This article represents a very touchy subject in gaming, and it may seem like a flamebait based article. However this topic is something that I would like to speak on and make everyone else aware of, even if it’s just to see some other opinions on the issue. For those who do not know, IP stands for Intellectual Properties, these are what we refer to as video game franchises in our jargon.
The purpose of this article is to show how all those IP’s that are exclusive to a specific console, end up loosing a lot of the quality that they are known for once they end up going multi-platform. This presents a gift and a curse. The gift is that more people will be able to enjoy the IP, no matter which console it is they own. The curse is that the IP looses some form of quality that it once had as an exclusive, and I will tell you why I think this happens.
When a game is exclusive, developers can focus all their energy into utilizing that platform to its limits. Every console is different, and has different strengths and weaknesses. Developers will mold their work around these specific strengths and weaknesses, creating the best piece of work they can for that platform. once they have the basic foundation down for their game, it makes it easier for them to make future sequels for that console, based on the foundation they have already created.
So once a developer is talked into making their franchise go multi-platform, it means they have to now make this foundation universal. They have to create a game with all the consoles in mind, which means they can no longer play to one strength. So now the aim is no longer to maximize the game to one consoles abilities, it’s to make the game run equally on all consoles. That requires some decrease in the quality that the game once had.
Now lets talk specifically about the Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360. We are all aware that the Playstation 3 is a powerhouse compared to the Xbox 360, although the Xbox 360 has many other strong points that the Playstation 3 cant stand it’s ground on (such as more ram). So keeping in mind that the Playstation 3 is genuinely the superior console, this means that if a game was once maxed out to suit this console, then it will suffer a supreme decrease in quality to be equal on all platforms. I am not bashing the Xbox 360 here though, as there are also games that can utilizes all of Xbox 360′s strengths such as the online network. We all know that there have been games that are fantastic on the Xbox 360, but a complete joke on the Playstation 3.
Now lets keep in mind that more Playstation exclusive games have gone multiplatform than the other way around (as far as Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 go). Which is why this article may seem flamebait oriented. It’s not that I am out to bash the Xbox 360, it’s just that games leaving Playstation exclusivity has happened more frequently than the other way around. So let me talk about a couple examples of this.
I am aware that the Playstation 2 editions of the Grand Theft Auto games all went to the original Xbox after a period of time, but at that point it did not matter as much seeing as the original Xbox was the superior console anyway. The original Xbox would have no problem running the old Grand Theft Auto games due to the fact it was created on the weaker platform of that time. I know your probably saying “well what about all the sloppy ports from Xbox 360 to Playstation 3″, those bad ports were only early on in the Playstation 3′s life cycle when developers did not know how to program for the console.
In the case of Grand Theft Auto IV, many feel as though it was no where near what they imagined. I believe it is because they had to make the game universal across all platforms, instead of utilizing the most powerful console at the time (Playstation 3). Even looking at the DLC for GTA IV that Microsoft paid 50 million for, it’s easy to see that it did very poor. All this has lead to the decrease in the IP’s relevance this generation, nobody thinks about Grand Theft Auto like they once did before.
Although I am confident Final Fantasy will still be an enjoyable experience, we cant ignore the fact that it really was dumbed down a little. Due to the fact that Square Enix wanted the game to be equal on Playstation 3, there will be no Japanese voice overs (with english subs), even though that is always highly demanded. There’s also the fact that they took out a whole load of CG, and even went as far as changing the whole white engine. They would have you believe that all they did was rename the engine, but they actually changed it into a multi-platform engine, seeing as the white engine was optimized for the Playstation 3.
The point is that although Final Fantasy XIII is still phenomenal, it is not as phenomenal as it could have been had they opted for the best possible product they could have made.
Other IP’s that have suffered this curse include Tekken, and Devil May Cry. I truly can not think of many Xbox 360 exclusive games that have gone multi-platform off of the top of the head. The ones that come to mind are Splinter Cell, Saints Row and Bioshock. However none of these IP’s have suffered much decrease in quality as well as damage to the franchise’s hype.
