Exclusives give people reason to buy a console. How would it have been like last gen to buy just 1 console, either Xbox, Cube, or Ps2?


You would miss:

Ratchet series
Jak series
Brawl
Halo 1 and 2
Gran Turismo
Double Dash
Fable
Final Fantasy
God of War


(though imo, last gen, the Ps2 had every game practically. It had everything that wanted to be played. Cube and Xbox had the same thing except it was 50 times to a lesser extent that the Ps2. )


That won't happen this gen, as a lot of past Nintendo franchises on Wii are among the fastest selling videogames of all time. (Brawl's MASSIVE 2.5 mil which could change to 3 mil 1st week with the Others launch and MKWii's large 2.4 mil 1st week.) Nintendo is also throwing out their best games in years on the Wii, like Galaxy, along with some better 3rd party support than the past 2 consoles. The 360 has HUGE 3rd party support. And the Ps3 is getting great franchises from the Ps2.


The truth is, none of the consoles will be dominant in the software department this gen as their lineups are TOO good to best each others. (though there will be a victor by a hair in the software department.)

Exclusives are double edge swords: there are chances of success and chances of failure.

the good(IF done right):

• You can make most use of the hardware and the interface.
• You have more chances to make that game stand out and be a system seller.
• You can study the market of that platform and market the game accordingly.

the bad:

• If the game bombs... well see how you can handle the loss
• You don't explore similar markets on other platforms
• The critics will be harder on you

Wow, close but no cigar. The framerate and resolution is related to the speed of the processor, and the clock speed of the ram

The size of the level that it can support is related to the amount of ram.

To the original post - if exclusives hurt developers, they wouldn't agree to them.

Yes, obviously they hurt gamers who only have the dough for 1 console - there's very few games that you can't get with pswii or wii60

Nice to see that the ban has caused you to branch out and hate other games. Exclusives are often more well-done than multiplatform titles. I think we all know that by now.

The wii was left out because it is not technically close to the PS3 or Xbox360 in capability, therefore there are different hurdles to face when making a game that works on the Xbox360 or PS3 work on the Wii. For example the art assets would need to be optimised for a lower polycount.

On that, i would include the PC in this, although developers experience more copyright issues with the pc.

I would have to say more than 80% -90% of the cost ( my made up stat....edu..ma..kated guess) to develop the game would be in non Platform based developement. Some examples of this are artwork, sound, level design, script design animation, etc.

A developer needs to consider that they are a business, and they all want to continue making games, so they have to look at their bottom line.

I disagree that GeOW and MSG4 couldnt looks as impresive if made for the Xbox360. It comes down to how much the developer spends on optimiation, or how much they are paid to make it look good!!.

Engine/middleware developers will learn with time how to get the most out of both systems, and Developers will not need to worry so much about this, as they will have optimizations for both machines.

Yes, they are both fighting for existance in the same market. So why should the developers lose out? Obviously this is a key to microsofts success.

-They are cheaper

-They will always be cheaper

-They have/should increase their market base

-They will force Sony to launch their next console at the same time as MS launches theire next console, effectivly reducing the profit that Sony will make with the PS3.

Obviously Sony needs Exclusives, but not as much as MS. MS just needs as many multiplat games as possible. But why should develpers or customers lose out because of this war. ( obviously we gain due to lower prices, but not selection)

My point is that 2-3 years ago, they would be more willing to enter exclusivity, but the market is different to that which most developers thought. (hindsight)

So now they are doing timed exclusives, knowing that it will hurt them.

I believe that even this will become less as both the consoles market base increases as long as they stay close in sales as the developers want their money as soon as possible.

And this is why you made this post. If you didn't think they could look as impressive, you would agree Exclusives have there place.

I will be very generic, and take the consoles out of the equation. Let's say I gave you a set of tools to build a house. In one set I gave a miter saw to, and in the other I gave a plainer.

If I told the two crews to build me the best house they can, where they both look identical, they woudl each build a worse house then if I said "use all the tools at your disposal, and build me the best house".

Same applies with video games.

But my thinking is both of them are 10" circular saws, but just different brands.  The RPM/ power consumption/ shape / materials used / copper wire thickness etc are different, but they effectively perform the same function, but here we have a scenario where we have the buy the blade which goes with the saw.

A plainer and a miter saw have completly different functions