Exclusives: Good For The Consumer?

[Mister Pink]

There's always hype around exclusives notably between Playstation and Xbox. Does anyone think game exclusives are overrated nonsense? I don't mean the games themselves, I mean the concept of exclusives including timed exclusives.

 

When deciding on a console I went with the console I was going to be most content with for all my gaming not for the 30-60hrs I may get from potentially one or two exclusive games. I think most people do that but I've no evidence to support it so I'm curious to know if people here did. Did you chose a console for a console exclusive? If so, I would love to know.

 

I happen to think the exclusives for my console of choice aren't that good (I think you can guess which console) except for one series. It's cool (I suppose) but I'd rather my buddies that play on other platforms got to experience the games that are exclusive my console of choice.

 

You can accuse me of thinking console exclusives are lame but only because they're not that great on my console platform but I know what it's like to be on the "winning" side of a console exclusive and what do I get? Bragging rights? Well, I get to play the game, yeah but if I didn't get to play the game, guess what I would be doing? Playing another game. For every console exclusive I can't play there's 1000+ I can play.

 

I see console exclusives that I'm unable to play, like a film I haven't seen or a band I know of and haven't listened to yet. I don't feel bad if I haven't seen it/listened to them/ played it. There's so many games out there that its hard to finish them all.

 

Out of 5 console exclusives their might only be one that really appeals to you. So are console exclusives drivers for sales or is it to make consumers feel good about choice of console they chose to buy?

 

[Please keep console war chat to a minimum, please keep it mature and respectful]

Edited October 4, 2017 by Mister Pink

[Leftist Bastard]

They definitely do. I bought a PS4 for instance partially out of familiarity/brand loyalty but mostly because I knew I was going to get more out of the games on that system than Microsoft's. Games like Bloodborne and Uncharted and Halo play a huge part in swaying indecisive customers and they tend to be the sole factor when people consider buying a secondary console if they game on PC.

 

But at the same time they can't keep a system alive. They can elevate a console and ship units but if all you have are a few first party titles you'll bomb all the same. Just look at Nintendo who pump out very high quality exclusives but are always on the losing end because they lack third party support.

[chronic lumbago]

Well I'm glad I switched sides to Sony after the 360 era. They're dominating then it comes to Uncharted, God of War, The Last of Us, Ratchet and Clank, Nier Automata just to name a few.

Especially Uncharted and TLOU are popular franchises that caught most gamer's attention. TLOU was even considered the best PS3 game if not the best game ever made.

 

Meanwhile, over at xbox, they've dig up a 6 feet deep hole in the ground for the Halo franchise and will probably hit the last nails in the coffin with Halo 6, if they don't return and improve on what made Halo great. I loved Halo up until Reach. Heard Dead Rising 3 wasn't recieved well by the fans either but I don't know about 4.

 

There's one thing I always wondered. Wouldn't simply dropping all that exclusive sh*t basically DOUBLE the profit?

 

When a console cycle starts, nobody can say for sure what exclusives will eventually appear and and most people simply get the console they can transfer their account to. But to be honest, I always wanted to give Sony exclusives a try and switched to a PS4, eventually. Halo 4, hearing that Bungie stops developing Halo and the 10/10 reviewed TLOU made me switch sides.

 

I do think that exclusives matter, but I wouldn't spend a huge amount of money to buy the other console just to play thag exclusive. For example, The Master Chief Collection made me question whether I made the right choice.. but I wasn't even thinking of buying an xbox just to play it. There are thousands of games like you said, but it's all about the quality of games. Sony has a lot of exclusives of outstanding quality. Exclusives can help you making a choice.

 

Timed exclusives meanwhile are of no use. I can't believe they boost sales. The only thing they do is piss players off.

[Leftist Bastard]

No exclusives means no competition and no competition means stagnancy and lower quality gaming. Plenty of great games would never have been made to the quality we got them in or just been completely scrapped had a console manufacturer not been looking for an edge over the competition. Bayonetta 2 and Bloodborne come to mind.

[Mister Pink]

PS certainly has more appealing games. When I was deciding for the current gen consoles I told myself I'll go where the games are at. Playstation/Sony certainly played their cards right when they put emphasis on games rather than peripherals and secondary content. I still chose Xbox out of familiarity, preference for the menu UI and integration with PC/Laptop. I thought it would be nice to have some interaction between console and PC and all that jazz and of course I simply prefer the controller, having been an avid PS user and original Xbox player.

