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August 13, 2014   360, 360, 3DS, Butterworthy, Gamers@Large, PE Network, PlayerEssence Original Content, PS Vita, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox One   34 Comments

This rash of Exclusivity is Anti-gamer - Butterworthy

Tomb Raider

I said just yesterday that exclusive games were good for competition. The basic statement is correct, but other arguments I’ve heard and recent events have caused me to realize the argument is incredibly nuanced, and there’s two separate discussions to be had. Also, I’m really angry and kinda raged.

Source: Butterworthy

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Author: Francis@PE (20566 Posts)


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  • Freelancepimp

    I wonder; with the rising cost of game development does one company have enough of a fan base to make a 3rd party game profitable. If there were complaints that Tomb raider didn't reach its expected numbers then how does being on one system help.

  • GaughEyad

    Wow…

    And now people are actually starting to care.

    Now that it's happening on THEIR consoles and not just to Nintendo the dinosaur.

    FFVII says "HI!" and wonders why it took the rest of you morons so long to figure this out.

  • http://www.krisgodwinofficial.com/ GonkDroid88

    Great video.

    Like Butterworthy, I too must take back some of my own words.

    Recently, I said that these exclusivity deals were nothing to complain about, and that the industry has been doing this for years.

    I now realise that I may have been a little overzealous in making these claims. This money-hatting by Sony and Microsoft is NOT okay - and is NOTHING like the 'old days'. Creating an exclusive for a console is one thing - but to specifically steal titles from the competition (and thus, screwing over many consumers) is a different thing entirely.

    And there was a lot of stealing happening at Gamescom. It really was a truly pathetic display by both Sony and Microsoft - instead of investing in their own studios, they instead chose to simply whip out their checkbooks and desperately tried to nab as many exclusive deals as they could get. It's a damning indictment of the direction this industry is heading toward - and I don't like it one bit.

  • Maestro

    Well…. When a game is funded by "put your company name here", the money will go to the employed people (woaaa magic, it creates job).
    When a game exclusivity is bought, dat money is in the people who made the exclusivity deal, not the employees who develop the game (and their opinion didn't matter anyway, moaaar money for our pockets)

    • Jamie_Bworth

      Hey, the world can burn to the ground so long as everyone's employed, am I right?

  • Ryuken13

    Support the companies you like with purchases and boycott those that you do not like.. That is the only real thing that will provide change in the gaming industry..

    We can talk about it until we are blue in the face but my basic premise really covers it all.. Complaining about something becomes venting after a certain point and irrelevant.

    A company is created to create profits not please the customer. However, customer service does usually make things better.. In other words, the exclusives are there to "justify the purchase" of a console and capture market share..

    I agree with Butterworthy on the voting with the wallet.. Everything else he is complaining about is not going to change any time soon.. Glad he is standing up for his values. That I certainly respect despite disagreeing with many of his points simply because many things are not going to change any time soon. I do agree a crash is coming but the gaming market will correct itself eventually.. The strong and financially solvent will survive and the weak will fall.

    OOPS DOUBLE POSTED MY APOLOGIES lol

    • JaxonH

      Interesting post, and for the most part I would agree with you.

      I did want to chime in about this supposed crash that might come. I personally don't think the video game market is ever going to crash again. There's too much demand in the market for the market to collapse. However, the landscape can definitely change (and is changing). I do think there's too much competition in the market. Like you said, the strong and financially solvent will survive and the weak will fail. Natural selection, if you will. There's too many AAA studios competing right now, and only so many of them are going to make it. Presumably the mega corporations like EA, Ubisoft and Activision.

      I think we're going to see a lot of studios closing over the course of this generation, and I think we're going to see indie games rise to fill the middle-market void. I think the quality and production values are going to steadily increase over the next several years, and by the end of this generation (at least for Sony and Microsoft platforms), the only retail releases will be those of the top major publishers. Everyone else will be either bankrupt or too scared to roll the dice on a single release that could in their careers. The one good thing I think that will come of this is the return of the market we grew up with, albeit in a new form which doesn't resemble the model of previous generations. The middle-market will strike back, via digital distribution and lower-price tags

      • Ryuken13

        You made some interesting points..

