Rise of the Tomb Raider timed Xbox exclusive for Holiday 2015 (No PS/PC, SE publish)

The only thing that upsets me with this announcement is some companies seem to promote misinformation and subterfuge instead of a clear message.

That's why MS is in the hole they're in now because they were acting like their customers were idiots. It seemed very strange but refreshing that Sony came out and said this is what it is. These are the exclusives, these are timed. MS refusal to do so will bring feelings of mistrust from consumers. When you're behind the last thing you want to do it give off vibes of a charlatan.

Other than that MS had to do something. We all know they don't have many 1st party studios and they need exclusives to sell their console to those who are using the ps4 as their multi-plat machine. TR2 ( I refuse to call it rise of the tomb raider) was a good buy for them. If you make people mad they have to buy your console, It worked.
 
Steel said:
I always got the impression that Tomb Raider hasn't been more than modestly popular in years. Surprised this thread is over a hundred pages over it being timed exclusive. Oh well.

On the topic: Not really in love with timed exclusivity, but in this case, I couldn't care less. Never been a fan of Tomb Raider myself, at any point in time. Square probably got money-hatted, and they could really use the money.
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Which is why I can't quite get my head around why MS would fund this as an exclusive, unless it's just a timed exclusive. I really don't think of TR as a killer app or system seller like it was back on the PS1, even though the last game was decent enough.
 
Well, depending on how good it is, maybe by next holiday the XBone will be cheap by then.

Also no PC is baffling.

It's long wait so I'm not too concerned. The Definitive Edition and TR was my favorite last gen game, however, I'm skeptical of CD doing another TR game that could surpass the first.

That's why this news isn't that bad for me as a fan who doesn't have a XBone.

It's funny because even though I think TR is better than the Uncharted series last gen, I'm more excited about Uncharted 4!
 
ksharp said:
The generation has just started. You could have done the same analysis for 360-PS3 (especially in the USA) at the beginning/middle of the previous generation, and that would have been proven wrong by the end of it.

Issue is you can't really say that there "is no chance" without a shadow of a doubt, as that's statistically wrong. You will argue it's semantics, but truth is that anything can happen.
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There is no chance. Sony has price parity this gen, unlike last gen when it was a full $200 over the retail price of the 360. It couldn't match the 360 price and allowed MS to strangle the NPD market by releasing the PS3 a full year after the 360 hit the market. Now add MS destructive message out the gate with the One and what u get is what u see now. There is no chance. I don't understand the optimism by some of you. The One won't be a failure by any means, but Sony will dominate the market share this gen.
 
If it is a timed exclusive, which judging by the ambiguity it probably is. SE are onto a winner no? I mean they would have had to compete with Uncharted. This way they maximise Xbox One Sales and they can still collect the PS4 sales along the line
 
Huggers said:
If it is a timed exclusive, which judging by the ambiguity it probably is. SE are onto a winner no? I mean they would have had to compete with Uncharted. This way they maximise Xbox One Sales and they can still collect the PS4 sales along the line
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I don't know. On PC there certainly isn't an overflow on Uncharted-like games.
 
Stunning. Is this another Titan Fall or Bayonetta 2 situation where the project would have been shelved if one of the Big 3 didn't moneyhat it? Is Square Enix in that much trouble financially? I'm OK with exclusivity (timed or otherwise) if that's the case.

If not, then it would be sickening if MS just gave SE millions to turn a multiplatform title into an exclusive. If that's the case, it would suggest that they can't compete with their underpowered box and have decided to take away content from the competition, rather than provide compelling content of their own. AKA the EA Madden strategy.

We'll have to see. If it's the former, then good job MS for saving this game, even if I can't play it. If it's the latter, then I would suggest a boycott for this title.
 
John Harker said:
In what world is 700k total units difference (coupled with a higher attach rate for software, 3.2 vs 2.7) getting 'trounced'?

I can tell there's a lot of emotions being tossed around in this thread, but let's at least try to keep reality in mind
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I wouldn't say "trounced", but then again if you take context a little bit more into account (such as how long it took to get that 700k difference, and what % of LTD sales it represents; little to no impact of significant releases/price cuts on the XB1 side; steady trend of gap increasing), it doesn't look good at all in the US for MS.
 
Hoho for breakfast said:
Sure it's a business decision. I'd just add a more descriptive "stupid" in front of it.

