• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Exclusive games are no longer important in selling consoles according to

Clarissa

Banned
Just want to drop by to let OP know I'm with him (her?) as s/he battles his Nintendrone friend. The updates on this epic battle are a joy to read.
See? If everyone could just lighten up and have a good laugh, everything would be so great.
All the best comedies/stand up comedies are about laughing at ourselves or people we know.

And we don't have to ban people anymore because we're all grown ups who can take a joke and look at things from a positive point of view.

Ya'll don't know but I laugh my ass off whenever I read posts by my friend.
 
Last edited:

Vaelka

Member
I think that the importance of them is a bit overblown, the overwhelming majority of people don't even buy the exclusives to begin with and it's a very small group of people that obsess about them.
Not saying that they aren't important but I think that people on social media and internet forums tend to be people who care more about it so the narrative becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Very few are '' gaming enthusiasts '' and even fewer very specifically care about exclusives on a certain platform.
In the case of Nintendo it's also a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy considering how they basically make all the games lol ( I am exaggerating but still ).
But I really have a hard time believing that there's some significant ( in the grand scheme of things ) portion of the gaming audience who sit around with a dorito smeared face screeching at the top of their lungs because they're convinced that God of War was the second coming of Christ.
Most people just play things and are like '' ok. ''.
Then they forget about it the next day.
And I think that most people just buy what the new big title is on the console they already own without thinking much about it too.

I don't think that a lot of people are really convinced by exclusives tbh, it's moreso people who are already invested just screeching about it.
If you listen to Sony fanboys you'd be under the impression that the PS4 was the only platform that had any good exclusives, PC isn't even mentioned at all and if you don't care for the Sony formula then you're not going to be persuaded by more of those games.
And Nintendo fanboys are pretty attached to their games in a similar way too.
Mobile gaming also have games that are exclusive to mobile and are played by and make way more money than any of these console exclusives.

But yes and no.
They do matter and do sell systems, but not to the extent that some people seem to think imo.
There's a lot of noise online, but that's all that it really is.
I think that word of mouth and hear'say matters more especially when it comes to selling to casual audiences, as well as fancy commercials and pictures.
But when it comes to exclusives it's mostly devs and platform holders jerking themselves off and getting a hand from the most devoted fanboys. And I think that exclusives are primarily directed at that particular audience and to build brand loyalty which ultimately a minority cares about.
 

kuncol02

Banned
You should see our group messages. He talks about Nintendo the moment he wakes up. And just before he sleep, he talks about Nintendo. And in between that, shit talking Sony.


I'm afraid his wife isn't sharing the same bed with him anymore. He might be having his 4 switches and 1 switch lite share the bed with him while his wife sleeps in the toilet.

Sounds like the guy might be a bit on the spectrum tbh, but are you sure you are friends? i would never trashtalk my friends behind their backs like a little bitch
 

Fart Knight

Al Pachinko, Konami President
facepalm.gif
 

Saruhashi

Banned
So is what my friend posted real?

He's been spreading a lot of fear/uncertainty and doubt in chat groups about the ps5 and there's quite a lot in our group who believe him and are getting the Xbox Series X instead of the ps5.

"there's quite a lot in our group who believe him and are getting the Xbox Series X instead of the ps5."

So actually you have "quite a lot" of friends who also agree that exclusive games are no longer important in selling consoles?

In fact, exclusives are so unimportant that some dude saying XBox is more powerful is enough to turn "quite a lot" of people from PS5 buyers to XBox buyers.

Um, if we look at this from your friends perspective he is kind of right.

People: Can't wait to get PS5 for the exclusives.
Some Guy: Actually, XBox is more powerful.
People: Oh shit! We'll get XBox instead then.
Some Guy: I guess exclusives aren't so important then.

I mean, his conclusion is logical if it's just based on the fact that your other friends are swayed by doubt and uncertainty over the power of PS5?
 

teezzy

Banned
People go where the games they want to play are. It's that simple.

The less and less I began to care about Nintendo and Sony's first part output, the more I doubled down on PC/Xbox... and inevitably became enamored with their exclusives as a result. :messenger_grinning_sweat:
 

Saruhashi

Banned
To take this seriously and have a stab at answering the question you have to do some research to be honest.

What's the average number of games sold per console?
What's the attach rate of exclusives?

Why do the "big 3" invest so much in exclusives?

