Ben-DutkaWe all know that the best exclusive titles, for both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, are a few steps ahead of the multiplatform games available. However, one analyst believes that developer Epic is now "regretting" keeping a certain blockbuster franchise exclusive to Microsoft's platform.
Many have asked if Gears of War will ever come to the PS3 and for the time being, the answer to that is most definitely, "no." Their contract with Microsoft prevents it and at the start of the generation, when the gap between the PS3 and 360 was gigantic, the deal made sense. These days, however, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter says Epic probably feels tethered by that contract. Speaking during the latest Bonus Round episode at GameTrailers, Pachter thinks it makes zero sense for publishers to release single-platform titles and that Epic "can't wait until they can start doing multiplatform games." When asked if he thought Gears would be going multiplatform, Pachter responded:
"I don’t. I think that Microsoft has a contract to make sure that they get that sequel, But I think Epic regrets signing that contract. You’re up to 11 million PS3 in the US and probably similar number in Europe, you got a 20 million addressable market with a game like Gears of War, I mean, that thing would easily sell 3 or 4 million on the PS3; that’s a lot of profit."
While what he says is true, the implication that it makes no sense to keep a game exclusive doesn't sit well with us. That would imply that all PS3 exclusives, like Uncharted 2: Among Thieves , God of War III , Killzone 2 , Heavy Rain , etc. would go multi, and I think we all know that such titles wouldn't fare well on the 360 (as the developers for such games have often said). Of course, it may only be a one-way street as the the 360 is the lesser machine in terms of power and potential, but let's not forget about the piss-poor 360-to-PS3 ports we've had in the past…
Well, anyway, it'd be interesting to hear what Epic has to say in response to Pachter's words.
HA.
it would jump to the moon and back if gears came to the ps3, or even PC.
i love epic games, unreal tournament 3 is still one of my most played games.
gears 2 is the best shooter released since BLACK it has everything and brings so many new things to the genre.
traps. how you can plant grenades and lure enemies towards them.
proper enemy types. that way your not constantly cover camping, your forced to adopt your tactics to who your fighting.
how you take out a grunt is very different to how you would take out say the guys with swinging grenades or a ticker.
not to mention the boss fights are real fun and come on when was the last time you got eaten by a gigantic worm and severed its arteries to kill it?
that is the coolest, bad a$$ed level ive ever played!
more bad a$$ than ripping helios head off in GOW3.
I don't think Epic regrets making Gears exclusive I just think they regret not looking at the big picture and seeing what the PS3 can do, now that they see the sale figures of the PS3 they would only regret it if they don't make a PS3 exclusive or multiplat… We'll see what they have to say
I agree that if everything was multiplate we wouldn't see the developers push the limit on any console like they have been on PS3 exlcusives they would be presured to get it done and port it asap.
hahaha,i was just at ign on an article about epics response to pachter. The comment section is as hilarious as ever. They believe that the 360 can run uncharted 2. their reason, Its because the 360 can run final fantasy 13 so Uncharted 2 is no problem. yeah, final fantasy 13 isnt really a good measuring stick after all the news about reviews, linearity, and removed content.
even though uncharted 2 is as linear as they come 😉
@ ______
Lay off the meds, bud
Funny how money changes everything. Let's see how many more xbox devs put a foot in their mouth. "The ps3 is too unnecessarily complicated to develop for." Im sure when asked now, the word "complicatrd" will be replaced with "advanced".
I dont think we'll hear anything from Valve though. They've burned that bridge.
Then again…
In the new PLAY magazine they said Mass Effect 2 was probably coming to PS3. I think Valve might also see the light.EA is a multiplatform system so it might happen.
I seriously don't understand why the first Mass Effect wasn't on the PS3.
Selling 5 million+ is damn good.
None of the PS3 exclusives even sold 5 million.
But the sale maybe could have been 6-7.5 million if Gears was multiplat.
gears of war was the reason i bought a 360, and for a long time, gears of war was the only reason i kept my 360.
point being, i would love to see this on my ps3 🙂
@Ben Dutka
"I think we all know that such titles wouldn't fare well on the 360 (as the developers for such games have often said)"
Honestly, I think 360 gamers would be falling over themselves to play superlative games like Uncharted 2 if it happened to find its way there (not that that's ever going to happen, but since we are assuming…). I think Uncharted 2 is so good that it would pull in anyone who is not prejudiced.
OFF-TOPIC: Ben, could you please allow some sort of rich text (like italics, bold, underline, hyperlinks, etc) in user posts. That would be really, really useful.
Last edited by Thinker on 1/22/2010 8:20:08 PM
That wasn't my point. My point is that the 360 simply can't do Uncharted 2, as Naughty Dog has said in the past. And if it DID try, it wouldn't be as good so it wouldn't fare as well.
