Microsoft blocked PS3 Tales of Vesperia

By Robert Purchese Published 20 June, 2011

Paid to keep JRPG a Western 360 exclusive.

Microsoft paid Namco Bandai to keep Tales of Vesperia a Western Xbox 360 exclusive.

That's why the belated, expanded PlayStation 3 version never made it outside of Japan.

"Microsoft paid for the exclusivity the same way Sony paid for having Heavy Rain only on PS3," revealed Namco Bandai community manager Charlotte Toci in a Facebook post caught by RPG Site.

"It's just one way the business works, sadly.

"Those decisions are made really high up y'know, we do try and give them the max of fan feedback, but sometimes it's just out of our hands."

Tales of Vesperia, an overlooked JRPG, comes thoroughly recommended by Eurogamer.

"Namco is to be applauded for updating the series with no small amount of consideration and flair, an effort that has resulted in the strongest entry to the aging series yet, and one which makes up for its lack of polish with an abundance of detail, character and, dare I say it, soul," wrote Simon Parkin in Eurogamer's Tales of Vesperia review.

Tales of Vesperia on PS3.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (100) Latest comment 11 months ago

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  • Nevfx #1 11 months ago

    That sucks, cause I wanted this game. I cant complain though, if Sony did it with Heavy Rain.

  • customfirmware #2 11 months ago

    Ever heard of the term import.

  • Ninja_Tino #3 11 months ago

    Scandalous. I wonder for how much? I also never knew that about Heavy Rain. I long for the day when there's a single console. (Not that that day will ever come, mind you.)

  • sfp_noodle #4 11 months ago

    "Microsoft paid Namco Bandai to keep Tales of Vesperia a Western Xbox 360 exclusive."

    Is there ever any other reason for keeping third party games exclusive anymore? Your living in Lala land if you think publishers will want to miss out on revenue in order to please certain owners of certain systems. If they keep a game exclusive to a console, they're going to want some form of compensation to make up for the lost revenue of not releasing it on another.

  • Retro_ #5 11 months ago

    Whatever!

  • RawNinjaKid #6 11 months ago

    I don't care how much you pay for exclusives MSFT. I am unlikely to buy your console ever!

    Stick with Halo and Gears of War!


  • GamesProgrammer Verified Games Team Programmer, Eutechnyx Ltd. #7 11 months ago

    Well Sony were the publisher for heavy rain, thats not the same as paying to make something exclusive, they paid to make the whole game and took a share of the profits as publisher.

    Paying to make something exclusive would suggest they just gave you a pot of money to make it exclusive and give you NO help in translations, distribution to shops and took none of the profits.
    Edited by GamesProgrammer at 20/06/11 @ 16:27

  • nuanimal #8 11 months ago

    Ahhh, so that's wheree part of my 360 sub goes?

  • Wildsleven #9 11 months ago

    well at least ps3 owners will get Tales of Graces F :D

  • Geowolf #10 11 months ago

    @Darren

    That's why the belated, expanded PlayStation 3 version never made it outside of Japan.

    Whoops, kind of makes your observational point redundant as a result of failing to observe this point. ;)

  • DUFFKING #11 11 months ago

    Shame, it's a great game. Optional final boss was a bit brutal, mind.

  • BBIAJ #12 11 months ago

    @Darren:

    Not really, as the exclusivity was in Japan only, I've seen it on PS3 in GameStation.

  • Malek86 #13 11 months ago

    @GamesProgrammer: chances are they paid for the localization too, because it received an unusual high amount of care for a Tales game. People have even seen some TV ads. Also, it took three weeks to get from Japan to the USA, while the average localization time for the series was on the order of six months.

    Overall, I think they did help with the localization/marketing themselves, or at least they paid for it. I don't think Graces F will even get the same budget.
    Edited by Malek86 at 20/06/11 @ 16:32

  • Bertie Verified Senior Staff Writer, Eurogamer.net #14 11 months ago

    "Tales of Vesperia is out now on Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3.

    Ha! Should probably change that.

