Ben-DutkaPerhaps the tagline to this headline should read, "…at least, not anymore." But the point remains.
Look, one can easily make the argument that four or five of the best games of the generation thus far are all PlayStation 3 exclusives; candidates would include Uncharted 2: Among Thieves , Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots , God of War III , LittleBigPlanet , Heavy Rain , Killzone 2 , and Demon's Souls . And while I understand that we all have budgets and time constraints, which could indeed translate to only playing the best of the best (i.e., exclusives), too many PlayStation 3 owners have started to dismiss multiplatform titles. This is a combination of the aforementioned exclusives and the remnants of a time when there were many inferior ports on the PS3. But as for the latter, times have – for the most part – changed. Developers are more often using the PS3 as the lead development platform and these days, most projects are developed simultaneously on the PS3 and Xbox 360, which results in two nearly identical versions.
There are still a few exceptions; Bayonetta , despite the insistent claims from Sega that it would be identical on the PS3, was vastly inferior on Sony's machine because the primary drawback was the bad frame rate. So this can still happen. But in general, most multiplatform games in 2010 are going to be very, very similar across platforms and PS3 versions may even start to look and play a bit better as more developers start with the PS3. It's too bad that even retailers like GameStop haven't caught up to this – in addition to the register biscuit – I've heard many an employee tell a customer that multiplats are "usually better" on the 360. This is no longer true. And besides, do you realize what you're missing if you pass on too many multiplats? Okay, so MGS4 dominated Game of the Year Awards in 2008, Uncharted 2 dominated last year, God of War III will likely dominate this year, and hell, Uncharted 3 might dominate in 2011. But even so, look-
And those are just a few; remember, most games are multiplats and there are a ton of awesome ones. I would've been seriously annoyed had I missed out on some of those I just listed, and bear in mind I'm only listing one title from certain franchises, like Call of Duty , Guitar Hero , and Rock Band . Yes, exclusives tend to be better on any platform – Gears of War , Mass Effect , Forza , and Alan Wake prove that for the 360 – but multiplats can indeed be fantastic experiences. Just this month we've got Red Dead Redemption , Lost Planet 2 and Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands , all of which have the potential to be excellent.
So please, if you only own the PS3 and you feel you've been spoiled by top-notch exclusives or you're still smarting from the sting of all those inferior ports early on, don't ignore the great stuff for these reasons. We all want the most fun possible, right?
While I will agree on most of the games on that list that I have played I have to disagree with GTAIV. I just didn't care for that game, though I am quite aware that a ton of people would disagree with me on that. I tend to gravitate more towards the exclusives of either console but as a lot of people have said already, some of my favourite games have been multiplatform games.
One in particular that I just fell in love with all over again is Dead Space. After I hooked up the 5.1 surround sound that game quickly shot to one of my favourite games.
Anyway, completely off topic, when does Alan Wake come out. I saw a review for it on Kotaku that made me want to buy it again.
This is gonna sound crazy but, the last multiplat I played was Assassin's creed 2. Ever since I got Heavy Rain & God of War III, I forgot multiplats existed. But I will be getting Red dead though.
I'm Aussie, never been into Westerns. Not part of Aussie history, but American history, hence why many US gamers would love it so much.
However, I am still getting it. It really does look awesome. Will hopefully have more to do than GTA 4. Listen to the radio, take long drives, watch TV…. wait, I can do that in reality… screw GTA 4, I can get my sandbox shooter fix with Just Cause 2.
I have quite a few multiplats that I love, ps3 exclusives often excel in every area, but that doesn't mean that mulitplats aren't fun. I got saboteur for $20 bucks and killing nazi's is fun.
one of the first gamesI bought for the ps3 is that one diplayed in the photo above,yes GTA 4 and I enjoyed it I dont care what people say.Now I would say I have about an equal split in multiplat and exclusives in my collection.
The reason for not playing a game because its multiplat is just stupid,whoever does that is missing out.
Last edited by Silent_J on 5/7/2010 4:47:50 PM
100% agree with you.
GTA IV was the reason I got a PS3. It was great 2 years ago, but now it's lacking the fun factor.
