Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Why Game Exclusivity Deals Are Feeding the Hate

Posted by Soulskill on from the cut-it-out-jerks dept.

Parz writes "The recent announcement that the upcoming Ghostbusters game will be a timed PlayStation exclusive in the PAL territories — revealed a mere month before release — has set a nasty precedent which could have long-term repercussions for the industry. This Gameplayer article explores how this generation of gaming has spiraled into a tit-for-tat war on third-party exclusivity deals instigated by Sony and Microsoft, and the effect it is having on the psychology of the consumers. The Ghostbusters developers aren't pleased by Sony's deal, and the Guardian questions whether the game will be big enough to really affect console sales."

40 of 205 comments (clear)

  1. Stupid article by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So when Sony does it, its bad; but when Microsoft does it, its ok?

    Seems like the author is just pissed that he has to wait for the game.

    Now you know how PS3 owners felt about Bioshock, Fallout 3 DLC, etc.

    1. Re:Stupid article by Steauengeglase · · Score: 2, Insightful

      BioShock had Xbox DLC? If I recall it was the PS3 that got the bonus levels, all 350 owners got was horse armor and post-it notes -er bonus plasmids and achievements.

    2. Re:Stupid article by im_thatoneguy · · Score: 4, Informative

      It was an Xbox360 exclusive for a year. I think that's what he's referring to. Not the DLC.

      Waiting a year but getting a couple of extra levels? I would take the earlier launch date.

    3. Re:Stupid article by LordVader717 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      This is very different. Bioshock for example was originally developed as a 360 game, which was later ported to the PS3, by a different developer. This is a situation where the games are finished, one month before release, and Sony decides they want to screw european gamers.
      And it's the regional nature too. If Sony had managed to secure a worldwide deal, I might have more understanding. But selectively screwing european gamers is just very poor.

      I never heard anyone praising cash-buyout exclusivity, apart from Sony fans defending screwy deals like this one.

    4. Re:Stupid article by KDR_11k · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I think he meant the game asa whole getting a big delay for the PS3 and the port being crap AFAIK. Dunno why you'd buy that for a console anyway, the PC version is a LOT cheaper...

      --
      Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
    5. Re:Stupid article by koinu · · Score: 2, Insightful

      No, this is generally NOT OK.

      I am really angry at many game companies. They make really cool games, but don't care to make them available everywhere.

      Game consoles have regional restrictions. The "EU PAL region", I am living in, gets cool games about 11 months after the US/NTSC region. And now I am still waiting for my game that was release in September last year in US. It won't come anymore, the company (well known) told me. Instead they released a boring childish one here as an alternative that the US region does not know.

      Great mess! I am watching videos of this game on youtube (where they are getting blocked, because "licensed content" and stupid shit like youtube is today, but that's another story) and I am seeing people playing it. I am jealous.

      I have always bought Nintendo consoles. They have removed regional restrictions temporarily. And now they are back. I say "fuck you" to Nintendo! You won't get any more cent from me. Go to hell! Really.

      And all of you, stupid game publishers, THINK ABOUT what you do! You hate gamers and buyers of consoles? Then live with it that you don't get any profit and everyone begins to copy and mod their consoles to get the content running they like.

      Money is there. Games are not there! Now what? I have still about 4 japanese games I would like to have. And? I will never get them to run. Fuck you, really!

    6. Re:Stupid article by Bert64 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Well, then it means that those of us in europe will just have to import american copies of the game in order to play it... I travel on business quite a lot so that really isn't an issue for me.
      But in order to play copies we bought legitimately in the US, we have to have a modchip...
      But since we have a modchip anyway, it just becomes more convenient to download the us version rather than buy it.

      --
      http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
    7. Re:Stupid article by Narpak · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Now you know how PS3 owners felt about Bioshock, Fallout 3 DLC, etc.

      Or in regards to Fallout 3; those of us who bought the game via Steam and then wanted to buy the DLC as it arrived.

      For those that don't know Microsoft has retained exclusive distribution rights for Fallout DLC; which means that there are no DLC for PS3 what so ever (from what I have read and heard) and if want to buy the DLC for the PC version you have to do it through Games For Windows Live. Something that means (if you bought it the game through Steam) that you have to install the GFWL client stuff and mess around with that.