  • onezeonx #15 11 months ago

    wouldnt of bought it myself but hate when sony/msoft do this!

    if someone buys a console over 1 game then they are stupid!
    just release it on both and im sure we can decide which machine by ourselves.....

  • chris_ace #16 11 months ago

    Post deleted at 15:13:15 09-05-2012

  • Antsy #17 11 months ago

    I'd like to meet the MS exec that sorted this out, then throw my two broken xboxes at his head.

  • Hei #18 11 months ago

    This is like COD being exclusive to PS3 when most of their userbase is in 360: total bullshit

  • Jon1292 #19 11 months ago

    It's kind of implied that this is just a one-sided thing. Microsoft obviously targets people who don't seem to care about their IP, otherwise they'd go around everywhere buying up everyones games.

  • patch #20 11 months ago

    I'm not convinced by her excuse that Heavy Rain was a paid-for PS3 exclusive. As I recall (could be wrong) Sony gave Quantic Dream a lot of support in developing, and then published and distributed Heavy Rain. The only quotes I heard with regards the 360 was that it was impossible to run HR for technical reasons.

    For me that's a whole other kettle of fish than paying somebody not to release a game that's already out in another part of the world. I don't have a problem with the exclusivity, but at least stand up and say "Yes, we're doing it for the money".

  • HyperTails #21 11 months ago

    Well, at least we know now. Although Heavy Rain was entirely funded and published by Sony, so that's different to Microsoft simply paying to keep it out of gamers hands.

  • butler` #22 11 months ago

    For anyone else that's interested, apparently this is on Games on Demand on XBL for *£19.99.

    Not bad, as it's still fuxing expensive on the ebay.

    http://www.vg247.com/2011/04/06/tales-of...
    Edited by butler` at 20/06/11 @ 16:49

  • abelardie #23 11 months ago

    Is there anywhere in the UK I might actually still find the game? eBay sellers are looking for ludicrous prices


    ^previous poster may have just answered my question :)
    Edited by abelardie at 20/06/11 @ 16:47

  • Quint2020 #24 11 months ago

    Why on earth did they bother doing that??

  • Toothball #25 11 months ago

    I thought we already knew that platform holders paid for exclusives? It's not only the gaming industry that does it either. Papers and magazines have been paying for exclusive stories for years. Mobile phone companies pay phone companies to get exclusive phones. TV channels pay production companies and sports teams for exclusive rights to show their material or events. The line

    "It's just one way the business works, sadly"

    shouldn't really come as a surprise to anyone these days. You pay for something exclusive on the premise that you'll make back more than it cost to make it exclusive. As long as it works, companies will continue to do it.
    Edited by Toothball at 20/06/11 @ 16:50

  • koopa #26 11 months ago

    That's a bit unexpected, Tales franchise never was that big to sell systems. Guess this model could be more frequent now that MS has basically no big first party developers except Lionhead and Forza guys.

    Remember when JRPGs were basically the measure/reason of a console's success? Now even Nintendo has a lot of them and doesn't bother to localize them. People probably don't have time to play them anymore...

  • King_Edward #27 11 months ago

    I'm surprised this is news. I just assumed it was the case.

  • grayn #28 11 months ago

    Yeah, Sony funded Heavy Rain's development, they didn't pay for it not to be released on 360. HR is comparable to Gears...which leaves Namco talking bullshit.

  • NewbieZilla #29 11 months ago

    I don't know who gave Toothball a thumbs down, he was just talking about real world realities. I gave him a thumbs up anyway, for calling it as it is.

    "That's a bit unexpected, Tales franchise never was that big to sell systems."

    Yeah, its understandable that Namco took the guaranteed money over potential money.

    I'd much rather both consoles get all Tales games to be honest, and that both consoles were to have gotten Heavy Rain. Though, as has already been stated, the case of Heavy Rain is different to that of ToV.

  • bslsimes #30 11 months ago

    Microsoft didn't "block" anything, Namco took their money in exchange for exclusivity. They could have chosen to not do that, but they didn't.