 

I think there's a few of us, like me where comfort (controller preference) and UI menu comes in to play and that will always take precedence. I'm not sure what game would have to be exclusive in order for me to run out and purchase as PS4. I mean I would like a PS4 to play TLOU and Uncharted but even though I know those games would give me great satisfaction, it's not enough for me to part ways with my cash. At least not new PS4 anyway, it would be second hand.

 

Also, imagine all the hardcore GTA fans here that were on PS3 when Episodes From Liberty City got a 6 month timed exclusive on Xbox. I can't imagine people were too upset. Just wait for it to come out. I don't know what I'm trying to say. I don't really like it. I was on 360 and it was a pain waiting for mates on PS to get the game so we could discuss it.

 

 

Exclusives can help you making a choice.

 

I suppose you are right man. While differing hardware and features caters to different types of gamers, I suppose if you are on the fence, exclusives can sway.

 

@Leftist Bastard: I totally agree with your first post and to some extent you are right with your second post, however I disagree that exclusives drive quality. There'll always be the competition of a developer trying to make the most sales. But you're right there is some quality games like Bloodborne or Forza that come out of exclusive deals.

 

One question I would like to know (Tchuck, maybe you are reading this? )

 

So from a developer's perspective, why would you want to make an exclusive if you could have larger reach with multi-platforms? Is it that a developer is thankful they get funding and support (publishing, marketing etc) from a manufacturer like Microsoft or Sony to develop their project or is it something more? By default, sales will never go beyond the reach of the people that own the console to play the exclusive. That has to be a little disheartening, no?

Edited May 28, 2017 by Mister Pink

[Leftist Bastard]

 

 

@Leftist Bastard: I totally agree with your first post and to some extent you are right with your second post, however I disagree that exclusives drive quality. There'll always be the competition of a developer trying to make the most sales. But you're right there is some quality games like Bloodborne or Forza that come out of exclusive deals.

 

One question I would like to know (Tchuck, maybe you are reading this? )

 

So from a developer's perspective, why would you want to make an exclusive if you could have larger reach with multi-platforms? Is it that a developer is thankful they get funding and support (publishing, marketing etc) from a manufacturer like Microsoft or Sony to develop their project or is it something more? By default, sales will never go beyond the reach of the people that own the console to play the exclusive. That has to be a little disheartening, no?

Precisely - and those games wouldn't receive the same funding and support if it weren't for the competition between console manufacturers. You're right competition wouldn't entirely cease but companies would be far less inclined to sink a lot of time/money into a project when they know it won't give them an edge over their competitor.

 

And while i'm not a developer sometimes to get funding and support the developers are contractually obligated to make it an exclusive else the game simply won't get made. It all ties to the competition: publishers want an edge, thus they fund interesting projects that will draw people to their system and theirs alone.

[chronic lumbago]

I bet the studio making the exclusive gets a convincingly amount of cash from M$/$ony. Let's say an indie developer struggles to keep it's back straight and fully continue development so they decide to make a game exclusivly for one console. Additionally, they get the cash during the development at once, no need to wait until the product sales. They might end up selling less, but they get a 6-digit number at once.

 

I know I'd take 100000 at once, plus whatever income comes later rather than 200000 over the span of a couple of years. Just an example.

 

Regarding the controller: In the end, a controller is a controller and as long as the button layout is the same (looking at you nitendo) then one can get used to it in no time. As someone who had a PS2 as a kid, it didn't take long. I ended up buying a Nacon Revolution Pro controller because it's very similar to the xbox, even feels better.

 

I'd say the xbox controller is better than dualshock but I wouldn't buy a console judging on that. It took a while for custom PS4 controllers to come on the market but it was worth the wait.

[luisniko]

I personally don't think the concept of exclusive is lame. Publishers can decide whichever platform they wish to strictly based on no matter temporarily or permanently. whatever the reason is, it's business, it's theirs, and I don't give a damn.

 

What I would consider 'lame' is when people buy a gaming platform and then only pick the exclusives because for them not exclusive means not a game. Not only that, I've also seen people who automatically label exclusives as 'the best games'/'must play'.

 

This consumer mindset brings a bad culture towards how other gamer would see video game. Because Video games should be treated as personal choice/taste, instead of a trend.

[Mister Pink]

I agree with both of you, Fashion and LB.

 

Yeah I always thought maybe a dev studio might be new, struggling or on the brink of disbanding. Or a studio with hungry, talented developers but no resources. Microsoft or Sony picks them up for a deal of 1 game. Studio doesn't haven't anything to lose and everything to gain. Game is a success they may be signed on to develop 2 more to complete a trilogy. It's quite interesting.

 

@Luisniko: I haven't really come across anyone like you described, thankfully.

