By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - Gaming Discussion - If MS hadn't bought GTA DLC and Acquired FFXIII Multi-plat..

txrattlesnake on 30 January 2010
gergroy said:
txrattlesnake said:
TheTruthHurts! said:
Honestly, sales would probably be almost identical to what they are now. I am confidient that FFXIII exclusive and GTAIV dlc would'nt have made a 5mil + difference considering the PS3's overpriced start.

Oh, and there is no way the PS3 would even be close to striking distance of the Wii so we can scratch that one off the list.


     The Wii's only at a little over 60 million.  I really don't think it's beyond possibility that the PS3 would be at 50 million now if they had had exclusive FFXIII worldwide Christmas 2008 and exclusive FF Versus XIII worldwide Christmas 2009.

it would sell an additional 20 million units based on one game?  So at least double the amount of ps3's as people that would have bought the game?  That is some good logic there txrattlesnake :)  Also, I don't think going multiplat would have affected development by 2 years, and outside of Japan FFXIII influence on moving systems is pretty limited.


     It would have been based on more than one game.  People knowing that it was getting dlc for GTA IV would have moved more systems when GTA IV was released.  We know that MGS 4 moved systems and FFXIII would have moved many more than that.  Then what the PS3 was lacking Holiday '08, even though most critics agreed that they had the best games of that holiday sales season was a powerful system seller.  FFXIII like FFVII and FFX would have provided that boost.

    With the growing install base, MH3 and other games probably would have come to the PS3 too.  And FF Versus XIII Christmas '09 would have continued the momentum.  They probably would have hurried up the release of GT to keep it going as well.

     I believe the decision to put XIII on the 360 wasn't made until way past the midpoint of FFXIII's development, so, I do think that delayed the game's release at least one year.  And it makes since to think so imho as FFXIII should have been out Christmas '08, Versus XIII in '09, and XIV holiday 2010. 



Around the Network
txrattlesnake on 30 January 2010
Zkuq said:
GTA IV DLC is definitely not a system-seller. I also doubt FFXIII would be out by now, considering they already did release a Japanese version of the game in 2009 - it was localization that took time. Sure, the game could possibly have been completed earlier but it's not certain. And even then, I doubt it would've made a big difference. The game's a system-seller but not as much as you seem to think.

And I'm also not so sure about MS buying FFXIII, as much as I believe them buying games for their system (exclusivity or multiplatform). It's a very expensive game that's been in development for years - I'm sure Square Enix has though PS3 exclusivity to be a risk. And ports that come too later don't generally sell too well.


I didn't say they bought.  I said they acquired it.



Badassbab on 30 January 2010

Where did you get the idea the PS3 version is the highest rated version? I've played both version and I don't understand where that came from. PS3 version not even HD and has worse frame rate.






txrattlesnake on 30 January 2010
Badassbab said:
Where did you get the idea the PS3 version is the highest rated version? I've played both version and I don't understand where that came from. PS3 version not even HD and has worse frame rate.


     Game Rankings (where the PS3 version is the highest rated game of this gen and second highest of all time followed by SMG, and then the 360 version of GTA IV), Metacritic, and the IGN review that gave them both the same score but said the PS3 version was slightly better.

 

 



Garnett on 30 January 2010

Oh Blame the 360 for FF going Multiplatform, Ignore the high price point and low install base of the PS3.



*Remember when the world was supposed to end on May 21st, 2011? Well click here to see our short parody video of it [not]ending*

Around the Network
Uraeus on 30 January 2010

While these and other games may be part of the problem, there main reason Sony struggled was due to the one year delay to get blu-ray included. That delay when combined with the expensive start price gave Sony a lot of trouble. If they had released about the same time as the Xbox 360 I think they would have had a much stronger position from the start, even with the same pricepoint.

