Are More PS3 Exclusives Imminent?

We are all quite aware of the recurring theme of this new generation: third-party exclusives are nearly a thing of the past, despite the fact that Microsoft has managed to secure a few timed exclusives. Essentially, all we're left with is first and second-party productions, like Resistance (Insomniac) and Uncharted (Naughty Dog). However, now that we've seen clear examples of the PlayStation 3's potential and hardware superiority, will third-party developers begin to consider working on PS3 exclusives?

It almost seems inevitable, provided said developers wish to delve into the PS3's complex architecture and produce something truly special. It's no real surprise that when a developer focuses entirely on Sony's machine, we get some of the most unbelievable creations seen in this generation: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Killzone 2 and LittleBigPlanet are already here to support that point, and God of War III, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Heavy Rain, and Gran Turismo 5 may drive the point home. The evidence appears obvious, and developers who want to challenge themselves and put themselves among the elite may have to place solid emphasis on the PS3. However, perhaps the argument is rendered null and void by the cold hard numbers associated with the subject.

There are about 50 million PS3s and 360s out there (about 28 million of the latter and 22 million of the former), which means it makes the most financial sense to release a game for both platforms. That's only logical. Why halve your sales potential? That question alone could dictate the possibility of future exclusives, but at the same time, who will say that MGS4 or Gears of War 2 were sales failures? Who will say that Konami and Epic didn't reap the rewards of producing an exclusive gem? Are we really going to argue the point in this respect? Look, one of the biggest reasons the third-party exclusive went down the tube early on - especially on Sony's side - is because of the sheer amount of resources required to make a blockbuster video game these days. There's much to risk for most any developer and they simply couldn't afford to risk more by focusing only on one platform and drastically reducing the game's sales potential.

But as the user base for each system in question rises and development and manufacturing costs fall, and designers become more comfortable and familiar with the PS3, perhaps the argument remains stable. Therefore, we'd like to think the possibility for many more PS3 exclusives increases with every passing day.

3/12/2009 Ben Dutka

Put this on your webpage or blog:
Email this to a friend
Follow PSX Extreme on Twitter

Comments (39 posts)

Toggle Scrolling | Reload Comments

MirrorSoul
Thursday, March 12, 2009 @ 10:48:34 PM
Reply

True

0 up, 0 down

Rock
Friday, March 13, 2009 @ 2:58:12 AM

We've already been seeing a growing list of third-party PS3 exclusives this past week. ^_^

1 up, 0 down

Alienange
Thursday, March 12, 2009 @ 10:56:41 PM
Reply

Your article about The Lost and the Damned DLC made it clear to me that xboxers are not as big a consumer as one might think. Those who initially pay a little more for the PS3 are dedicated gamers. Therefore they put money out for games. That being the case, making PS3 exclusives makes perfect sense. Why reduce the quality of your product to satisfy a crowd that will not buy it anyways?

6 up, 0 down

xnonsuchx
Friday, March 13, 2009 @ 2:16:47 AM

Except that goes against all the sales data showing that 360 users buy more games (especially along with the system purchase) compared to PS3 users...

1 up, 0 down

Dustinwp
Friday, March 13, 2009 @ 8:51:52 AM

@xnonsuchx most sales data I've seen have indicated Xbox games outselling PS3 games stateside, but not worldwide. Most people think Devil May Cry 4 sold better on the Xbox, which it did in the US, but worldwide statistics show PS3 version outsold it's Xbox counterpart. People also tend to forget NPD is not worldwide sales figures.

2 up, 0 down

GHill4Life
Friday, March 13, 2009 @ 12:49:38 PM

Completely disagree. If your a gamer enjoy the hell out of ur PS3, 360, PSP, DS, etc. Hell I'll even throw the Wii in there too. Its great that we gamers have so many platforms and games to pick from.

2 up, 0 down

isaya85
Thursday, March 12, 2009 @ 11:19:31 PM
Reply

I agree hopefully time will tell

PSN ID Biggest_GMoney

0 up, 0 down

bxshotboi
Thursday, March 12, 2009 @ 11:19:48 PM
Reply

well i sure do hope that the ps3 will get a few more exclusives i would like to see dragon quest and a maybe different star ocean in terms of lets say hiiden content side missions things like that (something to part it from the 360 star ocean that would be cool) and even crash bandicoot i always loved that game lol

0 up, 0 down

YesterdysRising
Thursday, March 12, 2009 @ 11:25:20 PM
Reply

I totally agree. I think it's inevitable. We will have more PS3 exclusives just because of the fact that developers are getting used to the PS3's architecture and they are realizing that it has a lot of capabilities that other systems just don't have. And as some developers have said, some games already would not be possible on 360. Just imagine how much better they are going to get..... Just look at the visual difference between Uncharted and the Uncharted 2. I thought the first one looked awesome but the second is just mind blowing. And I doubt they will take a game and make a way more inferior version for another system.

