As Sony tries to rally momentum behind the PS4 and Microsoft prepares to unveil the Xbox 720, there's been some talk about what the two companies need to do in order for their consoles to be successful. The video game market has changed quite a bit since the last round of console releases, and the rise of mobile gaming has caused some to step back and re-evaluate the prospects of the PS4 and Xbox 720.
Usually consoles rely on a bevy of exclusive titles to boost their sales, but as the cost of development rose, more publishers decided to start releasing games on multiple platforms. The PS4 and Xbox 720 will surely get its share of first-party exclusives, but what about content from other publishers? Are third party exclusives a thing of the past?
The co-founder of DrinkBox Studio, developer of the recently released Guacamelee, thinks that the PS4 and Xbox 720 need to figure out how to get exclusive content again if they want to succeed.
"To really be a success, I think they each need to secure desirable exclusive content for their systems that take advantage of the next-gen features they are offering," Graham Smith said in an interview with Now Gamer. "I'm really curious what Microsoft's strategy is going to be with their next generation console. Sony seems to be pushing things farther on the social side and connectivity with the PS4, which I do think is a really cool direction to be taking."
An indie title that's received a positive reception, Guacamelee is the kind of title Sony's trying to attract through its indie charm initiative. But although DrinkBox has generally developed titles for Sony platforms, Smith also said he's open to publishing on other consoles if the fit is right.
"We don't actually have any objection to releasing on other platforms. When we were initially pitching Guacamelee! to publishers, we were thinking to release the game on PS3/X360/PC.
"After Sony approached us with a Pub Fund deal for the game, we decided to take the deal and switched to PS3 and PS Vita for the initial release," he said.
Smith never said he was working on a PS4 game, but he seemed genuinely excited about the upcoming Sony console.
"I think the PS4 event came at a great time for Sony," he said, "and I'm personally really excited for the system. The Vita Remote-Play for all PS4 titles feature is one that I know I will take real advantage of."
