Japan's game gods weigh in

  • By Walt Wyman, GameSpot
  • Posted Oct 6, 2006 5:41 pm PT

Weekly Famitsu polls Japan's top game makers on the next-generation consoles.

The current issue of Weekly Famitsu contains seven pages of interviews with some of Japan's most celebrated game creators. The topic was the upcoming three-way race between the Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3, and Nintendo Wii.

The first respondant was Yoshiki Okamoto, former Capcom COO and now president of Game Republic. His credits include Time Pilot, Street Fighter II, the first three Resident Evils and Code: Veronica. He is currently working on the PS3 games Monster Kingdom: Unknown Realms (working title) and Genji.

He stated that sales, not specifications, are what really matter. "Many talk about which is the best piece of hardware, but I think this is meaningless. The problem is how much the hardware will sell. If all the [next-generation] consoles can sell 10 million units, then they've all won. It is possible that all the hardware will be winners, but it's also possible that they'll all be losers." The one thing that may tip the scales, according to Okamoto, is the game lineup. "I think the console that produces killer titles will see sudden growth in sales. The consoles that can't keep up will have an uphill fight."

Next, Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima weighed in. Although his next big game, Metal Gear Solid 4, will be for the PlayStation 3, he took a very non-partisan view. "I think [each console] is attractive, and I want them all to do well. ... We're already thinking about what we can express on each machine. I am not interested at all about which hardware succeeds. As I said, I want them all to do well."

Discussing the Wii, Sora LLC president and Meteos cocreator Masahiro Sakurai talked about the Wii's controller in the context of Super Smash Bros. Brawl development. He gently chastised the herd mentality among developers regarding the Wiimote. "I think there are a lot of games that rely on the controller. There are games that use it as a racket or bat, and a game in which it's used like a scalpel to perform surgery. They all take a different approach, but this has given the impression that the controller is specialized to provide enjoyment through mimicking [activities]. However, how this develops is what's important. For example, how do you [use the Wiimote] to create the fun and addictiveness of your games?"

He also revealed that Brawl would take its own path. "We have given no thought to how we'll use the controller in Brawl. We decided to use it like a normal controller." However, he did not rule it out entirely, adding, "It will not be used in the course of normal play."

In addition to the interviews, Famitsu revealed the results of a questionnaire sent to 58 developers working at 19 software companies in Japan. They first asked how the developers felt, in general, about each of the systems. The results were very positive. Of those polled, 80 percent expressed positive views on the PS3. For the Wii, 99 percent took a bullish stance. Views on the Xbox 360 were somewhat more negative, with 45 percent stating they had few expectations for the console. Even so, a majority 53 percent responded positively on its prospects.

Finally, Famitsu asked for some more specific opinions. When pressed as to which console they personally wanted to own, 9 percent of the developers said Xbox 360, 42 percent said PS3, and 49 percent said Wii.

As for which platform they want to develop games for, only 5 percent answered Xbox, while the PS3 and Wii respectively got 32 percent and 63 percent of the votes.

On the topic of which console they thought would sell the most, the developers picked the Wii by a landslide--60 percent, compared with 37 percent and 3 percent for the PS3 and Xbox 360 respectively.

530 Comments

  • AzureWind213

    Posted Oct 10, 2006 1:51 pm PT

    All I know is that we're all going to be out WAY too much money when we finally go out and get one of these consoles, for those of us who haven't picked up a next-gen system yet. Am I the only college kid paying 30G a year in tuition who can' t really afford the 700 bucks it's going to cost to play sonic the hedgehog on a high-end Ps3??? Say so if you relate. By the way, I like the Wii because it's affordable! I am not particularly picky about which system I have... they all have games that would be good to play. maybe not so many on the 360, but hey; if someone gave me one, I'd find games enough to play, like oblivion or sonic or something, even if you're not a big FPS fan. Bottom line? Not enough people are ready to shell out for so much for a console that''s also a blue ray player. 360 sales will pick up because it'll be more affordable(good games from the 1st few months are only 30 bucks...), and Wii sales will lead the way because the families and the college kids on a budget, and the guys working their tails off just to pay rent (because hey, it's america), want to play games without spending 500 bucks out of the gate and without paying 60 bucks a game.

    and euro-gamers, god help you for what prices you guys have to put up with to play games. You have my sympathy

  • ra7krz

    Posted Oct 10, 2006 9:53 am PT

    yeah go wii, too bad that the 360 is not doing so well i guess its a nintendo country

  • TheThreeSeat

    Posted Oct 10, 2006 8:13 am PT

    I think that while the PS3 and Wii may have won in Japan, the rest of the world is significantly leaning towards the Xbox due to its games. Many people I know write off games for their Japanese art or for their stereotypical turnbased gameplay, and that would put a large dent in sales for the Japanese based systems if more people feel that way.