  • doob #31 11 months ago

    G'ah! Why didn't they say this at the time!? I have both systems, and waited and waited for the expanded PS3 version to be released in the west before finally caving and buying an overpriced 360 copy off eBay :'(

  • JamieR #32 11 months ago

    The bastards the game wouldnt be so hard to get if it came on ps3 as well unless you prepared to deal with games on demand downloads

  • Climhazzard #33 11 months ago

    Having found this in Gamestation in the pre owned section earlier this year i bought it as i enjoyed Tales of Symphonia on Gamecube. Have to say this is the best jrpg ive played in years, thoroughly enjoyed it. I got it for the bargain of £25 when its actually £50 or £60 to buy now even pre owned. If anyone wants it on 360 it's now on games on demand for £20.

    Great shame for PS3 owners not getting it though.

  • Irien #34 11 months ago

    Since the PS3 version had additional characters and features, it is a shame these weren't added as DLC for western gamers as part of the arrangement given that money changed hands!

  • flaming.carrot #35 11 months ago

    This seems to be unique to Microsoft - ponying up a large of cash to pay third parties developers to not develop a title for competing gaming platforms. Maybe Sony do it too but I can't think of any off the top of my head. Anyone?

  • metamorphic #36 11 months ago

    ""Microsoft paid for the exclusivity the same way Sony paid for having Heavy Rain only on PS3," revealed Namco Bandai community manager Charlotte Toci in a Facebook post caught by RPG Site."
    Er, no. As GamesProgrammer said, Sony financed, produced and published Heavy Rain, whereas in this case Namco-Bandai produced and published Tales of Vesperia, with Microsoft having no hand in it. So while Tales of Vesperia PS3 can be released in various countries depending on licensing agreements, Heavy Rain will always be on PS3, because uh, it's a SCE production to begin with.

  • Shikasama #37 11 months ago

    Standard business practice used by all three consoles causes outrage on gaming forum where people should know better.

    More at 11.

  • Smoped #38 11 months ago

    Out of this gen's JRPGs Tales of Vesperia certainly near the top. Not that it's that crowded near the top.
    I wish anybody who wanted to could play it, but alas, that's not how the business works.

  • Cappy #39 11 months ago

    Namco Bandai are misrepresenting that scenario somewhat, Sony don't pay to keep games that would otherwise be multiformat off other consoles, they support the development outright which is somewhat different.

    360 owners never 'missed' a title like Demon's Souls because of a payment on the side, the game wouldn't have existed in the first place without the project being commissioned and funded.

  • whatfruit #40 11 months ago

    love the breast jiggle at 1:18.

  • Smoped #41 11 months ago

    And as for people arguing whether it is the same thing as Heavy Rain: Of course it's never the same thing if we look close enough, nothing ever is. But in broad terms, whether it's Heavy Rain, Gears of War, Tales of Vesperia or The Last Story, it is all about a platform owner giving a developer money to make their game exclusive to their platform. The precise point in the development of a game that this happens matters little, since the end result is the same.

  • Inmediasress #42 11 months ago

    Now that's a real shocker!
    Anyway I'm actually afraid when the new console generation comes out as a PC gamer.
    Pc gaming will be declared dead again at least for some 3-4 years until the whole exclusivity deals and console promotion schemes will end.

  • Smoped #43 11 months ago

    I don't know about that, Inmediasress. If the new generation will mean inflating budgets, developers probably can't afford to keep their games single platform. Especially if Nintendo manages to make the WiiU a viable platform. Then a manufacturer would have to pay off potential sales on two platforms.

  • Steroyd #44 11 months ago

    I don't understand why MS would do this, it's not as though Xbox 360 exclusives is predominantly comprised of nothing but shoo--
    ...oh.

  • Stomp224 #45 11 months ago

    "Microsoft paid for the exclusivity the same way Sony paid for having Heavy Rain only on PS3,"

    Except that Microsoft paid for an existing product to be shelved, whereas Sony, as the publisher of Heavy Rain, funded that development from the beginning, or at least at such an early stage cancellation of a 360 version was feasible.

    Not quite the same thing, is it?

