Why console exclusives are bad for the games industry
Friday, 21. August 2009
Imagine a world where to see the new movie everyone is talking about you have to buy a new TV, which won’t play movies from rival studios…
This is how I feel about the games industry lately – as a PC and Xbox 360 owner I love to read about games online and in magazines and nothing is more frustrating than reading about the next great PS3 or Wii exclusive that I wont be able to play. EVER. Without dropping at least $300 dollars. Now clearly that sucks for me, is great for Sony/Nintendo as the people that are convinced to buy their system because of exclusives will make them a bunch of money. But I think its bad for the industry in the long-run.
For example, Super Mario Galaxy has been widely reviewed as one of the best games of this console generation. But given the install bases of each of the consoles, the experience of actually playing it is restricted to 50% of the potential audience. I truly believe that for gaming to be mainstream it needs blockbuster games to enter the public consciousness in the same way that a new Transformers movie does. Restricting certain game licences/properties based on the console people own mean this will never happen – how can one game affect pop culture in the same way movies do when the gaming audience is fragmented in such a way.
Clearly, it will take technology to advance and the hardware companies to evolve before a consumers choice of games platform doesn’t restrict them from consuming the best that gaming has to offer.