GNT: Exclusives for the Xbox 360 – Why all the Frustration

GNT: Nintendo has Mario, Luigi, Zelda and Metroid Prime. Sony has Sackboy, Ratchet & Clank, Nathan Drake and Kratos. Microsoft has Master Chief, Marcus Fenix and Alan Wake. The latter of the three gaming giants though seems to have lost its way in the exclusive market. Fans are crying out for new franchises to be created to try to compete with both Nintendo and Sony. While Nintendo continue to bring gaming to the mass market for people of all ages with the likes of Mario and Zelda, Sony have strong exclusives in games such as Heavy Rain, Gran Turismo, Uncharted and Killzone, Microsoft has been left with the ‘past it’s best’ game of Halo, the completed Trilogy of Gears of War and Forza Motorsport. I think the Xbox owners all want to know is: “WHERE ARE OUR EXCLUSIVES?!”

[Dante112]

Yeah, I would really like some new exclusives besides Halo and Kinect games. I feel like Microsoft has really abandoned the hardcore gamer with their new Kinect push. I can only imagine how next gen will be with talks of the Xbox720 having built in Kinect hardware, CPU/GPU combo processor (No BC) and that you even won't be able to play used games.

"So I ask Microsoft to please produce more exclusives. Not for the Kinect but original and exclusive games for the 360 itself."

I totally agree.

[hellzsupernova]

yeah i think we are seeing microsofts true intentions now. I believe gaming wont be the main priority for the 720 but more a media streaming box that plays games, thats where i think Microsoft is heading

[suicidalblues]

I wonder why the disagrees. Exclusives are a platforms bragging rights, not 1 extra frame per second.

Its almost like the core 360 fanboys are saying they DON'T want exclusives- well, MS has heard you loud and clear.

[Bigpappy]

May be early in the life of the console exclusives help to show some of thr unique features of the console. But when you have the Multi-plat coming in mass quantity with the quality that matches or exceeds that of the exclusives, then thoses exclusive become pretty much irrelevent. The only way exclusives make sense deep in the life cycle, is if companys buy up all the best multi-plat developers to make their games exclusive. Who wants that?

[josephayal]

Alan wake, Halo and Gears Xbox 360 Exclusives? Hmm i don't thing so kid, maybe console exclusive

[IM_KINECTED]

Microsoft doesn't consider PC to be a competing platform. In fact, I believe they will make the next Xbox totally compatible with Windows.

Alan Wake, Halo, Gears, Fable are all exclusive. You can call it console exclusive if you wish, but it's not a competing platform.

[spicelicka]

first of all u smartass, the last 4 halo games have been completely xbox 360 exclusive, same with gears 2 and gears 3.

Alan wake, fable, and left4dead are console exclusive. Also you have to understand the competition for consoles has always been between ps3 and 360.

In that sense, even uncharted, resistance, killzone, and littlebigplanet are all console exclusives because they're all on psp and psp vita as well. Psp and Vita are owned by sony just like PC is owned by microsoft.

When xbox 360 and ps3 fans buy their games, they look at "o this game is not on ps3 but on 360" or vice versa, so it's all a matter or perspective.

[drexl]

"Psp and Vita are owned by sony just like PC is owned by microsoft. "

Wow, you're retarded. M$ does not "own" the PC platform, they only own Windows. The only reason people commonly associate M$ with PC Gaming is because Windows is the required Operating System for most PC games.

The PC is regarded as an open platform for a reason. M$ does not AND NEVER EVER WILL own the PC platform. I would rather give up PC gaming permanently than ever let M$ own it.

[Mystogan]

@drexl

you can bitch all you want but PC is practically owned by microsoft.

90% of PC's run Windows, and its still growing with windows 7(best OS yet even beats XP) and windows 8 soon.

On topic:

Microsoft making Xbox 720 casual is a pretty stupid move and MS is not stupid,No Casual gamer will ever buy a $500+ console, that's why they will bring new IP's for xbox 360 to make us core gamers familiar with and then switch them to Xbox 720.It won't be casual focused the Xbox 360 will be the one that will be Casual focused.
Though the 720 will come with Kinect 2 it will be much more responsive then Kinect 1,Much more to our liking and very capable of delivering new experiences for us core gamers.

[spicelicka]

@drexl
Microsoft basically runs PC gaming, you can get into the technicalities and details but that's what the truth is. Yes i wasn't correct with the wording but my point is still valid.

All the games that are in the argument like gears 1, fable, and alan wake are published by microsoft so that would make them microsoft exclusives, and thus they're xbox 360 exclusives. Just like people call sony published games like uncharted, resistance, and killzone 'ps3 eclusives' even though they're on psp. They aren't the same games of course (UC: golden abyss being different from UC3), but the franchises are still considered exclusive to ps3.