4 up, 0 down

Gregory Freeman
Friday, March 13, 2009 @ 4:59:40 PM

well, if they did that, then there would be hardcore physical proof that the 360 is inferior to the ps3... the occourance of mgs4 or killzone 2 on the 360 would give the world physical evidence that the ps3 truly blows xbox away...

0 up, 0 down

blabblab
Thursday, March 12, 2009 @ 11:27:14 PM
Reply

you cant be serious that you wrote the article. This article is the equivilent of saying "Is more rain coming in the next year?". Seriously. Dont tell us stuff that a 10 year old can predict. Just sad how you made an article out of NOTHING.

1 up, 9 down

Murdi
Thursday, March 12, 2009 @ 11:49:10 PM

WTF?

4 up, 0 down

dlte
Friday, March 13, 2009 @ 12:42:48 AM

well what about the 10 year olds on live cussing out anyone who will listen?

Last edited by dlte on 3/13/2009 12:42:58 AM

0 up, 0 down

Fatcat3788
Friday, March 13, 2009 @ 11:10:35 AM

YOU can't be hear for a good reason... Now leave.

0 up, 0 down

city96
Friday, March 13, 2009 @ 2:07:55 PM

Hey I'm 10. He swore too!!! OMFG!!!!!!
Ben where'd you learn such language.
Nah i'm actually 13. But anyways.!

Last edited by city96 on 3/13/2009 2:08:13 PM

0 up, 0 down

BTNwarrior
Thursday, March 12, 2009 @ 11:27:45 PM
Reply

we can only hope

0 up, 0 down

Scarecrow
Thursday, March 12, 2009 @ 11:35:01 PM
Reply

The Playstation experience is superior to everything else(only tied with the Nintendo experience).

That's what it comes down to

When a dev(specially a Japanese dev) thinks 'bout the userbase. They go "360 fanbase is full of kids and FPS fanboys."

When they think 'bout the ps3 fanbase it's:

-Japan
-Most of Europe(specially all those countries outside the UK)
-Diverse group of people who love everything from Locoroco, to LittleBigPlanet, etc.

ps3 just has more life to it in my opinion.

3 up, 0 down

Cpt_Geez
Friday, March 13, 2009 @ 12:15:44 AM
Reply

It doesnt matter to me II own all of the systems,II just want good games.

0 up, 1 down

robinhood2010
Friday, March 13, 2009 @ 7:40:32 AM

please stop with the whole II thing, it is so confusing.

1 up, 0 down

Random_Steve
Friday, March 13, 2009 @ 2:20:59 PM

do you mean Compton near guildford/godalming area

0 up, 0 down

slayerkillemall
Friday, March 13, 2009 @ 12:21:59 AM
Reply

err...im a fps/ps3 fanboy......:)

Last edited by slayerkillemall on 3/13/2009 12:23:08 AM

0 up, 0 down

bxshotboi
Friday, March 13, 2009 @ 12:53:16 AM
Reply

im ps3 fanboy wit a wii on the side for no better reason than pokemon and zelda so any future in the 360 slips my mind

1 up, 0 down

KevinCairo
Friday, March 13, 2009 @ 1:04:05 AM
Reply

Well, the argument has been made that eventually the standard level of technical quality of the PS3 will be higher than the 360's and this limiting factor will encourage passionate developers to look to the PS3 for a canvas big enough to paint their masterpieces.
Just look at Tecmo.

0 up, 0 down

Tim Speed24
Friday, March 13, 2009 @ 7:22:04 AM

"the 360 limiting factor"

This is what I was thinking also. It may be that developers don't want the storage space restrictions of the DVD format.

If you're going to make something extrodinary do you want to worry about what you have to cut out to fit in that extra level or textures.

L7 383T

1 up, 0 down

LimitedVertigo
Friday, March 13, 2009 @ 1:09:07 AM
Reply

I just hope the PS3 doesn't become a 1st person shooter dumping ground like the 360 has become. I HATE those games on consoles. Bring more rpgs and adventure games, PLEASE!

6 up, 0 down

Scarecrow
Friday, March 13, 2009 @ 1:24:41 AM

I don't hate them, but I so agree.

