[QUOTE="gameofthering"]
[QUOTE="ShadowMoses900"]
Not sure if this has been posted yet, I didn't see a thread about it and it is farily recent news, so I'll get it started.
Why Does the 360 Lose Exclusives - IGN
Done by the experts at IGN, they throw out some very interesting ideas. Mainly that MS does not care about exclusives and are going to be more focused on making a centralised media hub next gen and not focused on making 1st party titles, where as Sony is going to continue to grow and become a bigger and bigger publisher with more exclusives.
The Xbox brand seems to do well with just Halo and Gears, that's all it really seems to need. Those 2 along with Fable and Forza are the only exclusives that are successful on 360, the rest such as Alan Wake sell poorly which is why MS stopped making them. The 360 fanbase does not buy very many exclusives, IGN also raised another interesting point: MS already has consumers, the 360 fanbase has no choice but to buy the next Xbox.
This is where their freinds list will be, their gamertags, their achivements, their XBL Gold account etc....they are not going to drop that. The PS3 fanbase won't switch over to Xbox for the same reason. People are too invested in their system as it is. So going into next gen you are going to see the PlayStation brand keep getting more and more exclusives, while the Xbox brand will focus on mainnly multiplats such as COD and special DLC for them, while bringing out big hitters every now and then such as Halo and Gears.
What do you make of this? Do you think this is accurate? Will you be satisfied with only a few exclusives for the next Xbox? One thing is for certain though, neither system really has that much of an advantage over each other, in terms of sales they are neck and neck.
As a gamer what system strategy appeals to you the most?
ShadowMoses900
I don't see why they wouldn't have a choice?IGN explains why. You buy the 360, you buy XBL Gold every year, this is where your friends are at, this is where your achievments are at. When the 720 comes out, MS will no doubt drop all support for the 360, meaning if you primary game on 360 you won't be getting any more games.
The only way you can is if you get the 720, you arn't going to let your XBL Gold go to waste, you arn't going to lose all your friends or achievements, you are too invested in your system and MS knows it. They know their consumers will buy it to play the next COD or Halo with their friends.
Sony has a similar strategy with their PS3, trophies, friends etc....only difference is that Sony is focused on making exclusives and becoming a big publisher where as MS is focused on making the Xbox brand a home media hub first and a game system second.
MS does not need to make many exclusives for the Xbox brand to be successful, they just need to keep getting timed DLC for COD (and other games) and throw out Halo and Gears every once in a while. Sony strategy is having more exclusives while keeping the same multiplats.
Both of these strategies have worked out for them well this gen, as evident by the fact that they are neck and neck in sales. The question is what will happen next gen? Do you think consumers will be satisfied with MS lack of exclusives? Or do you think consumers don't care about exclusives as much as Sony thinks?
You have a choice, just a big incentive to continue with the brand.
Also you bring up XBLG membership, you think as soon as the next gen consoles come out, a message will appear on your screen warning you that to continue to use you must buy new hardware. Live only stopped on the original Xbox years later when hardly anyone was playing anymore.
I don't think exclusives in the way they're handled by MS matter as much as it's made out online, or in SWs.
MS doesn't see the PC as a threat just extra money so they're fine with allowing games to comeout on the PC, just as PC developers feel the same about their games coming out on the 360.
There's also a maturity difference. PC developers couldn't give a rats ass about exclusives. It's just a console thing so people can decide which piece of plastic to play games on. The only thing that stops games coming from the PC is the questions of 'can the hardware handle it?' and 'will it sell?'.
I think the other thing that has influenced MS this gen is the economy. Sony have all these exclusives and developers, but they're seriously financially in the sh*t. I'm sure if we were in a boom economically MS would also be buying devs left and right in fact I believe they will as soon as the economy picks up, but they have to make this business viable, otherwise it's a waste of time them being in the business. Look at how eager EA are to have games multiplat, that's because in this economy proper exclusivity is a luxury. I honestly can't blame MS for scaling back on the exclusives given Sonys problems right now.
It's naive to simplify it to 'they don't care about exclusives'. Nintendo can do the 'exclusives' thing, they're innovative enough to make their consoles different and worth owning for other reasons. As much as I don't like the Wii, i'll give Nintendo credit for repackaging a last gen console and selling a ton of them. Sony is struggling with their old tactics, because they're sharing exactly the same demographic with MS but they're not marketing their games or branching out and expanding onto other platforms.
MS still gets console exclusives which are good enough for them and they're fine allowing some of their own games on the PC.
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