Who ya gonna call?

In the beginning, the battlegrounds for the console wars were graphics. As the systems got better, the gap between the graphics on each system got smaller. So the console wars turned to first-party franchises, to sway consumers from one camp to another. Joining the first-party franchises were the third-party exclusives. But as development costs grow and profit margins shrink, third-party exclusives are going away in favor of exclusive downloadable content or timed exclusives, wherein a console will have exclusive rights to a particular game for a set period of time.

Although Microsoft has had a few timed exclusives, Sony has recently entered the fray by having the highly-anticipated and often-delayed Ghostbusters as a timed exclusive in Europe. The surprising thing isn't that Sony has a timed exclusive but that it took so long for them to have a timed exclusive. After all, Sony is a huge multi-purpose company with a large library of movie and tv properties, many of which have been developed into games. It's just a smart business move to utilize one branch of a company to benefit another. (In case you were wondering, yes, Ghostbusters is owned by Sony...)

Where does this leave us, the gaming consumer? Well, if you're a European PS3 owner, you're probably jumping for joy. If you're a European Xbox 360 or Wii owner, you're probably coming up with new and interesting curse words to hurl at Sony. (Or if you're like me and American gamer, you're looking at it as a case study since the news doesn't really apply to you...) But no matter what side you're on, prepare yourself for more frustration because this is just the beginning.

I don't particularly like timed exclusives or console specific downloadable content, but it's a necessary evil in today's videogame market. Console exclusives are no longer viable, especially with the development costs for games like Final Fantasy XIII skyrocketing. Third-party developers can no longer develop for a single system and hope that that single system's fanbase will make their game profitable. But at the same time, videogame hardware developers want to have games unique to their system to lure people into buying their console. Timed exclusives and exclusive downloadable content are the obvious compromise of these two opposing desires.

So what's a gamer to do if a game you've been waiting a while for has been delayed again but only for the system you own? Besides the obvious bitching and moaning, you could buy another system (which is exactly the outcome that the hardware developers are shooting for). But for those of us who can't afford to buy another system, how about playing a game you already own or buying a different game that's already been released? It may be tough waiting those few months to a year for the game to finally be released on your system, but there are so many great games out there that will make the wait feel a little shorter...