Wednesday, December 2

Microsoft's biggest mistake this gen: Lack of first party studios, hence the lack of exclusives





"If you could have one do-over, what would it be?" That's the question asked to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer during his address at the executive club in Chicago. Mr. Ballmer then addressed the fact that there is never "just one do-over" but there is one mistake they made that was bigger than them all: "I would probably say I would start sooner on search." The crowd went dead silent. No noise, you could hear a pin drop. Ballmer had just acknowledged that his Company's nemesis, Google, had beaten them to the punch; it was almost like accepting defeat. But there's another BIG mistake that Microsoft made in their Xbox/Zune division, one that's seriously hurting their console while Sony's PS3 seems to be set for the distant future, and it's not RROD.

It's a problem that can't be solved overnight and has left the Redmond giant grasping for straws and spending big money buying third party timed exclusives. Hopefully they will learn their lessons this time so in the next generation the situation will be different, but for now Microsoft must suffer the consequences of not seriously investing in first party studios. Don't you know? Exclusives sell consoles, and exclusives will be what lead Sony to victory. Let's look into the past, then the future shall we?


If it was not for Halo, the original Xbox would have been a failure. That game made the Xbox what it was and the Xbox 360 what it is today. So one would think that Microsoft would have taken notice and invest in more first party studios in order to help bolster their exclusive roster. They did not.

Sony knows firsthand the importance of first party development studios, and they've invested heavily to make sure that when third parties decide to leave, they'll still be standing tall with great exclusive titles. In fact the President of SCEE David Reeves, said exclusives with publishers are 'a thing of the past' and his company plan on working internally to strengthen their lineup. And they had better; games like the Metal Gear Solid franchise, the Final Fantasy franchise, and Grand Theft Auto all made Sony's consoles the best of the best. But now all the aforementioned have gone multiplatform and if Sony did not prepare themselves, PS3 would be barren.

Who's to say that Gears of War will remain exclusive to the Xbox 360 forever? What about Mass Effect 2 and Splinter Cell: Conviction? Just like Metal Gear: Rising and Final Fantasy XIII, there's always the possibility of these games going multiplat. Yet still MS has only 7, yes seven first party studios. Rareware being the most outstanding. Pathetic and salty.

Sony on the other hand is loaded, hence the plethora of 'true' exclusives coming out for the system. Here's a list of first party Sony studios and their games:

U.S


Naughty Dog - Crash Bandicoot, Uncharted series, Jak & Daxter series
Santa Monica Studio - God of War series, Warhawk with Incognito Entertainment, Kinetica
San Diego Studio - NBA, MLB: The Show
Sony Bend - Syphon Filter, Resistance Retribution
Sony Online Entertainment - EverQuest
incognito Entertainment - Warhawk with Santa Monica, Twisted Metal series, Downhill Domination, Calling all Cars
Zipper Interactive - SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs series, MAG

Japan

Clap Hanz - Everybody's Golf, Everybody's Tennis
Japan Studio - Ape Escape, Siren, LocoRoco, Patapon
Team ICO - Shadow of the Colossus, Ico, The Last Guradian
Polyphony Digital - Gran Turismo

UK

London Studio - SingStar, Eyetoy,
Studio Cambridge - MediEvil, PlayTV
Studio Liverpool - Wipeout, F1
Evolution Studios - MotorStorm, World Rally Championship
Bigbig Studios - MotorStorm: Arctic Edge

Continental Europe

Guerrilla Games - Killzone series

Microsoft:


343 Industries - Future Halo titles
Rare Limited - Banjo-Kazooie series, Conka series, Perfect Dark series, Viva Pinata series
Lionhead Studios - Fable series, Black & White series
Turn 10 studios - Forza Motorsport series
Wingnut Interactive - No games yet
Xbox Live productions - Fable II Pub Games, South Park Let's Go Tower Defense Play!
BigPark - JoyRide

That's it for Microsoft. None in Japan.

