He gains from having both systems period. If he's smart he'll get versus though. This is whats so good about buying both brands, you can make uber fanboys look like the fools that they are.

Who knows if it's true or not..........

Yes, they buy games. It's not that big a deal. Sony did it the entire PSone generation. I don't mind them doing it, but the problem is when developers sell their time they are selling it for what the financier wants, and what MS wants is nothing but the safe, popular, no-risk games. That's why the only RPGs they've paid for are generic mainstream ripoffs or games from the already popular franchises.

That's fine for the casual RPG gamer, but it hurts other RPG gamers because it means the companies that are getting paid stop making the games that take chances. For that reason, you'll never see a game like Valkyria Chronicles or Fragile on the 360, because it's too risky, and MS won't pay for stuff like that.

So it's great for 360 gamers that they are getting some RPGs, but it can be genuinely detrimental to innovation in the genre, and that's why you need platforms like the DS, Wii, and to a lesser extent the PS3 to get the RPGs that take chances, and truly evolve the genre.

My two bits.

 I think people don't really mind any company other than microsoft because there is this incorrect impression that these other companies are doing it for different reasons.

I mean people seem to think that its a real possibility that MS could just pay off everyone and win by default.

They're forgetting that MS has shareholders like any other company and every decision has to be justified. If their contracting of exclusives wasn't generating income it wouldn't be allowed in the long term.

There is that safety net thing, but to be honest I don't think your likely to see many of those obscure RPGs that came out on the PS1\PS2 because development is just too expensive these days, don't think thats got as much to do with MS not wanting to secure that stuff as your post implies.

The PS1\PS2 had around a 1000 games available each...that will never happen for any "HD" console...Games will naturally be "safer".

Personally from a UK perspective I'd say the "Tales of..." games aren't exactly safe bets, they're considered pretty esoteric from british perspective, they're nowhere near the mass market stuff like SO\FF.

I give that post a 10 and also re-iterate the question; how much did MS pay you to write this?

Burgles it doesn't really matter how Tales is viewed in the UK. What MS cares about is how it's viewed in Japan, and in Japan it's the B-movie of JRPGs. They make like 5 a year and they are all over the place. They are simple, and unchanging. It's just part of getting the "mainstream" RPG audience.

Also, the games would have been in much shorter supply on the HD consoles anyway, but the PS3 is still getting a few.  Not anything like the DS or Wii is getting, but a few of those RPGs that take chances are actually showing up on it.

I don't care when Microsoft buys away exclusives because in all honesty it is nothing compared to what Sony did to Nintendo in the PS1 era. It's just if you think that Microsoft is not dropping money to make these games go multiplatform you are being so naive it's insane.

"Nooo they didn't pay them any money they just strongly felt that the game would be better playing on 360 because of th 'X-FACTOR' don't you fanboys get it? The X-Factor is the most powerful thing in gaming since 'Blast Processing'"

oh come on if not that m$ is even ashamed of that.
they clearly stated they pay 50 millions for GTA4 exclusive DLC.

sony said they won't pay, and really right now can't pay considering they started making profit in 2008.
they take its to make games that are only possible on ps3 like mgs4, heavy rain.

I hope all of my games are produced with the crushed souls of babies, and that the tears of children power them... hehe

I'm glad Microsoft pays for stuff for me. I'm like a fat kid in a candy store. ^_^