I love these stories. I know full well that this is exactly what Microsoft executives are supposed to say, but it's still hilarious whenever they do say it, as if that's their impartial and genuine opinion. The latest Microsoft executive to say that the Xbox 360 has the best games is Xbox LIVE Europe general manager Jerry Johnson.
"I'll come back and say that Xbox has the best games out there. It's got the best first-person shooter games out there," explains Jerry. "The exclusives we've had over the past years and what we had going into this holiday prove the point that this is still very much at its heart a gaming console.
"There's nothing we're going to change with that. You will start to see us, though, do things that are broader marketing and start to expose some of the things that are broader than just first-person shooters."
Johnson denied that Microsoft would go the way of Nintendo and cast the so-called "core" gamers out into the barren fields: "My wife doesn't like the fact I game sometimes. I'm still going to go game sometimes. There's nothing we're going to change that's going to not focus on those customers more. In fact, not just this year but in the next year, we'll continue to do features that are targeted at that hardcore gamer. At the same time we are going to start to do things that appeal to both the hardcore gamer and the broader user, and continue to do things and start to do more targeted at the broader user specifically."
I'd say that, in the past, Microsoft's "best games out there" comment would have held true. At the time of writing, however, I'm going to have to back the PS3's corner and say that, really, the Xbox 360 hasn't had a lot of hot exclusive action lately. This year, Sony has had Killzone 2, Uncharted 2, Critter Crunch, inFAMOUS, Demon's Souls, all sorts of exclusives that people have loved. I can really only think of Halo Wars and Halo 3: ODST for the 360 this year.
Oh, and let's not forget next year: Heavy Rain, God of War III and MAG all look pretty amazing to me.
Playstation? More like GAYstation!
Nintendo? More like NintenDONT!
It's good to play together. Jump in!
This dude said the EXACT same thing a month ago, and now he's admitting it. Desperate times...
What Jim said. The dude is spouting nonense without actually naming games: Jim gave some excellent examples, and he even forgot Demon's Souls, Katamari Forever, and Sigma 2 (Love it or hate it, it's getting good reviews): there's so many good PS3 exclusives this year you can't even keep track!
But yeah, seriously, why don't these people just shut up. We already KNOW what they're going to say... They all value their jobs too much to actually say something 'truthful' let alone 'meaningful.'
Also Jim, were those direct quotes? That guy sounds a pizza chef.
Next year looks ok, but as of right now PS3 is the strongest in terms of recent exclusives. God of War 3 is the game that's going to make me pick one up, if I can find a backwards compatible one that's less than $400. Just like the PSP the PS3 took a few years to overcome a slow start, but is really doing well now in terms of games.
Bring me a ps3 exclusive star ocean 5 and then we'll talk.
Seriously though, this is the first time since my console gaming began back in '01 (I know, deprived childhood, right?) that I've actually wished I'd owned a Playstation. They have a damn good catalogue right now. If I weren't so bogged down with wanted to buy guitar stuff and unemployment, I'd totally be saving for a Slim right now.
Shareholders, mostly.
Just sell your 360 and get a cheap PS3. Maybe Sony'll have that "get a Sony credit card get $100 off a PS3" deal again.
Plus you'll save money in the long run with free online play.
If you stick to only one of the three consoles, then you're only insuring that you're going to miss out on some of the best games of this generation.
And this is why you need me as your ombudsman. It's not a balanced argument unless we truly rub it in the other team's faces.
And yes, Heavy Rain will be amazing.
uncharted 2 = win
xbox has a few jucy games coming out I might buy an arcade to satisfy:
alan wake
splinter cell
Forza 3 (I know GT5 wil blow it outta the water but I need a new car porn fix for now)
Looks like the "console war" is changing sides!
More First Person Shooters =/= More good games
It's like Nintendo saying we have the most games on our systems and that must mean we have to have the most good ones.
**checks sky for brimstone and hellfire**
How about that??
The retail 360 exclusives have certainly fallen off as of late, but I've been absolutetly loving their recent XBLA games (Trials HD, 'Splosion Man and Shadow Complex), the Indie Games channel, and especially their GTA4 DLC.
Either way, I'll keep playing multi-platform games on my 360. I like the controller better.
That said, I'm assuming that those 'exclusives' actually get released and are in fact exclusive for longer than 5 mins.
This year we have had some great stuff on the XBLA though don't forget.
I don't have a Wii yet, but it's hard to argue that Nintendo isn't one of the very best (if not the best) software developers. As long as they're making games for the Wii, then it will have some of the best games around. I understand what you're saying, though. The particular logic they used in that statement made no sense.
More on topic, some of the best selling and highest rated games on the PS3 have been first person shooters, as well. Both companies have great games in other genres, but besides games like Forza or Uncharted, the FPS's get most of the hype.
Anyway, these PR folks are paid (very well) to be the biggest cheerleaders in the world for their companies. They would be idiots to not do it, and we would be idiots to swallow it all.
no?
Well this is just wrong Microsoft, just wrong.
Splinter Cell and ME 2 are not exclusives, and there's an extremely good chance Alan Wake will also not be an exclusive. The plans to put it on PC are apparently "up in the air".
@ waxximis,
L4D2 is not an exclusive.
Come on people.. wake up!
I would take a ps3 over an xbox (in fact, I did). So, we cancel each other out.