And now to the future. If it's true that exclusive games sell consoles, then tell me how on God's earth will Microsoft compete with Sony in 2010 and beyond? They will try shock 'n' awe but will that strategy be enough to stall Sony's momentum? God of War III, MAG, Gran Turismo, Resistance 3, Killzone 3, Syphon Filter, Heavy Rain, Yakuza 3, Agent, Quantum Theory, White Knight Chronicles and The Last Guardian just to name a few. Microsoft has Alan Wake, Mass Effect 2 (which might be a timed exclusive), Halo Reach, Splinter Cell: Conviction, which is another title rumored to be only timed with Ubisoft saying that "there's always hope for Splinter Cell on PS3;" Crackdown 2, and Fable III.

Fair is fair, and as you already know, we are not biased here at Games Thirst. Microsoft made a big mistake in this the seventh generation of consoles and in many ways you can't blame them; after all, it's only their second generation in the business. The company is passionate about winning hearts and minds over to the Xbox family, but to achieve that goal, the software giant must build more first party studios. Until then, they're fighting a losing battle.

12/02/09 Ernice Gilbert

57 comments:

  1. Wow, now that you mention it...Microsoft is really getting killed in the first party games department.

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  2. Another good article. However I do believe MS can sustain. The lack of first party studios, although bad, will make them want to push out the Xbox 720 even sooner and start fresh.

    As always, good article.

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  3. you forgot to mention that Bungie, the studio behind Halo is NOT a Microsoft first party, neither is Epic (their Unreal tournament is on PS3)

    in fact, it has been confirmed that Bungie is going multiplatform with their future non-Halo games

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  4. Shoddy article, for the record both Rare and Lionshead Studios are European studios. And "without Halo the XBOX would have been a failure" comment, come on. It was a little known title at the time that exploded. And the fact that every third person title looked and preformed better then it's PS2 counterpart, or internal hard drive and LAN connecttion had absolutely nothing to do with it's popularity. Third rate hack.

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  5. I'm looking at those First Party Titles of Sony's, and I don't see anything that Microsoft has to worry about. It's well-documented that Sony Exclusives don't sell, and never push console sales. Until they get a "heavy hitter", Microsoft will continue to dominate them. Having Halo and Gears in their back pocket is a win for them. Sony has "pretenders" as blockbuster titles. Killzone? Motorstorm? God of War? Please. XBOX Live alone guarantees their victory. Not to mention, PS3 has NO big releases after Summer 2010.

    And here comes Halo Reach and Project Natal.

    XBOX360 has already won.
    Sony lost this generation. Too late.

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  6. lol...no big hitters ?
    try gran turismo 5 ....the series only out sold gears+halo+fable+forza combined....

    xbot much ?

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  7. Dude Lionhead and Rare are both in the UK, R3 and Killzone 3 are not officially announced, in that case you can say the 360 has Gears of War 3, Halo 4, Project Gotham Racing 5, Blue Dragon 2, Lost Odyssey 2...

    I have all the systems, and its all about sales, and 360 games sale really well, most of the time better then the PS3 games, the last PS3 game to top NPDs b4 U2 was MGS4, that is saying something...

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  8. You are probably too thick to understand it, but people don't care if they play first party or third party games.
    Microsofts SMARTEST move this generation was not to stick to first party studio contracts only, but expand their influence and work on third party exclusives.

    Just like Halo made the original Xbox, Gears of War is probably what made the 360 - and this wasn't a first party game.
    Mass Effect? Not a first party game, but gave the console the big push towards RPG superiority.
    Crackdown from a new studio?
    Left 4 Dead 1&2 from Valve? Not even a proper exclusive but rather a PC port. And yet, sales figures indicate L4D2 sold better than Uncharted 2 in the first week - and that's the biggest PS3 exclusive this year.
    Upcoming games like Mass Effect 2, Alan Wake, Splinter Cell Conviction, Crackdown 2, Mechwarrior? All are coming from independent studios. All are not playable on the PS3.

    You see, it's actually Sony's big mistake for not relying enough on third party studios: They made one smart move with MGS4 (the best selling exclusive game on the PS3 is a third party game, you see) but that's it. Sony relied too much on first party games and some of them were late to deliver (Heavy Rain, GT5, Killzone 2, GOW3 - all of those were expected to show up on 2008), while Microsoft contracted third party studios who are capable of producing stellar games on a fast development cycle (Valve, Epic, Etc).

    Alan Wake, Crackdown 2, Divinity 2, Fable 3, Halo Reach, Mass Effect 2, Metro 2033, Mechwarrior, NNN2, Splinter Cell Conviction, Supreme Commander, Risen - It seems the X360 can certrainly hold its own versus the PS3 on 2010.

