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It's all about money these days, isn't it?
Games cost so much to develop that the developers and publishers have to try to maximise their profits.
So we get more multiplatform games than ever before, with developers pimping their games out to all comers.
Despite this, we've had some pretty shocking developments lately when it comes to exclusivity, with Capcom developing a couple of new games exclusively for the GAMECUBE, and Sony ensuring that future Square games are going to be on the Playstation only by buying a huge chunk of the company.
So what's best for the developer?
I would have thought that they'd make more money from putting the game out on every format, but if they're given enough to make it worthwhile to develop for only one, I guess it makes sense. There's also much less work in putting the console out on only one format, and given the differences between the 3 major consoles, you'd either have to build the three games from scratch each time, or concentrate only on one consoles best aspects. If you built the game for the PS" and did a simple port to the GAMECUBE it would be a game designed to take advantage of the Playstation 2, and wouldn't necessarily get the best out of the GAMECUBE (and vice-versa). This could possibly give the developer a poor reputation, and reputation is of huge importance in the console market. how many copies of The bouncer sold on the square name, even though the critics gave it a hiding?
So what's best for us, the gamers?
Well the more games you have available on your console, the more choice you have, and surely that's a good thing.
Though with more and more games becoming multiformat, it does make choosing which console will suit us best that little more difficult. We can no longer look only at the games available, we must think that there will be many games that Xbox gamers, Playstation2 gamers and GAMECUBE gamers can all play on any given console, be it Soul Calibur 2, FIFA, or The Thing. So we have to look at which games will each console have that you won't be able to play anywhere else.
Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo are all very aware of this, and I wouldn't be surprised if a few more exclusivity contracts were signed before the end of next year.
But is that really what's best for us? With Sony and Microsoft moving more towards home entertainment units it's not just the games that sell their systems. Sony would probably prefer it if they could fight on familiar territory, territory they've won on before. If you could get exactly the same games on the Xbox as the Playstation2 then the Playstation2 would wipe the floor with the Xbox because Sony have such a good reputation in home entertainment already, with their excellent TV's, VCR's, DVD Players, and of course the Playstation. Microsoft don't have this. Sony would love to fight the 'console war' like this, because they'd win.
Nintendo, on the other hand, want to stick to games alone, and this is definitely their strength. Nintendos games are so strong that they don't need to enter a battle they can't win with Sony. But they're smart enough not to let Sony have it all there own way, smart enough to sign up those developers that will keep gamers coming back to Nintendo, gamers that may previously have felt that the Playstation was the console for them.
That's why the Resident Evil deal was so important, those that like Resident Evil also like dozens of other games that featured on the Playstation, so developers that had previously dismissed the 'CUBE will now consider it, knowing that there will be this older audience there, if only for Resident Evil.
Nintendo tried something similar a few years back, and we've yet to see the results of that. Silicon Knights were ready to produce Too Human for the Playstation, they had even showed a stunning demo of the game, but Nintendo bought the company, and we'll see what they can really do initially with Eternal Darkess, and later Too Human.
Next year will be a strange one for some of us older gamers, those of us that remember only seeing certain games on certain systems. Seeing the same game on Sega Master System as the Nintendo Entertainment System was quite rare, and always made you look, now we'll go into a gameshop and see the same box art, only on three different types of box!
Games cost so much to develop that the developers and publishers have to try to maximise their profits.
So we get more multiplatform games than ever before, with developers pimping their games out to all comers.
Despite this, we've had some pretty shocking developments lately when it comes to exclusivity, with Capcom developing a couple of new games exclusively for the GAMECUBE, and Sony ensuring that future Square games are going to be on the Playstation only by buying a huge chunk of the company.
So what's best for the developer?
