3rd Party Exclusives: The Declining Relevancy of Console Gaming

[Raziel]

Why would doing additional things make consoles less relevant? PC has always done many things, as do phones. How many people buy just dvd or blu ray players anymore? The ones that you can buy all seem to do youtube and netflix and other apps too rather than just being players. Being a single use device in this day is a good way to become irrelevant.

Being able to do many things doesn't hurt the consoles. BUt they need to present themselves as gaming devices that have additional features rather than being another all in one. Like your pc, tablet, phone, tv, bluray player.

 

[Black Heron Ink]

Why would doing additional things make consoles less relevant? PC has always done many things, as do phones. How many people buy just dvd or blu ray players anymore? The ones that you can buy all seem to do youtube and netflix and other apps too rather than just being players. Being a single use device in this day is a good way to become irrelevant.

Being able to do many things doesn't hurt the consoles. BUt they need to present themselves as gaming devices that have additional features rather than being another all in one. Like your pc, tablet, phone, tv, bluray player.

That was kind of what I meant. I didn't mean to say that having more features was in itself hurtful. I was saying that the lack of focus on their primary function (i.e. gaming) could be counterproductive, which obsessing over all the extra features can do.

 

[Something Amyss]

It's just strange that the consoles would seemingly want to eschew the one attribute that made them distinct and relevant, that of course being exclusive, accessible, high quality video games.

Is it? I mean, really?

Gaming has tried to make itself more "mainstream" for as long as the technology has existed. For software, that means more cinematic, emulating elements of (predominantly action) movies. For the hardware, it's been multipurposing. They've been trying to eschew their defining trait since they became relevant. And in the end, isn't this trait becoming less and less relevant?

 

[Something Amyss]

Also, I really hate listening to that guy talk. If I wanted to hear sarcasm and conspiracy theories, I'd record myself spouting conspiracy theories. I'd probably put more thought into it, too.

And finally, "you need to make sure you have fantastic IPs."

Which is why Microsoft got absolutely slaughtered last gen. And I mean it was a bloodbath.

 

[Foolery]

So, if there's a variety of black boxes sharing 3rd party titles, wouldn't that be a relatively good thing? Certainly gives one more choice of platform.

 

[Kotaro]

If I'm going to be honest, I think that third-party exclusives as a whole can die in a fire. Unless you are (or are owned by) the company that made the console, there is no excuse for making a game exclusive to one platform unless it was a game designed from the ground-up to really only work on that platform (like "Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors," which as anyone who's completed it will tell you, would not have worked on a platform other than the DS).

 

[endtherapture]

Just gonna put it out there that if you want "exclusives", PC is the best place to go for them.

If I'm going to be honest, I think that third-party exclusives as a whole can die in a fire. Unless you are (or are owned by) the company that made the console, there is no excuse for making a game exclusive to one platform unless it was a game designed from the ground-up to really only work on that platform (like "Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors," which as anyone who's completed it will tell you, would not have worked on a platform other than the DS).

I agree, completely, for example strategy games will only ever really work on PC due to the control method.

 

[Black Heron Ink]

Just gonna put it out there that if you want "exclusives", PC is the best place to go for them.

Yep. "Long live the PC-Master race!" Handhelds are cool too, I suppose.

 

[endtherapture]

Just gonna put it out there that if you want "exclusives", PC is the best place to go for them.

Yep. "Long live the PC-Master race!" Handhelds are cool too, I suppose.

Yeah handholds too but most other games are just interchangable between the two big consoles and PC. Nintendo has interesting exsluvies but best picked up a gen or two later when everything is super cheap.

Pretty gutted The Last of Us is PS3 only but it's not going to make me buy a PS3 just to play it.

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

I don't buy consoles for exclusives, I buy them because they streamline the process of playing games. I have a computer, I do pc game, and no amount of pc master race will convince me that it doesn't involve fiddling. I work in tech support so I'd know. Hell, I was tying to set up Borderlands 2 for the first time on my laptop last night and it crashed on me twice. This is why people buy consoles. Everyone owns a pc and has naturally played games on one and found consoles easier to play

So, if there's a variety of black boxes sharing 3rd party titles, wouldn't that be a relatively good thing? Certainly gives one more choice of platform.