 

I guess exclusives are a mixed bag for everyone. I don't think they're lame now given I've heard a few people's views on them. I think ideally, there wouldn't be so much importance thrown on them as exclusives really only make up a small percentage of games when you compare to the library of cross-platform games. For now, I'll see them as a bonus. I would be nice if Microsoft threw us a bone in that department but then I wish Forza available on PS too because then I would know more people playing it. What I'm saying is exclusives aren't lame but holding them in too high regard might be. Might be.

 

Will be interesting to see how E3 turns out with Scorpio on the way. Will Microsoft even bother producing a new IP? I would certainly like an Uncharted or some mature exclusive and not what Microsoft has been churning out. With exclusives (at least on Xbox) they're going for the largest market on the platform so as to try get the best reach so it's kind of family friendly, inoffensive games. Where as PS has a huge userbase, they can kind of afford to make more "niche" games (not saying Uncharted is niche or anything) at still sell millions. The reach is far greater on PS so not everything has to be so family friendly, if you know what I mean.

[Fireman]

People still buy Nintendo consoles, so yes, yes they do.

[EmSixTeen]

Would have run right to XBone if Street Fighter V wasn't exclusive to PS4, tbh.

[Furry_Monkey]

Most exclusives don't really interest me enough to sway me. Yes, I like Killzone, but I also like Halo and consider them very similar in most aspects. Quantic Dream, on the other hand, do make me glad I stuck with Sony. Their games are beyond stunning in a way that no other games I've played have even come close. That said, I don't have an Xbone so I can't even comment on some of the similar titles that I expect are available on that platform. I am buying one this week though, so that may change

 

I think as people have said above, if you're not already loyal to a brand then the exclusives may help you decide. Forza, Gran Tursimo or both? Either way, we all win

[dante財閥]

I think it works for sure. For example, last gen I was very much of the opinion that the XBOX 360 > PS3 in almost every conceivable way. Yet, the first console I bought was a PS3 because of MGS4. There was no way I wasn't going to get a PS3.

[DOUGL4S1]

That's the tactic, they try to overhype exclusives so people that are already in doubt on what console they should buy can decide to buy yours because of the game(s). It's not a bad concept and most exclusives that I've played are really really well done (specially Sony's), I could spend hundreds of hours in them.

[chronic lumbago]

Also most people don't buy a console on day one. I waited for years to buy a PS4 and will wait at least 2 years or so before buying a next gen console. The best thing one can do is wait for the slim version anyways. I remember there was talk about either PS4 or Xbone having trouble at launch and even breaking, in some cases.

 

In time, consoles get better, more stable and cheaper and come in interesting bundles. My bro bought himself a Watch Dogs 2 PS4 bundle, but it wasn't because of the 30 day exclusive DLC (which sounds like a bad joke anyways). It was because I own the same console and we could play co-op. It was also my recommendation to get one.

There's also an Uncharted 4 boundle, for example.

 

So I guess the thing that matters the most is recommendations and following your friend's trend. If everyone you know owns a PS4, you won't buy an xbone. Then exclusives don't even matter anymore.

[Tech-Noir]

I don't really care about exclusives when deciding on a console. I buy my console based on what my friends are getting, hence why I bought a Xbox One. If I bought a PS4, I would literally have no one to play with as all my friends that regularly game are on Xbox One, although I do want a PS4 for Uncharted 4, SFV, Horizon: Zero Dawn, etc.

 

It's a tough call to even decide which one has the better exclusives. Dead Rising 3 and 4, along with Gears of War 4 have provided me with hours upon hours of gaming, thanks to multiple playthroughs along with multiplayer functionality while with Sony's exclusives, while I do want to play them, all the ones I want are single player games.

 

Example:

 

Halo 5 is an alright game but I can play it with four of my friends and have a great social time, while if I get Uncharted 4 I'm just going to play it once and by myself. It's a really tough call at that point to be honest, whether to value quality of a single-player game over a decent multiplayer game with friends.

 

So yeah, I pay more attention to what my friends get, and honestly the console itself. I hate the PS4 controller with a passion, another thing that kept me away, yet the UI of PS4 was tremendously better than Xbox One before they got their sh*t together. Exclusives are honestly the last thing on my list when deciding what console I want to buy, as I'd rather not buy the wrong console then be playing alone.

 

Timed exclusives are also pretty dumb.

[luisniko]

Also most people don't buy a console on day one. I waited for years to buy a PS4 and will wait at least 2 years or so before buying a next gen console.

 

I must say this is the wisest way of buying console/handheld.

 

But 'most people'? Doubt it. lol. Not everyone prefer wisdom when purchasing something.

 

@Luisniko: I haven't really come across anyone like you described, thankfully.

