The Accidental Exclusive, Or, Some Not-So-Subtle Ways In Which the Playstation 3 Remains An Afterthought Among Third Party Developers
N'Gai Croal
Despite the PlayStation 2's utter dominance during the previous console cycle, we began to notice a trend emerging from casual conversations with developers: many of them were doing the bulk of their gaming on the Xbox. When asked, said game makers cited a variety of reasons, including better graphics, a wider selection of first-person shooters, and, of course, the superior online functionality of Xbox Live. This developer gap has only become more pronounced with the Xbox 360's yearlong head start and Sony's shockingly un-integrated Playstation Network feature set. We've spoken with a number of developers who don't even own PS3s; among those who do, several use it as nothing more than a Blu-Ray player. What's more, we've been to countless press events where third-party publishers are demonstrating their multiplatform games with nary a PS3 in the house. And when inquiries are made about its absence, we're greeted with a look that's either sheepish or knowing, as if it's now simply taken for granted that the PS3 version is of course lagging behind its Xbox 360 counterpart. Such is the state of PS3 development among third parties today.
We bring this up because, in our persistent state of naivete, we made yesterday what we thought was a simple request of Harmonix's PR firm. Having observed that all of the screenshots of the just-announced Rock Band in-game music store were taken from the Xbox 360 version, we inquired as to whether we could also obtain some screens of the PS3 version. Whereupon we were informed that no such screenshots existed, and that if we still wanted them, we'd have to wait until this morning. To which we replied, "For real? No-one on the team pulled screenshots for the PS3 version? Wow." Still, sensing the opportunity for a scoop, albeit a minor one, we nevertheless requested that said screens be sent our way.
As it turns out, the folks at Harmonix went into their lair much sooner than we'd been led to believe and procured four screenshots for us yesterday evening, one which you saw above, and three that will follow at the conclusion of this post. But we recount this tale to demonstrate the ways, both large and small, in which the PS3 remains an afterthought among game developers. And while the improved sales of PS3 in North America should ameliorate this situation--along with a European market in which the PS3 appears poised to regain its dominance--the fact remains that as much as Sony has lost market share among gamers, it has lost far more mind share among third party developers, publishers and even PR people, all of whom say that Microsoft is more responsive to their needs. We'll just add this to the list of problems that Sony will have to fix if it wants to reclaim its throne. (Scroll down to see the remaining screens.)