If you look at the list of best selling videogames on Wikipedia (which may not even be accurate) there is a clear pattern that the best selling games of all time are wither Nintendo exclusive or multi-platform. I see one PS and one XBOX exclusive in the top 50.

In todays context that means considering the total number of console units sold neither PS4 nor XBOX ONE have managed over 19 million on a single exclusive game. Crazy.

From this gen alone Nintendo have Animal Crossing, Smash Ultimate and BotW on the top fifty list.

Is Minecraft not available on PS?

Best selling XBox exclusive is Halo 5 at 5 million units.
PS4 best seller is Uncharted 4 with an impressive 16 million.

For Sony I would be very surprised if the release of Spider-Man and God of War did not have an associated spike in console sales.
 

Clarissa

Banned
"there's quite a lot in our group who believe him and are getting the Xbox Series X instead of the ps5."

So actually you have "quite a lot" of friends who also agree that exclusive games are no longer important in selling consoles?

In fact, exclusives are so unimportant that some dude saying XBox is more powerful is enough to turn "quite a lot" of people from PS5 buyers to XBox buyers.

Um, if we look at this from your friends perspective he is kind of right.

People: Can't wait to get PS5 for the exclusives.
Some Guy: Actually, XBox is more powerful.
People: Oh shit! We'll get XBox instead then.
Some Guy: I guess exclusives aren't so important then.

I mean, his conclusion is logical if it's just based on the fact that your other friends are swayed by doubt and uncertainty over the power of PS5?

You really have to hand it to my friend as he's putting in a lot of effort these past few months to spread FUD about the PS5. (Twitter/Facebook/Whatsapp Chat Groups/Discord)

That the PS5 is struggling to run Resident Evil 8 at 1080p was spread quite widely by himself.
That Spiderman is a DLC sized game.
And that picture I linked with regards to the size of the PS5 compared to the Xbox Series S/X is really huge and that made quite a lot of people get turned off by the size. And he's also now spreading that PS5 might have heating issues that's why it has to be so big.

My friend used to work in the games industry so people do take his word as gospel. And these people aren't too bright to begin with.

I mean, at 41 years of age and being a console warrior to this extent and promoting Nintendo Switch/Stadia and Xbox 24/7 while having a job and a family is quite baffling..or commendable depending on how you look at it.
 
Last edited:

Bryank75

Banned
The source article stated their Net Cash formula, and if Nintendo is the highest they are the highest.

You're $33 billion in cash and equivalents doesn't take into liabilities which Net Cash does, and their formula states (which they even break out how to calculate it).

Goes to show you have no idea what you are talking about as you are comparing apples to oranges to begin with. There's a difference between Net Cash and only tabulating Cash+Equivalents.

No accountant in the world would get those terms mixed up. I'm not even a designated accountant and knew the difference just from remember accounting courses in high school and the two accounting courses I took in university.
.

What Is Net Cash?
Net cash is a figure that is reported on a company's financial statements. It is calculated by subtracting a company's total liabilities from its total cash. The net cash figure is commonly used when evaluating a company's cash flows.
Net cash as they call it, is normally referred to as the 'current ratio'....

As I said Sony, as a business is capital intensive and the ratio they are using is usually used when comparing business in the same sector or industry. So it makes little sense to compare using this method.... that's why you don't see any of Japans bigger companies on the list.... like Toyota.

Unfortunately it's just a very bad way to compare across a spectrum of industries.

That's why an analyst would create a list of peer companies and compare those first. That is what we did every day... we would download the latest data and there would be a list of comparable peer businesses.
 
Exclusive lineups only feel like a conversation piece for enthusiasts. The reality is it only takes one game to sell a console, and to your friend's point PlayStation exclusives have slowly been falling out of the zeitgeist since the start of this gen. When was the last time it felt like the gaming world was excited about a PS exclusive...Spider-Man?
 
Last edited:

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Net cash as they call it, is normally referred to as the 'current ratio'....

As I said Sony, as a business is capital intensive and the ratio they are using is usually used when comparing business in the same sector or industry. So it makes little sense to compare using this method.... that's why you don't see any of Japans bigger companies on the list.... like Toyota.

Unfortunately it's just a very bad way to compare across a spectrum of industries.

That's why an analyst would create a list of peer companies and compare those first. That is what we did every day... we would download the latest data and there would be a list of comparable peer businesses.
Your opinion about what is a good metric to judge a company on is meaningless.

