Has Microsoft Exhausted its Supply of Xbox 360 Exclusives?

It’s a common insult thrown by those who are less than fond of Microsoft’s console: “The Xbox 360 doesn’t have any games!” While I would have vehemently disagreed with this sentiment after the release of Gears of War back in 2006, I’m not so sure any more. With the Halo “trilogy” being expanded by a new development team, the Gears of War franchise done and dusted for the foreseeable future, the Fable series rapidly deteriorating in quality, and interest in Forza paling in comparison to Gran Turismo, it seems that Microsoft has effectively dried up the proverbial well of must-have exclusive titles. What’s left for the next Xbox to make it a must-buy console on launch day?

[Snookies12]

I prefer Playstation, but I don't hate Xbox. I really hope they can get their act together and offer their fanbase some new exclusive games, because at the moment it's definitely not looking good for them. I'd be more than happy to buy another Xbox if they'd release some good exclusives besides Halo, Gears, Forza, and well... I can't say Fable as it's on PC as well.

[LOGICWINS]

It's mostly the 360 user base's fault. They allow Microsoft to be comfortable. Halo, Forza, Fable, Gears..thats what its been for half a decade(and the 360 fanbase has demonstrated that they're okay with that with their dollars). If your okay with that, no problem, enjoy your games. But this isn't good if ur looking for a large variety of exclusive games.

Now with the $99 360/Kinect bundle(which WILL take off whether people here like it or not) Microsoft will just gt more cocky. They'll just continue doing the SAME three things they always do

1) Market COD to the point that people think its a 360 exclusive

2) Halo

3) Take EVERY opportunity to overcharge 360 users

[edonus]

Its not a matter of the fan base letting them do anything. Its just that what they are doing is practical and fits the consumer style. I would be lying if I said I wouldnt like more exclusives. But I would also be lying if I said I need more games to play.
This year I have bought Battlefield 3, Mass effect 3, Alan Wake AN, Kinect Star Wars, and Ultimate MVC3. Thats 1 game a month, and I havent even bought Skyrim the Witcher 2 Kinect Rush, Proyotype 2, not to mention about 20 games ihave in backlog. I'm averaging a game a month, I am getting Steel Battalion day one, Halo 4 day one, along with fable and Crimson dragon and DBZ if it come out this year. Not to mention AC3, GTA5 and Forza if I can get to them. I didnt even mention COD or RE6. So i'm looking at a lot of games this year, I can only imagine how much Sony has. Basically we arent lacking games.

The $99 bundle is an experiment that they are testing out. Think about all the advantages that model gives. This could be a way to kind of minimize the idea of the Xboxlive membership fee. And having people committed to online means you know they are in the market to go straight digital download. Not to mention get more Kinects out there. You'll be congratulating Sony next gen when they are doing this.

[LOGICWINS]

Great comment edonus. Personally, most of the games I play are multiplatform. Max Payne 3, AC3, and GTAV(I hope) for this year. The only two PS3 exclusive franchises I TRULY care about are Killzone and Infamous. As far as the discussion is concerned, PS3 and 360 gamers have had a blast this generation...regardless of which consoles has more exclusives.

HOWEVER, I'm not a big fan of Microsofts business practices. Paying for Live is just ridiculous IMO. And I personally dont understand the hype behind Halo. Different strokes for different folks I guess.

[kreate]

@edonus

'Its not a matter of the fan base letting them do anything. Its just that what they are doing is practical and fits the consumer style.'

Its not? I thought if the fanbase stops buying xbox consoles, stops paying for gold, and complain to ms that xbox needs games than ms would do something about it?

Like u know.... Make some more games?
Kinect is good and all but u know what i
mean.

What are they doing with all the money they made this generation?

[badz149]

there's no point arguing over this
MS has the money to make more exclusives than even Sony could but they just don't want to and who can blame them when people keep buying their multiplat console?