I would have thought that they'd make more money from putting the game out on every format, but if they're given enough to make it worthwhile to develop for only one, I guess it makes sense. There's also much less work in putting the console out on only one format, and given the differences between the 3 major consoles, you'd either have to build the three games from scratch each time, or concentrate only on one consoles best aspects. If you built the game for the PS" and did a simple port to the GAMECUBE it would be a game designed to take advantage of the Playstation 2, and wouldn't necessarily get the best out of the GAMECUBE (and vice-versa). This could possibly give the developer a poor reputation, and reputation is of huge importance in the console market. how many copies of The bouncer sold on the square name, even though the critics gave it a hiding?
So what's best for us, the gamers?
Well the more games you have available on your console, the more choice you have, and surely that's a good thing.
Though with more and more games becoming multiformat, it does make choosing which console will suit us best that little more difficult. We can no longer look only at the games available, we must think that there will be many games that Xbox gamers, Playstation2 gamers and GAMECUBE gamers can all play on any given console, be it Soul Calibur 2, FIFA, or The Thing. So we have to look at which games will each console have that you won't be able to play anywhere else.
Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo are all very aware of this, and I wouldn't be surprised if a few more exclusivity contracts were signed before the end of next year.
But is that really what's best for us? With Sony and Microsoft moving more towards home entertainment units it's not just the games that sell their systems. Sony would probably prefer it if they could fight on familiar territory, territory they've won on before. If you could get exactly the same games on the Xbox as the Playstation2 then the Playstation2 would wipe the floor with the Xbox because Sony have such a good reputation in home entertainment already, with their excellent TV's, VCR's, DVD Players, and of course the Playstation. Microsoft don't have this. Sony would love to fight the 'console war' like this, because they'd win.
Nintendo, on the other hand, want to stick to games alone, and this is definitely their strength. Nintendos games are so strong that they don't need to enter a battle they can't win with Sony. But they're smart enough not to let Sony have it all there own way, smart enough to sign up those developers that will keep gamers coming back to Nintendo, gamers that may previously have felt that the Playstation was the console for them.
That's why the Resident Evil deal was so important, those that like Resident Evil also like dozens of other games that featured on the Playstation, so developers that had previously dismissed the 'CUBE will now consider it, knowing that there will be this older audience there, if only for Resident Evil.
Nintendo tried something similar a few years back, and we've yet to see the results of that. Silicon Knights were ready to produce Too Human for the Playstation, they had even showed a stunning demo of the game, but Nintendo bought the company, and we'll see what they can really do initially with Eternal Darkess, and later Too Human.
Next year will be a strange one for some of us older gamers, those of us that remember only seeing certain games on certain systems. Seeing the same game on Sega Master System as the Nintendo Entertainment System was quite rare, and always made you look, now we'll go into a gameshop and see the same box art, only on three different types of box!
Indeed!
Now whats the point in competing today?
(to annoy Turbonutter)
Ah!
(to annoy Turbonutter)
Ah!
Meka_Dragon wrote:
Next year will be a strange one for some of us
> older gamers, those of us that remember only seeing certain games on certain
> systems. Seeing the same game on Sega Master System as the Nintendo
> Entertainment System was quite rare, and always made you look, now we'll go into
> a gameshop and see the same box art, only on three different types of box!
It sure will be strange, But also good, means there will be alot more to choose from and also make it easier to see which console is perfrming better at particular times. A good post and will be in the running for a GAD (wouldn't like to judge it today, there has been a few good posts)
Next year will be a strange one for some of us
> older gamers, those of us that remember only seeing certain games on certain
> systems. Seeing the same game on Sega Master System as the Nintendo
> Entertainment System was quite rare, and always made you look, now we'll go into
> a gameshop and see the same box art, only on three different types of box!
It sure will be strange, But also good, means there will be alot more to choose from and also make it easier to see which console is perfrming better at particular times. A good post and will be in the running for a GAD (wouldn't like to judge it today, there has been a few good posts)
But will these multi format games mean that it might be possible to fight over the net with one person playing on a PS2 and one on a Gamecube...
Things could get even closer if this was the case.
Things could get even closer if this was the case.
