Are exclusives important?

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TomNook

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Feb 21, 2008
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I just read the Leipzieg(sp?) Xbox ironies thread and got the impression that exclusives are important to people. Since you guys are an articulate intelligent bunch, perhaps you could clue me in as to the importance of exclusives to people.
 

Jumplion

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I don't like exclusives all the time (depending on the game atleast) but I don't care what other people say, exclusives are important.

People bought the PS3 for MGS4
People bought the 360 for Halo 3
People bought the Wii for the next Mario/Zelda/Metroid title

Like it or not, exclusives drive the industry, in either a creative way or in the sales way.
 

Janus Vesta

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Mar 25, 2008
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People argue that exclusives sell consoles but I argue that those people should stop being selfish cunts are share the love. 1st party games will always be exclusive but there is no point in having 3rd party exclusives.

And two words to shut the PS3 fanboys up about Leipzig:

Final Fantasy.
 

42manZ

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Jumplion post=9.69782.671288 said:
I don't like exclusives all the time (depending on the game atleast) but I don't care what other people say, exclusives are important.

People bought the PS3 for MGS4
People bought the 360 for Halo 3
People bought the Wii for the next Mario/Zelda/Metroid title
I do agree with this, but I also feel that exclusives give each console it's own uniqueness. Without exclusives, the only difference is that one has pretty good motion sensitivity, one has meh motion sensitivity and one has no motion sensitivity.
 

josh797

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Nov 20, 2007
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exclusives suck, they are driven by console manufacturers, and subtract from the profits of gamemakers. weve seen game devs moving towards fewer and fewer exclusives lately and it benefits both them and the gamers who buy the games. exclusives suck for the industry and make it so that we as gamers dont get to experience some of the best experiences out there unless we pay for every single console.
 

The Thief

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Apr 24, 2008
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Exclusives aren't important to me, but they are for the console companies and their fanboys.
 

BallPtPenTheif

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I personally hate not being able to play a game because it is on a different console.

That being said, without exclusives the entire console vs console landscape would be homogenus and risk splintering console sales to such a degree that no company could survive since their only selling point would be consumer cost.

It would basically be just like the death of videogames in the 80's although a lack of overall standards/quality and the glutt of shitty games was probably a bigger factor.
 

Jumplion

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To all the people who "hate" exclusives because we have to "share the love";

Get a better PC.

There, problem solved.

But to further elaborate, if there weren't any exclusives we wouldn't have console's to begin with. Imagine if, all of a sudden, all the exclusives for every console on the market right now despite the system (Wii, 360, PS3, PC) were suddenly for every platform available. Basically, it would be exactly the same as the crash of the 80s with no one single console that is noticably better than the other.

What were the real differences between the Atari2600, Collecovision, and Intellivision consoles? As far as I know, most games came out for all of them, so people (being the cheap asses they are) bought the cheapest console and the cheapest games.

So, the crash happend with all sorts of shit on the market.

the big 3 need to give the consumer a reason to get their product instead of the others, and a way to do that is through exclusives.

I don't care if you hate exclusives, everyone whines about wanting the other console's games, they keep the market alive and prevent it from becoming what the 80s were. Just get all the consoles and experience what they can all experience.

(the only exception I can think of to all of this is the PC market, but that's because everyone actually needs a PC)
 

L.B. Jeffries

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Nov 29, 2007
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Not having exclusives would pave the way for a new era of peace and unity for the gamer community. People would cast aside their differences and engage in a mature and non-biased conversation about games. It would be the dawn of a new era.

It would also be really dull.
 

xpenoxis

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Aug 27, 2008
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Exclusives are only important to "SELL" the console they really don't matter after that because there is such a thin as a shitty exclusive. Halo 3. I rest my case
 

xpenoxis

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Aug 27, 2008
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I agree with Codgo
Codgo post=9.69782.671371 said:
As with all things nothing is perfect, multiplatform and cross platform development also has its problems.

Take Bioshock, you can tell straight away that it was dumbed down for the consoles and the PC version was just ported. So many PC gamers who played System Shock 2 were very disappointed including myself. Console players can't handle an inventory? Oh please come on.

So many horror storys with console to PC ported titles. If your going to do it at least do it the other way around so everyone doesn't have to suffer.

Resident Evil 4 PC, buggy as hell and with no mouse support. Are you fucking retarded Mr Developer?
this is a very true statement I was looking for similair to system shock not a clone...
 

Bob_F_It

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May 7, 2008
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Exclusive titles are just annoying. Instead of buying a console, you're spending those 3 figures on the ability to play games that will only be out in months away. And then there will be other games which you won't be able to play because they're not on your platform.
If FFXIII is coming out on 360, good for them and may they enjoy the experience.
 

SaintWaldo

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Jun 10, 2008
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Technically, FFVII was not a PS exclusive. It came out on the PC as well. Guess which platform it's inextricably associated with and actually generated sales?