[kreate]

What badz149 saids

[INC NATE2131]

simple terms...MORE EXCLUSIVES ISNT ALWAYS BETTER! say ps3 has 10 exclusives this year, uhhh i dont have 600 dollars to waste on video games, vs the 5 that xbox has where 300 dollars is still a lot more manageable to pay but since theres so many to chose from im not going to buy all 10, il at best buy 5. second off, quality>quantity. if you looked at the past 2 years guys, ps3 has more exclusives, but there ratings arent as great as 360 exclusives...example if you go to meticritc which averages out all the ratings for a game, and go to the games tab, theres a section that says 2012 best games, it will show ps3, xbox360 and wii, it will tell you the number of exclusives with an 85 or better, well do the math, iv calculated all the years since the start of 2006, so here are your numbers, exclusives with an 85 or better...xbox360-27, ps3-20. each year after 2009 when ps3 started producing so many exclusives, there over all ratings have went down. 2009. exclusives rated over 85 in 2009-9 over 85 in 2010-8 now heres where it gets scary, over 85 in 2011-4 in 2012 so far 3. as you can see as they produce more exclusives theres not to much focus on maybe 2 or 3 specific games, sure you can pump out a shit ton of ok to good exclusives, or pump out 4 to 5 of really good games...which ones do you want? oh and go check meticritic if you dont believe me :)

[Gamer3000]

for the first time logic you have my agree

[gaffyh]

I agree with everything you said Logic, except the bit where "people think [COD] is 360 exclusive". Microsoft certainly have tried, and Pachter seems to think they've succeeded, but nobody thinks it's exclusive. It sells way too much on PS3, and it's more correct to say that people prefer to play it on 360 because that is essentially the "shooter" console due to its controller.

Microsoft are going to continue with their approach to get 3rd party exclusive next gen, because it is cheaper to pay off a third party, than to have your own development team and take all the risks. Except for proven franchises of course, which is why the recycle Halo, Forza, Fable all the time.

[insomnium2]

I bet MS will do the same exact thing next gen. Fool the HC-gamers to buy their console and then let them hang and concentrate on that casual money. It's working extremely well so why the hell should they stop it?

I really hate to see someone like MS buying their way up and laugh all the way to the bank afterwards. It sickens me but there is nothing I can do about millions of ignorant people.

I'm affraid Sony might ditch the hc-gamers too since as it clearly shows in salesnumbers all you need is COD and marketting. Nextgen is going to be a rough ride if you ditch us Sony.

[lastdual]

People here tend to overlook MS's other strategy:

Pump money into XBLA games

MS does have exclusives, it's just that most of them are downloadable games now. I expect that we'll see more big budget exclusive retail games when they release their new console, but in meantime XBLA has been home to some pretty great titles.

It's absurd to claim that games like Journey or Fez aren't worthwhile exclusives. I've enjoyed both of those titles more than several boxed games I've bought in the last year.

[darthv72]

conspiracy theory time...
Similar to NYC gamer said below. It may not be in the best interest of the 360 to make a huge release of titles (exclusive or not). I can see this as basically on the verge of announcing the next gen xbox and doing more in the services dept for the 360 while at the same time shifting focus for solid game development to their next project.

It makes sense if you really think about it. It pays to hold back games at or near the end of one console cycle to make them part of the launch of a new one. Granted we all know about launch games and how they 'should' have been released on the prior system. yet in this business, you need as many launch titles as you can get. Even if it means sacrificing some late titles into becoming launch titles.

The 360 has established itself as a solid entertainment set top box. That could have been the idea from the beginning but of course they need to get into peoples homes first. You do that with recognizable titles and a cool gimick (kinect came out late but it seems to have caught on quick).

So now with the rumors of a 720 (or whatever) and the pulling back of titles released for the 360 just lends itself to the idea that the next gen is upon us and will have the games people have been clamouring for.

[2v1]

and then waht...hope for 3rd party support

[fermcr]

Honestly... Microsoft is doing better then I expected, even without many exclusives.

Who would of thought at the beginning of this generation that the X360 would be selling this good at this point. Almost 7 years old and still selling pretty well.

[LOGICWINS]

I agree. Excellent marketing on their part.

[SilentNegotiator]

It's the Wii all over again. New technology that doesn't ultimately end up doing much, lots of marketing.

