How important are first party games to a console?

[themistermanguy]

First party games in the gaming world, are games that are funded and published by the platform holder. That being software being made by the same people who make the hardware. While third parties help round out your system's library, first party games drive it. Yet, whenever a recent newcomer enters the industry, they seem to ignore the importance of first party.

I've talked about Stadia before, but still, the fact the Google couldn't get a batch of first party games ready for the platform's launch showed just how poorly planned Stadia's first year was. They waited until the damn thing was launched to start opening in-house studios and signing a developers. Which means we're going to have to wait potentially 2 years before we get anything resembling a first party lineup from them.

Compare this to both Sony and Microsoft. Sony didn't have a history in games when they launched the PlayStation. But they were able to contract a few independent developers to make PlayStation exclusives published by Sony. Within a few years, Sony built their own studios, and acquired a few others. Today, PlayStation is home to some of the best first party content on any platform, that regularly sell consoles en mass. Xbox wouldn't have gotten by without Halo, who's developer Bungie, was bought by Microsoft for the sole purpose of publishing it as an Xbox Exclusive. Halo as a first party game, single handedly justified the Xbox as a platform. Even fucking Oculus gets this with their platform. Hell, I can just say Nintendo and be done with it.

Point is, first party matters. Having third parties isn't enough, if you aren't making games yourself.

 

[Trunkage]

My first console I bought in a decade was a Switch. So... a lot. Mario dragged me out of the elitist PC doldrums.

That being said, never going to buy PS or Xbox. I really like Souls games but Bloodborne was never going to make me buy a PS4. So... not much

 

[Bob_McMillan]

Depends on the company making the console honestly. Literally the only reason to get any Nintendo console is because of Nintendo games. And I guess portability, but that's personally not a big deal for me.

I've been a Sony Pony since the PS2 because all my friends had Sony consoles. My whole country has Sony consoles. Why the heck would I bother with an Xbox, knowing I wouldn't be able to play with anyone, share games, or even get my console serviced? The PS4 was the first console I chose actually being informed about the differences of the consoles. From what I remember, the PS4 wasn't looking too great in terms of exclusives. And yet I bought it anyway, because it was cheaper, more available, and all my friends had one.

That's not to say that first party games aren't important. Obviously the PS4 is doing so well partly because of all the smash hit exclusives they've been putting out (I'd argue they're doing so well largely because Microsoft is doing so shit). But for me, I can't see a game being so incredibly good that it would make me buy a console only for that reason.

 

[XsjadoBlayde]

I only got a ps4 for Bloodborne, anything else happened to be a pleasant bonus. Oh and a growing annoyance of Microsoft helped. They randomly locked me out of my email with only a frigging useless automated customer help service to regularly deny me access too, the fucks! Literally refused every attempt to connect with a human to fix the problem.
Err, exclusives...right! Good stuff, keep it up Sony! (And Nintendo of course!) fuck off Microsoft!

 

[BrawlMan]

Important enough, but if you look at my library for the modern consoles, I do not have that many first party titles. More so on the Switch. I mainly got my PS4 and Switch for the 3rd party, mostly Japanese, games. Hell, on my Switch, I only have two 1st party Nintendo games that are ports from the Wii U . Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze and Hyrule Warriors. Compared to the PS4, I got Uncharted Collection, 4, Lost Legacy, Shadow of Colossus Remake, Driveclub, Wipeout Omega Collection, God of War III (free w/PSN), God of War 4, Gravity Rush Remaster, and Spider-Man. I used to have Gravity Rush 2, but I sold it because I did not like it.

 

[Ezekiel]

Basically exclusives? Exclusives are the only reason I get consoles. They're extremely important.

Nintendo was a lot of fun for me this generation after not having one of their consoles since the Gamecube. PlayStation, however, isn't what they used to be, and even back in the PS2 era they didn't have very many great first party games and relied heavily on third party developers who now publish on other platforms. Okami, Metal Gear Solid 3 and Devil May Cry, among many others, were PlayStation exclusives. The PS4 will probably be my last PlayStation.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Depends on the games really.

 

[BrawlMan]

PlayStation, however, isn't what they used to be, and even back in the PS2 era they didn't have very many great first party games and relied heavily on third party developers who now publish on other platforms. Okami, Metal Gear Solid 3 and Devil May Cry, among many others, were PlayStation exclusives.

That is true. The only reason they lost so many 3rd party exclusives at that time, was "$599 US DOLLARS!". And the PS3 was b(i)tch to develop for. So many 3rd party companies had to go multi-plat; especially Capcom and Square being the biggest examples. I remember when RE fans, DMC fans, and FF fans lost their shit when RE5, DMC4, & FFXIII were no longer PS exclusives.

The PS4 will probably be my last PlayStation.

Your choice, but I had more fun with the PS4 exclusives than I did the PS3 exclusives. The ones I was able to play anyway. What did not help was that for half of 7th gen, most of their exclusives boiled down to, let's be like Gears of COD Halo. It took near the end of 7th gen and a little bit of gen 8 to stop that crap. Ratchet and Clank and Little Big Planet could only due so much at the time. Seeing the PS5 event has gotten me reasonably optimistic and excited. I am still going to get PS5 1.5-2 years after launch.

 

[themistermanguy]

PlayStation, however, isn't what they used to be, and even back in the PS2 era they didn't have very many great first party games and relied heavily on third party developers who now publish on other platforms. Okami, Metal Gear Solid 3 and Devil May Cry, among many others, were PlayStation exclusives. The PS4 will probably be my last PlayStation.

The PS2 had excellent first party support. Many of the console's best games were from Sony themselves. God of War, Jak & Daxter, Ratchet & Clank, Sly Cooper, Ico, Dark Cloud, Shadow of the Colossus, Gran Turismo 3 & 4.

 

[Avnger]

I don't think it's possible to understate how important exclusives are when comparing one console vs another.

All of Nintendo's consoles exist as largely first-party-only machines.
Want to compare the success of the PS4 vs the XBox One? Just look at the critical and user acclaim of the available exclusives (Bloodborne, Spiderman, God of War, Horizon vs Halo 5, Gears 5, Sunset Overdrive, Sea of Thieves).

 

[Chimpzy]

I can appreciate 1st party games, because while exceptions of course exist, they often equate to quality. They tend to be made by top developers given big budgets. That usually means high levels of polish and lavish production values. They also tend to be complete experiences, free of most of the bullshit practices a lot of 3rd party publishers like to vomit all over their output. I'd say that on the whole the 1st party game is one of the safest bets for a day 1 purchase and getting your money's worth, at least within the AAA space.

As for how important they are to me? Having plenty of interesting 1st/2nd party games plays a significant role in my decision to get a system, but by themselves aren't a tiebreaker. I need some additional 3rd party for that, including smaller games and indies, the latter I think are all too often forgotten about when someone complains a system doesn't have 3rd party support. But that's a different discussion.

 

[laggyteabag]

If you are comparing two consoles that are identical in purpose, like the Xbox One and a PS4, then I would say that first party games are very important.

If the console itself is unique, like the Switch, then I would say they are less important.