Is anyone else sick of Microsoft's exclusivity?

[Jonathan Martindale]

Mirage202 posted it first, (which sucks as I was reading this thread and had just opened Steam) besides the fact that Dawnguard is now on the PC, there really aren't that many Exclusive games anymore. Most things get ported over to the PC and even to the PS3. If you look at past Gens you will find alot more exclusivity, I mean come on that was one of the main reasons to buy a system was so that you could play a game that you wanted. Look at Zelda/Mario/Samus/Donkey Kong/etc. In fact I would say that this Gen Nitendo is worse with the Exclusivity in their title lineup then Xbox or PS3.

 

[l0ckd0wn]

you claim that directx is better than OpenGL and want us to take you seriuosly?

In terms of support? Absolutely. In terms of raw power, OpenGL wins and probably always will, but there is pros and cons for both. Most notably that the defacto platform for PC gaming is still Windows. I'm still willing to wager that a huge number of gamers are still using XP, which doesn't support the DX10/11, but then it's been EOL for a few years and many are just clinging to because they resist change. I'll take this snipit which supports OpenGL, taken from the Wolfire artciles written in 1/2010:

By supporting OpenGL you reach a much larger desktop gaming audience, avoid getting locked into proprietary standards, and promote healthy API competition. [http://blog.wolfire.com/2010/01/DirectX-vs-OpenGL-revisited]

My biggest problem with this statement is the first one, mostly because I've not had a positive gaming experience in a Linux environment yet, whether it be on Mint, Ubuntu, Fedora, etc. This "larger audience" is like saying "currently you have 98% market share, but if you spend all this money, rework your entire platform and hire more bodies because the one's you currently have aren't skilled enough, you'll have 99% market share!" In short, I don't see the advantages unless you are starting a project from scratch.

For conversation, the Frostbite 2 vs Unreal 3 engines. Frostbite 2 is exclusive for Direct X, meaning they have to develop the game for one engine API. The UE3 engine runs on cross platform and has to be developed on all platforms with debugging done on a per API basis, increasing development costs and time, which inturn is just more cost.

OpenGL is better from a performance standpoint, but support is paramount in my mind for game stability and user experience. If OpenGL had a centralized development platform where the extensions were developed in an industry wide way, I would be in 100% full support, but because of it's fragmentation the extensions that work for some hardware do not work for others, some games and not others. Simply put, it's not as profitable and easily developed. My original statement that Direct X is better still holds true from a gamers perspective (IMO) and business standpoint, but OpenGL is a better platform for developers by far, most open standards are.

Edit: Incidentally, I sincerely hope that this is exactly how Valve will one day release HL3. No comment, just "Here you go" and it's there on the store page.

The epic madness that would ensue would probably make national headlines... Would be on par with an Apple product release!

 

[Lyri]

So yeah as the title suggests, I'm extremely sick of the Microsoft and their Xbox exclusivity bullshit. Obviously the most recent and still active example of this is Dawnguard.

So what are the other examples because frankly I've never heard of it before now.

I mean the Orange Box on PC is waaaay ahead of The Orange Box on Xbox, god damn those Valve elitists.
So no, not really.

 

[teebeeohh]

So yeah as the title suggests, I'm extremely sick of the Microsoft and their Xbox exclusivity bullshit. Obviously the most recent and still active example of this is Dawnguard. Now when I first heard about the exclusivity for Dawnguard I was pissed, but not surprised. This is not a new trend in games to have the expansions come out on Xbox around a month before PS3 and PC, but those expansions generally did come out around a month after, and in some ways it was a good thing because many of the glitches were fixed. Now Dawnguard came out for the Xbox on June 26th. Now, a month and 6 days later we don't even have word about when it will be coming out.

This thread is so funny considering I just opened Steam and it was like: "Now Available: Skyrim - Dawnguard!"

No fanfare, no hype, no comment from bethsoft, just "boom!": Now available on Steam.

Edit: Incidentally, I sincerely hope that this is exactly how Valve will one day release HL3. No comment, just "Here you go" and it's there on the store page.

they kinda announced it at quakecon but i agree with you, we need more games just being released without fanfare. things like half life 3 sell no matter how much marketing you throw behind it.

 

[Strazdas]

Le snip (OpenGL post)

I agree. OpenGL lacks support in many ways. But OpenGL notlinux only. I use it fairly often and im a windows-only type of user.