Good for them, but it doesn't do anything for me as a gamer. I'll just take my business elsewhere.

[edonus]

The 360 is nothing like the Wii. The Wii was a smash and grab job. They hustled everybody and now they are paying for it because they made themselves outcasts. Last to the party and first to leave is never a good thing.

[Nodoze]

Agreed. Sadly it points to the gullible nature of the consumer. They see an ad on TV and that is what they want (regardless of what other options are out there).

Have to hand it to MS, they certainly should not be doing as well as they are. They have alienated the core gamers with a complete lack of exclusives, they nickel and dime to death, Kinect is a joke, and yet here we are.

[mobhit]

INC NATE2131
What you said literally made no sense. Who wouldn't want more exclusives for their console? What does metacritic have to do with enjoying games for what they are?

That's a poor argument.

[xXBlondieVanHarlowXx]

Exactly, because as he claims "i dont have 600 dollars to waste on video games" he wants his console to have less games so he can afford them all.

That's not selfish of him.

[crzyjackbauer]

as long as COD keeps selling billions, MS doesent need any Exclusives
Sony keeps making exclusivers and what you guys end up playing uncharted 3 for a month or so and then come back to COD
makes no sense business wise

[mobhit]

crzyjackbauer
...What about the people who actually want to play more than just CoD games? Not everybody likes CoD.

[xtremeimport]

not just 360. xbox in general. I really have no problem with them continuing to use the same IP so long as they offer more variety in other forms.

[StraightPath]

lol forza destoryed GT5 since Forza 1. Just look at the metacritc. Forza high GT going lower each time.

[QuodEratDemonstrandm]

I would think that an author would have more respect for his readers than to butcher the english language like that.

Reading a comment should take less effort than writing it did, not more.

[NYC_Gamer]

MS doesn't need to flood the 360 this late with new exclusives......I'm sure the next Xbox console will bring new exclusives since customers would need a reason to upgrade....360 is doing alright for a console that has limited new software...

[GameTavern]

I think his point, and its reasonable on paper. Is what can MS offer customers to WANT to upgrade to the next Xbox?

[NYC_Gamer]

I think MS will come out strong with new software for their next console....just look at what MS did with the 360 in the early years compared to the reg xbox....MS isn't bringing out new exclusives now because its not needed the 360 is at the end of its life span...people would be foolish to think MS doesn't have exclusives to showcase the next xbox...

[KenAdamsNSA]

@GameTavern Exactly.

[TheRealHeisenberg]

@ NYC_Gamer

Exactly.

[BitbyDeath]

Exactly

http://i.saucesome.net/189....

[Guwapo77]

@ NYC_Gamer

With what studios? MS bought several at the start of this generation and over time closed them. I'm still at a lose for why they did that.

EDIT: disregard. I see they still have a few studios under their belt. 7 to be exact with alot of Microsoft studios. They may gather some steam next generation. I do hope so. Last thing I want to see is Sony get too relaxed like they were this gen.

[humbleopinion]

@Guwapo77
MS also opened a vast array of new studios lately, with most of them not releasing any game on the X360 so far. It makes sense that most of them have already moved to next gen development. Not to mention many of the top exclusive games coming out this gen are from third party developers, so who knows which studios Microsoft signed deals with for the next gen?

Also, since the last E3 The following games were released on the X360 (excluding kinect games) which you can't find on other consoles:
Gears of War 3, Forza 4, Halo Anniversary, Alan Wake AN, The Witcher 2, Fez, Trials Revolution, Minecraft, The Splatters, Anomaly: Warzone Earth, Shadow Planet, Toy Soldiers: Cold War, Ms Splosion Man, Bastion, Sine Mora, Orcs Must Die - and I'm pretty sure I forgot a handful at least.

So for people looking for content on the X360 in the past year I'm pretty sure they are not all out of games. In fact, I'm not sure if any other console had such a wide selection of quality games released to it in the past year (but you are more than welcomed to correct me if you think I'm wrong).

[WetN00dle69]

I agree!
But i do hope MS actually has something to offer other than 20 new titles of halo and 10 of Gears of War. Halo Darts and Gears of War Bowling anyone???