 

When I think of it again, I was lurking in a (local) PS4-specific community.

 

So probably that's the problem. A PS4-focused forum. What could be better than bashing other platforms and wishing other people in different platform would never play the game they have?

 

Good thing I left that zone.

[Matrelith]

Buying a PS4 was a no brainer for me. Sure you first look at how powerful a console is and what they can do, but in the end you're mainly going to use it to play games. The games the console offers become the tipping point at that moment. That's where exclusives shine, they become the selling point for your console and the reason why you should pick one over the other. Your console has to distinguish itself from the rest.

I love the exclusives PS4 offers (and the xbox's don't interest me at all) so the choice in the end was really simple for me. Now I can play the games that get a multiplatform release AND I get to play games that people with a different system can't, so it's a win-win for me.

 

Plus with pretty much all the xbox exclusives coming to PC as well I have even less reason to buy a xbox. If I wanted to, I can play it there too and save a buttload of money.

Edited May 31, 2017 by Matrelith

[woggleman]

Given that Horizon will probably be my game of the year since RDR2 is delayed and TLOU 2 is up there with with it as my most anticipated game I would say they very much matter. If they were available on other consoles though they would still be just as good.

[Algonquin Assassin]

I must confess one of the reasons I bought a PS4 was for its exclusives. Until Dawn, Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls etc are some of my favourite games of the current generation and I'm looking forward to Days Gone and Detroit: Become Human. On the Xbox side of the coin the only exclusive I'm really a fan of is the Forza series.

 

Quantum Break was pretty cool though.

 

I don't think they're overrated, but it annoys me when a series such as Dead Rising was originally an exclusive and for the sequel it became cross platform only to be an exclusive again come the XB1.

[Mister Pink]

Buying a PS4 was a no brainer for me. Sure you first look at how powerful a console is and what they can do, but in the end you're mainly going to use it to play games. The games the console offers become the tipping point at that moment. That's where exclusives shine, they become the selling point for your console and the reason why you should pick one over the other. Your console has to distinguish itself from the rest.

I love the exclusives PS4 offers (and the xbox's don't interest me at all) so the choice in the end was really simple for me. Now I can play the games that get a multiplatform release AND I get to play games that people with a different system can't, so it's a win-win for me.

 

Plus with pretty much all the xbox exclusives coming to PC as well I have even less reason to buy a xbox. If I wanted to, I can play it there too and save a buttload of money.

 

That's the thing. I'm not fussed about Xbox's exclusives either bar the Forza series. I like the PS4 exclusives but I never went over there (at least not yet) just for exclusives. I keep changing my mind on exclusives but I think don't think of them positively right now.

 

Also, it's funny because about 7% of gamers on Xbox and PS4 are buying the exclusives according to the YouTuber below. So it's not like many people out of the whole customer base are even buying these games. The top selling exclusives come in around 12th of best selling games on either console.

 

Interestingly though, the same YouTuber researched which console gets more free AAA titles with the subscription to online and Xbox got 23 in 12 months and on PS4 its about 13. So on Xbox, I never felt like missing out on exclusives, as there has been lots of good free content and just great games all around in general. That's why I personally think going with whatever console meets your requirements is the better choice than exclusives.

 

I only say this as I hear exclusives being this huge selling point. But if you look at the data and take in to consideration the percentage of people buying exclusives and the percentage of exclusives that exist compared the wider library of existing games, I personally have stopped giving a crap about them.

 

Will I buy a PS4 down the line to play TLOU or Uncharted, sure maybe...when I run out of good games on my 1X/One and I'll be sure it's secondhand, off a friend or something. If I don't get to play them, no worries. I always planned to buy a PS3 to play the exclusives but never got round to it. There's just too many games on my plate as it is and they're 99% multiplats.

 

 

 

Edited June 12, 2017 by Mister Pink

[woggleman]

The reason I bought a PS4 is that many of my favorite games from the past few years happen to be PS exclusives. There is nothing I want to play that bad that is exclusively on X Box. I bought an X Box 1 s when my 360 went but that was mainly to play GTA IV and RDR. It didn't cost much more than a 360 and the games play better so it is a no brainer,

[Leftist Bastard]

Heh, guess we'll see a practical demonstration of this with Microsoft's new system. It's completely lacking in exclusives, will it sell well? only time will tell.

 

And hey, it rhymes.

[Turan]

In order of importance:

 

1) exclusives

2) power

 

(this is assuming that both consoles have the same multiplatforms and are close in power, so no generational gap).

 

Based on this I will be sticking with my PS4 Pro (exclusives) instead of buying the Xbox X (power).