  • WinterSnowblind #46 11 months ago

    Definitely not a one sided thing. Heavy Rain may not be the best example, but Sony did pay a lot of money to keep the GTA games exclusive for a long time and I'm sure they attempted to stop them going multiplatform at all. But those games were just too big, Rockstar made more money by making them multiplatform than Sony could ever pay them for exclusivity.

    Still not a tactic I agree with though, Microsoft should be investing this money into setting up more new second party studios that could be developing new titles like this, and then they wouldn't have to worry at all about losing them.

    Then again, Sony have just lost Insomniac and there are strong rumours of Sucker Punch going as well..

  • Inmediasress #47 11 months ago

    @Smoped
    I hope you're right. They certainly pulled fast one on the PC this gen. I just hope that doesn't repeat itself next gen.

  • ONI5 #48 11 months ago

    More like they didn't have the money to do the game and MS gave them the money in exchange for exclusivity.

  • BillyBrush #49 11 months ago

    @Gamesprogrammer

    And? Sony didn't publish Metal Gear Solid 4. There's nothing at all special case about this...some of the exclusive content comes from 3rd parties. The exact reverse of Vesperia would be FF13 where Sony had it kept exclusive in Japan (for a while)

    I'd assume there is actually a stop date on the exclusivity for this one, that'd be interesting to know because it's probably up...can't imagine namco would have let MS have unlimited time exclusivity..Atari had their mitts on publishing this for a short time as far as i can recall, they might have done the side deal with MS, almost the same week they did one with Ghostbusters ps3 which they also published. I guess it's possible that Atari managed to fudge the contract up for Namco (though am probably wrong)

  • RawNinjaKid #50 11 months ago

    I mean if this is there way of getting the western JRPG crowd to buying and support their system: forget it. That crowd is too hardcore and is very unlikely to support an MSFT system. Unless you open your wallet wide open and buy lots of JRPG, I don't think it make any difference to their overall console sales.

    So like I said before: stick to Halo and Gears of War; its what works for you.






    Edited by RawNinjaKid at 20/06/11 @ 17:55

  • Phantom_Dynamite #51 11 months ago

    It seems strange that MS would pay for exclusivity for a series in regions where they hardly sell 200k copies and not many systems, While an amazing game its 3 years old, im sure now they wouldn't care about Ps3 US and EU versions.

    Some of this seems like they want the fanbase to shut up about localization of Vesperia. At least Graces F is finally coming and fingers crossed Xilla maybe be here in 12 months.

  • bikmate #52 11 months ago

    Which GTA games did Sony pay for? Certainly not in the current generation, since LATD and TBoGT were Xbox 360 exclusives for a time.

  • Haerger #53 11 months ago

    Well, Tales Of Graces F and Tales of Xillia (spelling/) are PS3 exclusives. Nice try MicroSoft!

  • Hunam #54 11 months ago

    I'd imagine if it wasn't for Microsoft the game would never have left Japan knowing Namco.

  • Architect_z #55 11 months ago

    O well, back to God of War

  • Smoped #56 11 months ago

    @Phantom_Dynamite: I think it's possible that MS originally bought global exclusivity, but Namco Bandai calculated that they would make X dollars from the game on the PS3 in Japan and bought back that part of the exclusivity agreement.

  • Smoped #57 11 months ago

    And also, all this may seem strange to us now, but when the 360 launched, MS invested in exclusive JRPGs like Blue Dragon & Lost Odyssey & something else I can't remember at the moment, so they had a pretty consistent plan of winning the hearts and minds of Japanese gamers. It didn't quite work out, but in light of that strategy this isn't so odd.

  • Toothball #58 11 months ago

    @NewbieZilla

    Thanks, I was wondering about that myself. I can't say I'm especially fond of paid exclusivity in whatever form it happens to take either, but it still happens. Guess it was too much of a shock to someone.

  • Ror1984 #59 11 months ago

    I really wish I'd picked this up and shelved it when I saw it new for a tenner :( I'm not paying £50 for it used.

    I suppose it's £20 on GoD, but that still seems a bit steep for DD to me. Ah well, if I suddenly get desperate, at least it's there.