And I'm sure this thread would be much smaller if it were coming to PS4 instead because only about half as many people would have been mad about it.
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Why? They will highly likely make much more money out of the game that way (on a present-value adjusted basis). As a shareholder, that's all I would care about.
 
Hoho for breakfast said:
Sure it's a business decision. I'd just add a more descriptive "stupid" in front of it.

And I'm sure this thread would be much smaller if it were coming to PS4 instead because only about half as many people would have been mad about it.
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Its an entiretly rational bussines decision. They want the game to have as much exposure as posible and the MS hype machine will do the same they did with Ryse, Titanfall and Sunset Overdrive. Even more, SE will have a direct competitor to Uncharted in the competitor console with full MS marketing support, even more, the Uncharted marketing will help them to give even more exposure to the game. At the same time, they avoid competing with Uncharted during holiday 2015. The PS4 users won't dissaperar, they most likely will be waiting for the game to be released on the console.
 
Amir0x said:
They had issues. They do not have anything LIKE the issues the new Tomb Raider has. Read my review if you're curious. New Tomb Raider destroyed literally every element that ever made the series good and original and replaced it with copy-paste checklist game design, cinematic nonsense and hordes of shitty shooter combat which any fan of the OG series will tell you was never the goddamn point. We used to make it a point to mock the combat sequences because they were not only shitty, but they took away from what people actually wanted to play in the series - exploration, hard platforming and puzzles, and trap/obstacle navigation.

I mean you say the puzzles in TR2013 were 'good', but they were actually an abominable slap in the face to any fan of the original series. Not even a single one of the handful of puzzles in TR2013 can even touch the type of puzzles that used to be in the series, sprawling multiroom epics that required skill, speed and lateral thinking the likes of which makes TR2013 look like the designed-by-committee game it is. They replaced a game that was famous for the amount of times players would miss a hard jump and fall to their death with platforming that might as well play itself for how forgiving it was. Just crap all around.
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Everyone I know who got the game loved it. Different times, different game. I've personally finished it twice (once on PC, once on Xbox One) and it is a great game. Less puzzle oriented for sure, more action oriented, but then again if you want your game to succeed in this day and age you have to adapt, and that's what CD did. I doubt it would have sold well using the old formula. And there is life left in Tomb Raider, it is not a dead franchise. Much can be done with the character and it is a very well known franchise. I mean, how many video game characters got their own movie?

This is a triple A title, and selling 5 million copies to break even proves it must have cost them quite a lot. With Microsoft footing some of the bill we might see the developer taking more risks with the franchise. Or maybe we'll just get another shooter!
 
Foffy said:
Well, the console versions do have downgrades. Every version has. In fact, many would argue the linearity of the last Hitman game was because of it also being planned for consoles. You were the one arguing for wanting a version that performed better on the stronger platform. You're the one who opened that box, because there is one platform that would perform better than the PS4 with the game, the one just so happens is the only one to have all 5 main Hitman games.

Maybe it came off as if I was trumpeting a platform like a flag which I'm not, but you were the one trumpeting power and you didn't want a "weaker" experience. Nothing I said is wrong in that context. You want to play the game on a stronger platform? PS4 is not your final answer with Hitman 6.
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You're trying too hard. I play on consoles. I will be getting an Xbox One for the Master Chief Collection. I won't buy third party games on it for the universal issue of weaker hardware.

PC is a variable experience and not one I'm interested in. I was talking consoles where the PS4 option is stronger. Like many millions out there, PC is not an option for me and I don't intend to make it one. I'm not even sure how you thought I was involving PC in the comparison. Wouldn't common sense tell you that if I wanted PC settings I wouldn't be debating which version is prefer?
 
markedbravado said:
There is no chance. Sony has price parity this gen, unlike last gen when it was a full $200 over the retail price of the 360. It couldn't match the 360 price and allowed MS to strangle the NPD market by releasing the PS3 a full year after the 360 hit the market. Now add MS destructive message out the gate with the One and what u get is what u see now. There is no chance. I don't understand the optimism by some of you. The One won't be a failure by any means, but Sony will dominate the market share this gen.
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I am not optimistic at all. Sony has convinced me they have the better option two. However, unlike most here, I would welcome more competitiveness from Microsoft as it's all about keeping Sony on its toes, which it has done wonderfully last gen.