[humbleopinion]

/checks back to see if any comments were made

No counter arguments or lists to prove me wrong? I guess that settles is then.

[Nodoze]

NYC what game studios will these mythical exclusives come from?

Bungie is gone, Bizarre is gone, Bioware is gone, and we all know that Rare and Lionhead haven't turned out a great title in some time.

That leaves Turn10, and while they product great titles, this will NOT be enough.

[Guwapo77]

@ Humbleopinion

Only the first three you mentioned on that list are 360 exclusives. I who also has a gaming rig can purchase many of those as well. That is the only thing kind of bothers me about microsoft. It only makes the system look less attractive to actually have to buy. I know this reply is going off in a different direction but it is what it is. Three exclusives.

[Instigator]

With Rare under their belt, MS has a lot of untapped franchises gamers love from way back when. It's just MS who's too reluctant to spend the money on widening their appeal. Banjo would have done much better if they didn't make it a damn racing game, but 700K isn't bad for a title so far from the 360's main demographic either way.

[KenAdamsNSA]

Agreed. The challenges could've been much more diverse, but the LEGO-esque mechanics were insanely enjoyable.

[DarkSniper]

Yes.

$niper

[GamingPerson]

Aren't you supposed to say "Dark Sniper says yes"
??

[anticooper]

yeah i expected more from Darksniper:-)

[Persistantthug]

N4G is disappointed in the DarkSniper.
:P

[Consoldtobots]

aren't you the same bunch that complain when DS is in character?

make up your minds

[360GamerFG]

I believe they have. Core ones at least. Strange, we are taught in business school that it is cheaper and preferable to keep existing customers happy than to try and rope in new customers.
Microsoft seems to spit on this sound business theory by pandering to the casual crowd via kinect. Yes, there are alot more of them and they buy consoles, but they don't buy games like the rest of us.
Wake up Microsoft.
Edit: I just realised I also didn't die a single time in my entire playthrough of Fable II. . .LOL. How has this never been brought to my attention until now??
Edit 2: Bloody good read, well done sir.

[KenAdamsNSA]

I wonder what the attach rate is for Kinect titles. If I remember correctly, that rate was very low for the Wii, and fairly high for the 360 several years ago.

[liquidhalos]

Oh well now i find the fact that i didnt die once in fable much less of an achievment, damn thats funny, i wonder how many people did die

[InTheLab]

They've abandoned Crackdown, Banjo, Perfect Dark, all of those JRPGs from earlier this gen, PGR....

Add that to the high number of 1st party studios they have that COULD be working on core titles and there you have it.

They haven't exhausted their supply, they just let more than half of them fall off the back of the truck...

[Optical_Matrix]

If they weren't idiots they could have lapped up the Mass Effect franchise after the success of the first one. Not to mention, where Final Fantasy XIII failed, Lost Odyssey could have easily been worked on and become the Xbox's answer to the franchise. After all FFXIII on the 360 sold 1.5 million...Lost Odyssey sold 700k...thats not THAT bad considering. It had potential.

[WitWolfy]

I think the only reason LO sold so poorly was because it was launched too early in the generation, and was over shadowed by other more advertised games so for me it was a sleeper hit.

If anybody here feels FF13 didnt hit the sweet spot for them, then you GOTTA try out this awesome gem, you wont regret it. Its every FF13 wish it could be.

[european_cannon]

Lost Odyssey is the best Final Fantasy game this generation. Its a shame not many people bought it because it really is the last great Japanese RPG.

[TacoTaru]

My 360 died a couple of years ago but I never bothered to replace it because I already had a PS3 and there hasn't been a 360 exclusive to make replacing it worthwhile. If a great jrpg exclusive to the 360 came out I would definitely have to replace it. Thinking about Lost Odyssey now makes me want to run out and buy a 360 just to give that game another play-through. I haven't had turn-based goodness for far too long.

[Ravenor]

The same could have been said at the end of the original Xbox's life. It was pretty sparse, especially in its Twilight years.

