I don't want to start a console wars discussion here, but this has been bothering me for some time. So far this year, it's been close to even with PS3 putting out Killzone 2 and 360 having Halo Wars. But for the rest of the year, PS3 is looking exclusives such as inFamous, Uncharted 2 : Among Thieves, Ratchet & Clank : Future 2, God Of War III, MAG and perhaps that DC Comics MMORPG as well and for the 360 we'll have Halo : ODST (which isn't even a full game apparently) and not much else. Maybe I'm missing something or MS is keeping things close to their vests for now, but it sure looks like a mismatch. Sure it would have been worse if Namco and Square had not reconsidered (wisely) and took Tekken 6 and FF XIII multiplatform. Still, I'm wondering where the 360's big exclusives will be coming from.

E3 will probably see a lot of announcements.

E3 should answer your question. Forza 3 is likely for this year. Maybe Dead Rising 2? Magna Carta? I'm sure they have something under their hats.

Dead Rising 2 is multiplatform isn't it? Has God of War 3 been confirmed for 2009?

Of the PS3 exclsuvies, I'm looking forward to Uncharted 2 (can't wait!). Infamous I'll probably make due with via rental.

The 360 does seem strangely lacking in the exclusives for this year. Not horribly surprising considering how few Microsoft-exclusive developers there are out there. So far it's been Star Ocean 4 and Halo Wars. BioShock 2 is multi too, right?

I think Microsoft is going to try to lock up exclusive or timed DLC to 3rd party games. Like they did with Fallout 3 and GTA 4.

..and Tomb Raider.

I think MS said a while back that they were playing things close to the vest this year so they can have an explosive E3. However, I don't think they've ever had an explosive E3, so we'll see how that goes.

Well, the E3 cometh, so it should be interesting to see what the consoles have up their collective sleeves

is Lost Planet going to be released this year? That has been announced for the Xbox only, so far at least.

And yeah, there are rumors about Forza 3 and Perfect Dark (XBLA?)

And of course we can always add Alan Wake to the list.

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Mass Effect 2 isn't exclusive either, IIRC.

Blood Bowl! Unless you count PC and DS, but console exclusive.

Does it really matter if the 360 has exclusive games to gamers?

I was just getting ready to ask pretty much the same thing.

Who cares about exclusives? The only reason that someone would want an "exclusive" is so they could wave it in the other console's face or whatever. I wouldn't mind at all if every title was available for every system.

I might agree about third-party exclusives. But first party titles really can show off your system and creates brand-identity (at least it should, but as we know from LBP it doesn't always work that way). Mario is synonomous with Nintendo and Halo made the Xbox a success. So I think at least on some level it's important. Besides, so often those first and second party titles are among the best games for any given system.

It's not a huge deal to me, but I did find the gap between the two companies this year interesting.

Exclusives are what sell the consoles. If every console had every game, there would be no need to own multiple consoles.

I agree that the only argument a (non-fanboy) gamer can have is that no system can reach its full potential if all games are cross-platform, meaning they are coded to the common functionality the system can support. But even in that regard, the PS3 and 360 are really no different for all intents and purposes. It's a matter of choice between controller and online, really.

That being said, only the Wii has the opportunity to set itself apart with unique experiences that can't be replicated on the other two. But, for my money, they've largely failed to deliver on that.

If the rumors of Sony and Microsoft having their own motion sensing peripherals coming are true, then what little edge the Wii might have had (outside of 1st Party support) is gone.

Microsofts "explosive" announcement last year was for a game coming out on PS3.

Hey, don't forget about their big 2008 E3 announcement for "You're In The Movies".
No wonder they wanted to punch things up a bit this year.

^ yeah, but those two examples are different because by E3 we already knew MS's plans for the rest of the year. This year we are in the dark outside of Halo:ODST.

I thought it was confirmed that ODST was no longer an expansion, but a full campaign/multiplayer title.

The 360's one exclusive will outsell all the PS3 exclusives combined


(that's probably not too far from the truth assuming GOWIII doesn't arrive this year)

It's a short campaign (3 hours rumored) and all Halo 3 multiplayer features on the disc including all the maps released to date plus three new ones. This will essentially replace your Halo 3 disc as your multiplayer disc.

So it sounds like, for everyone that has kept up with the maps you will be paying SRP (whatever that is) for a 3 hour campaign and 3 new maps. Those that didn't buy the Legendary or Mythic maps will be getting a far better deal.

Retail is $60. I could have sworn they said the campaign was expanded to make it a full scale release. Oh well, more Halo is more Halo.

This is the last I've seen....

Holy crap! I assumed this would be in the $30-$40 price range since it is an "expansion" to Halo 3. I guess the price can be justified with all maps but still...damn.