If Sony runs away with it, you better be damn sure that it's Microsoft's last console (Nadella will not mess around) and the industry as a whole will be even more primed for contraction (which will mean less games, less developers, more job losses, etc.).
 
Guess I'm never playing the sequel then. I haven't even played the original and now I don't even know if I want to bother if it's the only one I'll be able to play. I'm sure as hell not buying an Xbone just for this, nor would I buy a PS4 for it. My only hope was PC/Mac release. This is a stupid deal on SquEnix's part.
 
I could not be more angry right now. I was already angry about completely unrelated personal things but finding out about this has just added fuel to the fire. Sorry for not looking at every post but this is a huge thread.
So any confirmation on this being a timed exclusive or is that just a cruel rumour?

How could SE agree to this? PS4 is wrecking Xbox One in sales. My mind is just blown here. How much money could MS have offered them, Christ.
 
evildede said:
Everyone I know who got the game loved it. Different times, different game. I've personally finished it twice (once on PC, once on Xbox One) and it is a great game. Less puzzle oriented for sure, more action oriented, but then again if you want your game to succeed in this day and age you have to adapt, and that's what CD did. I doubt it would have sold well using the old formula. And there is life left in Tomb Raider, it is not a dead franchise. Much can be done with the character and it is a very well known franchise. I mean, how many video game characters got their own movie?

This is a triple A title, and selling 5 million copies to break even proves it must have cost them quite a lot. With Microsoft footing some of the bill we might see the developer taking more risks with the franchise. Or maybe we'll just get another shooter!
Click to expand...

To me that's really just an excuse for the complete laziness of game design. There's so many concepts I could think of and that they could have made that would have actually brought the original Tomb Raider spirit into the modern gen, and would have sold plenty. Instead they went the checklist game design route, sucked all originality from its veins, and made the most uninteresting product they possibly could have. There's a billion games like Tomb Raider; there are no games left in the entire industry like OG TR.

Also, I know plenty of people irl who hated it. That's why anecdotal reports don't matter.

Anyway, for all I know Rise of the Tomb Raider will bring the franchise back on course and make it worth something again. But until I see that happen, I will remain happy at this latest course of events as it is the closest chance I have at seeing the franchise deconstructed.
 
Alf-Life said:
I'd imagine it's the publishers though, not the devs.
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Yeah, that's what I meant.

Alf-Life said:
Saying 'being a jerk is ok' I find problematic, sure it's all business but the older I get the less I subscribe to the 'strongest survive' theory for business and the more I'd like to see ethics come into play; I'll refer you to the Capitalism youtube link I posted a couple of pages back from Louis CK where he talks about Betamax vs VHS, Tesla vs Edison, (ironically) Microsoft vs Apple: "one guy makes a beautiful thing, and the second guy makes a shitty product but pays people off, bribes people, until consumers have no choice but to buy the inferior product."
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This is getting kinda off-topic, but wasn't it the simple boon of lower price, extended playback time
and porn
which cemented VHS as the winner, despite inferior picture quality?

I agree about ethics in business, certainly, but I don't think what S-E are doing is at all unethical or jerk-like, even though many obviously do, since the only people they're screwing over are people who refuse to buy a console to play one game, for whatever reason that may be. It's an additional level of expense you may have to incur at some point in the future if you wish to play the game, but no big bad computer corporation or Lightning-worshipping boogeyman has 'stolen' the game from anyone. And hey, other Bone games might be cool too.
 
Gestault said:
Wouldn't this sentence mean that the sales numbers and review scores are the best indications of how people responded to it?
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No, it means we need to leave all that behind and just share our own personal opinions on what we liked and did not like about games. Making arguments by popularity is just poor.
 
Steve Youngblood said:
Honestly, "pissed off" strikes me as a bit excessive. I'd stop at "being bummed" as being a response I can empathize with. Honestly, if it were up to me, every game could come out on every platform possible and I'd be happy. But when large corporations are competing directly against each other for a share of the same pie, I've been in this hobby long enough to understand that investments for exclusivity come with the territory. And I'm not saying that everyone else can't draw their own lines on what is and isn't acceptable, but I personally don't see it as a very fruitful exercise to try and delineate between which partnerships were on the up-and-up and which are sleazeball moves made by greedy executives in smoke-filled board rooms wherein I clearly am referring to the kind of smoke that can only come from expensive cigars lit with one hundred dollar bills.
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Would you be upset if the largest grocery store chain in your town paid the dairy companies to keep milk, cheese, and butter out of every other grocery store? Just business right, oh wait that would be illegal.
 
