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A couple of publisher comments on PS3 commitment

gofreak

GAF's Bob Woodward
Got my hands on the new Edge, the one with that cover . The lead article doesn't have a whole lot of new insight, but a few of the publisher comments in the "games" part of it were interesting, relating to relative publisher commitment to PS3 vs other consoles:

Consider the words of one publishing representative: “We have commitments to all formats and it’s still early days, but right now our publishing plan hasn’t changed much from last-gen. We’re committed about 50 per cent to PS3, 30 per cent to 360 and 20 per cent to Revolution. This could change – depending on what happens with Revolution, we could ramp up our Nintendo activity and there may be some opportunities in the online 360 space that could change our activities there – but our projections are built around PS3 as the next generation cornerstone."

Consider the biggest third-party outifit in existence, Electronic Arts, which has no less than 20 360 games in the works - but is happy to confirm that it's working on a larger number for PS3.

Consider another publishing representative’s take on it: “The truth is, most developers we’re working with who have console backgrounds want to be working on the PlayStation 3. We’ll be bringing more PC content on to the Xbox 360 and often releasing dual PC/360 versions at around the same time, but our dedicated console properties will be leading on the PlayStation 3 in almost every instance."

It's an interesting article, has a different take on the whole online thing than most I've read too (in short - they argue that most third party publishers aren't so keen on online gaming, or certain non-subsription generating types of online gaming.).
 
YES to PS3 as the main platform for multiplatform choices. Sony wins!

NO to butchering PC games with PC/360 development. PC gamers lose!

NO to no online in various 3rd party PS3 games. Sony loses!

NO to GameCube-levels of 3rd party games on Revolution. Nintendo loses!
 
"One Console to rule them all, One Console to find them, One Console to bring them all and in the darkness bind them"
 
Borys said:
NO to no online in various 3rd party PS3 games. Sony loses!

The latter part about online commentary in the article wasn't specific to PS3. They make the general argument that third party publishers are not as interested in most types of online gaming than MS, for example, might like. They'd all love them some WoW-type success, but most online games don't generate revenue like this. And in fact, online components can create "long-life" games like Halo2 that encourage gamers to close their wallets. They point to the most successful online games on either Xbox or PS2 - in both cases they were pushed by the platform-holder, not third parties. This is their argument, anyway, not mine necessarily. But it's a fairly convincing one.
 
Consider another publishing representative’s take on it: “The truth is, most developers we’re working with who have console backgrounds want to be working on the PlayStation 3. We’ll be bringing more PC content on to the Xbox 360 and often releasing dual PC/360 versions at around the same time, but our dedicated console properties will be leading on the PlayStation 3 in almost every instance."


Looks just like last(current) gen. The PS2 had more top-of-the-class developers on it than the competition, one thing that held back the original Xbox from showing it's true potenitial.
With the PlayStation 3, likely leading platform and strongest console, we will see the best developers reach heights no other console can reach. Even with the X360 being close to PS3s power(though, a cheesy line here: Don't underestimate the eight cores of CELL) I think we might see differences that actually surpass PS2-Xbox differences. Like Microsoft like to say, developers are very important. And given the right hardware, we will end up seeing insane results.
 
Wollan said:
Looks just like last(current) gen. The PS2 had more top-of-the-class developers on it than the competition, one thing that held back the original Xbox from showing it's true potenitial.

Yes this is a great thing. The first gen for 3D systems where the strongest platform is the main platform for the top devs. Looking forward to what can be done on the PS3.
 
Of course 3rd-party publishers aren't really keen on online, and simpily for a few reasons.

Reason #1

Its impossible to grow the online console userbase to a majority compared to the PC where its virtually easy.

Reason #2

The average consumer i.e. casual gamer i.e. the buying majority of the industry don't really care about online. The hardcore gamers care, but the casual don't.
 
Andrew2 said:
Of course 3rd-party publishers aren't really keen on online, and simpily for a few reasons.

Reason #1

Its impossible to grow the online console userbase to a majority compared to the PC where its virtually easy.