The glory days of ps1 where we had games like Final Fantasy Tactics ;), Silent Hill, Metal Gear Solid, Crash Team Racing, etc.

That's what I liked, where the hell is gaming going with all these damn FPS's?

And we seriously need rpgs

Imagine how beautiful well made rpgs could look on the ps3....

Like those beautiful medieval ones or just ones with really awesome stories...

I miss immersing myself in an jrpg world where the characters and stories were so awesome nothing else mattered :*(

5 up, 0 down

SPS3
Friday, March 13, 2009 @ 1:39:01 AM

Theyll finally get the picture when a IP like "Fable" or "Zelda" drops exclusively for the PS3 and sells millions!!

0 up, 0 down

rell
Friday, March 13, 2009 @ 7:52:20 AM

@LimitedVertigo I agree with u, its to many fps out there if u ask me I think some developers are becoming lazy in venturing out in other genres. Where happen to the good old days when rpgs was dominant. The story in rpgs and shooters are becoming to generic, and alot of ports to the ps3 suxs. I hope developers will realise the limitless possibilities of sony blu-ray 50gigs, with 50gigs developers won't have to worry about there games being compress and limited compare to 360 dvd 9gigs. Cliffy B from epic games said a while back that they just about run out of space for gears2 and john cormack at id software said the 360 version of rage will be compress not good for the 360. Only time will tell.

Last edited by rell on 3/13/2009 7:56:45 AM

0 up, 0 down

LimitedVertigo
Friday, March 13, 2009 @ 1:35:00 AM
Reply

Couldn't of said it better Scarecrow. I miss the days where I couldn't play a game because I was so wrapped up in another and it seemed like the flow of great RPGs was never going to end. I understand why they are releasing so many 1st person shooters for consoles (multiplayer) which keeps people playing it long after the short and often repetitive single player session is over with. I don't use consoles for multiplayer and I guess this is just a continued trend. I hope FF13 lacks multiplayer, hell I'm already pissed to learn RE5 has it. Its pretty pathetic that I'm playing Suikoden III again becuase there is a lack of good games to play at the moment.

Last edited by LimitedVertigo on 3/13/2009 1:35:31 AM

5 up, 0 down

jlch777
Friday, March 13, 2009 @ 1:49:36 AM
Reply

give me gt5 and i am going to be sooooo happy!!

1 up, 0 down

SPS3
Friday, March 13, 2009 @ 1:57:37 AM
Reply

Along with the rest of PS3s Top-Notch exclusives!

GOW3,Uncharted 2, Infamous........the list goes on!

1 up, 0 down

bxshotboi
Friday, March 13, 2009 @ 2:30:37 AM
Reply

tell me about it theres barely anything good wen it comes to rpgs at the moment so im back on the ps2 final fantasies

0 up, 0 down

Nerull
Friday, March 13, 2009 @ 4:06:42 AM
Reply

Speaking of exclusives, wtf happened to white knight chronicles going international?
They could have atleast given a release window by now, if it weren't for the complete lack of current-gen rpgs their thumbuptheirbuttery would have lost my interest.

0 up, 0 down

raztad
Friday, March 13, 2009 @ 6:38:19 AM
Reply

I agree that the fanbase is already there, there are 21+ million PS3 users that are suppose to buy games. Now I am a bit worried about KZ2 performance (I got my PS3 to play KZ2), I really hope VGchartz be off on their predictions about KZ2 sales, why? because KZ2 is an AWESOME game EXCLUSIVE to our platform and deserves to sell a LOT, much more than 1+ million.

Others exclusive new IPs deserved a lot more sales too, for example LBP, MotorStorm, VC, but in the best case they just got decent numbers, on the other hand you see MGS4, GTA4, COD4:MW, RE5, etc. (most of them long running multiplat franchises) selling like crazy on the PS3.

Now it is a good thing that SONY is a forward thinking company, they can endure commercial failures like ICO and the incredible SotC (not sure but SoTc did sell better that ICO), while still supporting out-of-the-box developers as Team ICO and encouraging them to keep innovating. SONY is amazing indeed. In contrast we can see what happened with the former Clover studio.

My conclusion is that we are still suckers for big name franchises and just a few of us care about EXCLUSIVITY and new IPs. On a more positive note:IMO there are around 2 to 3 millions PS3 users ready to fork 60 bucks and try new IPs, and SONY & company is producing amazing games for them :D.

