Soul Caliber III PS2 Only?

Courtesy of Joystiq, the inkling of an exclusivity deal for the next iteration of the Soul Caliber franchise. Sony and Namco may be in talks to ensure that Soul Caliber III only appears on the PS2. Still up in the air, of course, so take it with a grain of salt. From the article: "...nowadays when developers label a game as exclusive, the footnotes usually read 'for about the next six months or so.' There's a chance that Namco may just be making Xbox, Gamecube, DS, and perhaps even PSP owners wait until 2006 for their daily recommended amount of fighting game goodness."

Comments

Zonk and/or Zork Is My Sister

[King Fuckstain]

"from the big-mistake dept."

Why exactly would this be a big mistake? I mean - I would assume that Namco would get a nice check for the exclusivity and it is not as though the game won't have a market; there have been more than a few PS2s sold, after all. So where's the mistake?

Re:Zonk and/or Zork Is My Sister

[Winckle]

Most of the time that logic is correct, however the GCN version of SC2 outsold the other versions. (admittedly with help from Link, but the point stands)

Can't you guys at least get the name right?

[hibiki_r]

The first game of the series was Soul Edge/Soul Blade, that came out in the Arcades and was ported to Playstation. Then came Soul Calibur, as in Excalibur, for the Dreamcast. Soul Calibur 2 came out for GCN, PS2 and XBOX. None of the games is called Soul CalibEr.

caliber:
1. Abbr. cal.
1. The diameter of the inside of a round cylinder, such as a tube.
2. The diameter of the bore of a firearm, usually shown in hundredths or thousandths of an inch and expressed in writing or print in terms of a decimal fraction:.45 caliber.
3. The diameter of a large projectile, such as an artillery shell, measured in millimeters or in inches.

Do not accept every suggestion your spellchecker makes. Sometimes it is wrong.

Rediculous

[theREALMcCoy]

This is rediculous. The best selling version of Soul Calibur II was the gamecube version. Why set up exclusivity with a console that has a mediocre fighting game record?

Copies sold of SCII...

[BTWR]

Soul Calibur 2(GC): 766,621
Soul Calibur 2(PS2): 708,965
Soul Calibur 2(Xbox): 509,506

Irving Fisher Was My Brother-In-Law

[King Fuckstain]

"Often exclusivity deals don't involve getting paid, but getting reduced liscensing fees. So if it only costs namco 50% of the liscensing fees to sony"

Getting reduced rates is the same thing as getting paid.

"Sometimes yes, sometimes no."

And that was primarily my point. There are arguments on both side of the issue as to why this may be good or bad for Namco - which is why I don't understand why Zonk would say that this is clearly a "big mistake."

PS2 "Exclusive"

[FriedTurkey]

If I was a game publisher, I would take advantage of the fact the Xbox2 is coming out this year and sign an exclusive with Sony. The PS3 is coming out much later so you have a greater lifespan than the Xbox. Even if they did it for the XBox2 they would still lose because there isn't a large install base for the Xbox2 at launch. With the "exclusive" deal they can bring it out for the Xbox2 in 2006 and make even more money.

Re:PS2 "Exclusive"

[100lbHand]

But good games sell consoles too. Soul Calibur was reason enough for me to buy a Dreamcast on the first day.

PS2 had the most trouble with SC2

[HalfFlat]

If Namco are hoping to push the eye-candy any further than they did with SC2, they're going to have a very hard time limiting themselves to the PS2.

Of the three console versions of Soul Calibur 2, it is worth noting that only the PS2 version has very noticable slow downs on some stages when 'big effect' moves are performed. Try playing with, or against, an Ivy on an animated stage and revel in the frustration of missed frames and distorted timing.

So I really do hope that if it is an exclusive release, it is indeed only for six months or so.

Re:PS2 had the most trouble with SC2

[xenocide2]

Well, its entirely understandable if the ps2 version of soul calibur 2 underperformed because the development team was spreading their efforts across three platforms. Granted, the ps2 is significantly challenged comparitively, but I don't think its entirely beyond their means. Making the game ps2 specific should allow for a few design comprimises that speed up the game on the ps2. I have to wonder if SC3 will be much more than the SC2 that should have been...

Because....

[Vermifax]

"which is why I don't understand why Zonk would say that this is clearly a "big mistake.""

Because he owns an xbox/gc?

Re:Right.

[radicalskeptic]

2-D, arcade-stype fighters aren't dead by a long shot. Most of the community has just gone underground. Instead of playing in arcades, they buy arcade sticks and play on their consoles. But there are still places for fans of 2d fighters, and dozens or hundreds of tournaments every year.