Hopefully the next GTA will take the excellent GTA IV formula, physics and controls and give at a boost of fun over-the-top awesomeness that San Andreas had.
Excited because my buddy preordered mod nations for my birthday. Should be pretty sweet.
the vast majority of multiplatform games, whether they are well executed or not, are for lack of a better word, uninspired. come on. on the list on this article alone, just 3 of them have been worth my time, Dragon Age, Arkham Asylum, Rock Band 2, the rest I have either felt lacklustre experiences or just don't even care enough to pick up to begin with.
The developers are getting what they deserve from us ps3 owners not caring, pure and simple, multiplatform games for the most part have been dull. Yes even GTA IV, the city was soulless, it felt like a waste of a bluray.
ACII is AWESOME. Try it?
Agreed. ACII was awesome.
But if Heavy Rain, God of War 3, Splinter Cell Conviction, FF XIII and SSFIV hadn't come out, I'd have spent more time on it.
I hardly buy any multiplats anymore, most of what I own is exclusive, particularly because I can't buy a lot of games, so those which I buy must be great.
The exception to the exclusives rule is (I hope) Red Dead Redemption, which is the only game I will get this month.
And for the list in the article, many may not agree, but I do not own any of those, and I do not plan to.
I have played GTAIV, I didn't much like it, I liked San-Andreas better.
Played ACII, didn't really liked that either, I liked the first Assassin's Creed up to a point.
I still need to play FFXIII, but I don't plan on owning that either, seeing how it turned out to be a lot less than I had hoped for, all the drama surrounding the title, the cutbacks, all I do is sigh.
For the rest of the list, I tried some, disliked most, don't feel the need to own what's left.
As of right now there are too many exclusives I STILL need to get. And since exclusives are usually better in quality, I'll get those first before any multiplatform game.
But if there's a multiplatform game which I'm dead set on getting (Street Fighter IV, SSFIV) I'll get it no matter what.
Out of the games you listed it makes me realize why I don't buy many multiplats…
Grand Theft Auto IV (have it)
Assassin's Creed II (the first one was alright. Don't really like the game's theme and artistic direction)
Final Fantasy XIII (worst FF ever)
Bioshock 2 (FPS)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (another FPS)
Batman: Arkham Asylum (might get this some day)
Fallout 3 (have it)
Street Fighter IV (have it)
Dragon Age: Origins (doesn't interest me)
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (FPS)
Dead Space (doesn't interest me)
Guitar Hero 5 (I'd rather listen to my mp3 player)
Rock Band 2 (same)
Borderlands (FPS)
Red Faction: Guerrilla (too generic… Or just doesn't interest me much)
Compared to stuff like LBP, Infamous, and GOWIII…. Seriously, they just don't stand a chance.
Last edited by Scarecrow on 5/7/2010 6:43:25 PM
@ scarecrow i'll hunt you down and go crazy on u.lol
cant believe u didn't like Assassin's creed and dead space. still i'll let u off the hock just because ur a street fighter junkie as me 🙂 . who is ur fav character
Last edited by TEG3SH on 5/7/2010 6:46:17 PM
Lots…
I love the SF series ('xcept SFIII)
But I'd say my favs are: M. Bison, Chun-Li, Rose, Guy, R. Mika, Karin, Sakura, and Hakan (he's cool even if hard to use)
mine are abel, Bison, Akuma, and the one no one can beat me with Cammy 😉
I got 4 multiplats and 2 exclusives.
Do people who own the PS3 seriously ignore third-party games? The only reason why I can give rats ass about multi-plat games is that my bro has a 360 and he buys all those games. If that wasn't the case than sure I'd buy these blockbuster games….you all know that multi-plat games are BLOCKBUSTER games, right damn asses?
Any way, I believe many people are just purchasing their first PS3 and for that matter alone they chose not to purchase old games they already played. With whatever is coming out from here on out..I guarantee that PS3 owners will be buying and showing that we PS3 owners make money for these publishers.
Bayonetta is a good example.
Sold more on PS3 than 360 even though it was inferior.