  • TwinTiger

    Posted Oct 10, 2006 6:47 am PT

    " it more of microsofts minds set to me if you look at the microsoft line up the games dont appeal the japanese public it is up to the frist party to inspaire 3rd party and japanese arnt as gun happy and sports fanatics as ous except maybe soccor and baseball and for the same reason that why i havent cared much about xbox "

    Grammatical errors aside, this person raises a valid point. Microsoft's vision on games doesn't jive with Japan. Ok, so the XBox 360 is a powerful system with all kinds of bells and whistles. They have all kinds of technological devices in Japan that we may never see here in the states... they're not impressed by that. It all comes down to the games, and the 360 has mostly war games, sports games and FPSs.

    The japanese don't just like Nintendo and Sony better because they're based in Japan; it's mainly because they've delivered the gaming goods that appeal to the japanese audience over the years and Microsoft hasn't.
    If I recall correctly, the Sega Saturn did pretty well in Japan, but not many cared for it over here.

  • LordAndrew

    Posted Oct 10, 2006 6:34 am PT

    63% of them want to develop for the Wii. Pretty cool. The PS3 gets only 32% of their support.

  • elmeray

    Posted Oct 10, 2006 1:54 am PT

    What made you all think that the PS3 would fail against these 2 flop console? The Xbuks360 anf Wii my a**.... Just think of these alright among the current gen console which of it sell amongst the top of the shelves huh?! Come on!

    PS3 I'm sure gonna win the console wars!

  • Latinbro1

    Posted Oct 9, 2006 8:18 pm PT

    japanese developers and the japanese public may be biased towards gaming consoles. However, you have to admit that the ymight know what they are talking about since they are the technology capital of the world

  • holenjd

    Posted Oct 9, 2006 8:13 pm PT

    lets face it, they are biast.

  • DeathgiverX

    Posted Oct 9, 2006 7:43 pm PT

    Oh well, big surprise no one in Japan likes the 360. Not like they have been biased before. American game companies are on the rise anyways, Japan get ready because the USA knows how to play the "favorite game" too. And believe it or not, but we actually have MORE consumers than Japan so that means more sales.

  • Latinbro1

    Posted Oct 9, 2006 6:57 pm PT

    eh! I still say that we all buy what calls out to us regardless of what others say. like the 360? buy it! PS3? buy it! Wii? buy it! Go where you think you'll find the type of games you wanna play... end of story

  • _Sam_

    Posted Oct 9, 2006 6:09 pm PT

    I'm planning on getting a ps3

  • gmoney20xx

    Posted Oct 9, 2006 5:16 pm PT

    5% of the best companies making great games for Xbox 360 is all we need!

  • Jatt_Warrior

    Posted Oct 9, 2006 4:24 pm PT

    lol... reason xbox 360 had low percentage cuz the poll is in japan

  • javajoe96work

    Posted Oct 9, 2006 2:29 pm PT

    mikekabal:

    You are right. I should have mentioned that as well so thanks for that adding that. But I just had to address everyone screaming PS3 exclusivity when it was running on 360 hardware.

  • michaelhall

    Posted Oct 9, 2006 2:10 pm PT

    Bla Bla Bla I am a fan-boy, I am going to state the obvious, and my own brand of the truth. My opinion matters most over everyone else's. I am not a gamer at all, I am just not going to buy any systems, nor will I have any fun not playing my systems. Japan. America. "Console War." Because Nintendo and Microshaft have 556-ers and pineapples waiting outside of Sony. Come on! Shut up and play games is you feel like taking articles out of context, and making unfounded posts of your opinion. But I am just expressing my own opinion, which is more important than all other posts before and after this one.

