Splinter Cell, Sly Cooper, Prince of Persia, God of War, Mortal Kombat..the list goes on. Rereleasing quality series on modern video-game consoles is the newest in the list of cliché development cycles for quick cash. Granted, it's not a completely new idea. Games have been ported, remade and upgraded for ages now. Specifically I'm discussing the “triple packs” which seem to only be capable on the Playstation 3. Don't misread me, that is not an argumentative statement; these trilogies and compilation packs are absolutely possible on the Xbox 360 as well.
Konami has proved this with their Zone of the Enders and Metal Gear Solid collections. First of all, Konami's idealogy is too confusing for any single being to comprehend. Silent Hill is also getting an HD collection, but only on the PS3; odd, given Silent Hill 2 & 4 appeared on the original Xbox. This goes for other companies like Ubisoft releasing the Prince of Persia HD trilogy exclusively on the PS3. On the contrary, Zone of the Enders has never been on a Microsoft platform. Even weirder is that Metal Gear Solid: Peacewalker was a notable Playstation Portable exclusive. Though the original Metal Gear Solid is missing from the HD Collection it's rumored it will be getting it's own treatment; leaving Guns of the Patriots the only MGS title missing from the 360's lineup.
So why such strange business tactics? Warner Bros didn't seem to have any problems with releasing the Mortal Kombat HD Kollection for both Xbox 360 and PS3, despite MK2 being a PS3 exclusive and UMK3 only going digital on 360. Even from a profit perspective, why limit a game to one specific platform? Normally I'd assume that loyalties to one console are getting in the way and causing a bias, but there is no predictable pattern here. It's like Konami is trying to fulfill some ancient prophecy that a gamer in the Xbox family might have once whispered: “Metal Gear Solid on the Xbox 360!” Sure, it's finally happening, but whether you applaud or disapprove the decision these compilation packs are hurting the majority of gamers.
Now, at least for quite some time we won't be seeing God of War on the Xbox. Being published by Sony kind of gets in the way of that, but this doesn't mean franchises like Final Fantasy are off-limits. Square-Enix could easily port their classic series to both the Xbox Live Marketplace and Playstation Network. Perhaps something like this will surface as we get closer to the end of this generation. Final Fantasy XIII did appear on Xbox 360, what's preventing FFI or even FFVII from doing the same? Probably silly decisions made by publishers.
Gamers need to realize that even though certain franchises might be identifiable with a particular platform, it does not mean they will always remain exclusive. I never imagined Solid Snake would appear on an Xbox 360 (or a Wii for that matter), and I'd be silly to think Marcus Fenix will never appear on a Sony console. Realistically these HD collections are a push in the right direction for quality multiplatform gaming; but progression will halt if publishers limit themselves and their customers.
Comments
i don't mind sharing MGS as long as it is still a quality product on my ps3.
as for why not all HD remasters aren't released multi-platform, it could be allegiances, as was stated, or some kind of business deal for permanent exclusivity that the studios never foresaw being a financial hinderance, as the ps2 was the dominant power in the sixth-gen of consoles.
Aside from that, wasn't there a gamecube metal gear game?
What you do mention about the final fantasy games is odd indeed: if most FF games already are available on almost every avenue from gameboy to psp to iphone- why is it there's nothing on the xbox? (original series- no spin offs)
...I mean the Iphone? Before the xbox. Same with FFtactics and secret of mana.
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