Another great post from the brains of Meka. I totally agree with you and although I can't give you a long post explaining I'll just say a few words.
The games are sold in the millions and things like Half Life are ever so popular, so what would have happened if that was released on the N64, the PS2 and the Dreamcast? Woudln't that have been better? I'm sure there is probally a catch and you have to pay some load of cash to Sony or something like that, but I can't really see any reason why you wouldn't go mulitformat.
There are cetain games though that make you want to get a console for that reason. MGS2 is my reason for a PS2 and if they bought that out on the X-Box then I'd rather go for that, so for the console manufactures it's a bad thing but for the public, the people who put these people's dinner on the table, it's a thing we'd all love.
Once again, a great post and it's bound to win GAD instead of my glorues post :)
The games are sold in the millions and things like Half Life are ever so popular, so what would have happened if that was released on the N64, the PS2 and the Dreamcast? Woudln't that have been better? I'm sure there is probally a catch and you have to pay some load of cash to Sony or something like that, but I can't really see any reason why you wouldn't go mulitformat.
There are cetain games though that make you want to get a console for that reason. MGS2 is my reason for a PS2 and if they bought that out on the X-Box then I'd rather go for that, so for the console manufactures it's a bad thing but for the public, the people who put these people's dinner on the table, it's a thing we'd all love.
Once again, a great post and it's bound to win GAD instead of my glorues post :)
It's all about money these days, isn't it?
Games cost so much to develop that the developers and publishers have to try to maximise their profits.
So we get more multiplatform games than ever before, with developers pimping their games out to all comers.
Despite this, we've had some pretty shocking developments lately when it comes to exclusivity, with Capcom developing a couple of new games exclusively for the GAMECUBE, and Sony ensuring that future Square games are going to be on the Playstation only by buying a huge chunk of the company.
So what's best for the developer?
I would have thought that they'd make more money from putting the game out on every format, but if they're given enough to make it worthwhile to develop for only one, I guess it makes sense. There's also much less work in putting the console out on only one format, and given the differences between the 3 major consoles, you'd either have to build the three games from scratch each time, or concentrate only on one consoles best aspects. If you built the game for the PS" and did a simple port to the GAMECUBE it would be a game designed to take advantage of the Playstation 2, and wouldn't necessarily get the best out of the GAMECUBE (and vice-versa). This could possibly give the developer a poor reputation, and reputation is of huge importance in the console market. how many copies of The bouncer sold on the square name, even though the critics gave it a hiding?
So what's best for us, the gamers?
Well the more games you have available on your console, the more choice you have, and surely that's a good thing.
Though with more and more games becoming multiformat, it does make choosing which console will suit us best that little more difficult. We can no longer look only at the games available, we must think that there will be many games that Xbox gamers, Playstation2 gamers and GAMECUBE gamers can all play on any given console, be it Soul Calibur 2, FIFA, or The Thing. So we have to look at which games will each console have that you won't be able to play anywhere else.
Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo are all very aware of this, and I wouldn't be surprised if a few more exclusivity contracts were signed before the end of next year.
But is that really what's best for us? With Sony and Microsoft moving more towards home entertainment units it's not just the games that sell their systems. Sony would probably prefer it if they could fight on familiar territory, territory they've won on before. If you could get exactly the same games on the Xbox as the Playstation2 then the Playstation2 would wipe the floor with the Xbox because Sony have such a good reputation in home entertainment already, with their excellent TV's, VCR's, DVD Players, and of course the Playstation. Microsoft don't have this. Sony would love to fight the 'console war' like this, because they'd win.
Nintendo, on the other hand, want to stick to games alone, and this is definitely their strength. Nintendos games are so strong that they don't need to enter a battle they can't win with Sony. But they're smart enough not to let Sony have it all there own way, smart enough to sign up those developers that will keep gamers coming back to Nintendo, gamers that may previously have felt that the Playstation was the console for them.
