At E3 a couple of weeks ago, it was announced that the Xbox 360 would get a new map pack for the upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 before other systems. This kind of thing isn’t uncommon in terms of the wider industry, but does it actually affect anything? The question I am posing today is whether there being system exclusives makes you more interested or less in the game and the system as a whole.
For me, I sit firmly on the side of not really caring. I own all three main consoles, thus I can play any of the exclusives I want to, but most of them I don’t. I have always been of the opinion that exclusivity doesn’t work to everyone’s favour. I mean, looking at the games that have been exclusive to a particular system in the past, they haven’t always the best developed titles. I know that statement will be a bone of contention for some but in my view it is true. Looking at the last game that I played that was a system exclusive, which was inFAMOUS, in my view, it didn’t quite live up to the billing that it was given in the pre-release hype. That isn’t to say that it wasn’t a good and fun game; it just wasn’t as good as I was expecting.
Of course, there is the factor that having one system to code for means a better development cycle as developers can concentrate on just a single platform and to some degree this is very true. Having to code for one console or system does mean that the developers should get a better product out, however, as I said before that isn’t always the case. Then again, some multiplatform games don’t come up to scratch either so it isn’t a trait that only exclusives have.
Moreover, I believe that having an exclusive game to a particular system perhaps jades people against that system instead of what the platform’s company wishes. This is; to make the customer want that company’s system over their rival’s. Looking at some of the great games like LittleBigPlanet or Mass Effect that are system exclusives, that if they weren’t could be played and enjoyed by so many more people, as they are experiences that should not be missed.
Full retail titles are not the only offender. No, as I mentioned at the start of this article you have Downloadable Content or DLC to blame for this too. This, for me, is actually worst than that of full titles. Having a game that you have just spent your hard earned cash on not be totally complete is just plain stupid. Most DLC opens up even more content to the user, (that’s the whole point) so to cut off a massive chunk of the users but going exclusive to one system seems a little strange. The biggest offenders in this, in my opinion, are probably GTAIV and Fallout 3 giving their content to the Xbox 360 and leaving the other systems high and dry.
So, in closing, you can see that I sit firmly on the “not a good idea” side of this fence, but what do you guys think? Does it annoy you like me when games are exclusive even if it is for a limited amount of time? Or on the other side does it make you feel good to have something before a boat load of other people? Come on spill the beans in the comment section below.
4 Responses to “Console Exclusives: How Do You Feel About Them?” Leave a reply ›
Hmmm...I agree with you about the whole DLC thing, and also that doing single-console only releases makes it easier to code them.
Owning a PC only, I often find myself left out of major console releases for weeks, months, even forever. Is there any particular reason for this apart from the coding problem or are they just being mean?
There are some cases like inFamous and LittleBigPlanet where the game is a Sony, or Microsoft published game, thus giving the console manufacturer the rights to the product. Studios like naughty Dog and Insomniac are funded by Sony for instance, which they would struggle to put out the amazing content they deliver if stopped.
I currently don't have the capacity to own both a 360 and PS3, and my choice for PS3 was because of the console exclusives they had. While I would love to play games like Gears of War and Halo, I chose MGS4, and at the time Final Fantasy XIII. The fact both these series have gone multiplatform shows once more how the industry is losing the console exclusive third party games. DLC has never been a major part of my gaming, so that element of the exclusivity deals you mention above doesnt affect me.
Great article by the way, was a good read.
third parties should be multiplatform. its really that simple. now if that was the case who would win ps3 or 360
Third part titles should be multi platform but they all take advantage of the different system's capabilities.