      My personal experience was that first the "Live" button inside the Fallout menus would send me to the xBox Marketplace and not give me ANY information on how to go to the PC Marketplace; eventually I start the client through Windows and get the correct list of software; I search through and find the Fallout DLC; but when I press the "buy Microsoft Points" button (yeah you can't pay with money directly for reasons that appear to be entirely motivated by the desire to suck more out of their customers) it sends me to my Hotmail inbox in another browser window (happend over and over). So you know what? I decide that the DLC is TOO much trouble. I wanted to play through Fallout 3 again with the DLC, but it just turns out of be more aggravation than it is worth; and because I now have a faulty GFWL program installed my Fallout 3 version now refuses to Save games until the GFWL servers start working properly and authenticates my KEY (and remember this is my legal version running through Steam that GFWL decided to "lock").

      In short, hurray for greed motivated distribution that directly hinders or counter a potential customers desire to enjoy a product.

      --
      The Long Now Foundation
    8. Re:Stupid article by digitig · · Score: 2, Informative

      "Mr Justice Laddie ruled that Ball had violated the European Union Copyright Directive, which came into UK law in 2003. He further found that the sale, advertising, use, or possession of such mods chips for commercial purposes was also illegal." Since Ball was done for selling them I'm not sure what the "also" is doing in that list, but although IANAL it looks to me as if it's not illegal to chip your console or to have a chipped console, you just have to get the stuff to do it from (or get it done) outside the UK.

      --
      Quidnam Latine loqui modo coepi?
    9. Re:Stupid article by bangzilla · · Score: 2, Insightful

      "That's racial discrimination and should be illegal..."

      - Since Europe and the US have citizens from every race on the planet (and perhaps a few off-planet...) I don't know how you can say that. Perhaps you mean "geographical discrimination"?

      - "Should be illegal" - why? As an owner, you may decide how your work or art is displayed, sold, licensed etc. Why must you be forced to distribute it in a certain geographic region (especially when you have to cover the cost of manufacturing, distribution, merchandising etc)? Would get us rapidly to the point where nothing would be created as the cost of being forced to distribute it (as it would be "illegal" not to do so...) in every territory that wanted it would be prohibitively expensive.

      --
      Rich people are eccentric. Poor people are strange. Me, I'd be happy with odd.
    10. Re:Stupid article by ucblockhead · · Score: 2

      Gee, I wonder why PC game sales are dropping.

      --
      The cake is a pie
    11. Re:Stupid article by powerlord · · Score: 2, Interesting

      This should greatly minimize the technical justification for region coding.

      It might also be why PS3 games are not region coded.

      In fact, there are already threads discussing importing the US version of FFXIII to the UK when its released, instead of waiting the inevitable 6-12 months for Square to finish all the language localizations for the Europe release.

      --
      This space for rent. All reasonable inquiries will be entertained at proprietors discretion.
  2. The whole deal is fanboy fodder by nschubach · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't.

    I can't count the number of people complaining about lost exclusives and lack of obtaining them... now that they are stepping up, the stories come out on how it's bad...

    So you have a choice. Piss of fanboys by not getting exclusives or piss off fanboys for getting them and obtaining sales.

    I'm not a fan of exclusiveness in itself. It limits consumer choice. Choice in the best hardware to run their favorite games in this case. I personally think there's only one company right now that can win that war, and it's not Sony.

    --
    Every time I start to have faith in humanity, I ruin it by driving to work between 7 and 8 am.
    1. Re:The whole deal is fanboy fodder by Dogtanian · · Score: 2, Informative

      I can't count the number of people complaining about lost exclusives and lack of obtaining them

      Can't count them but I'd estimate their number to be less than 5% of people who are annoyed by exclusives. You have to be REALLY into the pointless console wars to crow that people like you who bought console A get to play a game before people who bought console B. Most gamers actually aren't.

      Exactly; fanboys always overestimate their own importance and how much of the market they make up. Or they think they "deserve" something for this downright sad and uni-directional loyalty to some corporate entity and a piece of hardware.

      Some people will latch onto anything for the tiniest sense of tribalism, but that doesn't make it any less pitiful.

      And if someone whines because their own pathetic sense of self-worth by proxy (not that it's about the console really anyway- that's just a means to an end) needs artificially boosting by such means, then fuck 'em.

      --
      "Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
  3. Microsoft Invented It by ewhac · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Didn't Microsoft pull a morally-equivalent stunt when they bought Bungie/Halo all those years ago?

