Does a gaming console manufacturer need exclusive titles to be successful?

retro junkie

retro junkie

All You bases are belong to us.
I am reminded as I look back at every previous generation of certain titles that made a gaming console a must have.

For example, Nintendo had its Mario, Link, Metriod, Star Fox, and Donkey Kong. I believe that the birth of the hunger for RPGs was with the SNES. Sega had its Sonic, Sports titles, Virtual Fighter, Panzer Dragon, Arcade games, and Phantasy Star. NEC had its Bonk and arcade style shooters. Sony had its Crash, GTA, Gran Turismo, Metal Gear Solid, RPGs, and Tekken. Xbox had its Halo. Not sure if there were more titles than that for those companies that made their systems a must own. That is just what comes to mind. Really it is hard for me to think of anything for the PS1 and PS2 but the RPGs. That is what both systems meant to me. Seems that exclusive titles define the gaming experience to be had on the different systems.

Do consoles still need flagship titles to lean on to be successful? It seems that the 1st party exclusive titles used to drive a system sales but the 3rd party support is what kept the system alive over the long term life of a console. It seems that the late 80s and early 90s was a time in which the concept of flagship titles were popular and maybe crucial to a system. Nintendo seemed to have started this concept and has worked it with every one of its systems. Maybe I am missing some other systems that might have had the idea before the NES, correct me it I missed something. Was that just something that reflected a time period in gaming history? Or is that something that still rings true today? Are the present generation of consoles still following this pattern?

Sorry for the long post.
 
Personally, when I bought my PS3, I was driven by Heavy Rain, easy online, and Blu-ray. I'd say nowadays it's all about what the console itself can offer.

And seeing that Mass Effect 2 is going to PS3, I see no need to go 360 any time soon, :lol
 
I say yes. It drives competition because each manufacturer is trying to entice you. So the games are always high quality. Whenever someone gets a new console here, you always see topics pop up like, "what games should I get?"

Not to mention, where would Nintendo be without its exclusives?

I also agree with GM, that a console also has to offer something the other doesn't in regards to hardware.
 
I say yes and no. Nintendo needs them.

Microsoft barely has any left to offer, especially considering most of their "exclusives" you can get on PC as well. They rely mostly on their online user-base, and superior online play.

Sony is kind of a wild card for me. They have a great combination of exclusives and hardware incentives, imo.
 
Strubes said:
I say yes and no. Nintendo needs them.

Microsoft barely has any left to offer, especially considering most of their "exclusives" you can get on PC as well. They rely mostly on their online user-base, and superior online play.

Sony is kind of a wild card for me. They have a great combination of exclusives and hardware incentives, imo.
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Well it is a good thing nintendo has them.

But it was so funny when my boyfriend went to buy a 360 and I kept telling him there are no good RPGs for it that we already have on our ps3 (except for tales of vesperia obviously) so to try and proving me wrong he went to a gamestop seller and he asked her "hey i am interested in an xbox 360 what good japanese RPGs are out for it?" so the clerk told him "well it has final fantasy XIII, eternal sonata and star ocean: the last hope" I laughed my butt off at that XD.
 
Zidart said:
Well it is a good thing nintendo has them.

But it was so funny when my boyfriend went to buy a 360 and I kept telling him there are no good RPGs for it that we already have on our ps3 (except for tales of vesperia obviously) so to try and proving me wrong he went to a gamestop seller and he asked her "hey i am interested in an xbox 360 what good japanese RPGs are out for it?" so the clerk told him "well it has final fantasy XIII, eternal sonata and star ocean: the last hope" I laughed my butt off at that XD.
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:lol that is pretty funny. There's some good RPG's coming to PS3 soon too!
 
Sadly, in North America. What makes or breaks a system's success? EA Sports. No matter what console it is, as long as someone secures EA Sports that will be your driving force.
 
MegaDrive20XX said:
Sadly, in North America. What makes or breaks a system's success? EA Sports. No matter what console it is, as long as someone secures EA Sports that will be your driving force.
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I think they were behind a lot of the Genesis success too. Of course Sonic was there, but there was a lot of buzz over the Sports games on the Genny. That is odd. Sports games can become out of date very fast and end up in the bargain bin at warp speed. Prices dropping to just a few dollars. They are so time dependant it seems.

The only sports game I ever purchased was NBA Jam, for the Genny of course. :D

GamingMaiden said:
Personally, when I bought my PS3, I was driven by Heavy Rain, easy online, and Blu-ray. I'd say nowadays it's all about what the console itself can offer.

And seeing that Mass Effect 2 is going to PS3, I see no need to go 360 any time soon, :lol
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Do you think with all of the really cheap Blu-ray players out right now, that it is still an attractive feature on the PS3? I'm asking this assuming that maybe you got your PS3 around the time of the release date.
 
retro junkie said:
Do you think with all of the really cheap Blu-ray players out right now, that it is still an attractive feature on the PS3?
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Probably only to tech savvy consumers. The PS3 has the most up-to-date Blu-ray player. Cheap Blu-ray players are lucky to have any firmware updates, if they actually do get them. Which they usually don't.
 
retro junkie said:
Do you think with all of the really cheap Blu-ray players out right now, that it is still an attractive feature on the PS3? I'm asking this assuming that maybe you got your PS3 around the time of the release date.
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I'd say yes. It upgrades itself (which I found a chore to do on my gma's blu-ray player for her), and barely has any load times. On cheap blu-ray players, you could wait 30 seconds before the menu even pops up, not to mention getting the annoying "upgrade firmware" message, which can take up to an hour to do when you get a new movie. It's just faster and more convenient.
 
CreepinDeth said:
Probably only to tech savvy consumers. The PS3 has the most up-to-date Blu-ray player. Cheap Blu-ray players are lucky to have any firmware updates, if they actually do get them. Which they usually don't.
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^This.
 
Sony has a Blu-ray player that is at the $150 price point. So are you saying that even that player is not kept up to date or as good as the PS3?
 
retro junkie said:
Sony has a Blu-ray player that is at the $150 price point. So are you saying that even that player is not kept up to date or as good as the PS3?
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When I hear the word cheap, I instantly think of the Magnavox and Polaroid variety that are sold at Wal-Mart for $80. But even some Sony's don't always get firmware updates.

Sometimes when new players are released, the older players no longer get any support (this is most manufacturers.) It sucks but that's how it's going right now. That's why I mentioned "Tech Savvy" consumers would care, because they're the ones who would actually go out and update their firmware. Whereas regular consumers might not even know that it's required.
 
CreepinDeth said:
When I hear the word cheap, I instantly think of the Magnavox and Polaroid variety that are sold at Wal-Mart for $80. But even some Sony's don't always get firmware updates.

Sometimes when new players are released, the older players no longer get any support (this is most manufacturers.) It sucks but that's how it's going right now. That's why I mentioned "Tech Savvy" consumers would care, because they're the ones who would actually go out and update their firmware. Whereas regular consumers might not even know that it's required.
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Yeah.... I can see that. The PS3 is a long term system. When a company releases a Blu-ray model, it could be on the shelf for about a year then there is the newer system, different model, updated filmware. The average consumer would not even be aware of the need to update.
 
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