Exactly. Why do we have to talk about the relevancy of different platforms? Can't we all just play games together on whatever we want?

 

[endtherapture]

I don't buy consoles for exclusives, I buy them because they streamline the process of playing games. I have a computer, I do pc game, and no amount of pc master race will convince me that it doesn't involve fiddling. I work in tech support so I'd know. Hell, I was tying to set up Borderlands 2 for the first time on my laptop last night and it crashed on me twice. This is why people buy consoles. Everyone owns a pc and has naturally played games on one and found consoles easier to play

So, if there's a variety of black boxes sharing 3rd party titles, wouldn't that be a relatively good thing? Certainly gives one more choice of platform.

Exactly. Why do we have to talk about the relevancy of different platforms? Can't we all just play games together on whatever we want?

Yes this!

The Last of Us...what's the point in making it PS3 only this late in a generation? There is literally none. They're just limiting the amount of games they're able to sell.

Regarding your first point however - most PC games now are just plug and play if you have anything build in the past 4 years. I've only had problems with notoriously buggy Bethesda games, and when I'm modding something. Everything else works just fine as long as you keep your drivers up to date...and they're mainly on auto update now.

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

I don't buy consoles for exclusives, I buy them because they streamline the process of playing games. I have a computer, I do pc game, and no amount of pc master race will convince me that it doesn't involve fiddling. I work in tech support so I'd know. Hell, I was tying to set up Borderlands 2 for the first time on my laptop last night and it crashed on me twice. This is why people buy consoles. Everyone owns a pc and has naturally played games on one and found consoles easier to play

So, if there's a variety of black boxes sharing 3rd party titles, wouldn't that be a relatively good thing? Certainly gives one more choice of platform.

Exactly. Why do we have to talk about the relevancy of different platforms? Can't we all just play games together on whatever we want?

Yes this!

The Last of Us...what's the point in making it PS3 only this late in a generation? There is literally none. They're just limiting the amount of games they're able to sell.

To be fair, Naughty Dog is owned by Sony so its kind of Sony's game. Nice, new, exclusive IP's do seem like a waste at the end of this gen when they could be coming out for new consoles. But as much as I want to be a douche and say "ha ha! You can't play a fun game!" it would be nice if it could have been released on more platforms so I could enjoy it with my xbro and pc master race friends. Personally, I think if a game can't be on both consoles, it should at least be on pc which is luckily true for the xbox (games like Metro 2033)

Regarding your first point however - most PC games now are just plug and play if you have anything build in the past 4 years. I've only had problems with notoriously buggy Bethesda games, and when I'm modding something. Everything else works just fine as long as you keep your drivers up to date...and they're mainly on auto update now.

For the most part yes, but I'm short on time and tis the little parts that don't involve playing games bothers me. Basically, I'm a whiner. There's other factors I could explain but I don't need to bore you since you seem to understand that people use different platforms for different reasons

 

[endtherapture]

I don't buy consoles for exclusives, I buy them because they streamline the process of playing games. I have a computer, I do pc game, and no amount of pc master race will convince me that it doesn't involve fiddling. I work in tech support so I'd know. Hell, I was tying to set up Borderlands 2 for the first time on my laptop last night and it crashed on me twice. This is why people buy consoles. Everyone owns a pc and has naturally played games on one and found consoles easier to play

So, if there's a variety of black boxes sharing 3rd party titles, wouldn't that be a relatively good thing? Certainly gives one more choice of platform.

Exactly. Why do we have to talk about the relevancy of different platforms? Can't we all just play games together on whatever we want?

Yes this!

The Last of Us...what's the point in making it PS3 only this late in a generation? There is literally none. They're just limiting the amount of games they're able to sell.

To be fair, Naughty Dog is owned by Sony so its kind of Sony's game. Nice, new, exclusive IP's do seem like a waste at the end of this gen when they could be coming out for new consoles. But as much as I want to be a douche and say "ha ha! You can't play a fun game!" it would be nice if it could have been released on more platforms so I could enjoy it with my xbro and pc master race friends. Personally, I think if a game can't be on both consoles, it should at least be on pc which is luckily true for the xbox (games like Metro 2033)

It's just a douche thing to do and I literally will never play the game cos of exclusivity - especially since it's so late in the console lifetime, but I understand it early in a generation to tempt new buyers.