    Schwab

    --
    Editor, A1-AAA AmeriCaptions
    1. Re:Microsoft Invented It by Tom9729 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Halo was going to be a Mac game until Microsoft bought Bungie. Then it was an Xbox exclusive for awhile and was later released on both PC and Mac.

    2. Re:Microsoft Invented It by KDR_11k · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Didn't Nintendo invent it with the NES publishing contract requiring that the game is NES-exclusive? Ironically they seem to do the least to bribe third parties into Wii exclusivity now though the different hardware still leads to plenty of exclusives.

      --
      Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
    3. Re:Microsoft Invented It by fyrewulff · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Halo also wasn't anywhere near being done the last time they showed it as a PC game in 2000, that demo was entirely scripted. Once the studio was bought by MS, the game actually got a deadline.

      --
      "We need to get over this notion, that, for Apple to win... Microsoft must lose." - Steve Jobs, 1997
    4. Re:Microsoft Invented It by thetoadwarrior · · Score: 2, Informative

      I had a C64 too but I'd consider that more of a computer than a console just like the MSX which did share titles between itself and the NES. The other basically came about because Nintendo got people buying games consoles again.

      Given Nintendo's 2 year lead on the master system in Japan and it's year lead on the 7800 and the Master system meant they had more than enough time with no real competition establish the clear lead and in turn use it to do things like bully retailers.

      Which gets back to my original point in that Nintendo didn't really have to buy exclusive games because they gained control through other means making it stupid for developers not to work on the NES.

    5. Re:Microsoft Invented It by twidarkling · · Score: 2

      How's this trolling? It's a valid complaint. Heck, Penny Arcade made that comment a bunch of times both in news posts and comic form. Hell, I couldn't play that game for all the same-same hallways.

      --
      Canada: The US's more awesome sibling.
  4. Re:While Sony & MS battle... by ShadesFox · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Which console does Apple sell again?

    iPhone. More a hand held really...

  5. Re:While Sony & MS battle... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Called the iPhone/Touch console. Check out Touch Arcade for more info.

  6. Incredible, you don't say... by greentshirt · · Score: 5, Informative

    How is this news? Consoles were built on exclusive content, all gamers know that. You can't play Sonic on SNES, you can't play Mario on Sega Genesis, etc.

    1. Re:Incredible, you don't say... by jonwil · · Score: 4, Informative

      The films and the overall "Ghostbusters" IP are in fact owned by Sony and Columbia Tristar. (a division of Sony)

  7. Re:While Sony & MS battle... by wampus · · Score: 2, Interesting

    You are seriously comparing a AAA console title to tower defense and labyrinth?

  8. Re:While Sony & MS battle... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 3, Funny

    I played Ghostbuster on the Commodore 64 when it first came out. No way in heck will that ever be AAA title. :P

  9. Expectations by Translation+Error · · Score: 5, Insightful

    While most people generally find exclusives a bit annoying but acceptable, this particular case is different. This isn't Nintendo announcing the next Mario game--only on the Wii. This is a game that was already announced as being multiplatform and even had a release date, but suddenly it's become a timed exclusive for one system. The versions for the other systems will all be ready, but Sony's holding them back. Worse yet, this news is coming with almost no advance warning.

    A big, shiny prize was dangled in front of people and it's been snatched away at the last second. Of course people are going to be angry.

    --
    When someone says, "Any fool can see ..." they're usually exactly right.
    1. Re:Expectations by rxan · · Score: 2, Informative

      What about Halo? I believe it was originally a Mac only title, then Microsoft bought it. We could say that Microsoft wouldn't be where they are today without exclusivity deals.

    2. Re:Expectations by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Give examples, or I'll assume you're full of shit. When has a multiplatform game turned timed exclusive a month before release?

      I have never seen anything like it in my entire life, so give me a list of the "lots of times". Really, go on.

  10. This will probably never change by bhunachchicken · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It could well be argued that the PS1 was the run-away success that it was because of exclusive Final Fantasy and Metal Gear Solid franchises. For the PS2, it was much the same, except that it had then gained Grand Theft Auto (yes, I know it came to the PC and 360 later, but by then it really was a one horse race).

    There were times when I looked at the games on the 360 and Wii, that weren't coming to the PS3, and wondered if I would be better off buying one of them instead of waiting for the PS3 to come down in price. It wasn't long though before Oblivion, Lost Planet, and Bioshock did actually come to the PS3, with the addition of features that trumped the original release.