The point was that website was stating Nintendo as a top Net Cash company in Japan, and you (being the self proclaimed expert accountant and US GAAP know it all) had no idea what they were talking about even though the source article even stated the formula they used which is a slew of assets and liability metrics to get a Net Cash number.

You bringing up an asset only metric like Cash + Cash Equivalents is not the same thing.

The least you can do on this forum is not BS you're an accountant.
 
Last edited:

Bryank75

Banned
Your opinion about what is a good metric to judge a company on is meaningless.

The point was that website was stating Nintendo as a top Net Cash company in Japan, and you (being the self proclaimed expert accountant and US GAAP know it all) had no idea what they were talking about even though the source article even stated the formula they used which is a slew of assets and liability metrics to get a Net Cash number.

You bringing up an asset only metric like Cash + Cash Equivalents is not the same thing.

The least you can do on this forum is not BS you're an accountant.
I didn't say I was an accountant, I said that I studied accounting and finance and worked in the quant section of a large financial analysts.

I admit I didn't read the article previously due to it being in japanese when I clicked on it and I didn't think it would be worth it to spend the time translating and reading the details. That is all I am guilty of...

I really didn't think anyone would be petty enough to argue about the details. The fact is that sony has over 3 times the cash and equivalents of Nintendo and the reason this method benefits Nintendo is because they are not a capital intensive business unlike Sony who also make TV's, chips, audio equipment, medical devices, professional cameras and sensors, require large R&D investment and automated factories and are at the cutting edge of technology.


While the screen on Switch can be bought for 2 dollars on Alibaba.
 
Last edited:
D

Deleted member 471617

Unconfirmed Member
He's not completely wrong. Sony and Microsoft can easily survive without exclusives because of all the insane third party support. Nintendo though needs their exclusives and nostalgia to succeed. They know the importance of third party support which is why they will be releasing Switch Pro in early 2021 because they need to get ports of next gen titles.

Exclusives are great and all but the vast majority simply don't give a shit about them. Vast majority simply care much more about COD, Destiny, Fortnite and other online multi-player games than they do about exclusives. There's a reason why no PS4 exclusive has hit 20m but yet, COD sells over 20m every year because that's what the vast majority of gamers are going to play.

If Sony and Microsoft were to eliminate exclusives, they would still be very successful because of all the third party games, ease of access, cheaper entry point and where the majority of your friends would be. For Nintendo though, if you subtract their exclusives, they will have the opposite outcome. You can see it with N64, Gamecube and Wii U. Exclusives will only take you so far until you realize that you need everything else to become a "complete package".
 

JimboJones

Member
What the hell kind of thread is this 😂, next we'll be posting random conversations from the corner shop on console opinions.

"Well Frank down the pub said Xbox was shit, what a dope!"
 
Last edited:

Ozrimandias

Member
In my case, if it weren't because I'm a fan of
Bloodborne
God of war
Spiderman
Person
Demons Souls
Naughty Dog and everything it has to offer
Guerrilla Games and Killzone and Horizon.

I am very sure that I would buy an Xbox, but for me, exclusives are the primary purchase factor.

If Playstation doesn't have the exclusives that it has, it will be a very inferior console than Xbox in fact.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
He's not completely wrong. Sony and Microsoft can easily survive without exclusives because of all the insane third party support. Nintendo though needs their exclusives and nostalgia to succeed. They know the importance of third party support which is why they will be releasing Switch Pro in early 2021 because they need to get ports of next gen titles.

Exclusives are great and all but the vast majority simply don't give a shit about them. Vast majority simply care much more about COD, Destiny, Fortnite and other online multi-player games than they do about exclusives. There's a reason why no PS4 exclusive has hit 20m but yet, COD sells over 20m every year because that's what the vast majority of gamers are going to play.

If Sony and Microsoft were to eliminate exclusives, they would still be very successful because of all the third party games, ease of access, cheaper entry point and where the majority of your friends would be. For Nintendo though, if you subtract their exclusives, they will have the opposite outcome. You can see it with N64, Gamecube and Wii U. Exclusives will only take you so far until you realize that you need everything else to become a "complete package".
To me, I think Nintendo's success isn't even their exclusives. They always are consistent in reviews and high sales attach ratio. And every one since N64 has a Mario, Zelda, Kart, Smash.

It's whether their new console, which always is a new way of playing (Wii, Wii U, Switch, first analog stick gamepad) or form factor (GC) catches on with the public.

