Why aren’t exclusive games selling better?
We’ve all heard the argument that exclusives on PS3 dominate the Xbox 360 and thus make the PS3 the better console. One could argue that to be true without a doubt. There are more intriguing exclusives on the PS3 but what does that really matter when no one is buying them?
The latest NPD software results in August suggest that there are no exclusives in the top 10 software sales … not even on Xbox. So as much as I love a good exclusive, do they really account for much success on consoles?
Top 10 Software Sales August
Darksiders 2 (360, PS3, PC)
New Super Mario Bros 2 (3DS)
Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance (3DS)
NCAA Football 13 (360, PS3)
Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes (Wii, 360, NDS, PS3, 3DS, PSV, PC)
Sleeping Dogs (360, PS3)
Transformers: Fall of Cybertron (360, PS3)
Batman: Arkham City (360, PS3, PC)
Call of Duty: Black Ops (360, PS3, NDS, Wii, PC)
The Amazing Spider-Man (360, PS3, NDS, 3DS, Wii)
Now it’s true that there hasn’t been a top exclusive released lately but even when they are, they quickly fade or they quickly get overtaken by a multiplatform game. I don’t think people are as interested these days in exclusives. Black Ops 2 will likely be the top selling game this year.
Yes, I’m predicting even Halo 4 will fail to outsell it. PS3′s exclusives won’t fair any better if they even release this year. Do they even have one releasing this year? Will The Last of Us make it? PlayStation All Stars won’t topple any software sales.
So my question is do these exclusives even matter and are developers shooting themselves in the foot making them considering the cap on exclusive sales?
September 7th, 2012 at 11:36 am
I really don’t believe that “exclusives” are what makes a console successful or not. Honestly I would look at games that are on multiple platforms that way you can see what people prefer to play the games on, that will give a better perspective.
Also, I personally don’t look to see if a game is exclusive or not. That is not going to make me want to buy a game more.
September 7th, 2012 at 1:14 pm
I guess it depends on the exclusive game wheather or not it’s successful. The Halo and the Gears of War series I’m sure have helped boost the sales of the XBOX 360. Heck, Gears of War was the game that got me sold on buying the XBOX 360!
Like Lady F previously said, I don’t look at exclusives as a preference to buy it or not. I’m more focused on wheather it’s a good game or not. Sony looks to have a good lineup of exclusives next year with The Last of Us, God of War, and Beyond: Two Souls. Microsoft has Gears of War: Judgement next year but I don’t know if it’s going to do anything to top Gears of War 3.
September 7th, 2012 at 1:40 pm
You need exclusives to differentiate a console, or there would be no point in owning more than one console. Like lets say the Ps4 got all the multiplatform games, then there would be no reason for me to buy Microsoft’s next Xbox without exclusives to add incentive to buy the thing.
Now about this NPD… It’s U.S. only, and there was nothing exclusive that came out for retail. That is why there isn’t anything in the top ten. Hell, it’s been awhile since we’ve got top notch exclusives… I hope you don’t count Kinect games DEac. lol
September 7th, 2012 at 2:02 pm
LMAO @ Kinect games no i don’t count those.
September 7th, 2012 at 2:07 pm
Now what is really scary is the poor sales… Hell, Darksiders 2 only sold 247k and those numbers include the PC. Good games like Transformers: Fall of Cybertron (105k) & Sleeping Dogs did very poorly.
September 8th, 2012 at 11:43 am
Deac, where is my other post man?
September 8th, 2012 at 11:50 am
what other post?
September 8th, 2012 at 1:03 pm
Weird… I’m talking about the one above my previous post. It magically appeared.
Thanks Deac man, now go play your Awesome Kinect games. lol
September 8th, 2012 at 3:39 pm
damn Fall of Cybertron only sold 105K?
September 8th, 2012 at 9:37 pm
Transformers games are FAIL
LOL
September 10th, 2012 at 8:57 am
i’d say Transformers got what most previously successful games do and that’s a big head .. they didn’t reach out to the community as much as they did on the first game .. get a little success and forget what got you there .. that’s how it goes. that’s unfortunate because i really enjoyed the demo.
now if they measure success as such then i guess it’s a win for them.