Microsoft is at it again. The Redmond-based company has secured yet another former PlayStation-brand exclusive for its Xbox 360 console. Earlier this year, the “Devil May Cry” franchise made its debut on a Microsoft console with the release of the fourth installment. At its pre-E3 2008 media briefing, the company announced that “Final Fantasy XIII” would not be exclusive to Sony’s PlayStation 3. Now it appears that one of Namco’s most popular fighting franchises is being developed for multiple consoles. “Soul Calibur IV” was released earlier this year, so it doesn’t take a genius to figure out which series I am referring to.
However, if you are still clueless, or completely neglected the banner for this article, then feel free to continue past the jump for the details.
Alright, let’s get the obligatory news out of the way. “Tekken 6,” once thought to be a PS3 exclusive, will also be releasing for the 360 simultaneously in the fall of 2009. The announcement was made during Microsoft’s pre-TGS 2008 press conference earlier this morning. The game’s newest trailer has also been unleashed upon the Internet. It is embedded below.
“Tekken 6″ is not the first game in the franchise to release on non-Sony hardware. In 2002, Namco released “Tekken Advance” for Nintendo’s Game Boy Advance. However, the series has never been playable on a home console that was not branded with a PlayStation logo. That extended period of exclusivity began in 1995 when the first game was released for the original PlayStation. It will apparently end with the release of the latest iteration. During those 13 years, five “Tekken” games were released for the PS1 and PS2, excluding “Death by Degrees,” the spin-off featuring Nina Williams. “Tekken 2″ and “Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection” have also been made available for download through the PlayStation Store.
This announcement should come as little surprise. In July, Haruki Suzaki, the game’s lead designer, said the title’s exclusivity was “undetermined.” Rumors that the title would release on multiple platforms surfaced in January 2007.
Though not as shocking as the “FF XIII” bomb, this is still another feather in Microsoft’s cap. “Tekken” has a devoted following and this news could sway a few PS2 owners toward the 360 if the PS3’s price isn’t reduced before fall 2009 (highly unlikely).
With the tremendous lineup of holiday 2008 releases, it once seemed that “Tekken 6″ was doomed to be lost in the shuffle (part of the problem was the lack of a firm release date). However, with its release still a year off, Namco should have plenty of time to generate hype for the game.
The defection of “Tekken 6″ provides additional proof that third-party exclusives are a dying breed. As development costs continue to rise, an increasing number of developers will be forced to release multiple SKUs to recover their losses. Thus, first- and second-party titles will become vitally important. Let’s just hope we don’t start seeing those “Metal Gear Solid 4″ rumors pop up again. I have read enough of those to last a lifetime.
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Its always Sony that loses games…aren’t all companies losing exlusive games?
Sony has had a hard time this gen! Sonys buddies are cheating on them with his roommate! It turns out they were dirtbags…and…LEAVE SONY ALONE! D:
And here come all the Sony FanBoys saying that the Xbots can have the game because Tekken is a terrible game. Kinda like what they did with Bioshock and achievements/trophies.
I don’t like Microsoft’s ways of “business”. They don’t make their time to make something of their own it seems (from my perspective). If MS hadn’t bought all Playstation titles, the 360 wouldn’t stand so strong as it does. GTA, Devil My Cry, Tekken, FFXIII++, also copying Buzz (Scene it?), Singstar (Lips, but karaoke isn’t something Sony own though…) and Eye Toy.
When are MS going to make something on their own? exept from GoW, Fable and Halo?
Even, during these harsh times, Sony still continues to make their bets on new games, and doesn’t use the MS tactic, which impresses me. Microsoft killed off Xbox1 early, because they lost money on each sale, Sony don’t. Sony care… FANBOY OUT!
(before someone hates me for my post above, I know I over exaggerate… Sony is doing some stuff too.. Achievements and Trophies, Bioshock and so on…
But! Wii and Avatars? COME ON!)
Sony and Nintendo I believe have a policy of not giving “bonuses” to developers to make for them, they use the old strategy of if their console is good, developers shall follow.
MS thinks, if the software is good, no one will notice the console.
@RK1: I like Tekken. Nuff said.
All this means is that more people will get to see more cyber boobs.
Agreed…and in my fantasy world one online gaming would be cross platform….I know I know the world would blow up.