That's why the Resident Evil deal was so important, those that like Resident Evil also like dozens of other games that featured on the Playstation, so developers that had previously dismissed the 'CUBE will now consider it, knowing that there will be this older audience there, if only for Resident Evil.
Nintendo tried something similar a few years back, and we've yet to see the results of that. Silicon Knights were ready to produce Too Human for the Playstation, they had even showed a stunning demo of the game, but Nintendo bought the company, and we'll see what they can really do initially with Eternal Darkess, and later Too Human.
Next year will be a strange one for some of us older gamers, those of us that remember only seeing certain games on certain systems. Seeing the same game on Sega Master System as the Nintendo Entertainment System was quite rare, and always made you look, now we'll go into a gameshop and see the same box art, only on three different types of box!
Games cost so much to develop that the developers and publishers have to try to maximise their profits.
So we get more multiplatform games than ever before, with developers pimping their games out to all comers.
Despite this, we've had some pretty shocking developments lately when it comes to exclusivity, with Capcom developing a couple of new games exclusively for the GAMECUBE, and Sony ensuring that future Square games are going to be on the Playstation only by buying a huge chunk of the company.
So what's best for the developer?
I would have thought that they'd make more money from putting the game out on every format, but if they're given enough to make it worthwhile to develop for only one, I guess it makes sense. There's also much less work in putting the console out on only one format, and given the differences between the 3 major consoles, you'd either have to build the three games from scratch each time, or concentrate only on one consoles best aspects. If you built the game for the PS" and did a simple port to the GAMECUBE it would be a game designed to take advantage of the Playstation 2, and wouldn't necessarily get the best out of the GAMECUBE (and vice-versa). This could possibly give the developer a poor reputation, and reputation is of huge importance in the console market. how many copies of The bouncer sold on the square name, even though the critics gave it a hiding?
So what's best for us, the gamers?
Well the more games you have available on your console, the more choice you have, and surely that's a good thing.
Though with more and more games becoming multiformat, it does make choosing which console will suit us best that little more difficult. We can no longer look only at the games available, we must think that there will be many games that Xbox gamers, Playstation2 gamers and GAMECUBE gamers can all play on any given console, be it Soul Calibur 2, FIFA, or The Thing. So we have to look at which games will each console have that you won't be able to play anywhere else.
Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo are all very aware of this, and I wouldn't be surprised if a few more exclusivity contracts were signed before the end of next year.
But is that really what's best for us? With Sony and Microsoft moving more towards home entertainment units it's not just the games that sell their systems. Sony would probably prefer it if they could fight on familiar territory, territory they've won on before. If you could get exactly the same games on the Xbox as the Playstation2 then the Playstation2 would wipe the floor with the Xbox because Sony have such a good reputation in home entertainment already, with their excellent TV's, VCR's, DVD Players, and of course the Playstation. Microsoft don't have this. Sony would love to fight the 'console war' like this, because they'd win.
Nintendo, on the other hand, want to stick to games alone, and this is definitely their strength. Nintendos games are so strong that they don't need to enter a battle they can't win with Sony. But they're smart enough not to let Sony have it all there own way, smart enough to sign up those developers that will keep gamers coming back to Nintendo, gamers that may previously have felt that the Playstation was the console for them.
That's why the Resident Evil deal was so important, those that like Resident Evil also like dozens of other games that featured on the Playstation, so developers that had previously dismissed the 'CUBE will now consider it, knowing that there will be this older audience there, if only for Resident Evil.
Nintendo tried something similar a few years back, and we've yet to see the results of that. Silicon Knights were ready to produce Too Human for the Playstation, they had even showed a stunning demo of the game, but Nintendo bought the company, and we'll see what they can really do initially with Eternal Darkess, and later Too Human.
Next year will be a strange one for some of us older gamers, those of us that remember only seeing certain games on certain systems. Seeing the same game on Sega Master System as the Nintendo Entertainment System was quite rare, and always made you look, now we'll go into a gameshop and see the same box art, only on three different types of box!