  • BillyBrush #60 11 months ago

    Cappy
    360 owners never 'missed' a title like Demon's Souls because of a payment on the side, the game wouldn't have existed in the first place without the project being commissioned and funded.

    See, I don't think given From software's record of selling off their titles as exclusives one way or another that that's necesarrily the case.

    I can recall them making Otogi exclusive to xbox, Ninja Blade/Tenchuz to 360
    3D dot game heroes for PS3, Demons souls PS3

    And sure, it's possible all those games would not have been possible without the cash from Sony/MS. But they've both done the same thing with that company, you can look at it as 1) moneyhatting for exclusivity or 2) helping development happen the game wouldn't exist without it yadda yadda...but it's the same thing from both companies. Thing is you'd conclude 1) applies to MS and 2) applies to Sony, because that's the way you think rather than the reality of the deals they do.

    Both of them buy exclusivity and i bet the contracts for doing so are so standard they're probably worded the same way whether it's ms or sony.

  • Cappy #61 11 months ago

    Demon's Souls was specifically chosen as an example because it's a matter of record that Sony commissioned the game. They approached FromSoftware to make a PS3 game that would fill the niche that the Kings Field games had once occupied on the PS1 and PS2.

    If they hadn't commissioned it there'd be no game at all. It's entirely different to making a deal with a publisher to persuade them to forget about the PS3 version for a bit, Child of Eden for instance.
    Edited by Cappy at 20/06/11 @ 19:10

  • Peter_LIAR_Molyneux #62 11 months ago

    @BillyBrush

    Demon's Souls falls in the same category as Heavy Rain in that Sony is one of the publishers for that game and not just a platform entity paying a publisher to withhold their game from the competition.

  • SeesThroughAll #63 11 months ago

    "Microsoft are saints in comparison".

    Quite.

  • Laythe_AD #64 11 months ago

    I own it on 360, but I think its a shame. I feel this is the best JRPG of this console generation by a mile, and i'd love more people to buy and play it.

  • Smoped #65 11 months ago

    No, seriously, guys. Two multinational companies. Both doing everything they can to increase shareholder value. There's not a moral winner or loser here. They want our money and they're willing to do whatever it takes, within the limits of the law anyway, to get it. To argue over who is "better" or "worse" is the equivalent of painting "retard" on your forehead in fluorescent ink.

  • geordiek #66 11 months ago

    I think it would be money better spent if MS invested in studios to develope interesting IP's. Say what you Like about Sony, but they seem to have a genuine desire to support studios to make some pretty good games.

  • Ramesses_ #67 11 months ago

    Damn you Microsoft! This game looks really good. There's such a shortage of decent JRPG's on the PS3. Shame there's no eng sub on the japanese import or i would get this.
    Edited by Ramesses_ at 20/06/11 @ 19:45

  • Murton #68 11 months ago

    Purchese: verb, to post that which you know to be false because it fits with your agenda.

    "Microsoft paid for the exclusivity the same way Sony paid for having Heavy Rain only on PS3" - utter Purchese.


    As many others have said, massive difference between buying an exclusive and funding a development. One is restricting the market and the other is expanding it. Without MS' money everyone could play ToV while without Sony's money nobody could play Heavy Rain.
    Edited by Murton at 20/06/11 @ 19:28

  • actionfitz #69 11 months ago

    Well Sony did exactly the same thing to screw over Sega and kill the Dreamcast... many devs were paid for exclusivity, and so the inferior machine won out, and Sega bowed out of Hardware.

  • Smoped #70 11 months ago

    Yeah, after the success of Fahrenheit Quantic Dream would have just quit the gaming biz and moved into landscaping if Sony hadn't thrown them a lifeline.

  • Osahi #71 11 months ago

    Isn't the comparison to Heavy Rain a bit 'off'? As I recall is Heavy Rain published by Sony and have they funded the development, while Namco publishes Tales, so MS just paid them not to release it.

    It's how the business works for sure (although Sony denies doing it. They 'pay' for exclusives by doing the publishing), but it's a shame nontheless. And let ToV be one of the few great J-RPG's on next gen...

