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Agent's console exclusivity explained photo

In this day and age developing for a single console is pretty risky, unless that console is the Wii and you're developing a game starring a Nintendo character or exercise. The general logic is that because games cost so much you want them out in front of everyone in order to make the most money. Hence games like Grand Theft Auto are no longer Playstation exclusives. However, Rockstar's next game, Agent, will be exclusive to the PS3 as was briefly announced at Sony's E3 press conference and then further hyped.

Why go down this road? Take-Two's president Ben Feder explains. "The trade-offs a publisher will typically make is, if you're platform-agnostic, you get a larger installed base. You're platform exclusive when you get the right kind of support from first parties," he said, going on to to explain, "At this phase in the cycle, when you're trying to launch a new franchise, exclusivity can really help you launch the franchise. It can give you the kind of platform that you need to start exclusive, start in the right kind of way with the right kind of partner. Exclusivity does work." Finally rounding it all up by pointing out that early GTAs never had any problems being console exclusives and Sony helped the games get where they are today.

Maybe I'm just jumping to conclusions here, but the way Feder was talking it sounded like Agent's PS3 exclusivity is not a permanent thing. In which case the move is even smarter since, as he notes, being a console exclusive gives you a crap ton of press that you wouldn't get if you were in bed with both consoles. So if it turns out that the game does come to the 360 remember where you heard it first.


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31 comments | showing # 1 to 31

DinnertimeNinja's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/07/2009 21:07
DinnertimeNinja
He said exclusivity helps when you launch a new franchise. That doesn't sound wishy washy at all.

The only thing it sounds like he's saying is that FURTHER installments of the game might go multiplatform.

I'm not saying this game WON'T go to 360 ever, but nothing he said seems to lean in that direction at all. If anything, it sounded more like he was trying to dance around the question and not say "Sony gave us a crap-ton of money, that's why."
Trevor McGee's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/07/2009 21:15
Trevor McGee
So why is Sony getting two console exclusives from Rockstar? Did Sony give them that much money?
brownpig's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/07/2009 21:27
brownpig
Sounds more like Agent 1 is exclusive to PS3, and Agent 2 is multi-platform.. Agent is such a boring name for a game though...
Dexter345's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/07/2009 21:31
Dexter345
I thought Sony took potshots at Microsoft for buying exclusives.
NihonTiger90's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/07/2009 21:37
NihonTiger90
"I thought Sony took potshots at Microsoft for buying exclusives."

They did, until they realized, they could do the exact same thing.
zer0faults's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/07/2009 21:38
zer0faults
Did anyone care to tell Rockstar that the PS2 had the largest install base at the time of the GTA releases? Console exclusivity on a system that had 70% of the market is a lot smarter then doing it on a console that has the least install base. While I think the game is going to fail, I think its pretty much shooting itself in the foot at this point.
Magnalon's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/07/2009 21:44
Magnalon
@zer0faults
"While I think the game is going to fail"
Future googles! It's really awesome that you can see that a franchise from a near flawless developer will fail upon release!

If you're worried about how a PS3 Exclusive might fail: see Uncharted, specifically, among others.
Volomon's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/07/2009 21:48
Volomon
I won't deny there's some money or monetary support, whether through massive advertising or letting them use highly skilled programers. However to suggest they do anything beyond the usual or to suggest they lower themselves to the stupidity of paying 50MIL up front for DLC, is ridiculous. Not offense but nobody can be as dumb as Microsoft when it comes to buying content.

I'm not saying they don't offer incentives by the way, just saying they don't make dumb deals. DLC or Rockstar Exclusive?

Also if we're comparing this to GTA as far as how soon we'll see it on the Xbox, then we got a few releases to wait, Matthew.

Though on a side not whether they are or are not exclusives, maybe they want to make a decent game before they lower the standards, so it can go on the Xbox?
zer0faults's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/07/2009 22:19
zer0faults
@Magnalon
I didn't say it will, I said I think it will. When I put my future goggles on I will start my sentences with "Your lord has proclaimed from his future visions that ..."
nakedstud's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/07/2009 22:28
nakedstud
@zerofaults
"I didn't say it will, I said I think it will."

... riighht... putting "i think" in front of the statement just reinforces the original point. maybe try saying "i think it MIGHT fail" next time if you want to sound less like a goddamn fanboy
Togail's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/07/2009 23:08
Togail
nakedstud & zer0: Nerds fighting other nerds is awesome!
AgentMOO's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/07/2009 23:13
AgentMOO
It's good to see some honesty on the exclusivity deals here instead of the typical "only possible on X system" lines. This sounds pretty reasonable when you think about this in the context of how bad a franchise launch can go when you over-invest in multiplatform like in the case of Kane and Lynch.
Havoc Fang's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/07/2009 23:45
Havoc Fang
See, now they've said it, I just noticed that other series have done it...