It seems a lot of the franchises that were held in the highest light last generation are beginning to lose their appeal in this one, and that may be because multi-platform is the way to go these days. This is what the gift and the curse is all about. Not only do the games loose their appeal, but the developers lose credibility as well. We are all happy as gamers that new players are getting to play established franchises, but at what cost?
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You're spot on with your comments about Final Fantasy XIII. The game had to be “Downgraded” when it went multi – platform which is why, from what we've seen of it, Final Fantasy Versus XIII looks about 10X better in the visuals department. I've no doubt XIII will still be epic and is a strong contender for GOTY 2010 but i'm looking even more forward to Versus XIII because it'll be the only “True” Final Fantasy game this generation.
Actually games got more dumbed down last generation from exclusive IP's on the Xbox to the PS2 such as Splinter Cell. I haven't seen one game that is as noticeable this generation which proves the point on how close the PS3 and Xbox 360 really are in terms of what each are capable of. The PS3's main advantage is blu-ray but that's for storage and can easily be countered by releasing games on multiple discs if needed. Still a better option that having a game like Splinter Cell on the PS2 from how it looked on the original Xbox. Yet the PS2 still hung in there. In fact the PS2 dominated the market last generation meaning tech specs don't seem to matter much do they? Not with games like Shadow of the Colossus and God of War 2. So did Splinter Cell on the Xbox and Halo bring a curse to the PS2? Not at all so this topic is pretty moot.
Pretty much agreed to what have to say. We see many Xbox's timed exclusive goes to PS3 and has been improved greatly. Namely Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, Tales of Vesperia, and Star Ocean. Nobody can argue the power of the PS3 after seeing on how much they have improved the game.
Lots of Xbots say “Oh, they improved it bec. the Xbox's version is the old version.” WRONG! Developers have all the time to develop for the Xbox version they don't have any excuse for dumbing it down, they don't have to worry about developing for the PS3 'coz they CAN'T develop the game on the PS3 until they're finished with the Xbox version.
True that the Xbox has more ram but they forgot 1 simple thing. That 512 ram is divided into 3. It's seperated for the 3 CPUS, while the PS3 only has 256 but is dedicated. But how come the PS3 can do better visuals than the 360. Simple, those multiple CPUS is the one pushing the GPU. It's like this, The Xbox has 3 CPU and one massive GPU. That 3 CPU is 3 people and the GPU is a car. The GPU is shared to 3 people meaning 3 people are pullling the car. The PS3 has 6 CPUS one is disabled and one is dedicated for OS, and one ram. That's 6 people and 1 car. the GPU is dedicated to 1. So, 1 person is pulling while the rest push it. So which do you think will get the job done much better? Pretty obvious right?
Thanks for the comments guys. Your absolutely right tarbis, Im glad someone knows the technicalities well.
@ david mcfailure, the bluray is not the only advantage, dont forget the cell. and i dont understand what you meant by splinter cell and halo bringing a curse to the ps2? My article was about already established franchises crossing over to multiplatform and loosing quality and appeal, so im not sure where your coming from there.
@ David mcphail, thanks man
btw where the hell do you guys come up with those names.
Well I went off a bit on a tangent there with Splinter Cell. What I was referring to was how last generation the power between the Xbox and PS2 was actually greater than it is now so I don't really see the connection of blaming multi-platform suffering because of the hardware. Yes games like Tekken seem to have suffered but that could be due to the developers, not the hardware. Did Virtue Fighter 5 suffer? No. In fact is actually improved when it came to the Xbox 360 and the series improved from #4. There really isn't too many IP's that were exclusive to the PS3 that went to the Xbox 360 later so it's really hard to judge where you're coming from. Did Unreal suffer? No. PSN jst allowed more user content than Live that's all. Ace Fighter is another that seemed to do just fine crossing over the the Xbox 360 from the PS2 and I imagine the next one will be even better.
how is games going multiplatform a good thing for us gamers?
for devs sure because there opening up the size of customers but for us?
look at all the games released on either the 360 or the ps3 the best of the crop are exclusives.
the only multiplats that could run with the exclusives are bioshock, assassins creed 2,DMC4, bayonetta and batman arkham asylum.
very, very, very few multiplatform games turn out to be as good, let alone better than exclusives.