  • SakuraNinja

    Posted Oct 9, 2006 1:44 pm PT

    terrabreak13-- You make some good points, but your argument about online gaming doesn't sway me. I honestly never got into the online gaming scene. Maybe I'm weird, but I prefer palying alone or playing multi-player games with my friends and family. It's more of a bonding thing, you know? I dislike playing with complete strangers.....although I do enter in the odd SSBM tournament every now and again. However, my point is that there are a lot of other people like me out there who simply don't care about online gaming and would rather have a system that caters to fun with friends and family, which I like a lot. I'm an old-fashioned girl in some resopects. ^_^

  • enzima

    Posted Oct 9, 2006 1:39 pm PT

    "MrSickVisionz
    I think that because of Hiroshima, the Japanese will never buy any technology product not made in Japan... especially if its from the US. Its almost like its treason or something. " Do you know that what you wrote makes you the biggest moron to EVER post on GS? Chapeau, what a great sense of humour.....i guess you wouldn´t support PS if it was made in Viet-Nam.....

  • thekey

    Posted Oct 9, 2006 1:27 pm PT

    For Hideo Kojima to say that he doesn't care which system suceeds, is big! Well the statement that if all the next gen systems sell 10 million hardware units, they all win, well M$ has almost won with 6.1 million units already sold since June, there almost there.

    But for Hideo to not take a biased stance is a good thing, he knows this business better than most of us on this site, but keep in mind that all of those Japanese developers, and western developers see that 6 million plus units that Xbox 360 has sold so far, and they like that, so the other consoles are going to have to do the same thing which they will, but it like the paragraph brought out that they are going to have to bang out the killer titles in order to really succeed.

    In my opinion the Wii60 is were its going to be were its at. I think the PS3 is only going to be a wildly popular in Japan, more so than the US. But what do I know.

  • Nevyn_85

    Posted Oct 9, 2006 1:25 pm PT

    oh forgot some WII cons in my last post , WII cons: almost no games as of yet support online play OR wii connect 24, and the first one is pokemon (DOH).

  • Nevyn_85

    Posted Oct 9, 2006 1:16 pm PT

    here are the pro's and cons i see with the different consoles:

    360: pros: been out a while (more good games if you buy one now), some killer apps on the way (fable 2, gears of war, mass effect etc), xbox live. microsoft has so much money it's crazy (buys game studios so that they get exclusives and so on)

    cons: it just has a dvd player not an hd dvd, you can buy the hd-dvd player but then it costs as much as the PS3, and to top it of games will most likley not be hd-dvd.
    the dpad sucks, xbox live gold costs money, little support from japanese developers ( i like those games so sue me ), it's backwards compatibility is a joke, the games costs way more then current gen. i hate that they have to buy game studios etc to get the good games , and the slowdowns that have plauged soo many games... i mean common thats just sad, lag on computer okay, lag on console WRONG!

    conclusion: i don't like what i see here... some good games for sure but what about 1 year from now... i think you will sorley miss the hd-dvd games vs the blu-ray games.

    PS3:

    pros: blu-ray, the network component will in all probability be free, some cool games on the way and some long running series that we all love (i love).
    the six-axis (hate the name, love the controller), the harware specs.

    cons: the price, no rumble in the controller, the launch lineup is a joke, the late launch in europe (nooo i'm not a european *LIES ALL LIES*), conclusion: oh so many un answered questions!, how much will no rumble matter? how long until some good games begin to come out?, will the load times be longer since blu-ray is a little slower?, how will the "playstation live" pan out? i'm still waiting this one out, take a good long look before i make a commitment. but in a year from now i think it will be a better purchase then 360.

    WII:

    pros: the controller (finally something new), great launch lineup, zelda FFS!! , the price (with wii sports, hell i have missed packins ), virutal console (excite bike ftw), WII connect 24 is free, seems to have a bigger 3:d party support (then gamecube), some great games in the making, don't "require" a HD-TV

    Cons: the graphics will be old much sooner then the competitors.

    conclusion: since the price i so right i'm getting this on launch, i'm not sayng that it will without a doubt be the greatest system in a couple of years (but heres hoping ), but i think that with the low price and cool launch games and so on it's the best purchase this holiday season. and since it's so different i'l probably want both WII and PS3 or 360. i'l just have to se them duke it out a bit first. so right now my moneys on WII, but i think that in the end i'l want a second, "great graphics", console. not to replace the WII mind you! i just want the best of both worlds

  • terrabreak13

    Posted Oct 9, 2006 12:53 pm PT

    SakuraNinja -

    You are not the only one who was raised on Nintendo games. Back in the day I had the golden Zelda cartridge and tons of other games before they became popular franchises including the first FF game. But Nintendo dissappointed me too many times and the N64 made it worst. I had to but up with 2 years worth of delay with Zelda Ocarina of Time and between N64 and GCN there were just too many kiddie games.

