PS3 and it's exclusivity

[Sean]

Well with Devil May Cry 4 recently announced for the Xbox 360, not to mention PC, it makes you wonder, what other exclusives will Sony lose, or if they can manage to hold on to the rest. We all know Final Fantasy XIII will be coming out for the PS3. Square has been riding the PS bandwagon for a while now, since 1997 with the release of FFVII, and the occasional release with the other guys; FF:CC anyone? Though just how long will this last?

The thing is, with this generation, the publishers are realizing that there is more potential profit with multi-platform games, and PlayStation just doesn't have that dominance it once had. Given that the 360 had a whole year to accumulate some sort of install base, it makes it all that more enticing for these third party publishers to go multi-platform.

There's really no question that the PS3 is already losing exclusive titles, but with games like Final Fantasy XIII and Metal Gear Solid 4 slated for the PS3 only, can Sony really afford to lose these games, among others. Can it be that we have the games released on these two systems and everything just be hunky dory?

[Seraphy]

If anything, if FF did move to another console, it would also be on 360 at most. Most likely not Wii.

Sony is really losing out big time on this, but when you come down to it, all the PS3 really seems to be is an improvement on graphics. If I worked at a company, I would want to go multiplatform, cause its more sales and there is more to offer on other consoles as well.

[Sean]

Aye, it seems the Wii is fated to encompass only the Crystal Chronicles of the Final Fantasy realm, possibly some side stories, such as they're doing with FFVII, but no true Final Fantasy for the time being. It's kind of funny, but I remember when so many people were bashing MS and it's decision to release a full year ahead of the rest. Though now, over a year later, we see it seemed like the right choice.

The one thing I'm curious about, since most developers are saying they're only using about 20% of the PS3's power. Now assuming that they can ever capitalize on the PS3 and it's cell architecture, what will the current console standings be like in say another year. Will the PS3 be on top again, or will it go the way of the Dreamcast?

Bah, I don't know... it just seems that Square is ready to go multi-platform, among other companies.

[Seraphy]

If Sony can't manage to gain back the interest of many fans, it'll be doomed in a couple years.

By next year I expect the Wii and 360 to be about tie, maybe Wii surpassing 360 every now and then. And PS3 in last. Wii's motion control is a big change, which makes games more interacting. But most Final Fantasies (story heavy ones) aren't much on motion, but more on turn base (exception of XII).

I can see KH3 going on either PS3 or Wii. The motion capabilities would be extremely eyecatching and persuasive after the whole button mashing X and Triangle ordeal in KH2. Wii for motion. PS3 for graphics.

But what Sony really needs to do is lower their price. Sure the manufacturing costs a ton, but its hard to get money profit if no one buys due to steep prices.

[Sean]

Yeah, I was already hearing rumblings that Sony was going to do a price drop a couple months ago. If you think about it, it is a very expensive gaming venture, and with the fact that there is little to none in terms of good games, it makes it all that much more tough to sell the machine. The one good thing though is that they're not pulling a Nintendo, in terms of having to make a profit on each machine sold, if you break it down to parts that is. PS3 costs somewhere around 800+ to manufacture, while the Wii is in fact around 200 to manufacture. I couldn't imagine paying any more than I already did for my PS3, 600 is already a lot of money to dish out.

I wonder what the pricing structure would be like with the absence of the Blu-ray player, which is literally the most expensive component to the system, amounting to almost half the costs of the total parts.

[Dusk]

Yeah....I can't imagine FF on Wii...*imagines seraphy swinging the remote to make cloud shop off sephy's head* ahahaha....it would make for some funny moments though.....

[Seraphy]

Well, Crystal Chronicles (2nd one) will be on the Wii. BTW. You must mean the other way around. Sephy chopping off Cloud's head. :P