Reason #2

The average consumer i.e. casual gamer i.e. the buying majority of the industry don't really care about online. The hardcore gamers care, but the casual don't.


Lies mixed with gibberish.

Reason 1 is the gibberish, reason 2 is the lies.

Go on Xbox live and see how long it finds you to find a proper gamer, its ALL casuals. For something they dont care about they sure use it a lot.
 
Ghost said:
Go on Xbox live and see how long it finds you to find a proper gamer, its ALL casuals. For something they dont care about they sure use it a lot.

I believe he was referring to the 18 out of 20M XBox owners that don't care about online.

Or the 95 out of 100M PS2 owners that don't care either.

So he's right - the vast majority of gamers (not just casual) don't care about online unless you think 7M > 113M.
 
monkeymagic said:
I believe he was referring to the 18 out of 20M XBox owners that don't care about online.

Or the 95 out of 100M PS2 owners that don't care either.

So he's right - the vast majority of gamers (not just casual) don't care about online unless you think 7M > 113M.


What about the 50% of 360 owners on XBL? They dont care?

Online is going to be huge this generation, any developers saying "users dont care" are kidding themselves.
 
Ghost said:
What about the 50% of 360 owners on XBL? They dont care?

Let's see if that holds up as the userbase grows. That statistic could actually be used to support the argument that it's the "hardcore" that is disproportionately interested in online (since early adopters are most likely to be the hardcore).

Anyway, I don't think anyone is arguing that online won't grow. It may well become a big deal for most people going forward. That's not really the argument Edge was putting forward, though.
 
Console online does suck hard. On console standards are so low, any game with online gets praised for just having it nevermind the fact they are either inherently flawed or unplayable :lol

The way the hardware manufacturers have pursued online is just wrong.
 
Ghost said:
What about the 50% of 360 owners on XBL? They dont care?.

The X360 userbase is a paltry size so not even worth mentioning in this discussion.

In fact they're representative of the more hardcore gamers if anything - those who pre-ordered, camped outside stores, were ripped off on ebay and by retail bundles etc.

Hardly the behaviour of your average gamer/consumer.

Ghost said:
Online is going to be huge this generation.

No it won't.

Just like it wasn't last generation.
 
No, its the behaviour of people who can just plug in a network cable or wireless adapter and be online.
 
I think it’s a forgone conclusion that online penetration next-gen will at least double. With every major console and handheld supporting internet connectivity at launch the likelihood of consumers participating in online gaming is exponentially higher then last-gen. I believe that it won't be the massive numbers the industry hopes but there will enormous progress made within the next 5 years.
 
Ghost said:
What about the 50% of 360 owners on XBL? They dont care?

Online is going to be huge this generation, any developers saying "users dont care" are kidding themselves.

stupid. online isnt a big selling point afterall. look at gran turismo 4 for example - it ousold easily all pgr + forza games.
 
ram said:
stupid. online isnt a big selling point afterall. look at gran turismo 4 for example - it ousold easily all pgr + forza games.

Just like air condition alone doesn't sell cars indeed. But it's good to have it.
 
The scariest thing about the whole online arguement will be what happens if the DS has the largest percentage of online players...
 
Deg said:
Console online does suck hard. On console standards are so low, any game with online gets praised for just having it nevermind the fact they are either inherently flawed or unplayable :lol

The way the hardware manufacturers have pursued online is just wrong.



:lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol
 
Ghost said:
Hence stupid statistic.

Well it was, because Halo2 was not an "online FPS", and exclusively online one, against which you could compare to offline PS2 FPSes :p For most people, Halo2 was a resolutely offline experience.

In other words, online was not Halo2's major selling point.
 
Deg said:
Laugh all you want but online numbers really ought to be much higher by now.



regardless of how many people "deg" think should be online console gamers, console online gaming is nowhere as shit as you state it is. it definetly pales to pc online gaming but :lol :lol @how bad you say it is
 
rod said:
regardless of how many people "deg" think should be online console gamers, console online gaming is nowhere as shit as you state it is. it definetly pales to pc online gaming but :lol :lol @how bad you say it is

I know its a little hard for some of you to accept but console online gaming is still in its infancy. There is a long long way to go yet before it even begins to touch pc online gaming. Most online console gamers here dont seem to even know much about pc online gaming :lol The online console games so far are also a joke.
 
