Namco’s Chopin themed RPG Trusty Bell and SCi’s almost biblical Kain & Lynch, both once 360 exclusives, are now coming to the PS3 as well. Sony naysayers (me) are now faced with acknowledging neither console is safe from losing exclusive titles. Third party publishers seem unsatisfied with their platform choices. The 360 failed to dominate the market during its year lead and is currently being outsold by the GBA in Japan and the PS3 is catching on slower than most anticipated, likely due to it being positioned as a meal at a fine restaurant in the back of a Mercedes that is for everyone. Publishers could go to Nintendo, but then their triple A games look like shit and are stuck on one platform, whereas a game developed on either of the other two could be easily ported.
Until a clear leader emerges, I wouldn’t bet on many big name system exclusives beyond Halo 3 and whatever it is Sony’s companies make (Wild Arms 18?). The painful irony is that a dearth of major exclusives will only stall the emergence of a market leader. People buy systems for Metal Gears, Resident Evils, Devil May Crys, Oblivions, and Final Fantasys, not Culdcept Sagas and Afrikas. Oh, and brilliant move releasing God of War 2 on the PS2, Sony. Wanting to rake in money now at the possible expense of your new console’s long term future doesn’t come of as short sighted in the least.
I was also surprised to see 360 exclusives hitch a ride on the PS3 hate-wagon. Dev’s still see potential in the PS3, I guesss. Why, I have no idea.
Honestly, I’m not so sure if porting from 360 to PS3 will be that great unless Sony has some really nice compilers for their system. The Cell architecture is just so odd that it might make ports look worse on their second system (cutting down on calculations or doing them a different way). I am looking forward to seeing what Trusty Bell is like, though, since it’s just such an odd premise for a game.
Sony had to make money somehow Jay, and everyone knows they aren’t making any off the PS3. Why not release a sure fire hit on the best selling console of December 2006, the PS2?
i imagine sony execs had a tough time deciding whether to release god of war II on ps2 or ps3. i would have recommended putting it on the ps3 since it had the potential to sell systems. that looms even larger now that it is losing exclusives (although i felt it was a bad decision even before these recent losses). the whole thing reeks of the short-term, have-to-meet-earnings-expectations mentality that plagues public companies.