RipTen Videogame Blog » exclusivity

It’s Heating Up! Wii “Exclusive” NBA Jam Rated for 360, PS3

David Oxford — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 23:55:15 +0000

The stars and hype for EA Sports’ upcoming NBA Jam title may not be the only thing that’s heating up; it appears that whatever contracts that placed it as a Wii-exclusive title may also be going up in smoke.

At least, that’s how it may appear on the outset. Numerous outlets are reporting that despite being touted as a title exclusive to the Wii, rumors from earlier this year look as though they may be true.

Germany’s USK rating board has posted ratings for both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game, but curiously enough, there is no Wii version shown.

Nothing else is said of the game, and as we all know, EA has kept things under wraps, so it may be best to simply take this with a grain of salt for the time being.

Of course, the most likely scenario could be that the game is a Wii exclusive… a timed exclusive, that is. It might be considered a shrewd move, as it is possible that a simultaneous release across all three consoles could potentially harm sales of the Wii version.

Or, perhaps there is nothing announced for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 due to the fact Kinect and Move aren’t out yet. That’s something to ponder, too.

Why is GoldenEye Exclusive to Wii? Activision Explains

David Oxford — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 01:18:42 +0000

For years, fans had waited, pleaded, begged, and so on, all for the return of the perennial console first-person shooter of their youth: GoldenEye. And with Microsoft having bought Rare, many thought that if it were to surface, it would likely be on Microsoft’s Xbox 360. However, there was one thing which stood in the way of that dream…

Nintendo.

Of course, it only stands to reason; after all, Nintendo owned a heavy stake in Rare at the time of GoldenEye‘s development for the Nintendo 64. So at the very least, it seems that a Wii release would happen, if a re-release were to happen at all.

But when the (sort of) surprise announcement that a new GoldenEye was coming to the Wii, some people were left scratching their heads as they learned that, despite being developed by third-party and Bond license-holder Activision, the game would once more be exclusive to Nintendo’s platforms.

But why?

“There are a number of different reasons for that,” explained Senior Producer Brian Pass. “One’s we have a partnership with Nintendo. It’s a great opportunity. This game was originally on the N64, so there’s the nostalgia factor for people that are Nintendo fans. So we wanted to partner with Nintendo for this.

“There’s opportunity. So, the opportunity on the Nintendo Wii platform is huge. There’s roughly 12 million Wiis in North America. But it’s not really a console that a lot of shooter fans are playing on. So we wanted to offer them their own first-person shooter, that’s unique and exclusive to that console.”

Of course, there are a few shooters on the Wii, but why aren’t more gamers embracing them? “I don’t know,” Pass admitted. One possibility he considers is that it could have something to do with the interface:

“Maybe it’s because people don’t like using the Wii Remote and the Nunchuk. They don’t like using the pointing device. Now they’ve got the Classic Pro Controller. This is dual analogue stick. It’s got the exact same layout you find on PS3 or 360.”

“You put this in a shooter fan’s hands and they instantly know how to play. We feel that the opportunity and the time is right. And partnering with Nintendo is a huge opportunity for us. We really want to tap in to the nostalgia for Nintendo fans, and take advantage of the opportunity presented by the platform.”

But surely, at some point in the future, Activision would share the love with the other platforms, right? After all, it’s like money in the bank, isn’t it?

Pass said he could not comment on that; however, primary Producer Dawn Pinkney of Eurocom would offer that “it belongs to the platform that it should be on, which is Nintendo.”

Source: VideoGamer.com (via GoNintendo

HAZE: Final Words on PS3 Exclusivity

Patrick Steen — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 23:17:59 +0000

HAZE Script Writer Rob Yescombe

It’s hard to put exclusivity disputes to rest. What’s worrying is that there are disputes – anger and seriousness over the possibility of losing a game to the “competition.” There’s been buzz around Metal Gear Solid 4, Bioshock, and most certainly HAZE.

Free Radical’s script writer, Rob Yescombe, attempts to put the bickering to rest in this interview we held at Sony’s Playstation 3 Rooms.