From : http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php...
“Xbox 360, PS3 Chip Co-Creator Talks Consoles' Relative Strengths”
“With the Xbox 360, you've got more of a traditional multi-core system, and you've got three PowerPC cores, each of them having dual threads — so you've got six threads running there, at least in the CPU. Six threads in Xbox 360, and eight or nine threads in the PS3 — but then you've got to factor in the GPU,” Shippy explains. “The GPU is highly sophisticated in the Xbox 360.”
“At the end of the day, when you put them all together, depending on the software, I think they're pretty equal, even though they're completely different processing models,” he concludes.
PS3 is not as powerful as you all think. Blame Square for this “equality” bullshit, I personally do not believe they should have done that despite owning a 360, but hey Square is known for stabbing companies in the back(FFVII on N64 anyone? Oh wait.).
Please, tell me, how are these games losing their appeal? They went from the weakest console last generation to the second weakest this gen. If you people could handle a compromised game last gen because it was on a weak console(PS2) you can handle one this generation.
The only reason you didn't see these titles being developed for the Xbox as a lead last gen because it was not leading in sales and now that it(arguably) is, it's being used as lead more often than the PS3. They're losing their appeal because the console that they were once exclusive to didn't do that good to start out(PS3 Launch) with and as a result they had to release on another platform to make a good return.
This whole “equality” thing reeks of bullshit from square, but I guess they can't just come right out and said they took a moneyhat and made the PS3 version worse because of it. It does piss me off that fanboys are using this as an excuse to slight the 360 with shit like your very first comment, “True Final Fantasy”, what a dick.
I'm not trying to be a fanboy, honest, but what this is what I'm seeing. Interestingly enough, my point earlier about FFVII actually ties into this too, what do you think FF fanboys felt when they jumped to the PSX and ignored the 64? What about the other third parties that made the jump as well? At least in this case both audiences get to experience the game.
Also, I have no idea what you're talking about with GTA IV, they weren't forced to make the games equal. They focused on the 360 as the lead platform and they just didn't put the extra effort into the PS3 to get more out of the system. Sure, they probably could have focused on it(PS3) first, but honestly think about that for a second. Next gen hasn't started yet, MS looking strong, Sony looking weak(E3 2006).
Games just don't magically decline in quality because they aren't attached to a brand name any more. It's hard to explain, you're seeing traditionally the weakest yet the highest selling consoles exclusive go to other weaker consoles when it beefs itself up and the blame is just pointed outward.
There is no cost, it's already cost people to go multiplat and this point MOST are refining the process to bring you the quality that was missed during the start of all of it.
And what did it cost you? No Japanese voice overs? CG cutscenes(Where does it say they removed them anyway)? I think that's a small cost for the better.
http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2009/12/20/why-fi...
Also, FFXIII apparently has numerous other problem to focus on than graphics and voice tracks.
PS2 dominated last generation because Xbox, like Xbox 360, had garbage graphics. There wasn't a single game on the Xbox that could match Gran Turismo 4…….at least you have the right name.
@GaryASwaby i dont see why you say ps3 is more powerful than the 360.. thats simply not true both have theyre strenghts and weaknesses but theyre pretty equal the reason why many games are downgraded its beacuse of the blu ray, ffXIII is probably shorter than it could have been, gta4 the city might be smaller than it could have been, but talking about graphics mulit platform games usually look better on 360 some ports look bad because of that, theyre ports, made for ps3 running on 360, theyre not using the strenghts of the 360.
As I said before, the only advantage is the blu ray.
@tarbis hope you know cell has got 6 spu's not cpu's which are different things.
@John agreed
you mean 9?
well 2 are disabled because in early cell chips they were having trouble using them so they disabled them.
and 1 is locked out for the operating system.
so that leaves 6 for developers to play around with.