On the other side, without Blu-Ray in the PS3 then Blu-ray would have lost the HD war. And Blu-ray I believe is playing a big part in Sony's comeback atm, since it adds quite a bit of extra value now. With Blu-Ray established and going mainstream it suddenly makes the PS3 a great game and movie machine for the less hardcore customers out there, which is who Sony and Microsoft are trying to reach (the 'hardcore gamers' market already being quite satured)



Pristine20 on 30 January 2010

Honestly I dont think either one made as much difference as people think. For one, rockstar complained that the GTA DLC underperformed i.e not that many cared after all

FF on the other hand would have helped the 360 more if it released in JP but isnt really relevant to the 360's long term western success. The 360 seems to have a better time with the WRPG crowd.



"Dr. Tenma, according to you, lives are equal. That's why I live today. But you must have realised it by now...the only thing people are equal in is death"---Johann Liebert (MONSTER)

"WAR is a racket. It always has been.

It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives"---Maj. Gen. Smedley Butler

gergroy on 30 January 2010
txrattlesnake said:
gergroy said:
txrattlesnake said:
TheTruthHurts! said:
Honestly, sales would probably be almost identical to what they are now. I am confidient that FFXIII exclusive and GTAIV dlc would'nt have made a 5mil + difference considering the PS3's overpriced start.

Oh, and there is no way the PS3 would even be close to striking distance of the Wii so we can scratch that one off the list.


     The Wii's only at a little over 60 million.  I really don't think it's beyond possibility that the PS3 would be at 50 million now if they had had exclusive FFXIII worldwide Christmas 2008 and exclusive FF Versus XIII worldwide Christmas 2009.

it would sell an additional 20 million units based on one game?  So at least double the amount of ps3's as people that would have bought the game?  That is some good logic there txrattlesnake :)  Also, I don't think going multiplat would have affected development by 2 years, and outside of Japan FFXIII influence on moving systems is pretty limited.


     It would have been based on more than one game.  People knowing that it was getting dlc for GTA IV would have moved more systems when GTA IV was released.  We know that MGS 4 moved systems and FFXIII would have moved many more than that.  Then what the PS3 was lacking Holiday '08, even though most critics agreed that they had the best games of that holiday sales season was a powerful system seller.  FFXIII like FFVII and FFX would have provided that boost.

    With the growing install base, MH3 and other games probably would have come to the PS3 too.  And FF Versus XIII Christmas '09 would have continued the momentum.  They probably would have hurried up the release of GT to keep it going as well.

     I believe the decision to put XIII on the 360 wasn't made until way past the midpoint of FFXIII's development, so, I do think that delayed the game's release at least one year.  And it makes since to think so imho as FFXIII should have been out Christmas '08, Versus XIII in '09, and XIV holiday 2010. 

I don't think the GTA IV DLC really mattered to the consumer as the sell rate seemed to be pretty evenly split based on marketshare.  You have to remember that GTA was only a timed exclusive on the ps2 so the fanbase was already there on the xbox and then a lot of ps2 owners switched consoles this gen in NA.  

FFXIII and Versus XIII would NOT be done 2 years earlier because they went multiplat.  They could have made the game on the ps3 and then ported it to the 360 (like they did).  That would only increase development time for a studio as large as square enix for 4 or 5 months at best.  Also, Versus XIII is still ps3 exclusive so if it was going to come out in holiday 2009 it would be out already.  

The reason MGS4 moved units so well is because it reintroduced a backwards compatible 80 gig model that was in high demand and had been cleared off shelves for MONTHS.  While MGS4 is a great game and definetly moved systems, that increase was more than just the game, it was the reintroduction of the model as well.  

Anyway, outside of japan Final Fantasy and MH3 have almost no influence on hardware sales.  The reason that ps3 is so far down this gen is because it lost it's stranglehold on NA and others.  It came out at too high a cost and didn't have games to back it up for almost 2 years.  Japan is not that big of a territory as far as hardware sales go and that is really the only territory that would have been heavily influences by the exclusivity of final fantasy.  

