gofreak said:
Oh for Natal specifically? Yeah I can see it happening in a few cases. For the wand too by Sony, perhaps.
I just mean more generally I think their financial support of third parties falls under the marketing support banner. You could talk about moneyhats for exclusives too, but that's less about getting them to make the game for your system (which they were going to do anyway) and more about getting them to make it ONLY for your system. I think 'marketing support' is the more general publisher support ms/sony give for all kinds of games (exclusive/non-exclusive/whatever), outside of cases where you're trying to get something exclusively, and when you're trying to drum up support for an untested/risky opportunity (like wand/natal)
That basically
is a moneyhat, though. It's just legally sanctioned.
Let's say I want you to provide me a service. I pay you 5 dollars for that service, and you go and spend that on food.
Now let's say, instead, I want you to provide me a service, and I buy you 5 dollars worth of food as a bonus.
What's the difference? You were going to buy food anyway. Similarly, you were going to have to market your game anyway.
(
Rant on) I've stated why I deplore this behavior before: because it distorts the market place. Let's be realistic here: Sony and Microsoft are both behaving this way in the hopes of capturing a dominant, monopolistic hold with their "convergence boxes." They want a Windows-esque monopoly where the music, movies, games, and other media which enter your living room first go through them. Does anyone argue with that premise?
Well, if and when one of them actually accomplishes that goal, you can rest assured the money hats will cease. What would be their motivation to continue? Microsoft would treat the console industry just like it now treats the PC gaming industry: it basically ignores it, because what are the developers going to do when there's no viable alternative?
And then publishers will suddenly be faced with a market where their products actually have to be self sustaining. As more of an industry observer than actual purveyor, I really deplore this practice. It provides short term gain at the cost of the long term health of the market.
/rant off