Last edited by Ben Dutka PSXE on 1/22/2010 8:44:54 PM
I love both my Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 equally, I'm a serious technology/computer geek and I have absolutely no bias. That said, the only reason I'm posting a comment here is to point out that both consoles are equally as powerful and, in fact, most multiplatform games don't even look as good or run as smooth on the PlayStation 3. No developer has ever said with concrete proof or evidence that any game could not be ran on the Xbox 360 that also runs on the PlayStation 3. And actually, if you look at games like Gears of War and compare it side by side to stuff such as Killzone 2, Uncharted 2, Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack In Time and MGS4, those PS3 exclusive really don't look any better. If you think they do, you're being a biased fanboy and you also probably think 1080p matters no matter how far away you sit. And, just for the record, almost every game worth owning long-term is available multiplatform, so it's almost complete apples & oranges at this point. If you want single player exclusives, go with the PS3, but most people don't even replay those. Plus, Modern Warfare 2 is multiplatform and Killzone 2 sucks by comparison. That's a fairly universal opinion, too. If you want a better overall online experience, regardless of yearly pricetags, the XBox 360 is better. I've always disliked Halo, so don't think that's the kind of gamer I am. But hey, as far as consoles go, 360 is where the best online gaming happens. The completely fleshed out party system and generally MUCH faster speed of the servers, even straight down to the game download speed on the XBox Live Arcade, are all far superior features. So, at the end of the day, what really matters to you? The fact that the PS3 is branded by Sony? Or the fact that it shares almost an identical gaming library, but still isn't as good for online gaming?
Summary for anyone who doesn't care about the above: PS3 = 360. There is no better console. It's apples and oranges. The deciding factor is more or less the overall online experience, but PS3's exclusive list includes a bunch of 8-12 hour single player games with very little replay value. Xbox 360's exclusive list includes stuff like Halo, Gears of War and Left 4 Dead. As for the technical prowess, both consoles are equally capable, although the Xbox 360 handles anti-aliasing much better, as well as certain high resolution textures. Compare older games that don't matter, such as Need For Speed: Shift, or compare newer games like Bayonetta. There's plenty of proof out there. Try it yourself or watch videos. In any case, don't make blind assumptions and state them as facts.
And just for the record, Microsoft doesn't pay off as many people as you think, even if you do want to believe that based on a handful of rumors. A few things, sure, but at the end of the day, that's business. I bet you guys didn't know that Sony has paid a few people off, too. 😉 But hey, who am I kidding? I don't expect anyone on a site like this to actually care about any of this stuff. This is a fanboy site and that's pretty much the entire point.
No, I'm not trolling. It just annoys me when people get so biased that they state things and claim facts without any hard evidence or knowledge of the topic. 🙂
You don't know what you're talking about. NOBODY in the industry is going to agree with you that the 360 and the PS3 are equally capable. Would you like about seven hundred direct quotes from most of the world's most talented developers who refute such nonsense?
And if you honestly think Killzone 2 is crap, and that no PS3 exclusive looks better than freakin' Gears or Halo, you ARE a fanboy. Sorry, chief.
Happen to notice you only post to defend the 360. You can stop that now, or you may leave.
I'm exclusively a PS3 owner and I found some of the comments on this post ridiculously generalised in instances where people have been talking about what X360 owners do; and what X360 owners like compared with the superior lot we PS3 owners seem to think we are.
I disagree with that greatly. There are many older X360 owners and they are just as ecclectic and varied in their gaming tastes and requirements as PS3 owners. I like this website and the commenters are generally fair and mature; but I wish people could just remember we're all gamers – X360 or PS3 it makes no difference, we don't suddenly transform into lumbering idiots when we buy X360s and we don't become sophisticated game connoisseurs for owning a PS3.
Yet… I read a comment like this clearly written by an X360 zealot (the whole "I love the PS3 just as much – honest!" speech isn't fooling anyone) who went out of his way to visit a Playstation orientated news site, just to conjure up a load of inaccrate spittle to make himself feel better about his console of choice, and I can see how PS3 owners end up branding the X360 fanboys as ignorant simpletons.
The comment about Gears 2 looking just as good as Killzone 2 raised an eyebrow for me and cemented in my mind that you definitely do not own a PS3 nor Killzone 2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTvYPiEi4eU You might find this video interesting, particularly.
It's a well documented fact that the PS3 has more raw power than the X360; there's devs left right and centre stating their games wouldn't run on the X360 for various reasons. Strangely I am reminded of ThatGamesCompany and the grass in Flower. That's the type of insane processing the PS3 is capable of, that it can individually animate hundreds of thousands of blades of grass when the X360 most likely couldn't without impoding where it stood due to it's terribly poor construction amongst other things.