Now, if they had been able to retain timed exclusivity of GTAIV, or Assassins Creed, Resident Evil, or any of the other popular franchises in western society they might be in a slightly better position, but not 20 million units better.  At most you are talking maybe 2 to 3 million jump is all.  Price is a much bigger factor than games, and Sony just barely got to a competitive price point 4 years after launch.



txrattlesnake on 30 January 2010
gergroy said:
txrattlesnake said:
gergroy said:
txrattlesnake said:
TheTruthHurts! said:
Honestly, sales would probably be almost identical to what they are now. I am confidient that FFXIII exclusive and GTAIV dlc would'nt have made a 5mil + difference considering the PS3's overpriced start.

Oh, and there is no way the PS3 would even be close to striking distance of the Wii so we can scratch that one off the list.


     The Wii's only at a little over 60 million.  I really don't think it's beyond possibility that the PS3 would be at 50 million now if they had had exclusive FFXIII worldwide Christmas 2008 and exclusive FF Versus XIII worldwide Christmas 2009.

it would sell an additional 20 million units based on one game?  So at least double the amount of ps3's as people that would have bought the game?  That is some good logic there txrattlesnake :)  Also, I don't think going multiplat would have affected development by 2 years, and outside of Japan FFXIII influence on moving systems is pretty limited.


     It would have been based on more than one game.  People knowing that it was getting dlc for GTA IV would have moved more systems when GTA IV was released.  We know that MGS 4 moved systems and FFXIII would have moved many more than that.  Then what the PS3 was lacking Holiday '08, even though most critics agreed that they had the best games of that holiday sales season was a powerful system seller.  FFXIII like FFVII and FFX would have provided that boost.

    With the growing install base, MH3 and other games probably would have come to the PS3 too.  And FF Versus XIII Christmas '09 would have continued the momentum.  They probably would have hurried up the release of GT to keep it going as well.

     I believe the decision to put XIII on the 360 wasn't made until way past the midpoint of FFXIII's development, so, I do think that delayed the game's release at least one year.  And it makes since to think so imho as FFXIII should have been out Christmas '08, Versus XIII in '09, and XIV holiday 2010. 

I don't think the GTA IV DLC really mattered to the consumer as the sell rate seemed to be pretty evenly split based on marketshare.  You have to remember that GTA was only a timed exclusive on the ps2 so the fanbase was already there on the xbox and then a lot of ps2 owners switched consoles this gen in NA.  

FFXIII and Versus XIII would NOT be done 2 years earlier because they went multiplat.  They could have made the game on the ps3 and then ported it to the 360 (like they did).  That would only increase development time for a studio as large as square enix for 4 or 5 months at best.  Also, Versus XIII is still ps3 exclusive so if it was going to come out in holiday 2009 it would be out already.  

The reason MGS4 moved units so well is because it reintroduced a backwards compatible 80 gig model that was in high demand and had been cleared off shelves for MONTHS.  While MGS4 is a great game and definetly moved systems, that increase was more than just the game, it was the reintroduction of the model as well.  

Anyway, outside of japan Final Fantasy and MH3 have almost no influence on hardware sales.  The reason that ps3 is so far down this gen is because it lost it's stranglehold on NA and others.  It came out at too high a cost and didn't have games to back it up for almost 2 years.  Japan is not that big of a territory as far as hardware sales go and that is really the only territory that would have been heavily influences by the exclusivity of final fantasy.  

Now, if they had been able to retain timed exclusivity of GTAIV, or Assassins Creed, Resident Evil, or any of the other popular franchises in western society they might be in a slightly better position, but not 20 million units better.  At most you are talking maybe 2 to 3 million jump is all.  Price is a much bigger factor than games, and Sony just barely got to a competitive price point 4 years after launch.

Final Fantasy VII sold 5.79 million copies in the West (Europe and USA combined) and Final Fantasy X sold well over 4.5 million copies in the West.  Surely those titles also moved PS1s and PS2s in the West.   FFXIII would have also moved consoles in the West if it had only been on PS3.



Andysw on 30 January 2010

I believe microsoft wouldn't be at this position today without rushing their console to the market and screwing up their customers with the red lights. Benefitted them a lot, but not the customers. Not very ethical.