What makes HAZE (and to a lesser extent Bioshock) more complicated than MGS4 and Final Fantasy XIII, is that it was originally announced for three platforms. Moreover, the game’s producer turned a presumed Playstation 3 exclusive, Assassin’s Creed, into a multiplatform game. Ubisoft don’t appear to be the exclusive type.

This begs the question, why did Free Radical choose Ubisoft as their producer this time around rather than Sony, or the previous Codemasters? Rob Yescombe had this to say of their decision:

Well their pedigree for shooters is pretty good. I mean, they’ve got a good gambit of things under their belt. And part of the pleasure of being an independent studio is you don’t have to work with the same guy every time.

It’s not that we’ve had problems with any other publishers, it’s just that in order for us to remain…er…vigilant in the market that we occupy, it’s important to know what it’s like working with various people. Ubisoft have been bloody great, I mean they’ve put us here [Playstation 3 Rooms, London.] This is nice.

Still, as a result of Ubisoft’s indecisiveness over console exclusives, there has been a continuous cycle of reports saying Haze is no longer exclusive, to it being a timed exclusive, and then to exclusive again. So what is the truth of the matter? I asked Rob whether HAZE really is Playstation 3 exclusive?

Why does everybody keep asking that? It’s a Playstation 3 exclusive. Buy a Playstation 3 and play it. I want it to be the reason people buy a Playstation 3.

That’s all well and good, but will this really put the rumours to rest? Couldn’t it just come out on another platform further down the line?

We’re a Playstation 3 exclusive. If by some magical wave of the wand that happens, I won’t be complaining. But we’re a Playstation 3 exclusive.

Rob has certainly put things into perspective. Like any good business decision, I presume it’ll all depend on the game’s sales on the Playstation 3. Still, as obvious as this sounds, people will still be talking about whether HAZE really is Playstation 3 exclusive. In reply to the sentiment that everyone is talking about HAZE’s exclusivity, Rob muses:

I find it so confusing that some people are so offended at the idea that it will be format exclusive. But it’s like people get angry about it. What are you angry about?

Indeed, what are people angry about? I expect most are annoyed by the conflicting reports from both news sites and Ubisoft/Free Radical themselves. It would help to know who’s decided on the gam’es exclusivity. Perhaps it wasn’t Ubisoft’s decision, but Free Radical’s choice to concentrate on one platform?

No, it’s not our decision.. It’s a publisher decision. And it’s not like this bizarre practice of gamers kind of demonising publishers like they’re some evil guy. Ubisoft have helped us out a lot on this game, in terms of being very supportive to the decisions that we wanted to make and to approve it.

They allowed us to delay it. You know people are so furious “Oh god, I pre-ordered this game and it’s delayed.” The fact of the matter is, what we want for people to do is not just to have a knee jerk buy at Christmas. You know, we want people to feel like they spent $50 and it was worth that money. You know, that’s what that delay was about.

In addition to delaying the game, changing focus from three platforms to just the Playstation 3 must have helped the game’s quality also:

Originally it [development] was kind of open ended. The fact of the matter is our pedigree at Free Radicial, when we were doing Timesplitters, all of that started out on Sony hardware. And so those guys have a lot of experience working in that realm.

Starting on any new hardware has its quirks, and Playstation 3 is no different, but it meant that we were able to hit the ground running maybe a little bit faster than some of the other developers that found it a bit tricky.

Hopefully such focus would enable Free Radical to concentrate more on the Playstation 3′s quirks, such as the Cell Processor:

Well, I mean, it’s something that those guys, the technical guys, are very capable of doing.

Even then, Sony’s technical wizards have been relied upon by some developers, especially before the arrival of improved Playstation 3 tools. So have Free Radical had any support from Sony’s techies?

Well to be honest with you, we haven’t really needed that kind of tech support. I mean, they’re willing and able to provide it, but we just haven’t run into that problem.

Which is pleasing to hear, since this is one game where the framerate won’t falter. Expect a locked 30fps on release. We all hope that this little interview has put HAZE’s exclusivity into context and will potentially put the bickering to rest. Then again, we’ll only be able to guess at why Ubisoft made this decision.

For more information on Haze please follow this link, or have a gander of our gallery. Stand by for our incoming hands-on preview.