Exclusives... only good for ******s???

[infinity4]

Many japanese developers target the Japanese audience with games like gundam, onimusha, naruto, genji, etc....
Sure, they release it in NA and Europe but they don't sell as good as in Japan.
Because xbox360 doesn't sell well in Japan, there's no reason to port a game if not enough people will buy it. Porting a game is cheaper than making a brand new game but that doesn't mean it will automatically result in profit.
Also, 'human resources' are limited. The same guys that are working on the xbox360 version of a PS3 game could instead be instructed to work on a new PS3 game which will result in more profit.

u have forgotten that people in north america and europe buys japanese games, right???

 

[scooby_dooby]

Many japanese developers target the Japanese audience with games like gundam, onimusha, naruto, genji, etc....

Except Genji and Gundam both tanked hard on PS3 in japan...

 

[assen]

Also, 'human resources' are limited. The same guys that are working on the xbox360 version of a PS3 game could instead be instructed to work on a new PS3 game which will result in more profit.

This will only be true once the PS3 surpasses the 360 in install base. 400k vs 200k in Japan is irrelevant, as both are insufficient to support anything but the crappiest mahjong port; 10 millions vs. 2 million worldwide means there will be much less economic incentive to stay exclusive to the PS3.

Japanese developers are doomed to mahjongs, cheap hentai and gimmicky DS/Wii minigames*, if they remain confined to their own market. The same thing started happening in Russia a few years ago, and the transition is almost complete - 5 years ago, a Russian studio could live comforably making games only for the internal market. They received a hard wake-up call when they realized that this is impossible now, and they must compete with the big guys for the global market.

In some sense, developers coming from small countries with an insignificant domestic market have it easier they are already used to that situation.

* - OK, OK, I know, Dragon Quest IX... Doesn't invalidate the rest of my argument, though

 

[Naboomagnoli]

Not Splinter Cell 1 and (soon to be) Splinter Cell 5.

Has SC been signed up by MS then? I thought that Double Agent was a next-gen exclusive simply because there was nothing else to release it on.

 

[scooby_dooby]

Has SC been signed up by MS then?

Yup, it was announced at X06 IIRC, and it's being made by Ubi Montreal so it should be sweet.

 

[Moonblade]

damn double post

 

[Moonblade]

u have forgotten that people in north america and europe buys japanese games, right???

No, I haven't.

Except Genji and Gundam both tanked hard on PS3 in japan...

Every PS3 launchgame tanked hard in Japan because of the shortages. But 337,500 copies of MSGS: Federation vs Zaft II (PS2) were sold in it's first week.

This will only be true once the PS3 surpasses the 360 in install base. 400k vs 200k in Japan is irrelevant, as both are insufficient to support anything but the crappiest mahjong port; 10 millions vs. 2 million worldwide means there will be much less economic incentive to stay exclusive to the PS3.

Ofcourse, I was just talking about hypothetical situations. Once enough PS3 units are sold in Japan (japanese xbox360 install base already is surpassed) I'm sure there will be lot's of lowbudget PS3 and Wii exclusive Japanese games within a few years. Domestic developers wil make use of the playstation network to distribute their games.

 

[scooby_dooby]

Every PS3 launchgame tanked hard in Japan because of the shortages.

No excuse.

BD sold 80k in one day on ~240k sytems.

I agree with your overall sentiment, though I would argue Japanese shovelware is not important to MS, they need only to capture solid support from the premiere Japanese developers and the mission will be accomplished in Japan, for this generation anyways.

 

[Nesh]

No excuse.

BD sold 80k in one day on ~240k sytems.

I agree with your overall sentiment, though I would argue Japanese shovelware is not important to MS, they need only to capture solid support from the premiere Japanese developers and the mission will be accomplished in Japan, for this generation anyways.

BD is a great game I ll give you that. But would BD have sold 80k on 80k systems and no other systems available in stores??

 

[Sankari]

And PS3 has exclusive content aswell.

The thing is, without exclusives, no one could say I like system X because it offers these games: (add list here).

It would be I like system X because its the cheapest. Or perhaps the most powerful so it offers better gaming experience but overall in this scenario I'd be willing to bet that the specs wouldn't be that far apart and the lowest price would definately win.

 

[Pete]

anyway, the other topic i want to discuss is, is there a SINGLE reason for third party dev to release a game exclusive???

Money, obviously (check the "Console Owner Fee" slide in the pictures link here). Or maybe they don't have enough people to code a port (does the art department sit idle while the programmers work the other console)? Or maybe their people are burned out on the game and want to move on (though there's always farming the port out to another studio).

Sure, it'd be nice if you could choose to play any game on any system, but that's not the console model. Actually, that's more like the PC model.