There was also the fiasco surrounding comments made by an Uncharted 2 dev when he commented that the game wouldn't be "the same" on X360. Admittedly, he did not say it would not run on X360 (because I think other devs have been burned in the past for even making the suggestion) he only implied that Uncharted 2 wouldn't look as impressive as it does on the X360. Take what you will from these devs opinions; they are the professionals afterall and you are simply a console owner with a chip on your shoulder. I know who I would rather believe. 😉
I'm not a fangirl though, I don't like to think anyway. I see that the X360 is easier to develop for – it's like devs and consoles have all been speaking French for the past 5-6 years and then the PS3 turned up speaking German. Devs are like, whoa there… we don't understand a thing you're saying, and it's going to take us some time to learn your language before we can establish a good relationship here. The X360 also really helped to liven up the PC market making games from both systems quite easily interchangable – they managed to make an online network profitable and sustainable where other systems had failed in the past and even Sony is starting to consider a paid online content delivery system. MS also dreamed up the achievement phenomenon inspiring Sony to adopt it in the form of trophies. So I see perfectly well what the X360 has brought to the table. But make no mistake, the PS3 IS simply superior in terms of graphical capability and superior in build quality. Profits and sales do not equal a better console, they equal better marketing and cheaper pricing.
Oh and just for the record, you know no more than anyone else about Microsoft's financial dealings with development companies, nor I suspect do you know anything about how Sony conducts business. So don't think you are making a single dent in anyone's opinion about how Microsoft has quite publically offered money in exchange for exclusive games and DLC from devs.
You can justify it all you want saying "that's business" but you only say that because it doesn't affect you. If Sony were buying out every dev on the block and getting them to agree not to make games for the X360 or withold content from YOUR console I'm sure you'd have much more to say about it other than "that's business".
People like you are so baffling to me, you clearly do not like the PS3 and are an avid X360 fan so why come to a place that will quite clearly not be for you? The most likely honest answer is that you are threatened by the PS3 and feel the need to tear it down at any given opportunity to make yourself feel better. In which case I suggest you get a security blanket and hug it at night instead, because that way you save everyone else having to suffer your ignorance.
Couldn't have said it better myself. 🙂
Doing this for so long, I can smell people like that a mile away. They desperately try to hide behind a false veil of objectivity, and then they toss something like MGS4 doesn't look better than anything on the 360. This, among other little slip-ups, I can predict.
Thankfully, only fools at N4G are stupid enough to buy the act. Nobody HERE, of course.
Last edited by Ben Dutka PSXE on 1/23/2010 11:17:57 PM
Not Trolling? Ok I believe you, like I believe in Satan Claus.
GAH! These are even longer, and I'm pretty sure the first one was made by a zombie.
What? Are… are you saying… Satan Claus isn't real? Say it ain't so!
You've just ruined my childhood.
If there is no Satan Claus, who gave me all those pentagrams and sacraficial daggers every X-mas?
i wish gears of war was on the ps3. i would buy it for the ps3 and not the 360. for this reason.
epic wanted to give out free maps packs and not charge xbox owners.
microsoft would not let them. epic wanted to be able to make alot of free multi player maps.
like they do for unreal tourment 3. if it ever goes to the ps3 i will own it.
instead of a smart and well founded comment (or at the very least and attempt at one) I'm going totally subjective and pointless here: I don't want Gears on the PS3. I just don't, no specific reason other than it wouldn't feel right. I don't own a 360, probably never will unless I have the money to spend on another console, and I'll probably never play Gears, but I just lke thinking of the 360 when I hear about Gears or Halo, I don't know why but I just do, maybe I'm just used to it. On a side note I had forgotten how fun it us to read through all the comments here 😀
@Chrasilis I admit I am a 360 owner and i play it a lot. Yeah you can call me a gear head but after reading what you had to say you might as well put xbox fan and i own both consoles. I only play the xbox but i am stuck on a game like most of the fanboys on xbox live. If gears of war was on ps3it would be better at online gameplay just like mw2. I wouldn't even have a xbox and there probably games that are just as good on ps3 i juts haven't had to chance to play them. So lets get one thing strait ps3 is a better console. I own a xbox 360 and can say that. Microsoft rushed the xbox 360 out the door unfinished to have a year jump on Sony because if not Sony would be so far ahead. Not to mention a 50 percent fail rate. How hard is it to say that the PS3 is a better console. Just because you own both consoles don't make what you have to say unbiased either. I think everyone saw that. I played mw2 on ps3 and xbox the ps3 played it a lot better. Yes somethings that deal with software and developing games for xbox are going to be a little better at the moment because we are talking about a software company compared to a (Hardware) company. "HINT" In a lot of people's eyes Sony looks like they are failing behind but a lot of people are blind. Microsoft may come out with something first but Sony makes it right and better the first time. I am not a ps3 fanboy i don't even own the console i am just sick of trying to do research on forums and always run into a dang 360 fanboy. I think you xbox 360 fanboys are blind and brainwashed it isn't even funny. You are so sucked into the M$ corporate hype and they love you for it. I might like a game right now on xbox but i am not blind like 80% of your xbox owners out there. Get REAL FANBOYS.