Last edited by raztad on 3/13/2009 6:57:54 AM

1 up, 0 down

robinhood2010
Friday, March 13, 2009 @ 7:45:47 AM
Reply

I really don't have the money to buy all these new games all the time, as I am a student. That is my major issue. £40 or $60 is too much for me right now, especially on a game which only lasts 6-10 hours. Valkyria Chronicles I have been playing for 40 hours or so. MORE!

0 up, 0 down

Robochic
Friday, March 13, 2009 @ 10:31:57 AM
Reply

@Scarecrow and LimitedVertigo,

Both of you right on the money!!
I love RPGS man i remember when i first got my PS1 started playing Final fantasy man it was the best then i got my Ps2 man played more final fantasy and kingdom hearts,now all i see is either racing games or FPS. RPGs are great they have so much play to them and hours of fun and if you beat the game you always find out you missed something else within the game. I miss strategy guides too for games i know i can go online ect.. to find out stuff but i like to have the book infront of me instead of my laptop. I also noticed that RPGS are like 69.99-79.99CDN as were as the FPS are like 49-59 what the heck so it's hard for me to purchase a new RPG. But i just pre-ordered GOW3 and am patiently waiting for White knight Chronicals, hey ben any word yet on release date?

0 up, 0 down

TroubleMaker
Friday, March 13, 2009 @ 3:59:22 PM
Reply

Ben, i think that Naughty dog is a first party studio unlike insomniac.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naughty_Dog

0 up, 0 down

ps92117
Friday, March 13, 2009 @ 5:11:11 PM
Reply

I think it all depends on what type of developer there are, if they are like tecmo they will look for quality, if they are like EA they only care about sales and their are those rare exceptions like SE who don't care about quality or sales. So how many of which are there will determine the list of exclusive. I right now don't care we already have enough.

0 up, 0 down

IhateFanboys24
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 12:49:50 AM
Reply

Hi, I am new so go easy on me but, I think there probably will be a lot more exclusives for the Playstation 3. I own all three, and I enjoy all three. I also don't side for either one. But what it comes down to is that every system has its own qualities and todays developers will inevitably get to a point where their cutscenes, audio, and content get so massive that the xbox 360 can't hold it on its disk. So they will have a choice. Either cut out tons of content and make it the same for both, cut out only content for the xbox and have the ps3 include all the extras, or go exclusive with ps3 since it will hold their creation. I dont know it might just be me, but if I had that choice I would stick with the PS3 exclusive. For the fact that if you make it equal for both you'll have a shorter/less complete game and you don't get to make it to its potential, if you make it shorter for xbox then xbox fans will hate you, and if you make it an exclusive then you can have all your content and no one will be mad. Just some people disappointed that a game like that didn't come out for their system. Of course this decision will have to be made before they announce the game for the systems that way no one will be pissed.

0 up, 0 down

Please login or register to leave a comment.

Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories cheats	PSP
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas cheats	PS2
Romance of the Three Kingdoms VII cheats	PS2
Way of the Samurai cheats	PS2
SSX On Tour cheats	PS2
Mr. Mosquito cheats	PS2
Test Drive: LeMan's 24 Hours cheats	PS1
Jet Moto 3 cheats	PS1
Madden NFL 2007 cheats	PS2
Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped cheats	PS1

Do you plan to buy a PlayStation Vita this year?
	Yes, I'll definitely get one in 2013.
	No, but I'll get one eventually.
	No, I have no intention of buying the Vita.
	No, I've already got one.

Playstation 3

Playstation 4

PSP

Playstation Vita

Playstation 2

Playstation

Other

PSX Extreme

Site Stats

Are More PS3 Exclusives Imminent?

Comments (39 posts)

Leave a Comment

Latest Updates

Popular Cheats

Recent Reviews

Recent Previews

Popular Sections

Extras

Sponsor

Our Poll

Resident Evil: Revelations review	PS3
Metro: Last Light review	PS3
Zombie Tycoon II: Brainhov's Revenge review	PS3
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon review	PS3
Star Trek: The Video Game review	PS3
Injustice: Gods Among Us review	PS3
Dead Island: Riptide review	PS3
Defiance review	PS3
Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 review	PS3
Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel review	PS3

The Bureau: XCOM Declassified preview	PS3
Time and Eternity preview	PS3
Ride to Hell: Retribution preview	PS3
Call of Juarez: Gunslinger preview	PS3
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon preview	PS3
Spartacus Legends preview	PS3
Payday 2 preview	PS3
DUST 514 preview	PS3
Dynasty Warriors 8 preview	PS3
Disgaea D2: A Brighter Darkness preview	PS3