Note: A 2nd party game is one that is developed by an independent company, but published by either Sony, Nintendo, or MS.
Maybe Sony's new method of getting exclusives for the ps3 is by offering to publish the games of small, yet promising, developers. Most newer dev companies have a hard time getting published, because they cannot afford to do so themselves (like Capcom and EA), and other potential publishers are turned off from the prospect of publishing games for an unproven developer. Because of this, it would be real easy for Sony to find smaller companies in desperate need of a publisher. They could then offer to publisht the game so long as it is exclusive to the ps3, making it a 2nd party game. The devs would be all about it, because they need a publisher, and being published by Sony means that they're game will definately get some publicity (remember how hyped Killzone was).
So far it does seem like Sony is going after the smaller companies (and as a result ignoring the bigger companies and losing exclusives like DMC). Look at all the smaller devs Sony is publishing games for so far: Ninja Theory (Heavenly Sword), Media Molecule (Little Big Planet), etc. Hell, you can even go back to the end of last gen, with Sony publishing Killzone for Geurilla (before they bought the studio).
Publishing games for fledgling dev companies would also help establich a bit of loyatly between the dev companies and Sony. Since Sony helped them get on their feet, they would be more apt to develop exclusives for the PlayStation brand in the future.
Also, though to a much lesser extent, these developers would be more likely to continue develpment on the ps3 because the majority of their experience would be with the ps3's unique architecture. They'd be more likely to stick with what they know.
Of course, it would take far less money to get a smaller company to make an exclusive game than swaying one of the big guns like Capcom to stay exclusive. MS has a hard enough time making a company go multiplat. For Sony to make a company as large as Capcom go exclusive, that would be a pain, and cost an assload of money.
This idea about Sony's new strategy for exclusives first came to me while reading up on Wardevil: Enigma. This game was originally going to both the ps3 and 360, but now its a ps3 exclusive.
I was thinking, is this game now 2nd party? I was wondering why they suddenly went exclusive and decided to build an engine designed specifically for the ps3, but if Sony is now publishing the game, it makes perfect sense as to why they would now do that. According to the official Wardevil site, "Currently, Digi-Guys is still bound by NDA's (Non Disclosure Agreements) and is unable to disclose any more information concerning our Publisher and/or Publishing plans for Wardevil. Formal announcements will be made in early 2007." Maybe Sony is now the publisher?
Also, the NDA thing fits right in line with what is happening with all the Sony 1st party exclusives (like KZ2). Sony seems real intent on keeping all info on its exclusives quiet until they are far into development. I could understand Sony wanting to keep this a little quiet, but not some random publisher.
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