        I do not know how the market will correct itself after the crash or how bad the actual crash will be.

        However, I do know the gaming market will correct itself somehow.. Why? People will still want games! To connect with these customers the games, prices, and distribution model will have to appeal to the consumer to get these companies market share and a ROI.

        In other words, all markets, incuding games, have ups and downs.. It seems we are on a downward turn but things will be better eventually..

        That will happen or we will all have to go play board games or go play outside lol..

    • koopzilla

      I don't think there will be a crash like what happened with Atari. Actually I was only about 5 at the time and didn't even know it had happened, I just played Atari until the NES came out, but I understand what was going on now. I think this time it will be a lot of huge corporations closing down due to ridiculous business practices. Luckily, there are a lot of up and coming indie developers that look promising that I think will keep the same thing from happening again. And I think Nintendo was around at the time and does many of the things they do to prevent such a thing happening to them. Many others need to wake up though and see the harm they are doing to themselves or the industry as a whole. I wouldn't mind seeing some of these companies go away (due to what they have done, are trying to do, and the fact I think they will never learn) but others I would be really sad to see go (even though they are doing stupid things in recent years). I will admit though, I have certain companies I refuse to buy anything they touch because I strongly disagree with where they are trying to take the industry.

  • JaxonH

    I was really looking forward to Dreamfall Chapters on Wii U. Yeah I'll buy it on PS4 but I wanted the game pad use.

    • FalconLawnch

      I'm not usually one to tell others what to do, but remember that by buying the game on PS4, you're condoning Sony's moneyhatting tactics. May I suggest getting the PC version instead?

      • JaxonH

        PC is the one platform I don't have for gaming, unfortunately. I can appreciate the activism, and those who choose to take a stand, but for me gaming is a hobby I like to enjoy by playing the games I'm interested in. I bought all three consoles and both handhelds because I like to not miss any games. I never get involved with the politics of gaming. To me it's not that serious. Is just games. If I start cheating myself out of games I want to play due to the politics, where does the line get drawn? Might have to skip Tomb Raider too. And then I might have to skip Dragon Age Inquisition because it's developed by EA. And I might have to skip Watch Dogs Wii U because it wasn't released on time, and so on and so forth.

        Like I said I can appreciate those who choose activism, but for me I just like playing games. I leave the politicians to the politics :)

        • Ryuken13

          Jaxon I completely agree with you on this point!

          Good post.

          I personally just do not get that emotional about what a game company decides. Not going to let something like that ruin my day and I have higher priorities that demand emotional balance and more attention.

          • JaxonH

            Exactly. This is supposed to be a hobby to have fun in our spare time. I think some people just take it a little more seriously than others.

          • Ryuken13

            I won't speak of others but I do have higher priorities that won't let me get passionate about gaming.

            School starts in 2 weeks and I have been cutting weight over a month, lifting hard at the gym, and about 3 weeks of running 2 miles or more 5 days a week minimum. I am 41 and I constantly hurt somewhere.. Love to play games but so worn out rather read a book or the news lol.. On the up side I am losing about 3 pounds a week.

            Got the new Divinity game on Steam and I gave not turned on the PC in over 2 weeks.. A little gaming on the 3ds and Vita though.

            Will get a Ps4 for Destiny though if it reviews well. Like to also get Infamous 3!

            Bunch of games coming out for the various platforms I support such as Bayonetta 2 and Wasteland 2.. I will play them eventually but rather be in shape so I can train hard during the school semester. I am a full time student so NO REASON to be out of shape.

          • JaxonH

            Right on man, well I hope that goes well for you. Might even want to consider Wii Fit U, that advanced luge racing will kill your abs I promise you that :) and the pedometer is pretty nice to take around with you to work or school or wherever.

            I was really excited about Destiny, had it pre-ordered and everything. I don't subscribe to online so I knew it was going to be single player only for me, but then they announced the last missions of the game were co-op with friends only, can't even play with randoms. So I ended up canceling the game.

