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GTA Sony Exclusivity Reaffirmed - For Now 78

Posted by simoniker from the ngage-version-can-only-be-weeks-away dept.
Thanks to GamesIndustry.biz for their article discussing Take Two's comments on console exclusivity for the Grand Theft Auto franchise, following the surprise announcement of the GTA 'double-pack' for Xbox, which came about because Take Two/Rockstar had "amended its exclusivity deal with Sony, which had previously prevented the games from appearing on any console other than the PS2." Despite this amendment, Take Two CEO Jeffery Lapin confirmed "...that the next [GTA] game will be on the PlayStation 2 (not the PlayStation 3 as has been speculated by some commentators) and will have an unspecified period of exclusivity on that platform." He also stated that the company "currently has no plans to bring the series to Nintendo's GameCube", but might re-evaluate if "financially prudent".
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GTA Sony Exclusivity Reaffirmed - For Now More

GTA Sony Exclusivity Reaffirmed - For Now

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  • I wonder if this is going to affect Take 2 PC ports, they used to make a PC port for every game in the GTA series after around a year of the PS2 release.
    I just hope that they'll continue doing so, I have no plans to buy a PS2 any time soon just to play one game, no matter how good the game is.

    • Re:PC ports ... (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Ceyan ( 668082 )
      There was a court decision (I think it was settled in court at least, or maybe someone just found a loophole and no one contested it) a long time ago that stated exclusive releases on a console did not have bearing on a PC given the seperate classification. (A console is well... a console, whereas a PC is a personal computer and not associated with the definition of a "console"). The idea is that exclusive rights on a console means that those rights apply to console classified systems only.
      • Hope you're right. Sony also have exclusive rights to the Formula One franchise until 2007 I believe. Not sure WHAT the means to the PC. Sure as hell not heard of any licensed games in development for the PC.

  • These companies are so dumb (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Apreche ( 239272 ) on Monday September 08, 2003 @02:59PM (#6902646) Homepage Journal
    How come companies still don't get it? Sure, there aren't as many GameCubes out there are there are PS2s. But look at the sales numbers on cube games. The big hit games sell big. Soul Calibur 2 for the cube sold tons more copies than for the other two consoles. Games like "dumb movie license game 3" and "crummy sports game 20X6" don't sell crap on the cube. But they sell on the other systems.

    Why is this? Cube owners expect extremely high quality games, games that compete with the extremely high quality of games made by Nintendo. Games like F-ZERO, The Wind Waker and Smash Brothers. EIDOS and Acclaim make only shitty games, that's why they dropped the cube. Cube owners are too smart to buy that crap. Not to say PS2 owners are dumb. There are good games for the Playstation, and when they come out they sell big. But they don't sell bigger than the cube. A hit cube game sells about 1 disc per every 2 or 3 consoles out there. A hit ps2 game sells about 1 disc for every 20 or 25 consoles out there. Because of the large number of ps2 consoles, you can make money by selling crap games. Because even if every 100th guy buys your game you got cash.

    So, what does this have to do with GTA? It's a huge hit game! If they sold it for the cube they would probably sell one copy for every 2.5 cubes out there. With PS2 only, they are selling at most one copy for every 15 PS2s.

    Games companies, listen here. You can make a lot of money on the GCN, but you have to make hit games. If you are in the business of making crap, don't bother making a cube version, you're just taking up shelf space.

    Besides, all those PS2 and XboX games come out for the PC eventually anyway. That's why my money is in the cube.

    • Re:These companies are so dumb (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      There are a couple reasons. First it is quicker to develop for one platform, and the second (and probably most important) is that when a game is exclusive the platform maker, be it sony or nintendo, gives the game maker a bigger cut of the profits. I would also suspect (though i have no proof of this) that when a company signs a deal to develop a game exclusivly for one platform they make a deal that the platform will give them a good deal on profits for other smaller, less surefire games. So by making G
    • Name one multi-console game that has been a huge hit on the GameCube.

      Soul Calibur 2, obviously. Any others?

      Soul Calibur 2 is clearly a special case. People who own both a GameCube and PS2 and wanted Soul Calibur 2 probably bought the GameCube version. It had Link, and the PS2 version had Heihachi. People with both who want GTA probably already own it for the PS2, and even if they didn't there's not much reason to buy the GameCube version over the PS2 one.