  • BillyBrush #72 11 months ago

    @Cappy @peterliarmoleneux (nice handle btw)

    So, final fantasy 14, final fantasy versus 13, Yakuza series, MGS4

    these are games that would 'exist' without sony because their publishers rather than sony comissioned them...

    and you presumably think Sony haven't specifically paid to keep them off the compettitors console? Despite sony announcing an 'exclusive release date' for FF14 last year for example? (as it turns out bad move but still, presumably not dissimilar to child of eden)

    My earlier example of FF13 in Japan the most similar to Vesperia as it came out in one territory on the 360 but not another

    There are plenty of examples where sony have acted in exactly the same way (because it's quite normal to) as microsoft, i can't really see how you could deny this, but i'm sure you'll give it a good go.

  • Ror1984 #73 11 months ago

    Murton: verb, to wrongly attribute a quote because it fits your agenda.

  • carlosdfn #74 11 months ago

    The heavy rain analogy is BULLSHIT. Sony published and financed the game, they didn't pay the game's publisher to not release it on another platform.

    This is ridiculous, good jrpgs are already hard to come by as it is. Fuck you microsoft and fuck you namco-bandai.
    Edited by carlosdfn at 20/06/11 @ 19:52

  • Alestes #75 11 months ago

    Not pleasant news at all, I think this is bloody stupid as they actually made a PS3 version, if only for Japan. The comparison with Heavy Rain is utterly stupid too, it's not like the game is available for the 360 in Europe but then not translated and released for 360 in Japan or whatever.

    @Phantom_Dynamite, I guess that's why Microsoft did it. If it was an extremely successful series they would have been forced to pay a lot more for the exclusivity, while now they could basically cover for the loss of potential PS3 sales.

    Namco Bandai basically had to choose between a fixed amount of $$$ (Microsoft) or a variable amount of $$$ that may or may not be more than the fixed amount. And they decided to not gamble, which absolutely sucks, Namco Bandai lost a lot of goodwill from me because of this. Not enough to boycott them, but until they regain my respect I will get their games from the bargin bin instead of the release week.

    The only good thing I can say about this is that it seems like Microsoft lost their interest in JRPGs since then, and is not too likely to do it again. They focused a great deal on JRPGs on the beginning of the 360, with Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey and so on. But JRPGs aren't as popular as they used to be, the average western 360 gamer seem to be more interested in COD, Halo or some other kind of shooter.

  • Malek86 #76 11 months ago

    Why do people keep saying that MS didn't really do anything and only paid to keep the exclusive?

    Considering Namco's love for the series, chances are that if Microsoft hadn't paid, we would have never seen the game localized at all.

  • Mister-Wario #77 11 months ago

    My first reaction to this was "you utter bastards". Still, there's a Tales game coming to PS3 that looks alright. And we DO have Eternal Sonata (on both platforms) and Valkyria Chronicles.

  • BillyBrush #78 11 months ago

    @carlosdfn

    Yes the heavy rain analogy is a poor one. If she'd have said 'it's like ff13 in japan' it would have been an almost perfect analogy though.

    So, is 'Community Manager Uses Bad Analogy' earth shattering news or evidence that pure evil exists? Nope not really.

    If you take a step back from the situation, you could (if you were crazy like me) conclude that actually Charlotte Toci bothering to answer a fans question that she's probably answered hundreds of times over, four years after the game comes out...is an example of a really good community manager...think about it...four years later and she's still taking the time to answer individual questions about these games..I can imagine a lot of people wouldn't bother.

  • Xardan #79 11 months ago

    Blocked is an interesting word to use for a paid exclusive. This is fanbait.

  • GamesConnoisseur #80 11 months ago

    Would rather MS pay for X360 exclusives games rather than killing multi platform releases, Sony probably does the same with certain titles but not known due to NDA.

    Die hard PS3 owners would not change their mind after so many years and get X360 for just a game or two, this strategy doesnt do any real benefits to X360 owners or PS3 owners.

  • riseer #81 11 months ago

    Only morons make 360 games for japan...i am not sure this game done great on the 360 in the states..

