Are we heading to having less exclusives?

[BabyTyrant]

Before I start I know not everyone is focused on the exclusive title library a system has, but I know for many it is definitely a key factor

Lately it seems like somehow that previous exclusives are moving to systems they were never on before (whether they are Legacy titles like Crash or Spyro, or something newish like Cuphead; which is coming to the Switch)

I would guess its works by either exchanging one exclusive title for another, for example if Microsoft wants a title that would have previously been a Sony Exclusive; Sony would get a Microsoft Xbox Exclusive in exchange so both get a new title to their systems.

Or more likely they set a price to bring the title to their systems, say Microsoft offers $5 million to Sony in exchange for a previous Sony exclusive to come to Xbox; in this way they dont have to give anything up and someone that may have bought a Sony system for the remastered Crash can now buy Xbox and still get it.

Of course I think newer games may still retain exclusive status on their exclusives systems for a while longer, like until something happens I would not expect to hear Xbox getting the likes of something like Horizon Zero Dawn.

I would like to hear your thoughts regardless of which system we feel is the best or how you feel about exclusives personally

 

[MandyBear]

Firstly, you have to separate "In House" titles from "3rd party" titles.
Games devoloped by Microsoft [XBox] or Sony [Playstation] for their own platforms are theirs to do with what they want.
Maybe after a few years they realize additional profits can be made selling the rights to other gaming platforms.
3rd party usually just have a contract for one platform, but after that contract expires they are free to sell it to whoever they want.

 

[BabyTyrant]

Firstly, you have to separate "In House" titles from "3rd party" titles.
Games devoloped by Microsoft [XBox] or Sony [Playstation] for their own platforms are theirs to do with what they want.
Maybe after a few years they realize additional profits can be made selling the rights to other gaming platforms.
3rd party usually just have a contract for one platform, but after that contract expires they are free to sell it to whoever they want.

I get that and would expect that the contract on a game series like Crash Bandicoot or Spyro probably expired long ago (since they were both PSX Exclusives) ; unless those studios were actually Sony owned

 

[MandyBear]

Older games sometimes hit a grey area where the owner of the title & the rights holders get murky.
Companies go under, get bought and sold, ect, ect, ect and after a while no one has a clue who owns what, lol.
Same thing happens with Movies, TV shows, Music, ect.
Sometimes, the owner does not even realize they own it, LOL!!

 

[BabyTyrant]

Older games sometimes hit a grey area where the owner of the title & the rights holders get murky.
Companies go under, get bought and sold, ect, ect, ect and after a while no one has a clue who owns what, lol.
Same thing happens with Movies, TV shows, Music, ect.
Sometimes, the owner does not even realize they own it, LOL!!

Yeah I can see that.

In one regard it would be great to have all games release on all consoles; but I highly doubt it will happen with all games.

I think the console makers will still want to hold onto certain IPs for themselves; especially Nintendo and to a degree Sony.

That makes it to where if you want to play certain games (like for Mario, Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Smash Bros, etc in Nintendos case; and God of War, Last of Us, Uncharted, Horizon Zero Dawn, etc in Sonys case) that you have to buy their console to play those games.

If there were no exclusives, sales of certain consoles could go down to almost none (if one wanted Nintendo IPs and they went to the other consoles one may not want to buy a switch, unless it was because of Portability).

Of course that is why Xbox has lost the current generation console war and may lose the next generation because people want something amazing; and quality wise I really cant say the quality is there in a lot of Multi-Platform games and in a way I would say Xbox exclusives.

But that is just my opinion and I know some will always defend the Holy Trinity of Xbox exclusives (Halo, Forza, and Gears of War)

 

[MandyBear]

Well with the Big 3 Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, all three had their niche, but not anymore, lol.
Nintendo was, and still is the "Kid friendly, Family" console.
If you wanted the best graphics, you played a PlayStation, but sacrificed online/multiplayer playability.
If you wanted the biggest online/multiplayer experience you got an XBox and settled on graphics.

But now, PlayStation has upped their online end & XBox upped their graphics, so I feel its prob down to brand loyalty at this point, lol.
The only other factor is price and their overall game catalog, but its not like you play 100 different games.
Unless you really, really, want to play certain exclusive titles or most of your friends have one console or the other.

 

[BabyTyrant]

Well with the Big 3 Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, all three had their niche, but not anymore, lol.
Nintendo was, and still is the "Kid friendly, Family" console.
If you wanted the best graphics, you played a PlayStation, but sacrificed online/multiplayer playability.
If you wanted the biggest online/multiplayer experience you got an XBox and settled on graphics.

But now, PlayStation has upped their online end & XBox upped their graphics, so I feel its prob down to brand loyalty at this point, lol.
The only other factor is price and their overall game catalog, but its not like you play 100 different games.
Unless you really, really, want to play certain exclusive titles or most of your friends have one console or the other.

But you have noticed that the Xbox One has been selling far fewer units than PS4?; the main reason is Sony has maintained a big library of amazing exclusives games (not just on the current Generation either, they had had great game Libraries since PSX) and to some people it still matters

you cant sell everyone on having backwards compatibility (the biggest thing I was sad to see go from PS3 onwards) and a better (digital) "rental/subscription service.