Especially when if you look back at the launch of the 360 very few big "Xbox only" franchises made a return at launch. PGR3 and Amped being the only two I can think off the top of my head, PD:Z wasn't returning from the Xbox and neither was: Condemned, Kameo, Quake, CoD2 (Not Big Red One) Ride Racer, etc.

You don't need a Halo at launch to have a successful one.

[KenAdamsNSA]

I agree, but there haven't been any rumblings of what's to come yet either. That's a little concerning, don't you think?

[Ravenor]

When MS has already said that they aren't talking about their new console at E3 this year, I'm not particularly worried.

[OhReginald]

MS doesnt have enough IPs and has way too many sequels.

[YodaCracker]

I seriously don't understand this whole thing about the Xbox 360 lacking exclusive games. It is a FACT that the 360 has more exclusive titles than the PS3. This is not disputable:

There are 241 exclusive titles on the 360:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

And 195 exclusive titles on the PS3:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

And this list does not even include the multitude of 360/PC titles that do not appear on the PS3. Add those in, and the 360 lineup is even more packed than it already is. You can disagree with facts all you want, but this will never change the truth. Despite this, it seems to be common for the misinformed to mistake the PS3 for having more exclusive games. Now, of course I believe the QUALITY of a console's exclusive titles is far more important than the QUANTITY, but that comes down entirely to personal opinion, so we can't realistically debate that.

[jizzyjones]

Meh.

[KenAdamsNSA]

Of those listed, which are particularly notable?

360:
Gears of War
Halo
Forza
PGR
Fable
Rare titles
A handful of XBLA games

PS3:
God of War
Gran Turismo
Heavenly Sword (although arguable)
Infamous
Killzone
LittleBigPlanet
MotorStorm
Ratchet & Clank
Resistance
Heavy Rain
SOCOM
StarHawk
Twisted Metal
Uncharted
Handful of PSN games

Hmmm...

This is coming from someone who only owns a 360.

[Outside_ofthe_Box]

I was just about to say that.

It has been pointed out time and time again that people don't literally mean the TOTAL amount of exclusives, but the total amount of CORE exclusives and within those CORE games the quality of them.

It's the same thing when people bring up the number of studios that Microsoft has. Yes they have more studios than Sony does, but a good number of those studios are family/children oriented.

[baodeus]

That is option something notible to u might not be the same 4 others let take my notible list compare to your as an example

Halo
Forza
Fable
Gear
Halo wars
Rare (viva pinata,pd,okami,bk)
jrpg (lost odyssey,blue dragon,tov)
Pgr
Crackdown, edf 1
alan wake
handful of Clive games

Ps3
gt
Uc
gow
lbp
Mgs4
demon soul
Infamous
R&c
handful of psn games

So it isn't the same 4 everyone, what u do have is the total number of exclusive since this is a topic based on pure number not about quality that vary from person to person which can't be argued

[TheRealHeisenberg]

"Of those listed, which are particularly notable?"

Just need to fix that PS3 list a little bit.

PS3:
God of War
Gran Turismo
Infamous
Killzone
Ratchet & Clank
StarHawk (Remains to be seen but I'm looking forward to it.)
Uncharted
Handful of PSN games

[Ravenor]

@ KenAdamsNSA

What makes a game "Notable"? I didn't think Heavy Rain was special, and after Resistance 1 I thought Resistance 2 was kinda bad (Haven't gotten around to Resistance 3 yet). SOCOM 4 was terrible, it was notably bad.

@Baodeus

I don't think Rare developed Okami (In fact, I know they didn't!) and I'm also fairly certain Okami wasn't on the 360 (again...it wasn't). Also listing Clive Barkers Jericho, which was also on the PS3 just...doesn't help. In fact, I'm going to go ahead and say it, your opinion is worthless.

[DK286K]

I would certainly add the Project Gotham Racing games, as well as Alan Wake and Crackdown to the 360's "notable" list.

[ShaunCameron]

I don't recall MotorStorm, Twisted Metal or SOCOM being notable. Heavenly Sword (cool game, by the way) was rendered an afterthought thanks to God Of War III and Bayonetta. Resistance pretty much stopped mattering after the 1st one. StarHawk? LOL.

