• 30Mar 11

  Exsclustivity on platforms

  Just talking with mates while playing xbox something dawned on us that probably has been noticed by other gamers gamers alike which is the sudden change in importance of exsclusivity. Remembering back to when xbox 360 and ps3 first came there were many so called 'exclusive' games for each console, this would be primarly relating to ps3 and xbox 360 and PC as they share the same capabilities in terms of grphics and ability, yes one may or is definitly better than the others but thats an argument we already sick and tired of by now.

  What I want to focus on is the importance of exsclustivity on the maket and on all three platforms now, compared to what it was in the past and how and why did it change. Thinking way back when I first got the ps2 exsclusivity did'nt really bother me at all at first infact I did'nt really think about other games on oher consols or PC as far as i was concerned I had a playstation I wanted to play playstation games. Sure there were the odd pc game i was amazed by, such as call of duty or somethiing like that but i was probably more than happy with my gta3 and mgs2 or dynisty warriors.

  Yes I probably was missing out on aload of nintendo games and pc games but i just was'nt bothered. But then the xbox came out, which i remember because of games like halo, Splinter Cell, some wierd game about a cat that could slow down time (from what i could remeber) that crappy abe game that flopped (such a shame), Fable and quite a few other xbox exsclusives came out which I really wanted to play. This was when I first noticed and acknoledge exclustivity of games. I've never understood the actual ins and outs of exclustivity then though, not like i relise what it is for now (from what I could tell) which is primarly to sell one console over another or because of capability issues of course (there maybe other reasons if so fill me in). As time went by and sony nd microsoft battled it out alot of the exsclusives started to bridge over, It was'nt long till i was playing splinter cell on my playstation (bought everyone since) mgs2 substance came out on xbox and xbox also managed to get hold of al three gta games from that generation but PC still kinda was one up ontop of both consoles because of its superior hardware and graphics but then developers seemed to come out with downgraded ports like the Call of duty: finest hour and big red one but compared to the COD on PC they were nothing special and other spin offs of rather good PC games like deus ex came out with rather flimsy ports. This kind of thing stated to happen just when the xbox 360 came out and it seemed like exsclustivity for ps2 and xbox original went out the window in a way. Once PS3 had released it seemd like the element of exsclutivity was back in full swing, ps3 came out with multiple promised exsclusives but xbox with the advantage of time on there side were holding alot of exsclusives under its belt already some of which were snatched from sony themselves (tenchu, gta, final fantasy) but i was still itching to play mgs 4 (i had defected from playstation to xbox 360, sony were just taking bloody ages and i wanted to be in next gen already!) so once again i was stuck by the importance of exsclustivity once more, but this also was quite good as things like the orange box, oblivion and fear were coming out with geniuen ports thats played just like they did on pc to consoles but at the same time ultimatly opning my eyes to what i was missing from pc gaming when i was stuck in ps2 back in the day.
  
  Now it seems alot of the the exclusives that seemed so special to each platform are bridging over and everyone is able to play alot of titles never seen befor on there platforms, titles like, metal gear solid, deus ex, elder scrolls V, mass effect and alot others i can not recall are all now being released on all three platforms at the same time. In some ways I'm pretty happy I dpnt have to worry about buying another console to play my beloved metal gear solid (when number five comes out) anymore, no more do I have to feel frustrated and slight jealosy of the pc owner but in some ways its quite sad to see these titles so easily passed around, it sort of made games feel special when you played them knowing they would only be seen on one platform and i think it gave playing a console charecter or personality if you like just a diffrent feel to playing a console your so used to , I am not implying that each platform is losing there general feel and uniqueness, you will never mistake playing an xbox 360 for a ps3 or pc and they all still have there perks and general feel to them but i feel that it takes something out of the game almost. Clearly there will always be exsclusive games and i guess this sort of cycle is suppose to be exspected but compared to the last generation of consoles I think this generation should be cosiderably diffrent as our consols have out lasted our previouse generation of games from what I have seen we won't be seeing a a new playstation or xbox for a while yet...maybe. but what do you guys think, will exsclustivity fade out for good now that consols are little more complex so that now there able to share titles with pc games effectivly, or will pc suddenly take a massive leap in tech so that we start getting half arsed ports like the last gen?, how wil things like ps move and kinect effect this? do you really care? let us here your view pls
  
  ps. list out some more exsclusvies that ment something to you (past and present) and what you think should or should have stayed exsclusive
  
  my list:

  gears of war
  metal gear solid
  zone of the enders
  the sims (pc)
  mass effect
  god of war
  killzone
  tenchu
  bioshock
  oblivion
  silent hill
  Halo
  
  

  • Posted Mar 30, 2011 5:41 pm GMT
  • Tag
  • Print
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Digg

See Previous Blog Posts »