Regarding your first point however - most PC games now are just plug and play if you have anything build in the past 4 years. I've only had problems with notoriously buggy Bethesda games, and when I'm modding something. Everything else works just fine as long as you keep your drivers up to date...and they're mainly on auto update now.

For the most part yes, but I'm short on time and tis the little parts that don't involve playing games bothers me. Basically, I'm a whiner. There's other factors I could explain but I don't need to bore you since you seem to understand that people use different platforms for different reasons[/quote]

Well yeah I do understand why people use consoles but at this point in time PC gaming is literally the easiest it's ever been. Get Steam account, buy game, press install, press play, play. Graphics options are set automatically. People who'd only be console gamers a few days ago are now getting into PC gaming and ther'es literally no excuse not to unless you've got an ancient computer or a mac.

 

[Tom_green_day]

Did I miss something, how does the fact that 3rd party exclusives are going down, mean in any way that consoles are becoming less relevant?

 

[Raziel]

Just gonna put it out there that if you want "exclusives", PC is the best place to go for them.

I've got to disagree with that. Unless you play RTS, which I haven't in like a decade. I cannot think of any pc exclusive that interests me more than vaguely.

Also more and more pc exclusives are also coming to the consoles too.

Diablo, witcher, metro, mmo are coming to the next gen consoles. And there is no reason they couldn't just support keyboards and mice on the consoles.

It's just a douche thing to do and I literally will never play the game cos of exclusivity - especially since it's so late in the console lifetime, but I understand it early in a generation to tempt new buyers./quote]

Why does it offend you that a game is exclusive to a console when you like games being exclusive to the pc?

Also why does it being the end of the generation bother you? THats the best time. There are more people on the console now then ever before and there will be even more over the next 2 years as the price of the ps3 drops once the ps4 launches. Far far fewer people would get to play it if it was a ps4 exclusive.

 

[endtherapture]

Just gonna put it out there that if you want "exclusives", PC is the best place to go for them.

I've got to disagree with that. Unless you play RTS, which I haven't in like a decade. I cannot think of any pc exclusive that interests me more than vaguely.

Also more and more pc exclusives are also coming to the consoles too.

Diablo, witcher, metro, mmo are coming to the next gen consoles. And there is no reason they couldn't just support keyboards and mice on the consoles.

Well that's your personal interest. Meanwhile on PC we not only get RTS games (Rome 2 Total War, Starcraft), we get classic RPG games (Project Eternity, the new Planescape, Divinity Original Sin), rogue like games (FTL, Rogue Legacy), point and click adventure games, MOBAS (SMITE, LoL, Dota 2) and just a ton of stuff that isn't going to consoles because of the high development costs and general unsuitability to consoles. Also no mods.

It's just a douche thing to do and I literally will never play the game cos of exclusivity - especially since it's so late in the console lifetime, but I understand it early in a generation to tempt new buyers.

Why does it offend you that a game is exclusive to a console when you like games being exclusive to the pc?

Also why does it being the end of the generation bother you? Thats the best time. There are more people on the console now then ever before and there will be even more over the next 2 years as the price of the ps3 drops once the ps4 launches. Far far fewer people would get to play it if it was a ps4 exclusive.[/quote]

I don't "like" games being exlusive to PC. I'm all for getting the widest audience possible, it's just entire genres of games aren't available to consoles because of hardware limitations (look at Skyrim on the PS3) and the fact that the console companies are adamant in having controllers and therefore some games just won't work on consoles.

I was really happy when The Witcher 2 got ported to Xbox and sad it couldn't be on PS3. I'd like as many to enjoy games as possible, and I'd love to play The Last of Us, so I'm sad 2/3s of the main gaming platforms can't play it simply because of their choice of system. It could easily be on PC and 360 but it's not, and sadly I can't shell out for a PS3 for just one game. Can't remember the last game that did this.