  • Murton #82 11 months ago

    @ror - I haven't wrongly attributed a quote, it's part of a running joke I have across a few threads now. If someone posts something that is clearly bullshit I'm calling it a Purchese in connection with the EG writer Robert Purchese who often posts falsehoods on this very site under the guise of news. In this particular case it's very fitting as it's widely known that Sony financed and published Heavy Rain rather than simply purchasing it, which is what Namco have pretty much outed MS as having done with Tales.

  • spekkeh #83 11 months ago

    Seeing as the game is almost impossible to get hold of (well, 67 pounds at amazon), this was a poor deal for microsoft.

  • Ror1984 #84 11 months ago

    @Murton - fair enough, it's just that that was how your post read to me.

    Having said that:

    "Purchese: verb, to post that which you know to be false because it fits with your agenda."

    Are you suggesting he should not have posted the quote, in the knowledge that it's not entirely accurate on the part of Charlotte Toci? I suppose he could have pointed out the difference after having posted the quote, but I don't think not doing so shows any particular agenda. Obviously I'm just discussing within the confines of this story, but having said that, I've never seen anything he's published that showed any blatant bias, despite seeing many claims that he is - I just assumed there was no basis to these claims. Is there some infamous, historical trollling article from Purchese that I've never seen? That's a genuine question, by the way, not sarcasm.

  • anss123 #85 11 months ago

    XBox 360 owner here. Never heard of the game, don't want to play it, not going to buy it. MS, use the money to found new games instead - this just pisses me off.

  • MaoZedong #86 11 months ago

    Post deleted at 09:40:08 17-12-2011

  • niteninja #87 11 months ago

    Microsoft will be the downfall of the games industry mark my words on that, when the bubble bursts and the games industry crashes you will see all those devs who signed exclusive kINEPT deals go bust first because the software sales for kinect have flatlined already.
    Reminds me of the don king mike tyson saga.

  • ro-kurorai #88 11 months ago

    That's a blatant lie. Sony didn't pay Quantic Dream a cent, QD approached Sony because Cage knew that taking risks on 360 is a death warrant (Alan wake, anyone?).
    MS is the only company still paying for exclusives, or in this case, for not releasing an updated (i.e. superior) version to western fans - as Mao mentioned already.
    Guess NB would have earned more money as western PS3 fans are certainly interested in the Tales games. Their choice though, and a f*cked up one at that.

    I'm more interested in Tales of Xillia. As it's a Japanese PS3 exclusive I hope it comes to western shores as well, looks promising.

  • Ichi-nii #89 11 months ago

    *Sigh*

    Money, money makes the world go round I guess.

  • BartonFink #90 11 months ago

    Don't really see what the big furor is about here Sony have been doing same thing for years and continue to do so. I wish they wouldn't but hey that's business for you. As someone else said it would be better if they concentrated a bit more on getting genuine 1st party stuff than moneyhatting developers and publishers to keep games off one console or the other.

  • Slipstream #91 11 months ago

    You mean it wasn't to do with the financial crisis the Tales studio was in last year? I'm not buying this.

    Also, since MS might aswell finish the job and get us those extras the PS3 owners in Japan got too, new character etc

  • stepleftstepright #92 11 months ago

    what's the big deal? MSFT cockblocked SONY for exclusives. SONY cockblocked MSFT. Nintendo still doesn't know how to do basic business deal. What's the big deal? Exclusives. Better than trying to start something new. Developers get fattened with additional income which is not guaranteed by any mean if developers went multi platforms. So what's the big deal?

  • Machiavellian #93 11 months ago

    Well Sony were the publisher for heavy rain, thats not the same as paying to make something exclusive, they paid to make the whole game and took a share of the profits as publisher.

    As far as publishing contracts goes, you really do not know exactly the complete terms. MS published Ninja Gaiden but you have the sigma series on the PS3. The same thing could happen with Heavy Rain. The developer could find another publisher, name the game different and offer the game on another system.

