15:44, Tuesday 5th January 2010
Exclusives sell consoles, but who will come out ahead in 2010. We have a clear winner...
2010 is already looking to be a great year for games, but in the forever wars of console conflict, it’s exclusives that count. We take a look at each of the console giant’s ten biggest guns and call our outright winner in the battle for 2010 console sales supremacy.
Game Of The Year? Too early to call, but it could be.
XBOX 360
1Game: Mass Effect 2
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: BioWare
ETA: 29 January
If we’re talking the simple math of how good something is, from an admittedly subjective viewpoint, having already played and completed the game, Mass Effect 2 is undoubtedly going to be one of, if not THE best game of the year. In this instance, the Xbox 360 has a trump card that even the likes of Heavy Rain and The Last Guardian will unlikely topple in the race toward achieving true greatness. It has done. It’s proven. We need no more convincing.
“PS3 is about to have a better year than Xbox 360.”
However, this is not that race. Here we’re having a stab at measuring the potential success of a platform-exclusive game or franchise and measuring it not on its likelihood to score only top marks when the time for review arrives, but instead on its ability to stir up both excitement and additional console sales. Mass Effect 2 is destined to be a stunning achievement. A landmark videogame. But will it sell Xbox 360’s? Probably not. Then there’s the fact that while it’s not coming to PS3, people also have the option to play it on PC.
PLATFORM SELL-FACTOR: 2/5
When the reviews hit, some may buy a console just to play it. Not many, though.
ANTICIPATION FACTOR: 4/5
Mass Effect has a loyal fanbase, but what it really needs is a new audience.
EXCLUSIVITY RATING: 6/10
2
Game: Halo: Reach
Publisher: Microsoft
Developer: Bungie
ETA: 24 September
Halo still has an army of fans and let’s face it, Halo games are fun. But there are also inherent problems in maintaining a persistent universe involving the same central character, especially in a prequel. Restrictions on innovation for the sake of consistency have us believing right now that Reach is going to be just more Halo. No more, no less. Die-hard fans will love it, while the rest of us will sigh, shrug and probably play it half-heartedly anyway.
PLATFORM SELL-FACTOR: 1/5
Halo will sell to Halo fans. Halo fans already have consoles.
ANTICIPATION FACTOR: 5/5
There is still an army of millions who will never let the dream die.
EXCLUSIVITY RATING: 6/10
More Halo. A lot of people want that. More and more people care less.
3
Game: Fable III
Publisher: Microsoft
Developer: Lionhead
ETA: November
Peter Molyneux is certainly the man to watch if you want to hear some exceptionally enthusiastic sound bites about what Natal can do for you. Just check out our exclusive interview with him on that very subject. Fable III has a huge task ahead of it; to not only sell Xbox 360s, but also to convince the world that we all need Natal.
PLATFORM SELL-FACTOR: 4/5
If anything’s going to shift Natal-equipped Xbox 360s this coming Christmas, it’s Fable III.
ANTICIPATION FACTOR: 3/5
We’re actually bored of anticipating the next Fable game. Tired of it and we can feel those vibes echoing across the internet.
EXCLUSIVITY RATING: 8/10
… continued
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