Much like GTA IV showed, I don't think FF XIII will move many X360s, but will still sell plenty of PS3s. My rationale is that all lost exclusives do right now is prevent mandatory migration, meaning that early adopters of the X360 don't have as compelling a reason to switch. There are still millions of folks waiting to make the jump to the current gen. If any of those were waiting for FF XIII to jump, they are most likely still going to jump in with a PS3. If they were waiting for Halo3, they already have an X360. This has been indicated with GTA's performance, and seems buttressed by the non-reaction to the recent X360 price drop.

3rd party exclusives seem to matter less and less, especially if you are a game producer. All platforms still have their respective 1st party iconic brands, and you will still see some individual publishers producing platform specific games (smaller ones who can't really afford multi-plat, mostly), but for the most part the large producers are choosing not to become platform advocates and instead want the market of "all gamers", not just "all gamers on a platform".

That's my impression at least. I don't bemoan lost FF exclusivity one bit. I'm happy some early X360 folks get to play the game without shelling out another $400. It's not a religion, and more folks playing any game is a good thing in my eyes. It's pretty much been proven that both current-gen systems have about a 90% overlap in capabilities. That's probably not a big enough edge to tip devs, and that leads to a market where a single exclusive isn't going to be the final shot it once was. I point to the multiple Squeenix X360 exclusives that are doing absolutely nothing for the platform in Japan. No, a single week's sales bump is not significant.

If anything declares a winner this rev, it will be one console simply admitting defeat by announcing its next rev. I have my guess on which player that will be. But I doubt it will be determined by a small fraction of titles existing on only a single platform.
 

Instinct Blues

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Jun 8, 2008
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If there were no exclusives that would give me even less of a reason to buy PS3 which I was considering buying and I think it would be bye bye Sony
 

SaintWaldo

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Instinct Blues post=9.69782.671435 said:
If there were no exclusives that would give me even less of a reason to buy PS3 which I was considering buying and I think it would be bye bye Sony
Do you already have a current gen console? You do know there are other differentiating factors: console price, control features/layout, network functionality, network price, media capability, backwards compatibility.

And many others. If the only factor you use in selecting a console is a single game, you may be missing the larger picture.
 

Jobz

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Indigo_Dingo post=9.69782.671474 said:
Realistically, exclusivity will also make some games work better. I mean, look at MGS IV.
Or, because people hate me when I mention a Ps3 game, look at Metroid: Corruption. It would probably suck it it was on the 360, due to the large number of uses of the Wiimote in it.
True, but why mention the 360 specifically, it would have sucked if it was on the PS3 as well. The motion sensing on those controllers isn't all that great after all.
 

bloodclot

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Aug 14, 2008
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As a gamer I'm of course not too enthusiastic about exclusive titles as I just want to play good games.

From the hardware industry POV they are obviously an economical necessity.

While for game developers it's fairly easy to program for both the PC & Xbox platform (see XNA), they will have a hard time porting that game to the PS3 and vice versa. So they have to decide on what platform the games will come out before the first line of code is written. Thats why you rarely see cross-platform titles from indie developers - it's just too expensive.

Big studios like Square Enix & Rockstar etc., can afford the inital cost of cross-platform development and will most likely get the desired revenues. So they can make the gamers happy by making some good AAA titles available to them (apart from the fanboys).

So, the crux of consoles is that they seem to yield similar results, yet give developers a hard time, deciding for which consoles to develop for. Plus they need to be familiar with the system they produce for, which takes quite some time to learn.

In that regard, exclusives are a direct result of the provided hardware and economic considerations rather than arbitrary decisions.
 

Danny Ocean

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Jun 28, 2008
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Wow, only 19 replies and it's already turning. *gasp*

Exclusives never bothered me. Seriously. Never interested unless it's the latest game in a series like Halo or Half Life. I've never played MGS seriously. I remember one of the few times I did play it. The main guy goes into a room with some metal shelves, a soldier is killed by this other guy who throws him across the room, and I'm then meant to kill said guy.
Who can crawl on ceilings.
At that point I lost interest.
 

Strafe Mcgee

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Jan 25, 2008
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Jumplion post=9.69782.671288 said:
I don't like exclusives all the time (depending on the game atleast) but I don't care what other people say, exclusives are important.

People bought the PS3 for MGS4
People bought the 360 for Halo 3
People bought the Wii for the next Mario/Zelda/Metroid title

Like it or not, exclusives drive the industry, in either a creative way or in the sales way.
Balls. I bought the 360 years ago and I'm still yet to play Halo 3. People will generally buy the console that has the most games specifically catered to their own tastes, be they exclusives or not. Some exclusives do help to shift consoles, it's true, but it's not the defining factor that makes people buy one console over another. Other factors like price, general functions (Blu-Ray player, web browser support, online gaming support etc etc), are as important, if not more important than console exclusives when making the decision to buy a console.

As much as I want to play MGS 4, there ain't no way I'm gonna splash out on a PS3 just to play that one game. Plus, whoever brought up Final Fantasy XIII ought to be shot. I don't know about anyone else but I've had quite enough of the fanboy wars over that one.