[A-Glorious-Dawn]

what just happened, in this short span of messages, is really sad..

[baodeus]

Ravener:

i ment Kameo element of power, not okami. Wrong game, my bad.

@anyone who disagree,
i wouldn't use my OPINION as evidence to back up my claim. Do you care about my opinion? I'm pretty sure you don't, and neither do I about yours. Fact about NUMBER of exclusives is based on numbers, not opinion.

[MrBeatdown]

I'm going to take a wild guess here and say the people who think the system is lacking exclusives aren't exactly the ones that bought their 360 yesterday and have a six year backlog of 360 exclusives to work through.

I've had my 360 and PS3 since early 2007. I've had five years to play what I want from those lists. Perfect Dark Zero and the first MotorStorm isn't doing it for me in 2012. I want a constant stream of new exclusives, just like I want a constant stream of new multiplatform games. It doesn't matter if the 360 has a bigger exclusive backlog. Most people have played what they want from it.

I'm guessing most serious gamers, especially people who visit and comment on sites like this, keep up with recent games. Almost every game I bought this year released in the last year or so. I'm sure that's the case for most people. Gamers wanting a new selection of games to choose from isn't exactly uncommon.

[TheRealHeisenberg]

Gotta agree with that.

[C0MPUT3R]

Logic.
.
It's about a steady stream of releases.
.
PS3 puts out an exclusive every month.
.
'08 was the last year the 360 had exclusives.
.
'09,'10,'11,' 12,'13 - will be a 5 year period with no exclusives, unless you like Halo... not made by Bungie.

[mobhit]

...No.

[ShinobiDragon]

Come on the kinect shovelware doesn't count.

[LOL_WUT]

Has Microsoft Exhausted its Supply of Xbox 360 Exclusives? Uh yes.
See that wouldn't of happened to Microsoft if they hadn't focused on exclusive DLC, time exclusives and Kinect.

[GraveLord]

Xbox 360 exclusives? Isn't that a contradiction?

[Valenka]

Did Microsoft run out of money? No? Then there's bound to be a further abundance of Xbox exclusives.

[madjedi]

Right then why has the 360 exclusive ips dried up so badly in the last 3 yrs vs the 1st 3 yrs, numerous ip have been ignored or neglected in favor of halo and kinect.

Rare has been in limbo for yrs. Ms had plenty of money then, but still didn't bother releasing sequels to new ips that got decent sales. Money isn't the problem it's commitment to the core gamer.

Further abundance, work on getting to current abundance, then we will see about future plans.

[ChunkyLover53]

I don't think they exhausted their supply of exclusives, I just think they see the value of launching a console with a lot of exclusives to draw in a core audience,once that is achieved I think they start to switch their focus in order to bring in other types of people, gamers, families and people who just like tech.

What I've noticed is that Microsoft has taken full notice of Sony, they see that, although Sony releases a lot of exclusives, a lot of those go under the radar and probably don't recoup what they cost in development and advertising.

Sony's top franchises sell quite good, Microsoft's top franchises sell good. Microsoft in all honesty seems to be focusing on making the Xbox 360 a sell-able product even after the Xbox 720 releases.

I think Microsoft is more than content with offering a few quality hardcore titles a year, apps for the entertainment crowd and lately Microsoft has been putting out a lot of quality XBLA titles.

I honestly wouldn't expect a ton of exclusives between now and the Xbox 720, it wouldn't make sense.

[DEATHxTHExKIDx]

How about not foucusing on kinect Bs and put out some new exclusive games. Sony has had many years to build up mascots and great series same as nintendo. But microsoft has just been slacking recently nit ginna lie.

[Titanz]

3rd party titles sell really well on the Xbox 360
If Microsoft were in Nintendo's shoes (generate most of their sales from 1st/2nd party offerings), then their current list of exclusives would be pretty worrying.

3rd party exclusives are rare in this day and age -- so whatever support Microsoft currently has planned for their gaming platform, should be announced at this year's E3 2012.

