Beautiful Katamari To Be 360 Exclusive?
Somethin's a brewin' between Namco-Bandai and Microsoft. We remember when they brought Ridge Racer 6 to Xbox 360 only to have Ridge Racer 7 go back to Sony's open arms. Then, Eternal Sonata was announced exclusively for Xbox 360, followed by the exclusive arrival of Ace Combat 6, which, as Newsweek's N'Gai Croal points out, was previously a PlayStation title. Most recently, we have the Pac-Man Championship Edition. On top of all that, Croal says that a well placed little bird with reason to know has told them Beautiful Katamari will now be an Xbox 360 exclusive, dealing another blow to Sony's efforts to keep PlayStation titles on the PlayStation.
This is the beginning, or so I would like to think, of Microsoft's emergence from being known for shooters, racers and fighting games on their systems. It's no secret that Microsoft is trying to obtain non-shooter games and that they have been aggressively appealing to the Japanese for support. I would have to say that this is sign that their strategy is working. With the install base of the PlayStation 3 being as weak as it is, I imagine Sony is having a difficult time trying to retain their exclusivity deals and create new ones. Croal adds that "if Microsoft's relentless wheeling-and-dealing and Sony's shockingly poor sales remain the same, one of Sony's key advantages of yesteryear--that its machines were the only choice for the gamer who wants to play just about everything--will vanish into thin air."
There is no doubt that such a shift can be very dangerous for Sony, and it seems, to me, that the scales are about to tip over into Microsoft's favor in Japan. All we can do is sit back and watch. It's going to be an interesting year. I can't wait to see what happens at E3, where we just might be hearing about an exclusivity deal between Namco and Microsoft...and who knows who else? What do you think?
On A Roll, Or, How Microsoft Secured Yet Another Exclusive--Beautiful Katamari--From Namco Bandai [N'Gai Croal's Level Up]
[via Kotaku]
Super Timsy
Posted to Hot Stuff, Video Games on 14 June 2007
· Comments (4)
Other stuff like this: Beautiful Katamari, Exclusivity, Microsoft, Namco-Bandai, Xbox 360
Yet another reason for me to pick up a X-Box 360. The 360 is really looking to be better than the first X-Box gamewise.
My boyfriend was really upset that Beautiful Katamari was dropped for the Wii. Looks like we'll be fighting over my 360 once it comes out.
Dammit!
*fumes*
This post makes me question super timsy's qualifications. The 360 really has no foothold in Japan if you look at the numbers. There is just no evidence for the claim that the PS3 would fall behind, espcially given the first generation Xbox's total flop there. btw, i'm totally non-partisan being only a wii owner.