How should game releases be?

Exclusives are Bad... Period !

1st of all Multiplatform games are not super hidious compared to exclusive games, infact the difference is barely noticeble..... And even if it was, developer's laziness to optimize for all systems is hardly an excuse.... Irrational Games dedicated an entirely seperate department of developement just to optimize the PS3 Version of Bioshock Infinite... Don't let From Software's laziness colour your view on multiplats.... If they're like half assing it then thats their own stuff, by no means a reflection of multiplatform .....

"There is no incentive to get a console, when 90% of the games get released on PC as well, or vice versa."

Good ! Its better than having to buy a whole new Computer System (console) just to play Little Big Planet..... This is another stupid form of reasoning.... You don't lose anything if a game goes multiplatform and you don't gain anything if it goes exclusive.....

Lack of Cross Platform play is part of the problem with exclusivity.....

Gamers don't benefit from the concept of Exclusivity..... We like to think we do and Microsoft and Sony want you to think its a good idea but in actuallity Multiplatform is Good for Developers and Gamers.... Let Microsoft and Sony worry about how many consoles they move..... Thats their problem not yours.....

We need both. It would be ridiculous if games were all split up into separate platforms. It would also be ridiculous if every game was available on every platform.

And Lulu, I see your disdain for FROM and the Souls games has not abated. There was nothing 'lazy' about Dark Souls 2, anyways. PC version was incredibly well optimized. I can run it at 1440p/locked 60fps, with HBAO+ on top no sweat on my mid-range PC. I should really try and up the resolution further honestly, not that it doesn't look great as it is.

@maynardburger

No it wouldn't. What so ridiculous about everygame being available on everyplatform.... ?

I'm not the one who said From Software didn't optimize Dark Souls..... I was just doing a follow up......

Also if I hated the Souls games that much I wouldn't mind if the remained exclusive.

Seriously though..... Whats ridiculous about everysingle game going multiplatform ? What kind of dumb logic is that ?

@Lulu_Lulu: Imagine movies being released on DVDs, BluRays and Floppy Discs. They would all cost the same and have the same playback quality. Currently, you have no device to play any of those media. Based on what would you choose, assuming all the devices would be roughly same size & cost?

Or simply the same scenario with games, assuming none of your friends have any console/system, so that you're not biased.

Choice is good, but if everything was multiplatform, it would defeat the purpose of multiple platforms. Also, player-base split unless cross-platform support.

Why not hear me out before calling it 'dumb logic'?

Anyways, the point of exclusives is to build incentive to buy a specific console. If everything was available on every platform, competition would dry up and there'd be little financial motivation to build a console. The only way to differentiate yourself would be on services and aesthetics basically, which isn't really enough on their own.

But the main thing is that its just not practical. Sony isn't going to spend money to build a game that will come out on a competitor's platform. Ditto with Microsoft. Ditto Nintendo. And all these 1st party game studios wouldn't just suddenly become independent, they'd collapse. They are supported financially by these big corporations and cant survive on their own. From this factor alone, it would mean far less games for everybody. Looking at the bigger picture, it would probably mean the end of console gaming as we know it(it might still survive on a much smaller scale, but nothing like it is now).

Then again, there would be no way to enforce this. Exclusives are simply inevitable. Always will be so long as gaming is dominated by giant corporations like Sony, MS and Nintendo.

So its both not viable and not realistic.

@zaxrider

What the hell are you talking about ?

"Imagine movies being released on DVDs, BluRays....."

Why are you asking me to imagine something thats already a reality ?

"They would all cost the same and have the same playback quality."

Seriously What The Hell are you on about ? What are you basing this on ?

"Choice is good, but if everything was multiplatform, it would defeat the purpose of multiple platforms."

So ? Who the hell cares ! You Want games you got games thats all that matters. The Purpose of multiple platforms was never particularly clever to begin with..... Especially considering the difference between the PS and Xbox is just the logo on the box.... Are you worried that worried that Mircosoft and Sony are going to have to include real incentives to buy their machines beyond arbitrary software exclusivity ? Don't be... Thats actually a good thing.

@maynardburger

"Anyways, the point of exclusives is to build incentive to buy a specific console."

Obviously.... But thats a win for the Manufacturers... Not you.

"If everything was available on every platform, competition would dry up and there'd be little financial motivation to build a console."

Too bad...... For console Manufacturers..... Not you.

"And all these 1st party game studios wouldn't just suddenly become independent, they'd collapse. They are supported financially by these big corporations and cant survive on their own." Thats absolute worst case scenario...... Actually even the smallest studios can survive just fine on their own...... They might even do better if they were able to go on multiple platforms.... And if they don't it will shine a light on people who buy something for no reason other than exclusisivity. Sounds like dumb logic to me.....

"Then again, there would be no way to enforce this. Exclusives are simply inevitable."

No.... Stupidity is inevitable..... Its only video games that do this. This level of backwards thinking doesn't exist in music and movies & television.

All games that are playable on all of the platforms should be multiplatform. It's not fair that some games that some people have been waiting for are suddenly out of their reach just because there are exclusive to PC or a console they're not interested in buying or simply cannot afford.