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  9. Crash Bandicoot is a multiplatform franchise too. Naughty Dog sold the right to it.

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  10. Well If it's all about sales, then I guess you 360 owners are at home playing Wii fit eh? Anyway.....Whoever said PS3 has NO big games after Summer 2010 is not correct. The only good 360 games IMO can be played on the PC and they are better and cheaper! To me, 360 is a foot stool. Xbox live is better than PSN in what way? I really don't know because I don't have to pay just for only one system to play online. The shooters get old really fast, meanwhile I've been playing the best games this Generation. How long are you gonna pay just to play online? Then the nerve to criticize the PS3's price! Wow people, just wow!

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  11. I don't think the success of the Xbox can be attributed *just* to Halo. The Xbox sold 22 million units. Halo 2 was the best selling game on that platform and sold 8 million units. That's 36% of owners. Pretty impressive, but the other 64% of owners must have seen something on the platform to want it (my personal favourite was the original Splinter Cell - an xbox exclusive remember).

    Exclusives *do* sell a system, but they're not the only thing that sells it. Price and features make a difference too. Which is why the PS3 is selling so well now - still more expensive than a 360, but with so much more for your hard-earned: bluray (not even an option on the 360), built-in wi-fi (£60 on 360), cheap hard-drive upgrades if you want them (any laptop SATA drive will work), not to mention a free online service.

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  12. Ok, I'm not going to go into all the fanboy politicking here (some of you are definitely guilty of that looking at the comments). I buy my systems because of the games on them. I bought a Playstation for Gran Turismo, and N64 for Goldeneye & Mario64, a Saturn for Sega Ages (ports of my favourite 80s arcade games), Dreamcast for Crazy Taxi.

    When it came to deciding between 360 and PS3 there was hardly anything in it. Most of the games I was interested in were multiplatform, so it really didn't matter. GTA4, Assassins Creed, Burnout Paradise, Rock Band etc all look good on both platforms.

    I know this will upset the fanboys, but I don't think either of the machines are really better than the other. They're both very good and if you want one, go for what your friends have so that you can play them online. Doesn't matter whether it's 360 or PS3 - you'll enjoy it regardless.

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  13. This is a good article, but it also misses something else that is a big drawcard for the PS3 - as well as having exclusive top notch shooters, racers, adventure games and RPGs (Demons Souls, Valkyria Chronicles - both amongst the best of their genre this generation), it also has a great collection of exclusive niche games, the likes of which you often don't see anywhere else. So while PS3 may not have exclusive games that sell more than a couple of million, it has a lot of million+ exclusive sellers, and a much better choice of genres.

    If I want the best racers of this gen, then there's GT5P, and upcoming GT5. Shooters - Cod4, MW2, Killzone2 (it's actually a really, really good shooter - but being less arcadey and 'shoots and giggles' than the CoD franchise, it doesn't have as wide an audience), the Resistances. Platformers - Ratchet and Clank: Future Trilogy, Trine. RPGs - mentioned above, as well as Folklore and Dragon Age (best RPG of the last decade!). Puzzle games - Critter Crunch, underappreciated gem. Quirky interesting games - Flower, Pixeljunk series (sans Racers), Shatter, Cuboid, you name it. You just can't get the range of quality games across genres that you can get on PS3 anywhere else, and that is due, in no small part, to Sony's first-party studios. If all you want to play is big budget shooters, racers and RPGs, then you can buy either the 360 or the PS3. But if you want to play more than that, then the PS3 has the clear edge. Even just in the shooters dept, the PS3 arguably has more first-rate games than the 360, on the strength of it's exclusives (the 360 still doesn't have anything that scrubs up to Warhawk, and that's been out since 2007.)

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  14. The Xbox 360 has NO decent exclusives and the few it does have are timed - exclusive only. All i see in the comments are blind Microsoft fangirl idiots who just don't like the truth.

    Still.....maybe next - gen Microsoft will give you kids some exclusives to play, as long as you're still gullible enough to pay for your internet connection twice - LMAO! Maybe next time Microsoft won't launch a console with a 110% failure rate and call it "The most reliable piece of technology in the universe."........