Borys said:
YES to PS3 as the main platform for multiplatform choices. Sony wins!


Funny you should mention that. The PS3 Medal of Honour: Airborne is the lead version of the game, although the same team is also working on the X360 rev.
 
Deg said:
I know its a little hard for some of you to accept but console online gaming is still in its infancy. There is a long long way to go yet before it even begins to touch pc online gaming. Most online console gamers here dont seem to even know much about pc online gaming :lol The online console games so far are also a joke.



how is it hard to accept? who here has compared online gaming on pc's to consoles? have you ever played halo 2 on live? or pdz? or forza? what exactly would you improve on the online part of it deg? of course its still in its infancy, who said it wasnt? you mad?
 
Wax Free Vanilla said:
Do you still stand by your little theory about EA siding with Microsoft?



:lol

Yup

An exclusive game like Battle for Middle Earth 2 from EA will do a shitload better than an exclusive game like the PS2 got with Shox, the racing game from EA Sports Big, if that is indictive of the exclusive games EA will provide for Playstation 3 hardware.
 
Someone posted in the other thread last night that Pc game revenue online overtook retail revenue. At the same time we have tons of free and user added content to games. :)

Izzy said:
Funny you should mention that. The PS3 Medal of Honour: Airborne is the lead version of the game, although the same team is also working on the X360 rev.

Any news on the pc version? :P

rod said:
how is it hard to accept? who here has compared online gaming on pc's to consoles? have you ever played halo 2 on live? or pdz? or forza? what exactly would you improve on the online part of it deg? of course its still in its infancy, who said it wasnt? you mad?

Exactly its still early days. Single digit figures for overall console gaming. Growth has been very slow. Its like the stone age in many ways next to pc online gaming and pcs are evolving even further(2005 for example). What the hardware companies need to do is look at how things are done on pc and try to make sure a similar environment can be acheived here. The console software companies are saying its not a big deal at all. Which pretty much sums up the situation.
 
EDGE said:
Consider the biggest third-party outifit in existence, Electronic Arts, which has no less than 20 360 games in the works - but is happy to confirm that it's working on a larger number for PS3.

When I read this I really want to ask a follow-up question. Is EA really gonna have PS3 exclusives? Did they even have PS2 exclusives this generation? And I'm not talking about "FIFA 06: Road to the World Cup"-style exclusives, but actual meaningful exclusives.
 
Deg said:
Console online does suck hard. On console standards are so low, any game with online gets praised for just having it nevermind the fact they are either inherently flawed or unplayable :lol

That's so true! If PSO was released on the PC-only in the US, it would be the biggest pay online flop ever! :lol
 
B E N K E said:
When I read this I really want to ask a follow-up question. Is EA really gonna have PS3 exclusives? Did they even have PS2 exclusives this generation? And I'm not talking about "FIFA 06: Road to the World Cup"-style exclusives, but actual meaningful exclusives.

Freekstyle was PS2/GC
Shox was PS2
Def Jam Vendetta 1 was PS2/GC
UEFA Euro 2004 Portugal for PS2 while all 3 got UEFA Euro 2004
SSX1 was PS2 only

That is all I could find.
 
B E N K E said:
When I read this I really want to ask a follow-up question. Is EA really gonna have PS3 exclusives? Did they even have PS2 exclusives this generation? And I'm not talking about "FIFA 06: Road to the World Cup"-style exclusives, but actual meaningful exclusives.

I don't think the significance of the comment is related to potential exclusives, but the relative importance EA is placing on the systems. EA working on more PS3 games now than X360 doesn't necessarily mean the "extra" games won't ever go to 360, but it might suggest something about the priorities they place on the systems, and which will lead their efforts.
 
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