[SSKILLZ]

hopefully next gen Ms will have hardcore exclusives for there hardcore audience

[Funky Town_TX]

It's about choice
Both consles have a lot to offer to different types of gamers. I mostly play multi-platform games and I gotta have my Halo fix.

[FrigidDARKNESS]

Lol at the posters in this thread posting lists of exclusives for 360 and ps3 starting list wRs.
Why do folks even bother posting all those ,ong list of exclusives when they have no intentions of buying them at all.
On topic Ms is dormant now saving everything for the x720.

[Hicken]

Mr. Beatdown said it best: people asking questions like this are looking at CURRENT release rosters, not stuff from three or more years ago.

How many people are buying Fable I? PGR? The first Crackdown? Even if the games are great, most people have bought and/or played them already; so what's next?

[BitbyDeath]

Games division has been struggling financially since the RROD debacle which is why the exclusives coincidentally dropped off after MS admitted they had a problem and paid up.

Kinect looks to be helping them get back ontop though so hopefully nextgen they can start taking the core market seriously again.

[Persistantthug]

@BitbyDeath......Your point is valid.
Alot of people seem to think Microsoft has a virtually unlimited supply of money.....and while that may be true.....

Microsoft "GAMES" division does not.

Even to this day Microsoft is still fixing and replacing broken XBOX 360's. That ALOT of money that goes down the tubes for Microsoft and this will continue all through this generation, and even into the next.

Microsoft certainly didn't close all those good studios just for the hell of it.

[OldSnakePS3]

its simple, micro$oft dosnt care about the core gamer
all they care about is how much $$$$ they can rip off from their sheep fanbase

just look @ the 360 hardware- it says it all

[jessupj]

Exactly.

Why should MS go the extra mile for core gamers when they've clearly more than happy to put up with MS's crappy treatment of them?

This is the core 360 base's fault. MS isn't going to change as long as you're happy putting up with their sh*t

[ZILLA]

YOU MISSED THE BOAT...it ran out a yeah ago!!

[TheDivine]

They havent, not even close but they choose to ignore most of them. They have Lost Odyssey, Too Human, Kameo, Perfect Dark, Killer Instict, Battletoads, Blinx, Blue Dragon, Fable, Alan Wake, and many more ip's that dont get sequels like they deserve. They do have alot of third party support which is associated with the 360 (gears, splinter cell exc) but they eed more 1st party core games. They do a damn fine job with Halo, Forza, Fable (for the most part) and they have tons of kinect games for families and casuals but they totally dropped their funding of big AAA new ip's. I originally thought it was to get kinect lauched and successful and now i think all support is going on behind the scenes for next gen launch titles but who knows. I do know without great support next gen fro the gate i wont buy their console.

Im glad i got The Witcher 2 right now. Thats one of the best games ive ever played. Thats one thing i like about the 360 alot. Theres alot of pc centric games i wouldve had to build a pc for like TW2, Divinity 2, Metro 2033, Risen, Supreme Commander 2, and more. Not all are the best ports but its good enough for a console joe like me.

[JOHN_DOH]

The problem with that is the developers who made Lost Odyssey, Too Human, Blue Dragon?, etc. are independent and don't have to make games just for xbox unless MS pays them to make it exclusive. I don't think the developers in MicrosoftGameStudios would be able to make a sequel to most of those games by themselves even if they do have the rights to the ip. Microsoft's in house devs make Halo(this is a 1st attempt) and forza.

[dcbronco]

MS is trying to make money. Not appease fanboys. Even with three years of faulty hardware, a small fanbase and "no exclusives", they remain the second best selling console. And they are still in position to win the sales title again this year. Exclusive don't always sell and surely don't move many consoles. Ask Sony.

[edonus]

First its funny how know one seems to count kinect games as exclusives.... some how kinect doesnt count.

Anyway exclusive at this stage in console life cycles arent really good business. Especially new IPs. Imagine spending several million dollars on developing a AAA game then having to spend several more millions to market it. Its not good business especially with third parties delivering lots of AAA market dominating games like AC, and COD.

Next gen when everything starts over they will turn things back up and start contracting 3rd party devs for exclusives. or maybe even by some studios. They have plenty of games to tap in to.