      There's really no reason to think that GTA wou
      • All Star Baseball sells better on the Cube than on the other systems. Probably because the series originated on the N64, and only went multiplatform this generation.

        TimeSplitters 2 sold about equally on all 3 systems.

        Don't know if there are others offhand.

        Most ports don't sell well on the GameCube because they usually come out significantly later than for the other systems, and are straight ports, which usually means a bad framerate and/or low quality textures.
        • All Star Baseball sells better on the Cube than on the other systems. Probably because the series originated on the N64, and only went multiplatform this generation.

          I thought that game started out on the NES, maybe I'm just thinking of some other baseball game. Whatever game it was, it was the first baseball game I ever played that had any real team management, and it seemed to be the primary focus of the game.
      • coming out over a year after the original versions

        Which is why I think the GTA Doublepack won't be a big hit on the Xbox. It'll move some, yeah, but like MGS 2 Substance before it, it's too little too late.

        Late ports never really sell. Look at the N64 for that...

        Thursdae

    • I agree. Gamecube gamers are not gonna buy crappy games. We know quality and that's what we expect. When I goto EB or Best Buy, I see racks and racks of PS2 and XBox games. But, if I actually owned either of those consoles, which games would I actually want. Of course, I'd want the GTA and Resident Evil games. I really don't need John Madden / NBA Live / NHL / Some sport 20XX since I can get them on the cube. There are a lot of other games that I see commercials, but never see after a few months. However,
    • Soul Calibur 2 sold so many GC copies because there are no other fighting games for the GC worth buying (except may Super Smash Bros Melee). PS2 has Virtua Fighter, Xbox DOA. If a game has no competition on it's platform, of course it'll sell bucketloads. It's called a captive audience.

      An even better example would be SEGA dropping GC versions of their high-quality sports games. Why? It's a small market with 800 lb gorilla dominating (EA). Plus the GC has no online strategy.

      As a GC owner, I'm happy that we
      • Soul Calibur 2 sold so many GC copies because there are no other fighting games for the GC worth buying (except may Super Smash Bros Melee). PS2 has Virtua Fighter, Xbox DOA. If a game has no competition on it's platform, of course it'll sell bucketloads. It's called a captive audience.

        Generally, I don't think Soul Calibur 2 has much to worry about from Virtua Fighter and DOA. It's got it's own audience with quite a bit of overlap in those crowds because of it's weapons-based combat, without the Virtua F

    • Re:These companies are so dumb (Score:4, Interesting)

      by PapaZit ( 33585 ) on Monday September 08, 2003 @05:19PM (#6904132)
      I picked up a Gamecube last winter after looking at the game market.

      Why a Gamecube? I don't buy a lot of games: maybe 1 per month. So, I'm only going to pick up 10-20 games before the console's obsolete. The question, then, was "What are the best few games, period, for each console?"

      I'm not a huge sports game fan, I don't play FPSs on a console (I use my PC for that), and I like to play console games with friends. I don't usually bother with sequels: I have Soul Calibur for the Dreamcast, and I probably won't bother with Soul Calibur 2.

      Playstation 2: GTA sequel, Tony sequel, Metal Gear sequel. Damned good games, but not too compelling if you own a PSOne. Also, only two controllers. Roughly a zillion crap games that I'd never buy, except by mistake.

      Xbox: Halo, and, uh, Halo. Oh, wait. Steel Battalion (for what? $200?) and Buffy. Hardly any unique content. Plus, the damned thing is huge and Microsoft is evil.

      Gamecube: Pikmin, Starfox, Zelda, Monkeyball, Super Smash Bros., Mario Sunshine, Metroid. All of these are really good games. Really good new games only come out every month or so, but that's perfect for my buying rate. I just picked up F Zero GX and have been wearing my thumbs raw with it.

      Basically, quantity doesn't matter to me. I'm only going to buy a few games, so I want them to be good ones. The Gamecube wins that contest for me.
      • XBox: Halo, Jedi Knight: Knights of the Old Republic, Splinter Cell, Metal Gear Solid, Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, Halo 2 (soon), The new Ninja Gaidan game (soon), Brute Force, Mech Assault, Any sports game (though these are any system) etc...