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  15. "Upcoming games like Mass Effect 2, Alan Wake, Splinter Cell Conviction, Crackdown 2, Mechwarrior? All are coming from independent studios. All are not playable on the PS3."

    Who cares? Almost all will be on PC too and I wont buying Xbox for them :D

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  16. "Heavy Rain, GT5, Killzone 2, GOW3 - all of those were expected to show up on 2008"

    Definitely not. That is just xbot propaganda.

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  17. "Left 4 Dead 1&2 from Valve? Not even a proper exclusive but rather a PC port. And yet, sales figures indicate L4D2 sold better than Uncharted 2 in the first week"

    No it didn't. Uncharted 2 sold 840k in the first week and Left4Dead2 on Xbox 360 sold 690k in the first week.

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  18. "It's well-documented that Sony Exclusives don't sell, and never push console sales. Until they get a heavy hitter..."

    What have you been smoking? Document by who? By you? For example Gran Turismo series has sold more than 53 million. There's your heavy hitter! And Sony games never push console sales? Why do you think people have been buying PS3 like mad recently? Because of all those exclusive games on PS3. So yes they push console sales.

    "Not to mention, PS3 has NO big releases after Summer 2010."

    Killzone 3 is coming and so are Uncharted 3, Infamous 2, Twisted Metal, Syphon Filter 5, Final Fantasy XIII Versus, Agent, Final Fantasy XIV, Resistance 3, Starhawk, White Knight Chronicles 2, Yakuza 4 and so on. Polyphony will probably make also Gran Turismo 6 for PS3 before this generation is over.

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  19. "Risen - It seems the X360 can certrainly hold its own versus the PS3 on 2010."

    Yeah, games like Risen are just all we need :D

    http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/xbox360/risen?q=risen

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  20. playstation network will not be free forever.. with all the work that has been done to sort out the problems.. and any future work they will have to do.. i can see a fee for psn in the next year and a half

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  21. It doesn't matter if 360 sells more games at the moment due to bigger userbase. It's a fact that the PS3 is a much better machine (for the value) / and PlayStation better brand and therefore it will pass 360 in hardware sales. It's just a matter of time. When it does people will be buying more multiplatform games for PS3, especially since there is no piracy on the platform.

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  22. How many fricking times does this need to be said. MOST OF THE PEOPLE WHO BOUGHT AND OR WILL BE BUYING A PS3 THIS HOLIDAY DON'T GIVE A F*** ABOUT THE NUMBER OF EXCLUSIVES. You SDFs keep using that whole "PS3 is selling so hot because of the exclusives!" Yeah-F******-right. Most hardcore gamers that wanted a PS3 already have one. Now it's mostly the psuedo-casual gamers buying it.

    And what is up with idiots adding unannounced games to the "PS3 Exclusives" List. UNANNOUNCED GAMES DO NOT COUNT! That goes for both Xbots and So-Nerds. You guys are counting your chickens before they hatch.

    On Topic: I'm going to say that this is about right, Microsoft really didn't do a great job securing 1st Party Studios, and because of that, their early lead they held is more than likely done for good. What they need to do is fix up the Xbox 360 now, add in a wireless adapter and improve the failure rate.

    Even if they don't have a huge list of exclusives, if they can fix the console, people won't be running away because their afraid of RROD. And at least the war will then be about the games and not about the Failure rate AND the games. It's either that, or start the new generation on Xbox 720 in 2011.

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  23. You forgot to mention Robot Entrainment which is the re-configured Ensemble Studios. Im not sure what they are doing and working on I know they have made the two DLC for Halo Wars, but I do not know if they are making anymore DLC for it. I also do not know if they are working on any games.

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  24. You missed Myst Walker, which happens to be a Microsoft owned Studio in Japan.

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  25. It is good to see some one finally bring this up. I love my 360 and PS3 but when it comes to games there are more on the PS3.

    I so wish MS would hirer at least 300 more employies for Rare. Rare makes great games and if MS would let them be them Rare would bring out lots of great games. I could see Perfect Dark being a big seller and Rare knows how to make great IPs too.

    Say what you will about Brute Force not being that great of a game. But I think if MS were to make the original stredegy tactical 4 player co-op shooter the game would be great.