    The first time I played on Live all those IPs you listed just couldn't compare. A crappy game can have unlimited replay value if you play it with the right people. It's all about connecting to people. What good is Super Smash Bros if you can only play your kid sister? MSFT is an entire generation ahead of their competition in the online world.

  • getoconnection

    Posted Oct 9, 2006 12:30 pm PT

    I'm not an Xbox fanboy but I am going to get a 360. If it is one thing westerns do well is Sports games and FPSs. Those are the 2 things I could never get on the Cube. I think this is the appeal of the Wii60. Maybe?

  • ControllerLord

    Posted Oct 9, 2006 12:25 pm PT

    i agree with a lot of what sakuraNinja said. It matches up with much of my vieo game experiences. I would only say instead that the Japanese REinvented video games. Otherwise, right on.

  • SakuraNinja

    Posted Oct 9, 2006 12:18 pm PT

    Graphics and hardware aside, let's look at it in terms of the enjoyability of the games. Franchises like Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, and Final Fantasy are wildly popular worldwide because they are just so damn much fun. The Xbox and Xbox 360 simply don't have titles that elicit the same amount of positive response and recognition. Sure, they have.....Halo. Great. It appeals to a much smaller demographic, and to be honest I can't really think of anyother titles by Microsoft that are must-haves, or even must-plays. Also, think of the nostalgia factor. I got into the world of video games as an awkward four-year-old attempting to play NES, and I'm sure many others out there were the same way. I grew up with Nintendo, so naturally it has a special place in my heart that Microsoft and even Sony (my second favorite gaming company) can't match up with. It simply seems to me that Nintendo and Sony just have so many more games that appeal to many more people than Microsoft. The Japanese basically invented the concept of video games, and they seem to get it right a heck of a lot of the time. That's just my opinion, anyway.

  • Elite_Jounin

    Posted Oct 9, 2006 12:02 pm PT

    You can see that this is complete japan's voice on this one, i mean i dont even like the XBOX at all really but those polls were just not right. LOL come on Wii being superior on all accounts???? NOT LIKELY AT ALL, plus any true gamer knows that japan does not like micorsoft PERIOD.

    However....LONG LIVE PLAYSTATION : )

  • getoconnection

    Posted Oct 9, 2006 12:02 pm PT

    Sony needs to take care of home. They are going to get crushed by MS in the US. Go after the weaker system first so that you can at least claim the 2 spot. Nintendo is laughing at that 100000 system figure.

  • ControllerLord

    Posted Oct 9, 2006 12:01 pm PT

    Sony giving everyone a middle finger (remember the "We don't care" quote). They are just going about business as usual, life as always, because they figure, "We're Sony. The rules are different." The same thing led to Nintendo losing the top spot 10 years ago. Besides, Resistance was developed by a California based company. They're not expecting it sell in Japan as well as it will here.

  • Auberondreaming

    Posted Oct 9, 2006 11:56 am PT

    Dont forget all the non japanese developers who have at least publicly signed on with interest in the wii. Rockstar has said it will be developing for the console, ubisoft is having some sort of illicit nasty love affair with the thing behind closed doors, CapCom USA.... there is a lot of support this go around, seemingly based off of the merits of the console. Im sorry to burst both sides of the bubble, but NIN haters the cube was not a failure, they made money on it, hell its my favorite system of the last gen. And nin fanboys, it was third place, and it did have crapola as far as support from third party. Now if the cube was no out of house developer winner, why the intense interest in the wii? Developers dont just give their support based on some ancient love for a company, the wii must really impress them if they are this fired up about it, especially after the poor showing of the cube financially in the third party district.

  • getoconnection

    Posted Oct 9, 2006 11:54 am PT

    So Japan gets hit double, the 100000 shipment and Resistance? How deep do you think Japan's loyalty run for Sony? Theyve already given up on the PSP. Sony is giving them a big middle finger.

  • d12malu

    Posted Oct 9, 2006 11:52 am PT

    I hope this article doesnt sway anyone's opinion about next-gen success. It should come as no surprise that JAPANESE developers prefer JAPANESE systems. Personally I think most Japanese games suck, with their little "hello kitty" cuteness and absurd storylines.

