BioShock 360 exclusivity deal explained

Exclusivity deals these days are complicated things. When BioShock was originally announced everyone expected it would be released on all suitable platforms, but it ended up being an Xbox 360 exclusive. Throughout the months leading up to its release rumours about a PS3 version were cropping up on an almost daily basis, and videogamer.com tracked down Markus Wilding, International PR director, 2K, to find out what exactly the deal was with BioShock on Xbox 360 and the game now coming to PS3.

[Wildarmsjecht]

Didn't someone who worked on the 360 version say it was because MS said they would pay for all the marketing if it were timed, letting consumers believe it was only available on the 360, and letting 2k get some much needed relief from marketing costs and hassles? This was said months ago, I believe, anyone else remember?

[crck]

That said MS approach them after some show and as usual offered them the $$$ for timed exclusivity.

[StayHigh]

Microsoft just loves giving money!! In a way I kinda hate them for doing that because its not actually helping us gamers at all..All the great games should be release on the PS3 at least so they can take advantage of hardware and devlopers don't need to limit them self because the storage capacity of DVD's.

I feel like GTA should be at least a bigger game..

[mikeslemonade]

They were payed to do so.

[pegger24]

I am not attacking you, but to say that the storage limits of the 360 make all games shorter is a bit shortsighted. Any exclusive game is going to use the hardware best, or should at least. But the 360 is not always the limiting factor in development. Things like Uncompressed sound and cgi(MGS4)cut scenes take up a lot of space on those blu ray discs, not to mention the cost and time that goes into developing a game. Not saying that it is a negative to have uncompressed sound, far from it, but those with 7.1 systems are certainly in the minority.
I personally would love to see more exclusive titles so that the developers can spend the time on the game that is necessary to push one specific piece of hardware to the limit, which ever console that may be.

[Kaneda]

I didn't send them any mails or emails to request PS3 version..

[kinggeoff]

That putting games on the PS3 as opposed to the 360 would in any way hinder that game's production from what it potentially could have been, you have to do a great deal more research in order to understand the hardware differences between the two systems. They both have bottlenecks and tons of issues that developers need to overcome when designing a game.

The space limitations argument is totally a fallacy. Compression methods are what drive the industry forward. Not every audio and video codec is as much of a mess as MPEG compression algorithms.

Plenty of space on standard DVDs. If you seriously believe that these games need 50gb of space to be the best they can be, you need to go back to the playground with the rest of the kids and go about your business.

[Tomdc]

Timed exclusives are a safer bet for microsoft. They cost less so there is less risk involved when with a new ip. A lot of full third party exclusives are timed ones that just dont go multiplatform in the end because the companies moved on or they dont think its worth it after, say a year.

[jackdoe]

Yes. It was revealed months ago and assumed by many.

[DJ]

All the cutscenes in MGS4 were done in-game. None of it was pre-rendered (though it's easy to come to that conclusion).

[avacadosnorkel]

get's the disagrees from the XBOX crowd.

[LightofDarkness]

There are actually 4 cutscenes identified as pre-rendered in MGS4, most notably the 2 at the end of Act III. These have been proven by the encoding artefacts which can be pointed out at various points by observing the sky, as colour gradients can be clearly seen. Before everyone hits disagree, look it up, or play those scenes for yourself and look for the evidence. Still that proves the videos were slightly compressed, which means they didn't take up much room on the disc.

[Sam Fisher]

but bioshock isnt all that great..story is grade b.. over 70 plasmid, thats dog sh*&. its several plasmids and over 50 upgrades actually. telekinesis is basically gravity gun from half life or any other game. if they make a movie out of this its not gonna be that big of a hit. and 1 important thing aswell, i beat the game. start a new game...um... wheres the stuff i earned in the previous file... u start COMPLETELY new. thats stupid.

[zonetrooper5]

Fixed the editing mistake, you can approve it now.

[PenisaurisDix]

If there is more bling on the PS3 edition I will catch this game there. They say it's a classic. Even more confounding to me is I am true fan of System Shock -- why did this game not compel me to play ???

[Wildarmsjecht]

Because you are married to the devil. Yea, I said it. Ronald Reagen = Devil.

[Sir_Ken_Kutaragi]

'xBox 360, you can Run, but you can't Hide!!!' ;-D
(or was that 'Sir Ken Kutaragi' who said that) ;)

The Best Version is coming to PS3!!!;-P
SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Much good stuff coming to the PS3 it's AMAZING!!! ;-P

PLAYSTATION®3規格ソフトウェアのゲー ム 中にXMB™

[Darrius Cole]

Ronald Reagan does not = A devil;

Ronald Reagan = THE Devil.

Said another way.

I do not mean that The Devil created Ronald Reagan, because before Ronald Reagan there was no Devil.

[Pain]

let me guess u voted for Bush ?

After Reagan your Country went Down hill....

[captainjy]

[yawn...]

Their wasting their time. It will sell a measly 200-300K on the POS3.

[Darkwolf]

dont judge ps3 sales just because the inferior 360 sales were like that..

[name]

Why isn't the 360 losing bioshock considered a big blow to the 360?

[Stryfeno1]

Maybe because it the first in the first in the series unlike Final Fantasy.

[Mc Fadge]

it's because Sony needs those RPGs

[predator]

cos it is a year later.........

[kingme71]

Also because anyone wanting the title and buying the 360 to get it would have done that already. Unlike FFXIII that releases at the same time (or at least as far as we have been told), the consumer then has a choice of which system to buy.

Same principle with MGS4. If it did go to the 360 it wouldn't be as big a deal to Sony because they have already reaped the benefits of selling more consoles.

[kevnb]

1: its a year later
2: microsoft isn't nearly as reliant on exclusives not published by them