed that a relevant part of the audience they had for FFX to XII on the PS2 would never buy a PS3 version? When any big FF launches, HW sales go up hundreds of thousands worldwide. That alone is a nice share of what it sold on 360, and would have sold on PS3 if exclusive.

I'm pulling numbers out of the air, of course, but I think that reasonable estimates show that in the end the difference in sales was at least comparable with the increased costs. Other benefits - such as expansion of brand awareness - probably tipped the balance rather than that.

The same could be said for why people buy Bayonetta or Call of Duty on the PS3.

Some people just like to play shooters on the PS3, and some people like to play JRPG's on the 360. Outside the CG videos, the game is the exact same quality, so why not get it on 360 and join it with all the other great JRPG's this gen?

*facepalm*  

The PS3 is the better system for playing FFvsXIII, Nomura has spent YEARS of his time making the game for that system.  I'm not going to explain and substantiate every single word in my post.  you're just looking for something to bitch about.