  • ControllerLord

    Posted Oct 9, 2006 11:50 am PT

    Resistance is a flagship game because they are sending 4X the amount of systems our way at launch. The know Japan will buy the PS3, but that most of us are skeptical and are wondering what the hell Sony is doing.

  • ciryorel

    Posted Oct 9, 2006 11:49 am PT

    Scottisarock. Who cares? My PS2 never broke and I'm very well sure millions of other people's didn't. Too bad you and your friends have crappy luck buying a good playstation. But for the rest of us, we play games. Edit: Oh and I have my Ps2 at launch and my friends had it around that time too. LOLZ!

    Also the only console that ever broke for me is the genesis because my baby sister back then kept crawling and stepping and drooling at it. My ps2 I have dropped from the top of my cabinet too many times and I have never gotten a disk error. I've also spilled coffee on it and it works fine (didn't really get inside but still smells like coffee). And I'm going to use it to play FFXIII haha.

  • mikekabal

    Posted Oct 9, 2006 11:49 am PT

    javajoe96work actually Assasin's Creed was orginal announced as a 360 game code named "Project Assasin" back at X05, well before it was shown off for the first time as a PS3 game this past E3. Sony fanboys just held out hope that it would be an exclusive. Plenty of people felt it wouldn't be to begin with. It was just that Sony needed an Ace up thier sleeve since Killzone was completely absent.

  • getoconnection

    Posted Oct 9, 2006 11:43 am PT

    ControllerLord

    Then why is Resistance a flag ship game?? Don't you think Sony is shooting themselves in the foot?

  • scottisarock

    Posted Oct 9, 2006 11:30 am PT

    if you know your stuff and are fan of video games you know that the playstations all have been plagued with problems you can love your playstation but you know deep down inside it could never compare to its nintendo counterpart it is crap my cousin has 3 broken ps2 in his house and swears he will get one fixed thats alot of money down the drain and i have the same gamecube that i purchased on its launch date i also have my first nintendo that i got in 87 and guess what they both work like new .who has a 5 year old playstation 2 i rest my case lol

  • ControllerLord

    Posted Oct 9, 2006 11:28 am PT

    I hate how everyone is saying that the Japanese don't accept the 360 because they are almost completely biased toward American companies. While that is a part of it, the bigger issue is that 360 doesn't support the kind of games that Japanese gamers are into. Sure there are a few, but they're not enough or not as good as others to warrent buying the system. They care more about story and substance than about straight forward shoot'em up FPS's. The majority of North American gamers don't have the same taste as the majority of Japanese gamers.

  • puablo

    Posted Oct 9, 2006 11:22 am PT

    "I have played video games my whole life so i feel i am qualified to say that playstation is garbadge."

    Wow. That's a great pedigree. So the millions of other gamers that have played video games their whole loves apparently must not be qualified to say they love their Playstations.

  • OdiumX

    Posted Oct 9, 2006 11:21 am PT

    Wii will start great, just wonder for how long will it keep the momentum.

  • amurphy245

    Posted Oct 9, 2006 11:17 am PT

    wii is going to win next gen i just know it.