So with that logic all xbox 360 and PC games should be considered xbox 360 exclusive. Although i don't give a shit, just trying to make a point to those who always bitch about "console exclusivity".

[IM_KINECTED]

Well as someone who has had his Xbox 360 since launch, I think the exclusives are whats needed to push a console at first. I bought a Xbox 360 simply because I saw Gears Of War on it and I thought that was the first true next generation gaming experience.

I bought a PS3 because of Metal Gear Solid 4, I bought a Wii because of Mario Galaxy and Zelda.

So exclusives matter to an extent, but I can understand companies not wanting to waste a lot of time and money on pumping out exclusives, especially when a lot of them just aren't going to sell.

I think it's kind of obvious that Microsoft is switching focus for the 360, it's going to be pushed to a more casual market, they will continue to sell them after the 720 is out, but the 720 will get it's push from core gamer yet again.

I don't see a ton of exclusives new or old franchises that would have stood much of a chance last year against that heavy lineup of 3rd party titles. I mean Batman, Skyrim, Portal 2, LA Noire, Crysis 2, Battlefield 3, Modern Warfare 3, Mortal Kombat ect.......

This is why Sony has even come out and said they might produce less exclusives, at some point your going to have to make money on these types of games and I just don't think they are.

All the companies have their top 3 franchises and the rest are just mid level.

Microsoft put out what I consider a solid exclusive lineup in 2010 and it was mostly ignored.

I think its clear when the exclusives slow down, we are about to see a new console.

[PetitPiPi]

Totally agree with everything you wrote unlike josephanboi above.

[LX-General-Kaos]

Agreed and well said. +bubbles

Rated E For Everyone

[cstyle]

Total nonsense. The xbox has plenty of exclusives. Not as many as sony but that's not their goal...at least i don't think it is. I will say having quantity is a good thing and this gen both have given us plenty to play. No console owner should be complaining about having nothing to play. But of course fan boys will be fan boys and focus way too much on crap like this.

[AngelicIceDiamond]

As much as I want Exclusives, MS has been doing a smart thing with treating multiplats like they were there very own exclusive, Creating a huge brand awareness. Its been so successful that even Sony themselves have had there share of exclusive content last year (though had some none promised content) the biggest one is BF3. Even though its a smart move MS has done, at the end of the day, its still just a Multiplat. The days of exclusive games from third party devs have been over since 2010. The only ones that are still around that I know of are Remedy's Alan Wake (Xbox) and Quantic Dreams Heavy Rain (PlayStation) Epic's Gears Of War (Xbox) and RockStar's Agent (PlayStation, hopefully)

[from the beach]

Lol'd at 'mid-core'.

Kinect is a great machine and has lots of cool games in the pipeline such as Crimson Dragon, Jutekki, Fable: the Journey and Ryse.

If those don't appeal to you, maybe the term 'mid-core' applies.

[Wikkid666]

This article is just foolish.

[Grimhammer00]

I'm not sure many of you get the issues that are at play with MS, and what it means for us.

Having 3 exclusives (halo, gears & forza...top sellers), is great. But it's not enough....for us!!!
Sure Kinect & these exclusives put MS in a great position financially....but the ultimate goal of a console maker is to increase market share. That means the war between the three major console makers is a real war!

Your not going to destroy your competition if you can't compete. That's in part why Kinect was introduced. MS aren't sitting in a boardroom saying "hey I want some of that Wii pie!" their saying "that market can be ours!"

So...Sony knows its strength...exclusives. Their not going to risk losing that. And MS won't attack on two fronts. That's too risky. They'll destroy Nintendo first. And that'll leave Sony to shore their defenses with more exclusives.

Next gen will be interesting for sure.

But as a hardcore gamer...next gen Xbox looks pretty meh. 3-4 exclusives is not my idea of the very best the machine has to offer on a regular basis.

(third party games are great...but they don't move specific consoles)

[jmac53]

I see what is happening with Microsoft. They saw Nintendo and the casual market and they over compensated going after that market. I think they have lost focus on what has brought them to the position they are in; the hardcore gamer. I used to have a PS2 and I sold it and bought an Xbox the moment I saw the hardcore games they were providing. Microsoft needs to find a balance that is more 60-70% hardcore games and exclusives. The casual market will follow once the hardcore market has been established.

[kreate]

Microsoft doesnt need exclusives. Xbox sells well without them. If the sales are slow, sure they'll give u more exclusives.

But xbox sells so well in america, exclusive games almost doesnt matter to the giant corporation. Just a theory.

[dcortz2027]

I'm actually quite impressed at how well the Xbox 360 is doing without exclusives. Microsoft has plenty of good console exclusives that can also be found on the PC as well as on the Xbox 360.