        And for the record, Monkeyball sucks ass.
      • Gamecube: Pikmin, Starfox, Zelda, Monkeyball, Super Smash Bros., Mario Sunshine, Metroid. All of these are really good games.

        I agree with the rest (except I haven't played Mario Sunshine yet), but Starfox Adventures was pretty dull, IMO. It's very linear, and the fights were worse than Zelda. It gave me a new appreciation for Zelda, since it copied so much from it and was so much worse.
      • While I'm not one to hate on the xbox, I just thought you should know, you're not missing out on much with Steel Battalion. Sure it's purdy, you get tons of bragging rights, but it's REALLY hard and unforgiving. Maybe that sequel will be better.
      • don't usually bother with sequels: I have Soul Calibur for the Dreamcast, and I probably won't bother with Soul Calibur 2.

        Playstation 2: GTA sequel

        Gamecube: Pikmin, Starfox, Zelda, Monkeyball, Super Smash Bros., Mario Sunshine, Metroid. All of these are really good games. Really good new games only come out every month or so, but that's perfect for my buying rate. I just picked up F Zero GX and have been wearing my thumbs raw with it.

        While I like my Gamecube and most of the games you listed, I just hav
    • Cube owners expect extremely high quality games, games that compete with the extremely high quality of games made by Nintendo.

      I notice your following list of games doesn't include the incredibly compelling Resident Evil games! (snicker) The RE games have sold ridiculously well for GC - still below expectations, but that is unfortunately par for the course with GC (quick: name a big GC title that sold far more than expected - SCII is maybe the only one I can think of).

      We have to start admitting that this
  • well, i for one am glad to see that the next Grand Theft Auto will be released on the system that made it what it is, and i think it'll be interesting to see the higher graphics on the X-box version of Vice City, i may just have to buy it again

    it'll also be interesting to see if the new GTA will be able to compete with other games coming out like True Crime: Streets of LA [activision.com] which is Multi-platform.

    • Something tells me you must be a PS2 owner, otherwise you probably wouldn't be totally thrilled about GTA4 on the PS2. I am, for one, kind of dissapointed about it. I think if the next GTA were released first for the X Box, the graphics would be tweaked to take advantage of the system. Not that it would affect gameplay any, but prettier can be better if they keep the fundamental fun of the game. On a side note, did Rockstar ever say that the x-box version of vice city would be tweaked to take advantage
      • well, yes, i am a PS2 owner, and an X-Box owner, and a GC Owner. i'm thrilled that Rockstar understands what system made GTA Popular and is catering to it first.

        as for the graphics, this isn't the only site that i get news from, Spong.com had a story just like this earlier this morning here [spong.com] that does mention that the X-Box's Vice City will be getting a higher polygon count, and therefore, better graphics. Spong.com is a VERY reputable gaming information site

    • i think it'll be interesting to see the higher graphics on the X-box version of Vice City

      The XBox version will probably be a quick port of the PC version (they both use DirectX, after all), so I doubt the graphics will be any better than what you can currently get on PC.

  • guess I wont be rushing out to get that PS3 afterall...

  • Financially Prudent? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Gr33nNight ( 679837 ) on Monday September 08, 2003 @03:29PM (#6902978)
    Lapin also stated that Take-Two currently has no plans to bring the series to Nintendo's GameCube, but will continue to evaluate the system and will release the next instalment of the franchise on other platforms after the exclusivity period ends, assuming that doing so is "financially prudent".

    In other words, if Nintendo gives us boatloads of money, we're port GTA to the GCN.
  • RockStar can keep their violent trash off of my console, thankyouverymuch. I don't own an entertainment device so I can run people over and shoot cops, I own it to play fun games which help take my mind off the realities of life, one of which includes the fact that people do in fact run over and shoot each other.
    • You realize of course that just because it's ported to the cube that you don't have to buy it, right? Quite frankly, I think Nintendo would be wise to try to get the GTA games on their system. Lots of people on here seem to whine that Nintendo needs to lose the kiddie image. This would be a great way to do it: release a well made game that has an adult rating. Of course they've done that with Eternal Darkness (probably my favorite cube game yet) the Resident Evil games, etc. But releasing a GTA game wo
      • Only problem with that is most people who'd want GTA 4 already have a PS2. I have a Cube and am quite happy with it, but I have a PS2 as well, and I'm fine with getting it for PS2. I wouldn't buy it twice, I don't care how neato it looks. And I don't mind a bit that the graphics are blocky and not overly detailed on the PS2. Graphics aren't the reason they're good games.
    • You do realize there are other games just as violent as GTA already available for the GC? Just because they are not as high profile does not mean they are any less graphic or bloody. Open your eyes to more than just what the media bitches about.
      • I can't think of any other GameCube games in which you are awarded points for killing innocent bystanders and police officers, or killing the prostitute you just paid for sex.