  • scottisarock

    Posted Oct 9, 2006 11:15 am PT

    i have played video games my whole life so i feel i am qualified to say that playstation is garbadge and was from day one with the first one. i didnt buy one cause of all the problems my friends had with theirs like having to put it upside down to play and its graphics where too blocky for me. they had alot of games for it but most of them were wack. i choose to get a nintendo 64 when it came out and it crushed the playstation in all aspects and i didnt have to worry about a scratched game. the plastation 2 i bought on its launch day i bought in to all the hype it was fun but i was very dissapointed with the graphics it was the same crap(blocky graphics) that i didnt like on the first playstation and it soon became just a dvd player untill that darn disc read error started poping up out of the blue i sent it back to sony and they replaced it and the same crap happened disc read error so i had to buy a real dvd player. again the system had a crap load of games but most were poor quality and people seem to ignore this fact. also the load time is rediculous. i buy all the systems when the come out i just have to keep up with the joneses and i always regret it i bought the first xbox three times and i sold it three times i only bought it to play halo and once i beat it i sold the system and left it alone its controller was retarded the black and white bottons were too far down and the game play just didnt move me and i felt like a dum ass for buying it cause every one raved about it i think i bought the xbox and the ps2 just for status in my hood just to say i have it and sadly that was the case,my ps2 just collects dust. i always liked gamecube over playstation2 it had better graphics better games and a much faster load time it just didnt have as wide a variety of games .i dont play my game cube much cause the lack of new games .i beat all my old ones and i now play my ds when i get the chance nintendo has always came through with good games with good graphics i dont care if the wii wont be as pretty as the others but one can always depend on nintendo to deliver a memorable gaming experience a tear almost came to my eye when i read the john lucas post i only read these post to hear talk about the wii i am not concerned with sony or the 360 its all wii all the time .i cant wait every time i read an article about the wii i get even more excited and i am shocked at how every one bashes the japanese cause they are excited about a good thing so what if the people polled dont care about the 360 neither do i lol . every body is entitled to their own opinion let the few japanese who were questioned have theirs i see you all have yours and you know what they say about opinions lol every body has one.
    i love nintendo and the direction they are taking the gaming industry its effect is already taking place with sony and their new bootleg controller and every body stop whinning cause you bought a 360 and feel like you've been had and no one cares about it but you. no need to be hurt to hear that not every body gives a crap about your 360 but most of the negative comments i am sure are coming from hurt 360 owners. it was just an article be greatful for this article and the peoples polled for giving their honest opinion i been a nintendo fan all my life and i always get crap from my friends for it so man up and stop being a bi.ch. and F all you racist out there. alot of you are showing your colors cause the people polled are hyped up about the release of the wii and its release will trully be a revolution i cant wait nintendo reigns supreme peace and love to all nintendo fans

  • CleptoPots

    Posted Oct 9, 2006 10:52 am PT

    I am glad to hear Kojima's comments, as I would like to see a future MGS on the 360. The rest of this article was no suprise, since the Japanese are completely ethnocentric in their gaming preferences.

  • SergeStorms

    Posted Oct 9, 2006 10:25 am PT

    There is an interesting disconnect between the developer poll and the big names themselves. I think the big names see the next gen as either up in the air or much more of a horse race. They say sales will dictate where their efforts go, not a Japanese centric view the majority seems to have from the poll results. The big names probably see that both Europe and the US are bigger markets and if either Sony or Nintendo don't do well, they will need to be ready. Plus they see 360 well on its way to being a force in those markets now, as opposed to next spring. This bodes well for developers in the US and Europe who aren't overly attached to a Japanese centric view.

  • ciryorel

    Posted Oct 9, 2006 10:24 am PT

    You see, it's because most of Japan loves the Nintendo and Sony. THey buy what's been familiar to them for years. Not a console from an alien country (sarcastic). Plus developers would make games for the Ps3 and wii because they know those systems will sell well in their country. But the 360 didn't do so good on the sales department. But it's okay because Microsoft has a massive lemmings base here in the U.S.

  • javajoe96work

    Posted Oct 9, 2006 10:16 am PT

    e_boulanger

    Thank God for you; an intelligent post. Let me counter you a little bit. Yes, when the Xbox 360 launched it did not have a lot of killer applications. Most launch titles are not killer apps. I will not deny that. PDZ was very average. And Kameo while it was enjoyable did not really break new ground. And while Dead Rising might not be the best game in the world, it has sold in large numbers and that means a lot. Dead Rising is a very genre game, if either love it or hate it. I disagree with you about Lost Planet just going to be another FPS. There is a lot more to this game then that basic generalization. I think that Splinter Cell will keep pretty close ties to the 360. And the new title was recently revealed as a 360 exclusive will stay that way. I see no reason for it not to; Ubisoft and Microsoft have been working together for a while. Japanese RPGs, all I will say to that is if it is being promoted as exclusive one would think it would be. I know you were trying to make a statement in regards to PS3 exclusives to Xbox 360 exclusives. You made a reference to Assassins Creed being a PS3 exclusive and they changed it to include Xbox 360. But that is not exactly true. I believe it was never announced as a PS3 exclusive it was just never announced on the 360. Back at e3 the storied popped up that it was running on 360 hardware but at time it was not announced on the 360.

    In this day and age of making console games, fewer and fewer third party games will be exclusive because of the size of the cost. They need to make that money back and the best way it wide release. So I think that is going to be harder and harder to find lots of killer exclusive titles. GTA 4 is a perfect example.

