Why Game Exclusivity Deals Are Feeding the Hate 205
Parz writes "The recent announcement that the upcoming Ghostbusters game will be a timed PlayStation exclusive in the PAL territories — revealed a mere month before release — has set a nasty precedent which could have long-term repercussions for the industry. This Gameplayer article explores how this generation of gaming has spiraled into a tit-for-tat war on third-party exclusivity deals instigated by Sony and Microsoft, and the effect it is having on the psychology of the consumers. The Ghostbusters developers aren't pleased by Sony's deal, and the Guardian questions whether the game will be big enough to really affect console sales."
Re:While Sony & MS battle... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:While Sony & MS battle... (Score:3, Interesting)
You are seriously comparing a AAA console title to tower defense and labyrinth?
Re:Microsoft Invented It (Score:5, Interesting)
Halo was going to be a Mac game until Microsoft bought Bungie. Then it was an Xbox exclusive for awhile and was later released on both PC and Mac.
This will probably never change (Score:4, Interesting)
It could well be argued that the PS1 was the run-away success that it was because of exclusive Final Fantasy and Metal Gear Solid franchises. For the PS2, it was much the same, except that it had then gained Grand Theft Auto (yes, I know it came to the PC and 360 later, but by then it really was a one horse race).
There were times when I looked at the games on the 360 and Wii, that weren't coming to the PS3, and wondered if I would be better off buying one of them instead of waiting for the PS3 to come down in price. It wasn't long though before Oblivion, Lost Planet, and Bioshock did actually come to the PS3, with the addition of features that trumped the original release.
Rather ironically, I felt that only one of them was actually worth the wait, in the end...
Re:Stupid article (Score:2, Interesting)
I think he meant the game asa whole getting a big delay for the PS3 and the port being crap AFAIK. Dunno why you'd buy that for a console anyway, the PC version is a LOT cheaper...
It will still be available to all... (Score:2, Interesting)
I can see why the developers are pissed off at this one.
People who wanted it on the PC platform in the EU will have two choices now: wait until Sony dictates they can join the party or get a crafty copy from someone state-side over them there h'interwebs.
The PAL/NTSC thing makes bugger all differece to people playing game on a PC so unless there were some local specific changes planned for the game (translations being the only likely one and that isn't a major draw as most of Europe, for instance, can speak English as well as many "natural" English speakers I could mention - at least well enough to enjoy a game in the language).
Even those (the majority I would guess) that do wait may be lost sales. By the time it does come out for the PC their excitement may have diminished either because the game picked up so-so reviews or simply because the next big thing is just around the corner and they are thinking about that instead. There are also people like me - I now won't be buying unless I find a way of not buying it through a route that aids Sony (which means getting a 2nd hand copy later or finding one from another distribution territory without paying extra through delivery/duty fees). Of course Sony will blame these lost sales on piracy, not on the fuckwittery that is last-minute third-party exclusives...
None of this is anything Sony will give a shit about. OK so as the distributor they will lose some money from the lost sales too, not just the developers and publishers, but that will be less important to them than the marketing potential of having an exclusive title for a time.
A quick suggestion for those in affected areas: write a quick letter to you local daily papers about how a foreign company is being allowed to stop people playing a game unless it is on their platform. Over here the Mail and the Sun love this sort of shit. Let us see if we can't get some bad press for Sony out of this if nothing else. Drop a note to your local rabidly right-wing MPs (including, but not limited to ranty idiots like the BNP) too - people bother MPs for far more stupid things than this (and to be frank the right-wing nut-jobs aren't doing anything useful with their time otherwise anyway) and maybe any resulting noise will encourage the competition commission to peruse the situation (OK, the CC do have better things to be doing with their time so maybe not).
Hate Hulu ? Why ? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Stupid article (Score:3, Interesting)
Well, then it means that those of us in europe will just have to import american copies of the game in order to play it... I travel on business quite a lot so that really isn't an issue for me.
But in order to play copies we bought legitimately in the US, we have to have a modchip...
But since we have a modchip anyway, it just becomes more convenient to download the us version rather than buy it.
Re:Stupid article (Score:3, Interesting)
It might also be why PS3 games are not region coded.
In fact, there are already threads discussing importing the US version of FFXIII to the UK when its released, instead of waiting the inevitable 6-12 months for Square to finish all the language localizations for the Europe release.
Re:Stupid article (Score:1, Interesting)