            I can tell you though, Infamous is gold. I really enjoyed that game. The Last of Us Remastered is also really good, provided you haven't played it already. I had never played it and it's just as good as everyone said it was. There's a lot of good ports coming out, particularly Dragon Age Inquisition, Metro Redux, Far Cry 4, Arkham Knight and Witcher 3, but I gotta be honest, I'm more excited for Halo Master Chief than all those games combined

          • Ryuken13

            Thanks I am Not really a Halo fan anymore but Interested in all the games on your list other than the new Metro game..

            When it comes to cardio, at least for me, jogging on the track is KING.. I live in Texas so the humidity and temperature are killer now.. If it dips below 90 degrees that is an easy day. 1 day recently at midnight on a run with a friend that works night shifts it was still 83 degrees!!

            Abs are light focused core work and I will do light deadlifts (230 lbs or less) without a weight belt tommorow for reps to work on core strength..

          • JaxonH

            I was born and raised in Dallas, TX so yeah, I know about the heat… It's serious down there!

        • FalconLawnch

          That's understandable. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't deprive myself out of good games over activism either.

  • FalconLawnch

    There won't be a crash; gaming has gotten way too big for that to happen. There may be a extensive slump that will force the big publishers to restructure and rethink their business model in order to remain profitable, but I highly doubt we'll see anything remotely close to what happened in the early 80s.

  • android138

    I've already made up my mind about not buying third-party games. word needs to spread about this topic. some are still following blindly and not questioning these business practices. the gamers of this generation are walking a fine line. hopefully MS fans will start to understand the position they have been put in this generation because of third-party's. Nintendo fans have been feeling it for the last decade. Sony fans will not listen to reason and just boost about their system being better. WTF is wrong with gamers.

  • Anvard

    You can tell some companies are getting desperate to remain relevant/stay of each other ahead which will only accelerate the crash. You can see why companies like Nintendo and Sony to some degree are trying to do a lot in house as it seems exclusivity, money hatting is out of control and makes no sense. Like The Crew is coming to the 360 because? More generally it seems like Microsoft and Sony are desperately trying to justify why people should buy the One/PS4 as opposed to remaining with the PS3/360 when most games are coming out on both sets and some games are only being developed for them i.e. Borderlands the Prequal, some JRPG's etc. Sigh is backwards compatibility and issue now? I see dark clouds on the horizon of the future.

  • nin12Gage

    smdh its just gonna be a pissing contest now

  • FalconLawnch

    Damn Jaime, you went in hard on this one.

  • erich80

    The industry reached and passed already the point of no return.

  • RRPGReviews

    Amen, Butterworthy.

  • visoredgruntR34

    It all falls on deaf ears. The same with shipping broken games EA can have Battlefield 4 be broken but then EA shows fancy new graphic for the next game all is forgiven and the cycle repeats.

    Now it’s moneyhat time. It’s the only advantage to be had when 90% of your console library is the same.

  • ImperiusNovus

    This sounds weird, but I was somewhat scared when watching this video. How idiotic is a decision if JAMIE is enraged and begins to curse the third-parties as a result of the decision?

    • TheFoxshot

      I know what you mean. I'm not used to hear Jamie curse so much, but I see where he is coming from. This will look bad for both gamers and consumers if these announced, already developed 3rd party games keep being bought out by other companies.

      The tragedy about this is we don't know what will happen. The next morning, Final Fantasy XV could end up being a Xbox One exclusive, so all the people who bought a PS4 in anticipation for the game have been lied to and choose to either fork up another $400 +$60, or miss out on FFXV entirely.

      For 3rd party games, we need to be more careful and wait until the games are actually released before we start investing into a new console. From now on we have to rely on core 1st party studios like 343 industries, Naughty Dog, Retro Studios, Nintendo EAD, Monolithsoft, Intelligent System, and others.

  • abGZinc88

    Agreed, I'm done supporting these irritating 3rd parties. It's mainly 1st party, Japanese 3rd party and Indie developers that I support nowadays since they rarely pull crap like this.

  • Bigdog1991

    Everyone is fuck aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!

  • http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpthURgD8mQHMc_4ckdxKag Matthew Wesley

    Yessir… this be bullshit.

    • http://fonichedge.deviantart.com TripleMMM

      Blimey, more topics coming in for BullshitBusters… -_-'

      • http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpthURgD8mQHMc_4ckdxKag Matthew Wesley

        Indeed.