I’ve always loved the PlayStation exclusives. They so often seem to be a cut above in terms of innovation, technical achievement and in general, pushing the design envelope.
I fully expect to see several top-tier AAA exclusives for the PS4 this generation, but…
The bottom line is that outside of the new Uncharted and the next Gran Turismo (which may be here sooner than you might think), the confirmed exclusives for Sony’s new system appear to be few and far between.
This is precisely what Sony needs to focus on at E3 this year: Exciting new exclusive software for both the PS4 and Vita. In the case of the latter, it may be the only thing that saves the poor handheld. That sucker isn’t selling well and outside of the somewhat prohibitive price, I firmly believe it’s because of a lack of excellent exclusive titles.
The Order: 1886 can’t carry the PS4 flag forever
I think the game could be fantastic, too (but I have reservations many others haven’t expressed). The problem is that we have no idea when it’s coming and if you look at 2014, we have difficulty locating a potentially groundbreaking exclusive for the PS4. In fact, one could argue there are few more great possibilities on the Xbox One side. I’m not saying Halo 5 will blow everyone away, but I am saying that if Uncharted 4 doesn’t drop this year, Sony’s holiday season will just be full of third-party multiplatform games.
Speaking of The Order, I have to say that while Ready at Dawn has proven themselves in the portable world, they haven’t done that yet in the realm of big-budget console projects. I’m sure they’re getting all sorts of assistance from internal Sony teams but even so, this is a very ambitious project. To be perfectly honest, I haven’t been overly impressed by the footage I’ve seen thus far.
Yeah, PlayStation has lost a few exclusives along the way
Part of the problem is that legendary franchises like Metal Gear Solid and Final Fantasy were once exclusive to Sony’s brand. For example, even if Insomniac wanted to bring back Resistance (one of my favorite FPS franchises and wildly under-appreciated, IMO), it probably wouldn’t be a PS4 exclusive. Insomniac is off on their own now, remember?
Therefore, exclusives are becoming harder and harder to come by. We need more stuff like Quantic Dream’s The Dark Sorcerer and maybe Sony can finally confirm that The Last Guardian is PS4-bound. Driveclub is still a ways off and again, I’m not overly stoked for that one. What I’m looking for is stuff like The Last Of Us, something that makes everyone stand up and take notice.
That’s what PlayStation’s best at. And yet, we’re a little light on those announcements right now, aren’t we?