    Another great game that needs a sequel is Crimson Skies. I could see this doing really well now. If it has a big single player game plus multi-player campaign mode then the game will finally get the game sales it always should have.

    Give me a Shadowrun RPG.

    MS needs to buy Mistwalker. You get a great development team and Sakaguchi. Plus MS should give Itagaki a job too. These simple things will make them have a bigger place in Japan.

    Also MS needs to stop playing for exclusives and use the money instead on making a new IP or hirering more developers.

    I love the Xbox 360 but until MS buys more game companies the games are not going to be as many as there could be and that is the reason you buy a system.

    So I hope and mean hope MS will hirer more game developers and companies.

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  26. "You * keep using that whole "PS3 is selling so hot because of the exclusives. Most hardcore gamers that wanted a PS3 already have one. Now it's mostly the psuedo-casual gamers buying it."

    That is not true. I know many gamers who did not buy PS3 before because they couldnt afford one. Now that its a bit cheaper, many of them bought one. Some of them bought it for GoW 3 and GT5, some for Ratchet, some for Uncharted 1 and 2, Bluray etc but none of them bought it for multiplatform games.

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  27. I bought a PS3 first when it came out in Nov/2006 and THEN I bought an Xbox 360 in Feb/2008. The reason I bought the 360 was not so much for the exclusives (so far I've only got the Gears of War and Forza series - sorry Halo fans), but because many of the multiplatform games were BETTER on the 360 than then PS3. So although I agree that Sony has a LOT more exclusives, wich is great, I don't agree that this issue is the biggest problem for the Xbox in this generation. If you consider other things that make the 360 better that PS3 (like LIVE) I think both consoles are more or less even. The REAL problem facing Microsoft is the RROD. As a victim my self, I have turned my back on MS and their faulty Xbox, and will be very difficult for me to buy another MS console in the future. I know there are many stupid customers who have bought a second (or even third, fourth) console to keep playing Xbox games to the point of having an article like this one saying that RROD is NOT the biggest issue with the Xbox. I just hope that in the next generation of consoles either people stop buying MS s**t, or MS really learned the lesson and make reliable product that wont die after a few months.

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  28. i think you have completely overlooked project Natal, they will want to push that very hard with first party games

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  29. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  30. Nice article, now I know where to come for a good read.

    Do you guys still plan to launch a bigger site on January 1st?

    Cause I'll be the first to sign up!

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  31. January 1st, 2010, www.gamesthirst.com will go live. We have so much in store for you:

    Excellent reviews
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    Cinematic Judgement
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    And a comments section that will blow everyone away.

    But there's more:

    Video reviews
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    We are currently coming up with more exclusive ideas.

    We'll be giving away a PS3/Uncharted 2 combo and Xbox 360/MW2 combo. Don't miss it!

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  32. I agree with your article, more people should be reading this. Especially the execs.

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  33. So sales make a game better? I dont care about sales I care about games. I still cant believe Left 4 Dead 2 is doing so well that game really sucks bad. And i was really excited to play the first one cuz I love killing zombies but I hated it. I would rather play Nazi Zombies on World at War. Left 4 dead, what a half assed game. That just goes to show that 360 owners really dont have sh*t to play this gen as far as exclusives. Well that game is not exclusive is it its on PC too. Half Life was good, dont know what they were thinking with L4D.

    All I can say is most 360 owners have not gotten to play all the awesome exclusives SONY is pumping out so they dont know what were talking about when we praise SONY exclusives. Uncharted 2 is the best single player game I have EVER EVER played in my life, I say that with full confidence. The multiplayer is also addicting with leveling up, boosters, costumes, different characters, game modes its a very robust MP experience. Hell i bought MW2 and have only played a few matches online and a few campaign levels and im not impressed. And I like modern warfare, well the only thing I like is the MP in both 1 and 2. Warhawk is the best Multiplayer game I have ever played.

    And to people saying PSN will start charging a fee you are not correct. Kaz Hirai stated that the current PSN(online play, access to PS store, HOME, browser, Firends list, Netflix, Facebook integration, Video Chat, and everything else u can do with the psn) will remain free. But new premium services will arrive next year and available for subscription. Who knows what they have in mind.
    PS3 FTW!!!!!!!

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  34. 2012 is the year of the ps3!