Wow, 108 pages! Tomb Raider isn't even a worthwhile franchise at this point, I can't imagine the chaos when a relevant game is announced as an exclusive (timed) for one system or another.
 
BeforeU said:
Why are we so hypocrite about this stuff.
Okay this isn't a standard or wise thing to do. But Sony and Microsoft both have been doing this for years. Now some may argue wait, Sony doesn't moneyhatt for full exclusivity. But they do for exclusive content. We have been seeing this for years, they get extra 1hr playtime for AC, WatchDog, exclusive content for Destiny.

What I am trying to say is, for people who think this is morally wrong and shit. And don't want to support. Then stop buying all those games and not just Tomb Raider. You might think I am comparing apple to oranges but if you see the bigger picture I really am not. If Sony had that much cash, they would be doing the same practice. So its not cool to think well 1hr extra content and some timed exclusive content is great but the entire game is not.

So either you are okay with the whole thing, in which case, that fine. Or you don't support this kind of crap at all. That's also fine, but then stop buying COD, AC, Destiny, etc. and games like that which has exclusive features for each console. And you know if you do that, then you have my respect. But enough with the double standard people.
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It's shit when anyone does it.
 
I can imagine the advertising slogan used by MS next year "Lara Croft heads into Uncharted territory this summer".
 
This.. might be the tipping point for me to get a One. I picked the new one up on a summer sale and just had an absolute blast with it. Double dipped for the PS4 version. I guess that's kind of the dilemma though... do I wait for the (likely superior) PS4 version or just pull the trigger for One?
 
carlsojo said:
This.. might be the tipping point for me to get a One. I picked the new one up on a summer sale and just had an absolute blast with it. Double dipped for the PS4 version. I guess that's kind of the dilemma though... do I wait for the (likely superior) PS4 version or just pull the trigger for One?
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$60 vs $460.
 
Amir0x said:
Anyway, for all I know Rise of the Tomb Raider will bring the franchise back on course and make it worth something again. But until I see that happen, I will remain happy at this latest course of events as it is the closest chance I have at seeing the franchise deconstructed.
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I don't know why people act this way. It's the same way in the RE threads. If the franchise has moved on and found a new audience then it doesn't owe anyone having to fail and die in some sort of repentance.

Anyway, get fucking real, Square. All we do is wait on Square's ass to reveal, release, or even mention games it's working on and now we can't even get multi-platform franchises out of it without drama.
 
PR double-talk and timed exclusives not only make my brain hurt but also impact my work.

When I report or talk about something, I like to deal with things that are concrete. If it's exclusive to one console versus another, please just tell it to me straight.
 
ksharp said:
I am not optimistic at all. Sony has convinced me they have the better option two. However, unlike most here, I would welcome more competitiveness from Microsoft as it's all about keeping Sony on its toes, which it has done wonderfully last gen.

If Sony runs away with it, you better be damn sure that it's Microsoft's last console (Nadella will not mess around) and the industry as a whole will be even more primed for contraction (which will mean less games, less developers, more job losses, etc.).
Click to expand...

There won't be a next MS console if the shareholders have their way (albeit if the One continues to struggle this gen). And Sony will forever be humbled by what happened to them last gen. I wouldn't worry about them receding. Sony as a whole is in dire straits and can't afford to muck up their now profitable game division.

And I fully expect Nintendo to compete with their next offering if it is indeed a console/handheld hybrid. Im just not sure if MS has a place in the run if they continue to moneyhat for exclusivity, especially since said exclusivity seems to only amount as timed. This was greeted as a coup and celebration when they landed GTA IV DLC content last gen. Now it is met with disdain. The tone is completely different now. They have a really bad stigma about them and it is not going to go away easily, if at all. There best bet was to make exclusive 1st/2nd party content and win the mindshare of the hardcore audience. Doesn't look like that is in the works just yet, if ever.
 
Yet again MS would rather buy exclusivity than to beef up their internal studios. Assuming this deal cost MS at least $100 million, that's 3-5 potentially high profile first party games they decided not to fund.
 
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