 

So in my case the exclusives do matter.

[Mister Pink]

Turan you never said why exclusives are important. You just listed it above power.

 

I challenge thoughts on exclusives by watching this video.

 

 

 

If I like a game, I want it available to as many people as possible so I can share the experience with more people. If consoles were exclusive-less, then the hardware would sell on it's own merits and nobody would have to worry about not having a game they want to play.

[Zello]

I own a PS4 and aside from a couple exclusives that I enjoy like The Last of us, Uncharted, MLB the show I find them overrated. I end up enjoying the third party titles more.

Edited June 13, 2017 by Zello

[Turan]

Turan you never said why exclusives are important. You just listed it above power.

 

I challenge thoughts on exclusives by watching this video.

 

 

 

If I like a game, I want it available to as many people as possible so I can share the experience with more people. If consoles were exclusive-less, then the hardware would sell on it's own merits and nobody would have to worry about not having a game they want to play.

 

 

Exclusives are important to me because I want to play them. There are just too many interesting Playstation exclusives for me to pass on them in favor of a console which only has (better performing) third-party games.

 

For example, I wouldn't pass up on God of War or TLOU part 2 so I can play RDR2 or Battlefield with better graphics on Xbox X. That is the reason why I think exclusives are important.

[Zello]

Sony's exclusives feel more like movies not games IMO.

[Leftist Bastard]

Sony's exclusives feel more like movies not games IMO.

This is a statement i'v seen leveraged against Naughty Dog's games quite a lot that I find patently ridiculous. These games would genuinely lose something without the interactive element games afford and that alone separates them from the likes of David Cage, who's ''games'' genuinely are nothing more than poorly written movies.

 

Hell just this year you got Horizon: Zero Dawn and Ni-Oh on the PS4, both exclusives and both very far from what you'd generally describe as ''games trying to be movies''.

[Mister Pink]

Posted this on the Xbox One topic as it was brought up that Xbox has no games and this ties in with my rant about exclusives and why I think they're nonsense. (not the games themselves but the exclusives argument)

 

Regarding Xbox "having no games." (These figures are taken from the video below which were taken from Wiki aside from my own speculative calculations).

 

From April 2016 to April 2017, Xbox Live subscribers received 23 AAA games for free vs 13 AAA games on PSN service.

 

Released games for the PS4 is at about 1000 and Xbox at about 900. Exclusives for PS4 there is about 257 and Xbox One, about 103.

 

So, while Xbox may not have as many exclusives, there's still over 100 exclusives. They may not be as good a PS4 or most them aren't interesting, you could argue. But how many of the 257 exclusives are you going to buy on PSN? Having more games may increase your chances of finding something you like. But how many scores of games do you need to have to find one or two games you like?

 

So, if about 25% of games are exclusive on the PS4, how many of those games will you actually buy? What percentage of people on PS4 will own more than 5 exclusives, do you think? I'll be generous and say 10 exclusives. 10 exclusives on PS4 is 1% of all the games available.

 

That's why I don't buy-in to the exclusives debate. All the best games are multiplats. Are there great exclusives? Yes. But I don't buy in to the hype or the argument that exclusives make for a better gaming experience. And that's what we want right? The best gaming experience.

 

Now, given that Xbox receives more free AAA's as a part of the Games with Gold, backwards compatibility is free and not paid service and is being extended back two generations, there's technically only about 100 games less on Xbox but this might as well be crossed out with BC support then you're left with a margin of maybe 1% (if you buy 10 PS exclusives). Am I correct? I'm terrible at maths.

 

I hardly think there's no games for the Xbox. I've got about 15 installed and about 50+ ready to install. A lot of them were free from XBL. (now, the reason I said that is because many people say there's no games on the Xbox)

 

The info I provided is in this video. It's pretty interesting..

 

 

 

I'm not trying to start a console war nor is it a critique of the PS4 or Xbox in an way. This is about exclusives and why I don't think they're really good for the gaming nor do I think they're an indicator of the overall gaming experience.

 

I think people use exclusives naively as an indicator and measurement of the general happiness of the gaming experience to that a particular console of choice. If you stack one console up against another based solely on exclusives, one will dominate, no doubt and people will make a decision based on that. But then if you do the maths and actually deconstruct it, it's not really a good indicator or measurement in the decision process, in my opinion when you factor in free AAA games, backwards compatibility etc.

 

I would much rather consoles sold on the merits of their hardware and people on PS4 could play Forza and people on Xbox could play Spiderman. I would much rather more people playing a game I love than it being restrict to a minority of people that buy these games.

Edited June 14, 2017 by Mister Pink