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  35. to all the commenters here:

    who cares about sales, really? is Transformers 2 the best movie of the year because it's the biggest hit?

    all that matters is quality and quantity and PS3 has no rival

    xbots first talked about PS3's price, then lack of games, then inferior online, then lack of exclusives, then "failed" blu ray tech, then lack of console sales and when they saw they were wrong about ALL that now they talk about games sales

    I wonder what will they talk about when they realize that for example o demo for gran turismo sold more than Gears of War 2 and many other cases like that

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  36. I agree with the poster above, MS's biggest problem is RROD

    that's at least from a costumer perspective, because MS couldn't be happier that stupid xbots keep buying more 360s and then they say PS3 is too expensive

    it's the same with ODST, why will they spend time and money coming up with full fledged games when they can sell an expansion at full price and stupid xbots will buy it anyway in records numbers

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  37. Microsoft purposely closed most of their studios, it was not a mistake. They figure it is cheaper to buy exclusives than own and maintain entire studios that produce flops.

    The reason this strategy was not a mistake is because it is working for them, 360 is still in 2nd place ahead of PS3, its still the lead platform for developers, and it still makes MS plenty of cash. Sony can't say any of that about PS3, so who made the mistake here?

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  38. Sony can have all the first party studios they want, but when they either A) pump out mediocre titles like singstar, everybodys golf, etc or B) take 5 years to release a single game (ie. Killzone 2, Gran Turismo, etc) it doesnt really make much difference.

    Microsofts first party studios release games often and to critical acclaim with most of them. Sony might have more exclusives, but i prefer quality over quantity. Id take Forza 3 over 90% of the PS3 exclusives - ive got a PS3 and a 360, and i only own exclusives on my PS3 (LBP, Uncharted 1 and 2, MGS4, Warhawk, Resistance, Heavenly Sword) and none of them have even warranted a second play through. i constantly find myself going back to Forza 2 and 3, Halo 3, ODST, etc.

    Microsoft have been hiring like crazy the last few months, so they will be creating more studios. im talking at least 50 job positions posted for developers in the last 2-3 months, all requiring experience on building and shipping current gen AAA games, so theyre going for the best of the best. but like i said, id rather have one great franchise than 5 mediocre ones. sony obviously disagree, but hey, sony arent the ones buying games to keep their studios from going under.

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  39. also, Games Thirst seems to be VERY PS3 biased, just you do it in a 'oh we're not biased way'. every article i read on here is pushing the PS3 as being better and pretending to 'objectively' compare things. it never is objective though, and its clear to anyone with half a brain you prefer the PS3.

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  40. oh my god

    "The reason this strategy was not a mistake is because it is working for them, 360 is still in 2nd place ahead of PS3, its still the lead platform for developers, and it still makes MS plenty of cash. Sony can't say any of that about PS3, so who made the mistake here"

    your statement is pure logic. it means that ms is ripping of gamers !

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  41. To Anon @ 11:36 PM:

    To say we're very PS3 biased is a sign that who haven't been on Games Thirst that often at all.

    Here, maybe this will help you, and please search through our content next time before you make you baseless claims:

    http://gamesthirstarticles.blogspot.com/2009/11/microsoft-has-sony-sweating.html#comments

    There are many more Microsoft friendly articles on here, but you'll have you search for the rest yourself.

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  42. Nice article. Really good and sensible read. Wish more sites good write good stuff like this.

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  43. If first party exclusives are what sells a console, then why did the Gamecube finish in last place? If I can recall Nintendo put the Gamecube's emphasis on first party exclusives.

    Xbox 360 is still cheaper than the PS3 which matters. It also has the most consistent sales all year out of any console. Not like the Wii which has been seeing a decrease or the PS3 which seems to be on the road to redemption.

    Sure the PS3 has more exclusives for the time being, but I think that has something to do with the 50 million Microsoft invested for those Episodes from Liberty City...

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  44. Um, a lot of folks care, or else this would not even be a topic

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  45. "Microsoft have been hiring like crazy the last few months, so they will be creating more studios. im talking at least 50 job positions posted for developers in the last 2-3 months, all requiring experience on building and shipping current gen AAA games"

    AAA games? Lol! I bet they are making natal casual crap games like crazy. Thats why Rare has canceled core games like Kameo and Perfect Dark 2 and so on.