  • Machiavellian #94 11 months ago

    I think people are not thinking this through enough. Anytime MS is funding a project they go for exclusivity. It's their way of getting the game on their system for a length of time where if a port does happen, it's already old on the 360 and cheaper than the port. MS does not have the same amount of development studios as Nintendo or Sony so their operating cost is lower which gives them extra cash for such exclusive marketing.

  • meanmrmustard #95 11 months ago

    I'm not so much pissed off that this happened what pisses me off is that there was no fucking announcement of this happening, if namco Bandai had came out and said "sorry guys we're not bring the ps3 version to the west" then I wouldn't have held out on buying the 360 version until the point where all shops were sold out and the price of second hand copies had skyrocketed. Also another thing that pisses me off is that in the west we don't have access to any of the extra content AT ALL, why the fuck if it was a 360 exclusive outside of Japan couldn't they make the extra content available for the 360 version either via DLC or a special edition re-release?

  • alcides #96 11 months ago

    way to win over gamers who haven't yet jumped in by pissing them off (not)
    also, it will eventually come out on PS3 here too.

    on a side note, I know exactly where my money is going next gen : to a manufacturer who's been developing strong IPs and talent hunting.

    For Namco to think a cheque is worth their while is also telling of their belief in how well the IP will do in the West. This is sending the wrong message : "We are bailing ourselves out on no gamez yet again" and "We'd like to at least make some dosh out of this game in case of weak sales"

  • Murton #97 11 months ago

    @Ror - Purchese hasn't performed a single infamous act like Fahey's "white cunts" twitter post, his is more a campaign of misinformation, most prominent during the PSN crisis. It was he who claimed on the 26th of April that the PSN had been down for over a week via a creative use of time difference taking the US start time and then GMT at time of writing, he continuously claimed that passwords were stored as clear text despite no proof to this and even once after Sony confirmed they were hashed and more recently claimed that because Sony made their announcement a day after they found out about the attack that they were somehow hiding something. His name has become pretty much synonymous with misinformation and anti-Sony spin.

    In the case of this article, Toci knows (or should know) that Sony were the publisher and financier behind Heavy Rain so obviously it would be exclusive to them, but by tarring Sony and Heavy Rain with this particular brush they're hoping to deflect the negative reaction many gamers have when a third party publisher signs these arrangements. It's not the honest answer "MS paid us so you can't have it" (as seen with RockStar and GTA4 DLC) it's "MS paid us, but PS3 users shouldn't complain because Sony did the exact same thing with Heavy Rain" which is disingenuous as it's technically a Sony title, that's Namco's agenda here, damage control and while their sentiment is correct they fluffed the example and made themselves look stupid as a result. If they had named the game correctly, FF13 would have been a better example, then many PS3 owners would have shrugged it off, we know how things work, but by comparing a third party game bought and paid for with what is for all intents and purposes a first party game is a Purchese plain and simple.

    In the old days where EG used to provide a commentary to the news the writer may have mentioned the inaccuracy in the article, but that's neither here nor there. The subtitle is misleading though, MS didn't "block" the PS3 release, Namco did when they accepted the deal. Whenever a third party accepts these terms the initial reaction is always to blame the "evil" platform holder for promoting their brand and not the publisher for dumping on their fans and that's the bigger wrong in my opinion. This whole 360 vs PS3 thing should be left in the business world, we're all gamers and we should be seeing these deals for what they are, not a showing of support from platform holders but a withdrawal of content by creators.

  • Savatage #98 11 months ago

    @Murton

    Constantly attacking an EG writer for percieved anti-Sony bias (or, as you so proudly put it, having a "running joke";) does NOT give you a free pass to take a quote made by SOMEONE ELSE and - very deliberately - give the impression that Purchese was the one to say it. In fact, that's just the sort of "misleading" thing that you're always moaning about, isn't it?

    "His name has become pretty much synonymous with misinformation and anti-Sony spin."

    Actually it hasn't, despite your increasingly desperate attempts.

  • WillyWongler #99 11 months ago

    All this talk just makes me want to put the disc in and play through this 70hour epic again.

  • BuddyChrist #100 11 months ago

    *pointless obsessive nutter drops in* "YURI LOWELL! "

    why?! Just why.