Microsoft have taken aim at Sony, stating that 360 exclusives focus on quality, and not quantity. In a recent interview with GameInformer (via GI.biz), Phil Spencer, corporate vice president of Microsoft Studios sought to explain strategy regarding console exclusives.
“It’s about quality and impact, not number of releases in a year. Creating core IP, as many first-and third-parties have seen over the years, isn’t an easy thing. I went through the process of creating Gears with Epic and I know the sweat, time, and effort that went into it.”
Spencer then took his shot at Sony, stating that Microsoft’s plan was not to remaster old franchises via HD rereleases.
“They’ve done a great job at selling old franchises with HD remakes,” he said, noting that despite the success of Halo: Anniversary, Microsoft had no intention of selling gamers something they’d already played. He went on to mention some unannounced projects with no partners.
“So it will continue to be something that we focus on with new partners like Crytek and new people that aren’t announced yet. We do think that it’s fundamental that core gamers look at 360 as the place they want to play games.”
MS needs more than reassuring talks – so far, their mind-share dominance has begun to wane. They now have fewer exclusives than before.
MS needs to find a creative way without any more financial expenses. Partnering is good but still cost a bit of money.
I agree, and hopefully their unannounced partnerships yield some fruit in the long run. The general trend amongst gamers is to get a PS3 for the Sony exclusives, and get a 360 for the social aspect and “timed” exclusives.
In my opinion, that needs to change, and fast.
I’d like to see them take a few risks as well, it’s all very well having Halo 4, 5 and 6, but it’s not anything that we’ve not seen before (and this is coming from a self-proclaimed Halo fan). With Gears and Halo, someone initially made the decision to take a risk on those franchises as new and exclusive IPs, as it turns out they didn’t work out too badly. But they need to make moves like that more often if they truly want to market themselves as innovators. Sure, there will be some dead ducks, but hey that’s all part of the process.
I await with baited breath to see what comes out of these unannounced exclusives, I just hope that someone high up has been a little brave.