It's just that in recent years the number of games going Cross Platform are on the rise, so it isnt gonna matter as much as it used to.

 

[flapjackboy]

Yes and that's not a bad thing.

Exclusives are bad for the industry.

 

[MandyBear]

TBH, I could care less if the console market imploded tomorrow. I'm a PC gamer. LOL!
My keyboard & mouse alone cost almost as much as an xbox one s, lol
And what the frak is so great about an XBox One X that is costs 500 freakin dollars??
Seriously, cause I dont know, lol

 

[BabyTyrant]

TBH, I could care less if the console market imploded tomorrow. I'm a PC gamer. LOL!
My keyboard & mouse alone cost almost as much as an xbox one s, lol
And what the frak is so great about an XBox One X that is costs 500 freakin dollars??
Seriously, cause I dont know, lol

Well, they have a few "selling points" for the One X

1. It is the only console that currently does "Native 4K" ; the PS4 Pro and Xbox One S only upscale to try to give an image that resembles "True 4K" and honestly on the PS4 Pro depending on the game the graphics do get very reasonably close to "True (Native) 4k" so IMO that isnt as big of a deal as they want people to think it is.

2. It runs better than the PS4 Pro; though I feel in the real world the numbers do less than what they want you to believe

3. The One X has a built in 4K Blu-Ray player, at one point that alone was about $200 on the low end if you bought a cheap one, not to mention the movies were pretty expensive

Either way a decent PC is still gonna be better than any consoles out there currently and probably next gen too.

 

[MandyBear]

Either way a decent PC is still gonna be better than any consoles out there currently and probably next gen too.

The of the biggest differences between consoles and PC comes down to one thing.
A TV vs. a computer monitor.
A 27' hi end gaming monitor = 500 to 700+ bucks
A 65' 4k smart wifi blah blah TV = 500 bucks
A 65' 4k gsync gaming monitor = 5,000 bucks
Everything about even an average computer monitor just blows away even the best TVs
The pictures, depth, resolution, whatever is incredible.
Especially now everything is mostly HDMI, You want a great console experience, play it on a computer monitor.

Sure PC graphics cards play a big role for PCs, but the tech behind monitor vs TV is like night n day

Ive had a bluray R/W drive in my pc for years , funny thing is I dont own a single bluray movie LOL, but anything I do watch online looks great

 

[BabyTyrant]

The of the biggest differences between consoles and PC comes down to one thing.
A TV vs. a computer monitor.
A 27' hi end gaming monitor = 500 to 700+ bucks
A 65' 4k smart wifi blah blah TV = 500 bucks
A 65' 4k gsync gaming monitor = 5,000 bucks
Everything about even an average computer monitor just blows away even the best TVs
The pictures, depth, resolution, whatever is incredible.
Especially now everything is mostly HDMI, You want a great console experience, play it on a computer monitor.

Sure PC graphics cards play a big role for PCs, but the tech behind monitor vs TV is like night n day

Well your average TV is built on a budget to get your "Average Joes" that really dont know much (or anything) about TVs to buy it; these budget TVs are going to be good enough for a lot of people; but just like (almost) anything else if you spend more money you typically get a better product; the problem being an exceptional TV can still cost multiples of what a budget TV costs.

really good TVs seems to start at $800+++ (depending on brand, screen size, how new it is, if it is their "Top of the Line" model, etc) and a lot of consumers are not gonna spend that when a budget model for half the money is probably gonna suit them just plain fine; especially in this day and age when the cheaper TVs usually have a lot of the same basic features (connecting to the internet, streaming Netflix/Hulu/Whatever, etc)

That's why they like to use numbers, in the average consumers mind "bigger is better" so they will see 4k as being WAY SUPERIOR to the old standard of 1080p, never mind it isnt the resolution, it's the technology behind the screen, build quality of components; etc etc.

A better model TV will probably compete pretty reasonably with a fancy Computer Monitor (unless it's a way more expensive model)

Yes and that's not a bad thing.

Exclusives are bad for the industry.

How exactly are they "bad for the industry" ?

 

[BabyTyrant]

Delete

 

[flapjackboy]

How exactly are they "bad for the industry" ?

Platform exclusives exist for the purpose of selling more of that particular platform, not the games themselves. Once they've got you locked into their ecosystem, you're more likely to stick with it.

It also restricts consumer choice. If I own a PS4, but want to play Gears Of War, I have to buy an XBone. If I have an XBone, but want to play God Of War, I have to buy a PS4.

 

[BabyTyrant]

Platform exclusives exist for the purpose of selling more of that particular platform, not the games themselves. Once they've got you locked into their ecosystem, you're more likely to stick with it.

It also restricts consumer choice. If I own a PS4, but want to play Gears Of War, I have to buy an XBone. If I have an XBone, but want to play God Of War, I have to buy a PS4.

I get that but it isnt exactly a new concept and I think the industry is doing fine for the most part.

But game developers need to stop the Loot box/microtransaction BS in games you already have to buy, if it were a free game I could understand that because they would still have to make money somehow.

Also developers need to not drop flaming piles of Crap (like Bethesda with FO76) because they thought they could release garbage and it would sell anyways.