        (Yes I have played GTA:VC on PS2 and found it devoid of any redeeming qualities, and in the end quite boring indeed.)
    • If Rockstar ported GTA to the GC, would that force you to purchase it? Hey, I'm making CrapFest 2003 for the GC, retailing at $300. Can I put you down for a copy?

      The nice thing about consoles is *choice*. Just because you don't want to run over people on the GC, doesn't mean that other people don't.

    • Lessee...

      Resident Evil 0, 1, 2, 3, and eventually 4.
      Dead to Rights
      Hunter: The Reckoning
      Bood Omen 2
      Bood Rayne
      Eternal Darkness

      Some of the most violent games released recently, all with a GameCube version. Think you'd better sell the GameCube back to the store and get yourself a used Super Nintendo or a Genesis. You're not getting the kid friendly world you're looking for with that Cube, I'm sorry to say.
      • In all of those games you are fighting evil such as demons and zombies, not killing police officers or innocent bystanders.
        • Do you know what you're talking about?

          Blood Omen 2: You are the demon. A vampire to be exact. You kill people in bloody and gruesome ways.

          Blood Rayne: Ditto.

          Dead to Rights: You're a vigilante cop spreading death in a manner that would make Max Payne cringe.

          Yeah, these are all fine friendly things for the GameCube. Just because they aren't cops and bystanders on a street doesn't make it any more right. Just because GTA 3/VC allow you to enough freedom to kill cops, you can go through the entire game
      • I'm surprised you've left Hitman 2 off your list - a game that had to be recalled because its initial release was so offensive. There is a mission where you're gunning down "religious extremists" that just happen to look rather like the guys killed in the Amritsar massacre, on a level design that bears more than a passing resemblance to Amritsar too. All done in the most dour of "realistic" tone possible.

        Rather more dodgy than the comedy stylings of the GTA series, which had its tongue rammed right through
        • Ah, forgot about Hitman 2, but I was just rolling off what I had at the top of my head.

          Hell, put Enter the Matrix in there. You're killing all kinds of cops and government people. Yeah, I know, you're in a computer, but even in the matrix world, the people those avatars represent still die.
    • RockStar can keep their violent trash off of my console, thankyouverymuch.

      And yet your /. user ID name is "MORTAR COMBAT!".

      • "Mortar Combat!" is the cry of a unit in WarCraft III, hardly a "realistic depiction of violence towards police officers and innocent bystanders".
        • So you never instruct your WC3 armies to kill the innocent, industrious peons of an enemy village?

          The point is that violence is violence. In actuality, you're objecting to the theme of GTA, not the violence. You're just couching your personal distaste in the currently-trendy argument of "Video games are overly violent."

          Feel free to not like GTA. But don't try to tell me that WC3 is somehow morally superior to GTA, because it isn't.

  • Comment removed (Score:4, Funny)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Monday September 08, 2003 @05:07PM (#6903988)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • Personally, if Nintendo's head developer kept talking about how terrible/immoral/overrated my game was in interviews and press conferences, I wouldn't port it to Gamecube either.

    (So GTA3 isn't the future of gaming, Miyamoto? How about you start developing a game that is, then, cause you haven't managed to do something like that since Mario64. I bought my N64 for Mario64 - develop something just as revolutionary as it for GC and I will buy that, too.)
    • Just because a game sells really well doesn't mean its revolutionary or "the future of gaming." Look at sports games, those sell trainloads (especially those made by EA Games). Is virtual football the future of gaming? Course not! Yet it manages to outsell other games like crazy, not to mention makes a bigger splash than the release of games like FFX (arguably one of the most successful selling FF game to date).

      Metroid Prime is/was arguably considered to have revolutionized the adventure genre into a 3D w

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