[PirateThom]

Once you start counting Kinect games, you're on a slippery slope.... why not include applications on the dash that use Kinect as well? The gameplay is just as deep!

[edonus]

I would have to disagree. Fact is people like to wear blinders when it comes to Kinect, they trivialize what it does good over exaggerate when it does bad and totally ignore what it does great.

I can point out specific gaming applications kinect shines bright and get no props for. Examples
Ambidexterous gaming.
Double pistol shooting in Gunstringer, that take a lot of skill to track and shoot 2 independent targets at the same time. Kinect Star Wars you could control the light saber and the force independently at the same time. And you could switch left handed and right handed.
Creative combat
In Rise of Nightmares you could kick stab jab hook upper cut, had a bunch of weapons that operated differently, a fire ball throwing glove even double Scorpion harpoons that ripped enemies apart. In Star Wars kinect you could through enemies in to each other force push them of edges kick them or just slash. Then when slashing them you could do single handed fast attacks or double gripped slower power attacks and switch back and forth as you saw fit.
To players one camera
Most kinect games have drop in drop out.
It never gets mentioned that the game is successfully tracking 2 sometime more people at once and keep up with them. Thats revolutionary in itself.
There is a lot more but that should give you a taste. I'm not lying about any of these things, it does this stuff. This isnt something to debate. Whether you like it or not is a personal thing but to say it is not capable of delivering a deep gaming experience is a lie. I would say its as deep as you want it to be.

[MrBeatdown]

Nobody seems to count Move games either. I could probably count on one hand the amount of times I've seen The Fight, The Shoot, or Sports Champions brought up in a discussion of exclusives.

Probably because none of them are worth paying much attention to, especially when compared to the level of quality expected from first-party games. That, and most people don't even have the hardware to play the games.

[DiRtY]

Only Halo and Gears? This is like saying Apple only has the iPhone and iPad to compete.

Seriously, the Xbox 360 has way more games than the PS3. The point is that Some people exclude them for whatever reason.

"When you exclude Kinect games, downloadable games and games that are available on PC as well, the Xbox has only a handful of games left!"

This year brought us Fez, Trials Evolution, Minecraft and The Witcher 2 already and none of those is available on another console. Yet people still don't count those games for BS-reasons.

[theeg]

i dont think they ever thought the 360 would be their main platform in 2012, heck, i sure didn't when i bought mine in 2005

i expected a new console in 2010, they damn well need them, 720p or less with jaggies at 15-25 frames in 90% of console games looks AWFUL!

they have had nothing but halo and gears in 2011, i gave away my 360 after gears 3, the only reason i still have a ps3 is because its a decent bluray for the upstairs, downstairs i use a much better oppo player on the plasma

[Denethor_II]

"Where did things go wrong? How did once-great franchises suddenly die out, and how did Microsoft let its successful IPs run their course without acquiring others in the meantime?"

Ouch.

[madjedi]

This is funny as hell to me the spinning from 360 owners, with which console has the most exclusives, if your going back that far you have just proven the articles point. Ps3 owners saw this coming years ago, back when ms was paying for 3rd parties 6 months to 1 yr exclusive agreement and exclusive dlc.

Then ms slowly starting closing almost all of their 1st party studios(that alone should have set alarm bells off), and then decided chasing nintendo's market was a better idea.

Ms is "saving" all their exclusives for the 720, do you people actually believe that bullshit. So really ms couldn't be bothered with making a sequel to lost odyessy(spelled wrong) or viva pinata or a ect or even a ridiculously overdue killer instinct for this gen in the last 2-3 yrs.

And the best question what developers are going to make these exclusive 720 launch titles, 3rd party exclusives are basically dead after this gen. The development cost on full retail games is too high, to be exclusive anymore with a few exceptions. None of you 360 guys even bothered answering this one.

I don't understand some of you ms fanboys, sony keeps me entertained with all these great exclusive games, that is why i am sony fanboy. Ms tells you basically talk to the 3rd parties if you want new games and ips, otherwise enjoy our kinect lineup.