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  46. "Sony might have more exclusives, but i prefer quality over quantity."

    Sony has quality and quantity = Gran Turismo 5, God of War 3, Uncharted, Heavy Rain, LittleBigPlanet, Infamous, Resistance, Ratchet and Clank, Killzone, White Knight Chronicles, Last Guardian, Demons Souls, Warhawk, Wipout HD etc all top quality games.

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  47. "Sony can have all the first party studios they want, but when they either pump out mediocre titles or take 5 years to release a single game (ie. Killzone 2, Gran Turismo, etc) it doesnt really make much difference."

    You are exaggerating. Killzone 2 didn't took 5 years. How about Alan Wake? That has probably taken longer than GT. And did you forget games like Uncharted 2, Motorstorm 2, Resistance 2 and Ratchet ACIT which have been developed in 2 years. Killzone 3, Gran Turismo 6 and other sequels wont take that long because game engine and technology is already there.

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  48. "If first party exclusives are what sells a console, then why did the Gamecube finish in last place? If I can recall Nintendo put the Gamecube's emphasis on first party exclusives."

    Nintendo exclusives are always more of the same, Mario, Pokemon and Zelda this and that. Maybe people want fresh new ideas and IPs and variety of different genres. That's what Sony has always been pushing since PS1.

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  49. "Xbox 360 is still cheaper than the PS3 which matters. It also has the most consistent sales all year out of any console. Not like the Wii which has been seeing a decrease or the PS3 which seems to be on the road to redemption."

    Road to redemption? :)

    Hardware data for the period 04th Jan 2009 to 21st Nov 2009:

    Console X360
    Total 6,822,318

    Hardware data for the period 04th Jan 2009 to 21st Nov 2009:

    Console PS3
    Total 8,030,604

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  50. Xbox 360 sold more units than the PS3 every month in 2009 until the Sony cut the price in September. I'm only looking at U.S. sales btw, but who's to say the wave of success Sony is riding will last after the holiday season?

    Sure the PS3 is looking great these days, but I think losing the exclusive rights to Final Fantasy 13 is going to hurt. Remember when the demo was included with the Blu Ray of Advent Children in Japan? Sales of the PS3 went up from 16,000 the week before to over 60,000. More often than not multiplatform games sell better on the 360, and that game is definitely going to sell.

    As far as Nintendo releasing more of the same. True, but the franchises you mention always sell millions of units. If it ain't broke don't fix it right?

    The Gamecube had some good 3rd party exclusives as well Eternal Darkness, Tales of Symphonia, & Resident Evil 4 for like 2 weeks.

    As far as new 1st party IP's Gamecube introduced Pikmin, Animal Crossing, Luigi's Mansion, & Metroid Prime which brought the Metroid series to another level.

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  51. GamesThirst @11:42:

    even that supposed 'pro microsoft' article is still pro-ps3, like i said.

    one of your 'reasons for the 360 having sony sweating' is blatantly saying how the PS3 has far more better exclusives than the 360 hahahahah. oh yeah, that sure is giving it to sony!

    another about facebook and twitter, well that was just a nice way for you to push that everything that Live has, the PSN gets later lol.

    and i quote:
    "Sony follows and soon will add Facebook and Twitter. The Xbox Live community has been enjoying cross-game-chat for years now, and what do you know? Sony will soon implement the ability via a firmware update."

    again, more under the shelf sony propaganda. youre pretending to be giving microsoft praise, but really - and pretty blatantly might i add - youre giving sony a big thumbs up and portraying the PS3 as the better system.

    dont give me any BS about you being fair and unbiased, its clear to see youre not - and you just proved that yourself with that link lol.

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  52. "You are exaggerating. Killzone 2 didn't took 5 years. How about Alan Wake? That has probably taken longer than GT. And did you forget games like Uncharted 2, Motorstorm 2, Resistance 2 and Ratchet ACIT which have been developed in 2 years"

    im not exaggerating - killzone 2 DID take 5 years to make. they showed it at e3 2005, and although it was pre-rendered they eventually said that it was a target render at what they thought the game would look like based on how they are going with their engine. they were already working on it then, and it came out in 2009. at LEAST 5 years, probably closer to 6.