Mass Effect 2 is multiplatform, right? Saints Row, Lost Planet. It makes a good bit of sense.
WarZombie's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/07/2009 23:57
WarZombie
Comparing this to GTA is dumb, because those games also made it to the Xbox sooner or later. So did a few other franchises that Rockstar has released over the past few years. Not trying to sound fanboyish, but look at the facts: Red Dead Revolver, Manhunt, Bully, GTA, etc. were all released at some point on other platforms (Not just Xbox, but PC and Wii, too), even after timed exclusivity on a PlayStation platform. This is just my theory, and the fact that they said this further enforces that they want to get their feet on the ground with Agent on just one platform (And what better company than the one that they launched GTA on?), and if it's successful enough, release it on other platforms as well (PC and 360 are the most likely candidates).

Again, these are just my thoughts. It's just very hard for me to believe that Rockstar would just release this on one platform, unless Sony aid them off big time (Which, for a totally new franchise, would be an ass-ton of money).
Professor Pew's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/08/2009 00:29
Professor Pew
The only true exclusives I can think of is Chinatown Wars and Liberty City Stories. I'm sure Lost and Damned will make its way to PC and PS3 one way or another at some point too :)
TimDJ84's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/08/2009 01:39
TimDJ84
Ok.so here is the deal.Before the big three came out with their consoles,Rockstar signed an exclusivety deal for three games with the Sony company,not necessarily PS3 but anyhow.So those believing this will be on 360 as well are probably mistaken.Unless you really believe Rockstar will break a contract like that
hpv's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/08/2009 01:41
hpv
If they do it right as a PS3 exclusive it very well could be more trouble (read: cost) than it's worth to do a direct port and we'll end up with The Agent 2 being multi-platform. But if they're just iterating on the GTA4 engine then a direct port would almost seem guaranteed at some point down the road. Assuming that it's successful enough to warrant that, obviously.
Chronic Logic's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/08/2009 02:52
Chronic Logic
Wait, Sony has money to bribe people with? I thought only M$ was capable of that. Also, is Ben Feder on crack? NONE of the early GTA games were Sony exclusive titles.
munkee's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/08/2009 03:34
munkee
@chronic

I thought all the GTA's where sony exclusive up until san andreas? Didn't the xbox get them all on one disk or sumthin a bit later down the line?
JustLikeBuck's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/08/2009 03:45
JustLikeBuck
Sounds like what happened to Bioshock - new franchise, exclusive until it became popular (which exclusivity excited the popularity). Then multiplat to help pay the bills.
ChaosTeaCup's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/08/2009 04:38
ChaosTeaCup
Munkee.

GTA, GTA London, and GTA2 where all multiplatform. GTA3 is where the exclusivity started.

I wonder if the Sony Rockstar backlash will quieten down now that Sony are getting their very own (potentially temporary) exclusive?
I hope so. This is a dev house that deserve respect, even if you didn't (or pretended you didn't) like their las t GTA game.
Windmill's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/08/2009 05:57
Windmill
360 owners don't need to fret, I'm sure it'll eventually go multiplatform, like the majority of 360's "exclusives". Its timed.
SidewaysMatty's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/08/2009 06:09
SidewaysMatty
This is smart thinking from Rockstar, it might give them a chance to just focus on making a good game first by just making it on one system, and then milk the cash cow later with DLC, ports, sequels and even paid exclusive deals (assuming this "start small" explanation isn't a cover up for what is already a paid exclusive deal).
Paroxysm's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/08/2009 07:47
Paroxysm
Using GTA as an example is just weird since no game in the series has been exclusive other than a few handheld entries.
munkee's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/08/2009 08:19
munkee
@ ChaosTeaCup

So, the original GTA's [before 3] where on what platforms? I remember them on psx and PC. Where they on any other system? I realize this does make them mulitplatform. I was just wondering what other platforms
Solgrim's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/08/2009 09:17
Solgrim
It may be exclusive for just a while. But that is a looooooooooooong while.
ChaosTeaCup's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/08/2009 09:31
ChaosTeaCup
Munkee...Yeah, as far as I remember they were on PS1 and PC. Ok, that's multiplat to me, but not in the same sense we see multiplat today. If you didn't experience those games on PC, it's worth a look, as those games really benefit from the super high resolutions that the old PS1 SD visuals couldn't get close to.
Qraze's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/08/2009 10:09
Qraze
sony gave up the add ons for gta4 to have this game exclusive. i called this shit a year ago. same thing with the fallout dlc, i knew a goty edition would come out and include all the dlc.
munkee's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/09/2009 08:03
munkee
@ChaosTeaCup

Yeah man.. I modded the shit out of the first GTA [pc]. Got so many hours out of that game its unreal :D
Necros_PCG's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/16/2009 11:35
Necros_PCG
If it ends up on the PC, good, if not - I don't care about this game...
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