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Microsoft's first party studios and a history of Xbox launches
- Thread starter shinobi602
- Start date
Doug Heffernan
Member
Aaahhh the good ol' days...
when box art didn't clash with the top banner.
Look at how they actually incorporated green into the cover!
SpartanN92
Banned
Slight error regarding your Certain Affinity sections.
Sabre Interactive did Halo Anniversary, CA made the map packs for Anniversary.
Sabre Interactive did Halo Anniversary, CA made the map packs for Anniversary.
Yeah wrong first party sports game. The title of one of the best sports goes to Inside Drive.
China Dont Care
Banned
Bungie is not even 1st party anymore
Syphon Filter
Member
Naw i want PGR.
XtremeXpider
Member
Blinx was awesome but it wasn't no launch title!
Blinx was good, but I don't like the last levels.
umm... you first party dev listing is a bit wrong. Exclusive title != first party (or even second party). First party means wholly owned. Second party means partly owned (as in literally owning a part of). Mistwalker, Crytek and Epic are neither of those.
edit - and it seems Certain Affinity and Remedy are not even first or second party either?
edit - and it seems Certain Affinity and Remedy are not even first or second party either?
Syphon Filter
Member
They will announce their return on the 21st, Believe.
shinobi602
Member
SniperHunter
Banned
Original's Xbox launch was sooo good! Dat Halo CE
shinobi602
Member
Right.. I'm just saying you have a bunch of dev studios listed in the second part that are third parties. Somewhat confusing in a thread where you talk about MS first parties, and in a section where you say "There are again much more first-party studios that Microsoft currently has as well as "second parties"."
At the very least I would break them out into a "third party with some titles published by MS". Because there is no telling just because they had one or two games published by MS, that their next title will be exclusive, or heck, even coming to a MS system.
shinobi602
Member
I know, I stated why in the OP. I included "second parties". This thread is for both history and conjecture. They might, they might not release anything.
Syphon Filter
Member
I think DOA 3 should be up there for XBOX.
Ol No Bones
Banned
If a game like or a sequel to phantom dust ever gets announced next gen I'm gonna giggle and cry with joy. It won't happen.
Reluctant-Hero
Member
Excellent OP, it brought back some great memories. Man, I wish I still had that same confidence in MS that I had in 2001 and 2005. I'm expecting a shit show next week, but I hope I'm wrong.
I was referring more to power output than ring of death.
as you know, both microsoft consoles beat the competition in power (yes, even xbox 1.5).
they also beat the competition in other things, like features.
Not everything is roses though, never is - never will be, so that's why competition is always good.
Now, I had a couple of 360's die on me, but a) the microsoft warranty was good for anybody that wanted to use it, and
b) I also had my other console croak on me too, but with substantially less hours on the clock than the 360s.
Hopefully this time we can get from day 1 a powerhouse that will not melt under conditions, but between that and a lightweight spec machine with zero overheat chance, I will always prefer the former.
That's not second party. Second party is where the manufacturer actually has ownership stake in the development company. It's a separate company but the first party has a sizable share. The companies I mentioned are third party through and through with some titles published by MS.
It would be like saying Platinum Games is second party to Nintendo because Nintendo is publishing Bayonetta 2.
edit - a great example would be one of the devs in your post. Rare. Rare WAS originally a third party. Then Nintendo bought partial stake in Rare even though they remained an independent company, thus making them a second party to Nintendo. Then Nintendo sold their stake in to MS, who also bought the Stamper Bros. stake in the company, making them wholly owned by MS, aka a first party.
Crytek, Mistwalker, Epic, Certain Affinity and Remedy are all third parties.
dreamghost
Member
Forgot Amped freestyle snowboarding by the developer indie built.
umm.. No. It means the first party has a financial (controlling?) share of the development company, but the company is not owned by the first party.
Published by first party means published by first party.
The terms first, second and third party have nothing to do with video games. They are legal terms of ownership.
Monty Mole
Member
This.
Microsoft invested tons of money and physical resources in to the development of games like PGR and Gears. Even if they didn't develop them internally, they still provided people and resources to get the games done. For example, the internal MS team that worked with Bizarre on PGR eventually became Turn 10.
Publishing a game doesn't just mean paying a ton of money to secure the game exclusively. These days - especially from a first party standpoint - it also means working very closely with the developer and providing the resources required.
I mean, look at Insomniac, ThatGameCompany, Quantic Dream etc for examples of Sony working closely with 'third party' developers to create a 'first party' published game.
shinobi602
Member
Crytek is included because it's making an Xbox exclusive game (as this topic is about Microsoft's Xbox platform).
Epic is included because it most likely has some kind of deal going with Microsoft (obviously, given the Gears franchise), and as the topic is both for what we know Microsoft is doing as well as conjecture, it is included.
Certain Affinity will be edited since it only partially worked on Anniversary, and Remedy is included because, like Epic, it most likely has a deal going on with MS since Alan Wake is nowhere to be seen on any other console than Microsoft's. It's pretty easy to deduce where to go from there.
Again, the thread is for what we know, expectations, and speculations given history.
Rogue_Ledr
Banned
Man this thread really illustrates just how poor Microsoft's First Party offerings have been outside of Halo.
Most of the best first part offerings they've had aren't even from Microsoft studios. They were merely from independent studios and PUBLISHED by Microsoft like Alan Wake.
Most of the best first part offerings they've had aren't even from Microsoft studios. They were merely from independent studios and PUBLISHED by Microsoft like Alan Wake.
Eh...this same setup is how Sony established 90%+ of its current first party dev house.
You might have had a point if Rare's titles ( Kameo, Viva Pinata, BKN&B and yes even Kinect sports) didn't exist. not to mention Forza.
Alan Wake was easily one of the best games( if not the best) of 2010 for me. Day 1 purchase for a sequel at launch.
The launch window looks pretty bleak reading through the OP.
I would say its by a huge amount.
I would say its by a huge amount.
PopcornMegaphone
Banned
I thought the look and feel of AW was awesome, but the actual gameplay was terrible. I couldn't make it through the whole game.
HigherLevel
Member
Because exclusive games can only be fun if they're totally owned and developed by the console maker right?
true, but the difference is that MS hasn't really bought a whole lot this gen. Technically it's a smarter way of doing business. You can fund or just publish stuff, but don't have to carry the actual employment.. but without ironclad contracts, they have no way of guaranteeing that a new development will be offered to them exclusively.
It's why I am being a stickler. Mistwalker for example had a bunch of titles out for 360, but their last title released was Wii, and after that they've done iPhone. Maybe they will have an announcement at the Infinity reveal I guess.
I don't think that's his point at all.. I think his only real point is that if it's not first party, or second party/majority owned, it ends up being a gamble on if it's exclusive or not... of course for gamers, the fewer exclusives the better... but for the manufacturers, guaranteeing exclusives means they will (hopefully) sell consoles.. and by not being a first party, that guarantee is harder to make.
Well, to each his own and all that.
Ol No Bones
Banned
I wouldn't count on a mistwalker game.
Silly.Mikey
Banned
Anyone know where i can find a near mint copy of PGR3? Cant find that shit anywhere damnit
I'm of the same mind. I mean we've seen very little of it and I'm super intrigued by it.
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