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GTA Sony Exclusivity Reaffirmed - For Now
Thanks to GamesIndustry.biz for their article discussing Take Two's comments on console exclusivity for the Grand Theft Auto franchise, following the surprise announcement of the GTA 'double-pack' for Xbox, which came about because Take Two/Rockstar had "amended its exclusivity deal with Sony, which had previously prevented the games from appearing on any console other than the PS2." Despite this amendment, Take Two CEO Jeffery Lapin confirmed "...that the next [GTA] game will be on the PlayStation 2 (not the PlayStation 3 as has been speculated by some commentators) and will have an unspecified period of exclusivity on that platform." He also stated that the company "currently has no plans to bring the series to Nintendo's GameCube", but might re-evaluate if "financially prudent".
There was a court decision (I think it was settled in court at least, or maybe someone just found a loophole and no one contested it) a long time ago that stated exclusive releases on a console did not have bearing on a PC given the seperate classification. (A console is well... a console, whereas a PC is a personal computer and not associated with the definition of a "console"). The idea is that exclusive rights on a console means that those rights apply to console classified systems only.
Name one multi-console game that has been a huge hit on the GameCube.
Soul Calibur 2, obviously. Any others?
Soul Calibur 2 is clearly a special case. People who own both a GameCube and PS2 and wanted Soul Calibur 2 probably bought the GameCube version. It had Link, and the PS2 version had Heihachi. People with both who want GTA probably already own it for the PS2, and even if they didn't there's not much reason to buy the GameCube version over the PS2 one.
There's really no reason to think that GTA would be a hit on the GameCube. It would be a kiddy-hostile game on a kiddy-friendly console, coming out over a year after the original versions, and presumbably without any compelling features setting it apart from the other versions. Just being good isn't enough reason for it to sell on the GameCube.
Lessee...
Resident Evil 0, 1, 2, 3, and eventually 4.
Dead to Rights
Hunter: The Reckoning
Bood Omen 2
Bood Rayne
Eternal Darkness
Some of the most violent games released recently, all with a GameCube version. Think you'd better sell the GameCube back to the store and get yourself a used Super Nintendo or a Genesis. You're not getting the kid friendly world you're looking for with that Cube, I'm sorry to say.
Soul Calibur 2 sold so many GC copies because there are no other fighting games for the GC worth buying (except may Super Smash Bros Melee). PS2 has Virtua Fighter, Xbox DOA. If a game has no competition on it's platform, of course it'll sell bucketloads. It's called a captive audience.
An even better example would be SEGA dropping GC versions of their high-quality sports games. Why? It's a small market with 800 lb gorilla dominating (EA). Plus the GC has no online strategy.
As a GC owner, I'm happy that we're not getting the crap, but we're also not getting the GTAs, the Virtua Fighters, the Winning Elevens.
I picked up a Gamecube last winter after looking at the game market.
Why a Gamecube? I don't buy a lot of games: maybe 1 per month. So, I'm only going to pick up 10-20 games before the console's obsolete. The question, then, was "What are the best few games, period, for each console?"
I'm not a huge sports game fan, I don't play FPSs on a console (I use my PC for that), and I like to play console games with friends. I don't usually bother with sequels: I have Soul Calibur for the Dreamcast, and I probably won't bother with Soul Calibur 2.
Playstation 2: GTA sequel, Tony sequel, Metal Gear sequel. Damned good games, but not too compelling if you own a PSOne. Also, only two controllers. Roughly a zillion crap games that I'd never buy, except by mistake.
Xbox: Halo, and, uh, Halo. Oh, wait. Steel Battalion (for what? $200?) and Buffy. Hardly any unique content. Plus, the damned thing is huge and Microsoft is evil.
Gamecube: Pikmin, Starfox, Zelda, Monkeyball, Super Smash Bros., Mario Sunshine, Metroid. All of these are really good games. Really good new games only come out every month or so, but that's perfect for my buying rate. I just picked up F Zero GX and have been wearing my thumbs raw with it.
Basically, quantity doesn't matter to me. I'm only going to buy a few games, so I want them to be good ones. The Gamecube wins that contest for me.
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