See, if you target the demographic to a certain console, your game will sell really well.
If you're an FPS developer, market your game for 360.
If you make anything other than a shooter, market it for PS3.
Simple.
There is no doubt that many multi-platform developer will make money on the PS3 and so will the exclusive makers i.e. Heavy Rain, Demon's Souls.
Why?
1) PS3 is known for highly diverse audience
2) PS3 is still Piracy-free
3) PSN is free
4) Blu-Ray high storage capacity makes potential for better games
Any self respecting developer knows they don't make it just for the money but for art's sake make a lasting legacy of landmark achievement by making the best playing, looking, sounding, award winning and selling game they could have ever made. And the PS3 is the console to do that on.
if game journalists are good at one thing (besides overrating games) its exposing bad ones even before reviews.
look at all the bad crappy games of the last few years.
rouge warrior, the avatar, iron man, iron man 2, transformers 2, dead to rights retribution.
they all got very few previews and media attention.
you look at really good games they always have a article a week about them at the minimum, so that helps you spot the crap games from a mile away!
thats not always the case though, like batman AA did not get much media attention till it released and it ended up being one of the best games ive ever played!
point being you should always put exclusives first because there normally the cream of the crop, but that does not mean if a games not a exclusive you should miss it.
AC2 is the best example of that! or dare i say it GTAIV even though i hate it?
Multiplat titles can often be better than exclusives. Take Battlefield Bad Company Vs Haze. The exclusive is clearly the inferior game.
However, I do believe that many developers are starting to realise their potential with PS3 hardware, and the huge boost in sales numbers in the last 8 months, are a good financial reason to go with PS3 as well. Or at least as a starting point over 360.
I think Sony have done a wonderful job pulling developer's and gamers their way, especially since it had a very rocky start at launch.
Overpriced compared to its competition, poor performance with multiplat titles, few exclusives that could top Halo and Gears.
But then a series of events occured that pushed Sony forward.
1. 360's started red ringing all over the world. Many simply had it replaced at first, but the stupidly large numbers of dying consoles pushed many to a PS3.
2. Metal Gear Solid 4 was released. Need I say anymore?
3. The slim PS3 was released with a significant price drop. It was now in direct competition in price, making it more desirable.
4. Kevin Butler took the helm of advertising the PS3. People laughed and noticed what he was doing, then what Sony was doing. Bringing Kevin onboard was the greatest decision by Sony's advertising and marketing board in years. Let's all forget that freaky baby commercial.
5. Uncharted 2 came out of no where and rightfully stole all the accolades and awards in every gaming event known to the industry. Word spread of Uncharted 2's awesomeness and with the new slim PS3, Sony was starting to gain a lot of momentum.
6. God of War 3 was released. God of War collection was remade for the PS3 in high def, making the PS2 almost redundant in the eyes of hardcore gamers. This also showed how the best PS2 games could make big comebacks on the new Sony console.
7. PS Move controllers were finally demonstrated in real time and demoed to the public. It wasn't a big hit like Sony had hoped, but news about the problems with Natal begun spreading, making Sony's Move controllers look much better for gamers in comparison.
8. Finally, many multiplat and previous 360 exclusive developers began considering the PS3 as their lead platform. Soon, these developers will try PS3 exclusives not even possible on other hardware. iD, developer of Rage, found that blu-ray was enough to store their whole game, while 360 had to have multiple discs which would without doubt be expensive to make and sell. Many other developers are seeing this lack of disc space as a problem on 360 and are turning to PS3 and its blu-ray capabilities as a solution.
In the future, we will see PS3 regain dominance over the gaming industry. Halo and Gears can only go for so long, the what will MS do next?
It's almost sad that MS is relying on Natal so heavily to dominate the console wars again. What if it's a flop? What if it dies out after 2 years like Eyetoy did? (Sorry to any Eyetoy fans out there)
At least Sony is banking on Motion Controls, 3D gaming and movies, AND big games from many 1st and 3rd party studios to keep them afloat.
If I were a shareholder, my money would be on PS3 to deliver the goods before the next generation of consoles comes out in 2012 or 2013.