 

[Captain Anon]

This thread has me interested. Proceed.

yes this is quite interesting may i sat with you and watch? i have beer, lots of beer

 

[MAUSZX]

Was it because it took them 4 months to get it working?
The only CoD dlc I ever bought was for MW3 and that was because it was half price.

I don't know I just don't feel like playing another long game and the dragon thing... I just don't know.

About COD, I never bought a map, never if it was for me I would never bought those games, but my brother likes those games and have them on PS3, that gives us more time to play online without beign kicked out.

I know what you mean. I feel the same way about TV shows like that...that go on and on and you can't miss an episode.
My wife got me into CoD. There really aren't many decent split screen games like that anymore.

Try arcades games, like scott pilgrim or stuff like that, those are fun to play.

We do but not as much; we played games like that to death in the 80s. We need more big budget titles with split screen like CoD & Borderlands...and not just shooters; a co-op Assassins Creed would rock.

Have you tried Dungeon SIege lll, it's a fantastic game, and it can be play as coop. It's not splitscreen but its not needed.

 

[WaterDancer]

I'm not usually bother by the time exclusive thing except when done by Namco when they release a better version on another console with new content. It's just scummy.

 

[GonzoGamer]

Was it because it took them 4 months to get it working?
The only CoD dlc I ever bought was for MW3 and that was because it was half price.

I don't know I just don't feel like playing another long game and the dragon thing... I just don't know.

About COD, I never bought a map, never if it was for me I would never bought those games, but my brother likes those games and have them on PS3, that gives us more time to play online without beign kicked out.

I know what you mean. I feel the same way about TV shows like that...that go on and on and you can't miss an episode.
My wife got me into CoD. There really aren't many decent split screen games like that anymore.

Try arcades games, like scott pilgrim or stuff like that, those are fun to play.

We do but not as much; we played games like that to death in the 80s. We need more big budget titles with split screen like CoD & Borderlands...and not just shooters; a co-op Assassins Creed would rock.

Have you tried Dungeon SIege lll, it's a fantastic game, and it can be play as coop. It's not splitscreen but its not needed.

Haven't actually but now its on my rental list. Thanks.

 

[FalloutJack]

I think I know what the OP is on about. It's not simply that Microsoft takes in a load of exlclusives, because businesses DO THAT. It's that it takes them and pretty much screws them up along the way. You can really buzzkill a series with that.

First example is Destroy All Humans, my ever-so-fun gaming series about an alien who sounds like Jack Nicholson killing everyone and takes their brains. The first two games are hella-fun, to be sure, great PS2 games. Now, let's see about Path of the Furon and...well fuck. Microsoft got them to go exclusive and I don't want an X-Box. Fuck that shit!

The much better example, though, is Oddworld. Remember Oddworld? Such great promise from innovative, weird people who brought you Abe? Yeah, and about the time Microsoft got to them, they were trying to figure out what they were going to do next and expand their world, buuuut the evidence speaks for itself. Munch's Oddysee was not as well-received as Abe's or whatever other project they were working on and probably a number of people (like me) either wouldn't or couldn't go the path of Microsoft to go after it, so they essentially lost a buttload of fans. Every now and again, they try to shout "We're still here!", but I notice they're still exclusive to Microsoft and call back "No you're not!", and they weren't.

So yeah, I think the argument is about Microsoft ruining fun and franchises with exclusivity, dividing people with console or PC wars, and generally not paying attention to what they're doing. You can't interrupt a series that's been in one place, switch it to another, and expect everything to work out. No, that doesn't fly. You've wrecked the plane and the black box is missing.

 

[D Moness]

So yeah, I think the argument is about Microsoft ruining fun and franchises with exclusivity, dividing people with console or PC wars, and generally not paying attention to what they're doing. You can't interrupt a series that's been in one place, switch it to another, and expect everything to work out. No, that doesn't fly. You've wrecked the plane and the black box is missing.

That happens ALL the time:

Final fantasy : started as a nintendo exculsive , switched to sony and now multiplatform
Seiken densetsu : mostly nintendo exlusive except legend of mana
Rare titles : nintendo exclusive , now microsoft exclusive
Sonic : sega exclusive turned multiplatform
Tales games : hopping back and forth like a frog

/edit : removed a mistake .... surprised nobody pointed that out >.<