The prices of their systems is always in that $199-299 range with exception of Wii U deluxe at $350, so price isn't a big driver either like a typical Nintendo gamer mulling over a $400-500 Xbox or PS.
 
Last edited:

MiguelItUp

Member
For consoles, exclusives most certainly matter. Amazing exclusives on a platform give it more leverage and attention.

I don't think I've ever met anyone that bought a console because "it was stronger", they bought it because it had their favorite exclusive games on it. Or they were coming in the future.
 

oagboghi2

Member
You really have to hand it to my friend as he's putting in a lot of effort these past few months to spread FUD about the PS5. (Twitter/Facebook/Whatsapp Chat Groups/Discord)

That the PS5 is struggling to run Resident Evil 8 at 1080p was spread quite widely by himself.
That Spiderman is a DLC sized game.
And that picture I linked with regards to the size of the PS5 compared to the Xbox Series S/X is really huge and that made quite a lot of people get turned off by the size. And he's also now spreading that PS5 might have heating issues that's why it has to be so big.

My friend used to work in the games industry so people do take his word as gospel. And these people aren't too bright to begin with.

I mean, at 41 years of age and being a console warrior to this extent and promoting Nintendo Switch/Stadia and Xbox 24/7 while having a job and a family is quite baffling..or commendable depending on how you look at it.
So now he used to work in the game industry? Is he everyone's uncle that worked at Nintendo? 🙄

Exclusive lineups only feel like a conversation piece for enthusiasts. The reality is it only takes one game to sell a console, and to your friend's point PlayStation exclusives have slowly been falling out of the zeitgeist since the start of this gen. When was the last time it felt like the gaming world was excited about a PS exclusive...Spider-Man?
According by sales number, the last time was this year
 

Clarissa

Banned
So now he used to work in the game industry? Is he everyone's uncle that worked at Nintendo? 🙄

No. He opened a video games shop many years ago and his shop was very well known for providing excellent service and his staffs were all extremely friendly.

But he was forced to close due to increasing rental costs and the increasing trend towards people getting games digitally made it worse.
 
Last edited:
I would agree... To a point. Lots of people jumped to the PS4 due to better playing 3rd party games. If you aren't a big single player fan the PS5 might be less appealing because their exclusives are typically single player experiences.
 

Aion002

Member
Friends says the darnedest things via messages...
Sony has already been making PS4 “exclusive” games available on pc and as recently as 2 weeks ago said they plan on moving even more to pc. In my experience Sony fans get mad about this for some crazy reason.

tumblr_or1or9Rasr1qk7bkio2_500.gifv



Xbox warriors use this as a weapon to say that the PS5 is not worth it because it won't have exclusives, since Sony, supposedly, will release games on PC.


But they don't know which games and when Sony is gonna bring them to the PC..... Yet, the next Xbox is the only console that doesn't have a single exclusive and, those same warriors, when questioned why buy an Xbox if everything is on PC, answer that they rather play on the couch or some other thing that doesn't magically apply to the PS5.


So Sony fans gets angry because:

tenor.gif



And stupidity makes people angry..... Which turns them stupid....


console-wars-in-a-nutshell
 
S

SLoWMoTIoN

Unconfirmed Member
No much worse than that.

In a single generation Sony did what Sega never could and ended Nintendomination forever. For a certain kind of emotionally sick individual this was the most violating event of their lives. Some of us remember 9/11, they remember the PS1.

And the continued unstoppable success of the PlayStation brand has just been salt in a very old wound.
Welcome back Freeman Freeman
 

Katajx

Member
Sony's first party titles definitely have quality, but I spend much more time and money on 3rd party games. I've probably purchased most of the Sony first party exclusives this gen and only finished 3. If i can play Devil May Cry, Final Fantasy, Resident Evil, Monster Hunter, Avengers, Cyberpunk, Assassin's Creed, MGS(RIP), and even Bethesda games on another box or PC then I will. It's actually pretty amazing the number of platforms and options we have to play our games on. In the PS2/OG Xbox days it seemed like certain games were locked to particular certain platforms. As long as we are playing our favorite games then we all win in my book.
 
No much worse than that.

In a single generation Sony did what Sega never could and ended Nintendomination forever. For a certain kind of emotionally sick individual this was the most violating event of their lives. Some of us remember 9/11, they remember the PS1.

And the continued unstoppable success of the PlayStation brand has just been salt in a very old wound.

1585339815831.jpg


You can always try again.
 
Top Bottom