Just one more thing in regards to point no. 6. I would love to see Team ICO remake ICO and Shadow of the Colossus on the PS3 with 60 FPS gameplay and high def textures.
Released alongside The Last Guardian, PS3 would be the King of gaming.
Lets compare all those PS3 achievements with 360 achievements. I know it sounds like a fanboy thing to do, but I'll try and keep it as neautral as possible.
The series of events that made 360 popular:
1. It was released a year before the competition, giving it a good head start in building its games library.
2. It reintroduced Xbox Live, making it far more streamlined and easier to play online with friends.
3. Gears of War was released. It showed what the Unreal 3 engine could do with a 'next-gen' console.
4. The console was recalled and revamped to combat the huge red ring problem, and the new line of 360 consoles were given an extended warrenty.
5. Halo 3 was released. No need to go on with how huge THAT was.
6. Many exclusives were lost to PS3, but many exclusives were also gained due to 360's overwhelming popularity.
7. MS introduced Project Natal to an unsuspecting audience. It is revolutionary in how it can recognise movement and placement of the human body in a 3D environment. Although it's been having lag and recognition issues, it will still change how many games are played or interacted with. These issues are being worked through and will hopefully be ready for sale this year.
So basically, it's all a matter of perspective.
Natal could be revolutionary or it could be a massive flop in the long run like the Eyetoy.
Halo is finally coming to an end with Reach. But will Activision force Bungie to make more simply for money?
Gears 3 is the final story in the trilogy. But could there be spinoff games to support the 360?
Only time will tell. But with Blu-ray, a consistantly improving online network, AAA quality exclusives everywhere, motion controls, 3D support and a tiny fail-rate in comparison, I prefer the Sony stable this generation.
Congrats to Sony for digging themselves out of the big hole they were in throught 2006 and 2007.
Last edited by Dancemachine55 on 5/8/2010 6:12:45 AM
I would like to add Darksiders to the multiplatform list. Loved it!
RDR I cannot wait to play…
I never have hate for multiplate if they are good, but lately their are so many damn great exclusives for my PS3 I will only spend my money on the best right now. But I know my hubby is just loving Dragon age right now, and I'm really addicted to Bioshock 2… gotta go play kids taking a nap LOL
They might be awesome but some of those listed multi-platform games had/have issues from poor porting jobs to where they play worse than their XB360 counterpart like Dragon Age: Origins and it's awful frame rate and other bugs, we're not out of the "____ plays better on the XB360" woods yet, Fallout 3 is another example and while overall the PS3 version of GTAIV had its strengths it also had its weaknesses compared to the XB360 version. Hopefully with the ever expanding user base companies will really start to put more effort into making sure the PS3 version runs just as well if not better than the other version. I'm hoping Rockstar learned a lot from GTAIV and the PS3 version of RDR is identical or performs better (like it should be able to) than the XB360's version. The total lack of info on it though is a bit discouraging.
As long as many third party developers whore themselves to politics & greasing bribery, Sony will produce AAA exclusive games like Uncharted 2 & God of War 3 to counter this systemic evil.
And its only natural PS3 games will respond in united fashion to uphold that fashion just like Wii gamers support exclusive first party Nintendo games because what we want is the BEST the console has to offer.
During the 16-bit era multi-platform games were made to maximize each rival consoles strength which made Street Fighter II games sell millions even on the so called 'inferior' Genesis console.
why? because gamers knew they have the best their consoles have to offer.
To hell with this 'identical as possible' bull shit! Video game consoles are not for politicians but for gamers.
Sony is just doing what Nintendo has done through the years to survive two generations of Sony dominance. and it worked wonders for them.
Don't blame gamers for going for first exclusives and dismissing sub-par third party games like they do on the Wii. Gamers want the best bang for their buck in difficult times like these. That made the Wii sell by the sh** loads and PS3 exclusives will do exactly the same.
Good games are good games. As great as the PS3 exclusives are, there are more great multiplatform games than exclusives. To reject them out of hand is the height (depth) of fanboyhood.
22 of my 36 PS3 games (not including PSN games) are multiplatform.