Yes, it is a win for the manufacturers, but you know, making games isn't a charity. They aren't doing this out of the love of their hearts and gaming. Its a business. It needs to recoup R&D costs, make money and please shareholders. If that doesn't happen, they stop making consoles. And they stop making games.

No, a 1st party studio of 200+ people isn't going to survive after the paychecks from the megacorporation that used to own them stops coming in. It will collapse. It may survive in name with a small group of people still around, but that's still hundreds of jobs gone(for just this one studio) and their ability to build a top flight console game is gone. They would be a little indie studio at best.

And have you been paying attention to how many game studios closed up over the past 5-7 years? Being independent is not a safe, stable environment. That's why the most secure studios are under 1st party contracts or are under one of a few major publishers like Activision, Ubisoft, Rockstar and EA(not that these places are 100% safe, either). And there's only so much room in these places. The dropping out of dozens of large, 1st party studios would be disasterous for the industry and would mean far less games overall.

I'm sorry, but you seem to have very little grasp of how the industry works and you think that the money to make these games just grows in their backyard or something. Worst case scenario is the entire collapse of console gaming. Best case scenario, it would just be a very diminished and poor state compared to what it is now. There is no way this ends up being good for gamers at all.

@maynardburger

Sure and those that lose their jobs will start a new studio, they will start small and grow big..... Tearing down this backwards thinking is not gona come without a price....... But in the end everybody but Microsoft and Sony wins.

Also don't get it twisted, this industry maybe working fine just now but its far from good... We've merely grown used to doing something so wrong that nobody remembers whats right anymore.... Thats not a reason to keep doing it..... I say shut it down and start over, except this time... Do it right.

Starting a new studio costs money. Starting a large, new studio costs a *lot* of money. Again, I don't know where you think the money is going to come from.

The industry may not be perfect, but we gamers are still enjoying tons of fantastic games that cover an unprecedented breadth of variety. You say that 'nobody remembers whats right anymore', but what was 'right'? When in the past did your pipe dream exist that we've forgotten about? How old are you, even?

We do not win with your idea. The game industry would be ruined. You are living in lala land Lulu.

@maynardburger

They'l get the money from us ! Duh !

I'm 22 and its not a Pipe Dream..... Like I said... This is only unique to games....

This so called Lala Land is the world literally every non gamer lives in..... Like I said... This has been going on for so long people just got used to it...... Classic Stockholm Syndrome on a mass scale. Defending the very system that Requires you to buy one Computer Wannabe to Play Gears of War and another Computer WannaBe to play Uncharted.

I know PC gamers agree with me, because they understand why exactly this is wrong.... If they get sick and tired of steam they can say no more and hop on origin instead.... Without having to buy a single piece of new hardware.

You think I'm living in Lala Land.... Why don't explain Exclusivity to Non-Gamers and see for yourself.... Their Puzzled expressions is a testament to that just how stupid this medium is.....

My Friend... You're the one whos in Lala Land.... You just don't see it.

Can Imagine having to explain to some one why theres an Xbox and Playstation hooked up to your TV Set, what exactly are gona say.... "Exclusive" ? Man Please.....

Itslike having two TVs side by side in your living room.... Because Game Of Throwns and Breaking Bad Decided to Go Exclusive to Sony and Samsung TVs.

You're still not understanding the idea of starting up a company at all, are you? There has to be money there. People aren't going to work for years with no pay. They need to rent out building space, buy equipment, provide monetary incentive to employees and fund an advertising budget. For a small team of people, this is expensive. For a large team, it becomes extraordinarily costly.

You being 22 is not surprising. I don't mean this as a personal insult, as I was once 22 myself. You think you have things figured out, but you honestly don't have a clue about how the real world works. Its painfully obvious here.

@maynardburger

Starting Big is a big mistake.... Always start small then Grow big......

Work from your moms garage if you have to..... It was good enough for Steve Jobs and its definately good enough for them !

You make it sound as game developement can't take place outside of an High tech building with lasers and Holograms......

Mr. Old Person.... You're easy going attitude is the reason why I have to shell out cash for the exact same type of hardware just to play a different.... Thanks for the Legacy... Grandpa ! You really show that Microsoft whos boss back in your day didn't ya ?

Please..... As if sitting your ass racking up the years makes you smarter.

Haha. Yup. 22 alright. Clueless, stubborn as hell, and has it all figured out.

We're talking dozens of large studios collapsing. Thousands of developers without jobs. These are mostly adults, with adult lifestyles and possibly families to support. Garage video game development is not really practical, nor is it conducive to making quality products.

You don't have an option for me. A balance of both multi and exlusives.

I buy consoles for the hardware and exclusives

Multiplatform and a few exclusives.

Exlusive is inherently bad since it as the word say exclude someone. In Gaming Exclusives can be both good and evil, good because it allows for the developers to focus on just one platform and use their time on making the best game they can instead of trying to make the game run on a platform like PC where you have hundreds and thousands of configurations and where developers have no chance of ever testing the game on them all even with the use of alpha, beta and open testing. And they still get blamed and suffer from immature gamers.

Because from a business perspective it doesn't make sense to block of a huge part of the market for a product.

So i don't mind exclusives but i wouldn't be sad if they went away.

As much as I'd like everything to be multi-platform, exclusives are system sellers