    Also Japanese market is hard to describe what will happen with the future of the 360 there. It looks bleak but you never know. Itagaki has been pretty loyal to the Xbox and Microsoft. While a Ninja Gaiden Stigma is being released on the PS3 it is not being done by Itagaki. He said he is making games for the 360. So some Japanese loyalty for the 360 does exist but it is not common place.

  • Monstromo

    Posted Oct 9, 2006 10:10 am PT

    e_boulanger, you are really just a troll, you say you are acknowledging certain games you don't know, but then say:

    "What I should have said is that the 360 exclusive (except for Halo and Forza) are generally too ordinary compared to the PS2/PS3 exclusive."

    Then, you go one and bash games that have already sold huge numbers.
    You are just insulting as many people you can. The numbers of people you are insulting is in the millions.

    So, here is a list of games I mentioned earlier that are coming out on the 360. Take note of Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey. These games are made by Microsoft Game Studios in partnership with the creator of FF and ex Square employess (nka, Mistwalker). You can't bash these exclusives since they are made by the guys who made the PS1/PS2 great.

    You just don't know what you talking about. That makes you a TROLL.

    Gears of War
    Blue Dragron
    Lost Odyssey
    Too Human
    Mass Effect
    Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom
    Alan Wake
    Crackdown
    Shadowrun
    Halo 3
    Fable 2
    Lost Planet

    Your discounting of PGR3, Splinter Cell, Dead Rising and Fable 2 makes you an immortal Troll. There is nothing ordinary about these games, including the ones that are part of a series.

    Please note I said Troll 3 times. That makes you exclusively a TROLL.

  • mikekabal

    Posted Oct 9, 2006 10:09 am PT

    terrabreak13 very true about Xbox Live. What sets it apart from Sony's online plan is that Microsoft is the one who maintains the service, and gets developers to support it with content. Now just look at Sony even with the PSP how they totted that you could download demos, and trailers to the memory stick, but Sony has just left it up to developers to choose to support it, now I can only imagine that Sony will take a similar approach with the PS3 leaving content up to the choice of developers, so i really don't think Sony's online plan has anything compared to the 360's.

  • sccUniverse

    Posted Oct 9, 2006 10:08 am PT

    Yeah, big surprise - Japanese don't like the XBox.

    Wii's gimmicky "appeal" WILL be short-lived, just watch. If it's really nothing more than a slightly upgraded Gamecube (as Miyamoto has said), people will quickly stop paying $250 for a system that is actually close to 5 yrs. old that could barely be sold for $99 for years now.

    PS3 graphic slook great but it doesn't matter how cool it looks or what it can do - consumers won't pay $500+ for a gaming system. Won't happen. If, at best, the PS3 is around $300 three years from now, it still will be doing awful. Sony needs to break that $299 mark as fast as possible.

  • terrabreak13

    Posted Oct 9, 2006 10:03 am PT

    Why do people say that the 360 doesn't support japanese games? Of course it does, it's the developers that don't support it.The article says that they care about sales but how can the system sell if they (the developers) don't support it?

    I've said once a while back that all these questions about Japanese choices will be answered when Blue Dragon releases. I consider this to a great Japanese game. It may even rival Dragon Quest in quality. If Japanese don't buy 360s for this game then we can conclude that they are biased.

    I've tried for the love of god to be excited about the Wii but I just don't get it. Last night I watched some downloaded trailers on my 360 in HD glory and I can't see why someone wouldn't want this. I spent hours playing Street Fighter II on arcade against people all over the world and I still can't figure out how someone wouldn't want this. Maybe it's just me but Live is the real nextgen innovation.

  • Vihlo

    Posted Oct 9, 2006 9:58 am PT

    In the end, it all really comes down to the quality titles available on the systems, sure the systems performance comes into play, but if it was solely on that fact the original xbox would of done way better then the PS2.

    This next upcoming "war" will be different I believe though, I'm seeing that alot of 3rd party developers are making games multiplatform then they did for last Generation systems. If this will be a true trait amoungst these upcoming consoles then I personally believe these statistics will be true. Nintendo has always had a very, very strong first party list of games. Sony has definately had a few but none on par with that of Nintendo and Microsoft really only has had 2 main titles that I can think of for the Xbox and that would be Halo and Fable. I exclude Ninja Gaiden because of recent news of Team Ninja making it multiplatform for at least the remake.

  • getoconnection

    Posted Oct 9, 2006 9:54 am PT

    PolishPunisher

    Same thing they said about the DS.

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