    Alan Wake is not a first party game. we're talking first party exclusives, as i specifically said Sony. and resistance 2 sucked @rse to be honest, and im not a 12 year old so i dont care for ratchet and clank (which by the way is substantially sub-HD resolution).

    "Sony has quality and quantity = Gran Turismo 5, God of War 3, Uncharted, Heavy Rain, LittleBigPlanet, Infamous, Resistance, Ratchet and Clank, Killzone, White Knight Chronicles, Last Guardian, Demons Souls, Warhawk, Wipout HD etc all top quality games."

    how can you say that heavy rain is quality when its not out, and just looks like one giant quick-time event? last guardian? not out. wipeout HD is just a PS1 game in HD, Warhawk has no single player, LBP bombs in everything apart from creating levels.....i could go on and on.

    none of microsofts big name first party exclusives are bad.

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  53. "im not exaggerating - killzone 2 DID take 5 years to make."

    2009 - 2005 = 4 years. Learn math.

    "and im not a 12 year old so i dont care for ratchet and clank"

    I bet you are immature teen because you think Ratchet and Clank is just for kids or that you can't play it because you assume it is. I know many over 30 year old gamers who play Ratchet and Clank games and they don't feel ashamed because of that. Why should they?

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  54. "how can you say that heavy rain is quality when its not out, and just looks like one giant quick-time event? last guardian? not out."

    Nobody knows yet, but one can assume based on the track record of those companies. Indigo Prophecy, ICO, Shadow of the Colossus = great games.

    "wipeout HD is just a PS1 game in HD"

    No it's not.

    "Warhawk has no single player"

    Doesn't make it bad.

    "LBP bombs in everything apart from creating levels"

    LittleBigPlanet (2008) 95 [metacritic]= better than any Xbox 360 exclusive.

    "none of microsofts big name first party exclusives are bad."

    Shadowrun, Brute Force, Fable II Pub Games etc. MS owns just a couple of studios so how could there be? Though they have bad exlusives from second and thirparty companies like Too Human, Scene It and so on.

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  55. "2009 - 2005 = 4 years. Learn math."

    youre wrong on 2 accounts.

    1. 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 = 5 years, inclusive of the start and end years.

    2. when they showed the "in-game" footage in 2005 they had already been working it for who knows how long, but going by the working footage they showed at a later date that led them to believe they could get the game looking as good as the "target render", it had been at least 12 months. that would put it back to mid 2004. that would be about 6 years development time.

    "I bet you are immature teen because you think Ratchet and Clank is just for kids or that you can't play it because you assume it is. I know many over 30 year old gamers who play Ratchet and Clank games and they don't feel ashamed because of that. Why should they?"

    im closer to middle age than i am my teen years, thats why R&C doesnt appeal to me. its a kids game. adults that play it dont have to be ashamed that they do............but it IS a kids game.

    to the guy above me: Fahrenheit/indigo prophecy was 'great' now was it? it was good if you liked quick-time-events, average to below average if you actually like being in control of your games.

    Wipeout HD is just wipeout from the original playstation but in HD. obviously its got new levels/etc, but its the same game redone in HD.

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  56. "GamesThirst @11:42:

    even that supposed 'pro microsoft' article is still pro-ps3, like i said.

    one of your 'reasons for the 360 having sony sweating' is blatantly saying how the PS3 has far more better exclusives than the 360 hahahahah. oh yeah, that sure is giving it to sony!"

    That is what I was thinking. This site is obviously a ps3 jock rider and my comment probably will be removed.

    I have a ps3 and seeing all the ps3 fanboys act like Infamous, Motorstorm, Wipeout HD are great games cracks me up.

    The author of this ps3 loving article said "Mass Effect 2 (which might be a timed exclusive)" really? When is it coming on the ps3? It is June 2010 no ME2 on ps3. Maybe 2013 Ps3 will get ME2 rofl you fool.

    Like how he acts like all M$ exclusives will come to the ps3 when in reality it is the opposite. Final Fantasy, GTA series, Metal Gear Rising all use to be PS exclusive . What Xbox exclusives are moving to multiplatform? A bungie made game that is it.

    Mr Gilbert also said "
    Fair is fair, and as you already know, we are not biased here at Games Thirst." ROFL!
    Sure buddy. You are not tricking anyone but the ps3 fanboys. I am off this ps3 bias website for good, bye.

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