    Rather ironically, I felt that only one of them was actually worth the wait, in the end...

    --
    THE HONOUR OF THE KNIGHTS - CC Licensed Sci-Fi Novel
    1. Re:This will probably never change by walshy007 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It could well be argued that the PS1 was the run-away success that it was because of exclusive Final Fantasy and Metal Gear Solid franchises. For the PS2, it was much the same, except that it had then gained Grand Theft Auto (yes, I know it came to the PC and 360 later, but by then it really was a one horse race).

      PS1 succeeded because of rampant piracy, then network effects. every man and his dog mod chipped his ps1, and bought a few legit games and downloaded a lot. Also legitimate game prices, ps1 games were a lot cheaper being on cds than their cartridge equivalent.

  11. Re:While Sony & MS battle... by julesh · · Score: 4, Funny

    I played Ghostbuster on the Commodore 64 when it first came out. No way in heck will that ever be AAA title. :P

    Also suspect there's no way in hell this new version will be as good.

  12. Same with Hulu by Lord+Lode · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Who outside U.S. cannot Hate Hulu for saying "this movie can't be played in your region".

  13. Gargoyles?? by get+quad · · Score: 2, Funny

    I am the Gateskeeper, are you the Wiimaster?

    --
    "To err is human, to mod Funny divine."
  14. It will still be available to all... by asdf7890 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I can see why the developers are pissed off at this one.

    People who wanted it on the PC platform in the EU will have two choices now: wait until Sony dictates they can join the party or get a crafty copy from someone state-side over them there h'interwebs.

    The PAL/NTSC thing makes bugger all differece to people playing game on a PC so unless there were some local specific changes planned for the game (translations being the only likely one and that isn't a major draw as most of Europe, for instance, can speak English as well as many "natural" English speakers I could mention - at least well enough to enjoy a game in the language).

    Even those (the majority I would guess) that do wait may be lost sales. By the time it does come out for the PC their excitement may have diminished either because the game picked up so-so reviews or simply because the next big thing is just around the corner and they are thinking about that instead. There are also people like me - I now won't be buying unless I find a way of not buying it through a route that aids Sony (which means getting a 2nd hand copy later or finding one from another distribution territory without paying extra through delivery/duty fees). Of course Sony will blame these lost sales on piracy, not on the fuckwittery that is last-minute third-party exclusives...

    None of this is anything Sony will give a shit about. OK so as the distributor they will lose some money from the lost sales too, not just the developers and publishers, but that will be less important to them than the marketing potential of having an exclusive title for a time.

    A quick suggestion for those in affected areas: write a quick letter to you local daily papers about how a foreign company is being allowed to stop people playing a game unless it is on their platform. Over here the Mail and the Sun love this sort of shit. Let us see if we can't get some bad press for Sony out of this if nothing else. Drop a note to your local rabidly right-wing MPs (including, but not limited to ranty idiots like the BNP) too - people bother MPs for far more stupid things than this (and to be frank the right-wing nut-jobs aren't doing anything useful with their time otherwise anyway) and maybe any resulting noise will encourage the competition commission to peruse the situation (OK, the CC do have better things to be doing with their time so maybe not).

  15. Hate Hulu ? Why ? by aepervius · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Don't hate hulu for having a business model and offering it, hate those you want to access the cvontent from and don't consider you (otuside the US) to be a valid target market.

    --
    C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
    visit randi.org
    1. Re:Hate Hulu ? Why ? by Hatta · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Hulu is owned by NBC, News Corp, and Disney. The same people who own and control Hulu are the people who own and control the content. It's totally fair to hate on Hulu for arbitrary region restrictions.

      --
      Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
  16. Re:While Sony & MS battle... by Bert64 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Of those sales of the 360, how many were due to people buying a replacement unit for one that failed?
    I know quite a few people who have done that...

    --
    http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
  17. No moron by Snaller · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Its bad when anybody does it (especially Microsoft)

    --
    If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
  18. Old hat. by seventhevening · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It's not anything new, although it might be more wide spread now. Last generation, Microsoft paid quite a lot of money to make Shenmue 2 an X-box exclusive, which really shafted fans of the game. In both Europe and Japan, Shenmue was released for dreamcast and players could transfer save files over into the new title. In the US, you would have needed to buy a new console to continue the multi-part game, and even then sacrifice the ability to continue with the same materials you left off with.