Also…Im not sure why games moving from one console to several argument is always framed in terms of Microsoft “securing another Sony exclusive” when it is clearly in the best interests of the developers and publishers to SELL as many copies of their product as possible. That’s a good thing for the gaming economy, and the hobbyist. If it bothers you personally (stranger things have been known to happen on the internet) place the blame on Sony…who wont leverage big money deals with 3rd parties. For the record I am a PS3 owner and i approved this message.
I;ve been at TGS for a little bit, and I knew this was coming, but like FFXIII, it won’t be the same, I played Tekken’s controls on a 360 with the controller and my thumbs can’t bend like that (I’m double jointed there in everything.) 360 users will not care, and it will not be a system mover. besides, namco and Sony have some stuff there making together, like the cellius projects, as well as the exclusive RPG.
It’s good more people get to play Tekken now and such. But what I care about, when Sony are loosing exclusives, is that less and less developers tries to use the power of the ps3 to create something extraordinary. When games are made multiplatform, they say “let’s be fair, give them identical games”, no one wants to make a multiplatform game with the PS3 version much better than the 360?
My point is, less exclusivity, less games using PS3’s power. No one honestly means 360 is just as powerful as PS3? You may not need it, but look at MGS4, that one used at least something, and that is revolutionary. Maybe Tekken was not meant to revolutionize the genre, but that doesn’t matter to us fanboys :p
If you just think about it for a moment, Sony losing their franchises is the only possible scenario here. Going into this generation, Sony was the only company with third party support worth having. The reason why Sony got it on PS1 was because of massive media capacity over the N64. They kept it and expanded it with PS2 because the Dreamcast didnt make it and the Gamecube pretty much fell into the same slot last gen as Wii does this gen. Xbox wasnt around long enough to take franchises, but I guarantee if it was still there competing with the PS2, every PS2 and Wii game would come out for it too.
Now we have 2 machines with comparable specs for the first time since SNES and Genesis and just like back in those days, developers are once again publishing cross-platform. This is not a victory of any fashion, regardless of what weasels like Don Mattrick would have you believe. It’s simply a matter of basic logistics.
@ Strandli
I’m sorry but who’s fault is that Sony is losing their third party excusives, Microsoft for their “evil” ways, Sony for not giving them enough reason to stay with them, or the third party developers for wanting more income on their product. Hate to break it but the game industry is a business, and more income means more business. Microsoft wants to have more games available for people to purchase thus selling more consoles and third party developers have another console to sell pretty much doubling the income on an investment. And this game is still coming out on the PS3 so it’s not like you are not going to be able to play it so why all the complaining? Why don’t you complain how the PS3 is all about HD but doesn’t even give you the correct cables for HD out of the box.
And are you really gonna pull the Wii Avatars comment when Xbox did true online gaming before Sony, Achievements, Video Marketplace, Harddrive, Chatpad… I could go on but fingers are tired of proving you wrong.
@RK1 FaMiCuS
dont be a retard
1 u cant steal online gaming thats like sueing someone for stealing your sun light
2 ps2 had a hard drive xbox stole that but again a hard drive isnt something u can steal because its a tool n u cant steal the idea of using screws again a screw is a tool
3 MS stole video market place from utube if sony stole it from MS:P
It’d take a moron to think Microsoft are ’stealing games’ and are ‘evil’. The PS3 can’t be as great as it’s made out to be if would-be exclusives are seeping onto the 360. I don’t care too much for exclusives, just decent games.
And besides, Sony didn’t come up with ‘Trophies’ by themselves.
@ ALAN
I’m a retard, really?
1. Comparing playing online to sunlight, yeah okay.
2. Xbox (which had a internal HDD) released in America on November 15, 2001, the PS2 External HDD was released in America on March 23, 2004.
3. I’m sorry but the Xbox Live Video Marketplace is nothing like youtube. When was the last time you were able to upload a clip of yourself doing something idiotic to the Video Marketplace, oh that’s right, NEVER.
Please sit down and shut up before you make yourself look like a fool again.
First off, you guys need to chill out…
Second, the PS2 didn’t have a hard drive. Third, MS isn’t “evil” anymore than any corporation is “evil” for trying to do what they do, make games and consoles. Finally, everybody steals from everybody.
Don’t worry Lono, I’m chill, but they did have an external harddrive.
http://www.ugo.com/channels/tech/features/ps2_hdd/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_2_HDD