The never-ending console war is a business battle between system manufacturers. Without these what we already know as exclusives, there wouldn’t be a concrete justification why these consoles exist in the first place.
PlayStation has Uncharted, Xbox has Halo, and Nintendo has Super Mario – these games have their own distinct features that make them unique and can be a system seller, but having these exclusives go to other systems mean the end of the consoles; which means it’s better off to get a PC for its accessible hardware upgrades that consoles don’t have. With the consoles’ limitations, I bet my whole life that no one would even dare to get a piece of plastic if I can simply build my own gaming PC, plug in a controller, then bam! I’m already playing and if I want to upgrade, I can waltz into a PC store and buy a new graphics card.
I’ve come across an article that lists what PlayStation exclusives should go to Xbox. For one, it’s not bad to at least hope for that richer dream that Xbox One will finally get Horizon: Zero Dawn or God of War, however, this is merely just a fool’s dream. In a business point of view, making the line blur between consoles is direct suicide. How can my console make people buy them? Console manufacturers having their own in-house studios that would bring unique gameplay experiences and narrative is a big selling point. And that’s what Sony is currently strong at right now that Microsoft doesn’t. If only Microsoft would invest more on game studios and molding their first-party development teams, then they wouldn’t really have any struggles convincing people to get an Xbox One.
The console war is a healthy business competition that the three system makers have.
I want to say, wishing that these PlayStation exclusives would go to the Xbox platform, especially coming from an Xbox-centric site, just means that Microsoft isn’t doing well in that department. There are no Xbox exclusives that would make people buy the system. It’s simple as that. If only Microsoft didn’t cancel Scalebound, it would have been a system seller – let alone a new Fable game or a new IP for that matter. We’re already fatigued with Halo, Forza, and Gears of War. It’s time for a new game, something special, you know? I mean, look at Sunset Overdrive, Insomniac Games did a fantastic job and that game would’ve sold well on the PlayStation market but Microsoft has it.
It’s never bad to wish, to hope, but the hard truth is, there will be no time in the future that would make any of the exclusive from any consoles stumble to its competitors. PlayStation exclusives stay where they are.
I have a PS4, Nintendo Switch, and even an Xbox One. I love all platforms and they have their own selling points but in terms of game exclusives, Xbox One is falling behind and Nintendo Switch is already catching up.