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[IbizaPocholo]

Stories from 30 years of PlayStation

During EGX in London, PlayStation veterans Chris Deering, David Wilson, Geoff Glendenning, David Ranyard and Masami Koc…

www.gamesindustry.biz

The GTA exclusivity deal was partially a reaction to Xbox​

"We were worried when we saw Xbox coming," Deering remembered. "We knew exclusivity was the name of the game in a lot of fields, like Sky TV with sports. Just as Christmas was approaching when Xbox would launch, a few of us went out to our favourite third-party publishers and developers, and we asked them, 'How would you like a special deal if you keep your next generation game on PlayStation exclusive for a two-year period?' And one of the deals we made was with Take-Two for the next three Grand Theft Auto games. At the time, it wasn't clear that Grand Theft Auto 3 was going to be as huge as it was, because it used to be a top down game.

"It was very lucky for us. And actually lucky for them, because they got a discount on the royalty they paid. Those deals aren't uncommon in industries with platforms. Including today with things like social media."

 

[cireza]

Coming from Sony, this is a huge surprise !

 

[Represent.]

Exactly why competition is good.

And exclusives are needed.

 

[nush]

the deals we made was with Take-Two for the next three Grand Theft Auto games.

I worked for Take 2 at this time and they are snakes. Here's how it actually played out. The contract with Sony said (Paraphrase) "You are not allowed to release GTA 3 or GTA Vice City on Xbox". So what this interview saying is true. However there's money on the table that Take 2 were not going to ignore, so they looked through the contract and found the loophole.

"You are not allowed to release GTA 3 or GTA Vice City on Xbox"

By making it a bundle and calling it "GTA Double pack" legally it was a different product and thus did not break the contract. Sony were fucking pissed and there was not a damned thing they could do because "Hey, San Andreas. You want?"

 

[Mattyp]

I worked for Take 2 at this time and they are snakes. Here's how it actually played out. The contract with Sony said (Paraphrase) "You are not allowed to release GTA 3 or GTA Vice City on Xbox". So what this interview saying is true. However there's money on the table that Take 2 were not going to ignore, so they looked through the contract and found the loophole.

"You are not allowed to release GTA 3 or GTA Vice City on Xbox"

By making it a bundle and calling it "GTA Double pack" legally it was a different product and thus did not break the contract. Sony were fucking pissed and there was not a damned thing they could do because "Hey, San Andreas. You want?"

The pack I have to this day, was vastly superior to PS2 version as well what made me change Xbox to full time console at that point.

 

[nush]

The pack I have to this day, was vastly superior to PS2 version as well what made me change Xbox to full time console at that point.

I brought it again last month for £18 because I lost my copy. It's good and backwards compatible.

 

[Cakeboxer]

Exactly why competition is good.

And exclusives are needed.

Competition is good for the prices and therefore for the players, moneyhatted 3rd party game exclusivities are not good for the players.

 

[Soodanim]

Sony must have been over the moon that their gamble became one of the S tier franchises. Monumentally huge games that defined a generation, all of them.

I worked for Take 2 at this time and they are snakes. Here's how it actually played out. The contract with Sony said (Paraphrase) "You are not allowed to release GTA 3 or GTA Vice City on Xbox". So what this interview saying is true. However there's money on the table that Take 2 were not going to ignore, so they looked through the contract and found the loophole.

"You are not allowed to release GTA 3 or GTA Vice City on Xbox"

By making it a bundle and calling it "GTA Double pack" legally it was a different product and thus did not break the contract. Sony were fucking pissed and there was not a damned thing they could do because "Hey, San Andreas. You want?"

I didn’t know this, that’s hilarious and more than a little bit cheeky

 

[Moses85]

I worked for Take 2 at this time and they are snakes. Here's how it actually played out. The contract with Sony said (Paraphrase) "You are not allowed to release GTA 3 or GTA Vice City on Xbox". So what this interview saying is true. However there's money on the table that Take 2 were not going to ignore, so they looked through the contract and found the loophole.

"You are not allowed to release GTA 3 or GTA Vice City on Xbox"

By making it a bundle and calling it "GTA Double pack" legally it was a different product and thus did not break the contract. Sony were fucking pissed and there was not a damned thing they could do because "Hey, San Andreas. You want?"

 

[SweetTooth]

Clever and needed. Looking back at it after 25 year, Sony's sure tamed and humbled Microsoft.

 

[theStartupSound]

I don’t like the concept of exclusivity, but partnering with another business and then getting screwed by them in such a ridiculous way … I don’t know, would not trust anyone after that anymore.

Good for the players, but personally also a clear dick move.

 

[Badlucktroll]

In an alternate universe, we would have gotten ps2 halo published by rockstar!

 

[realcool]

keep the singularity away from me

 

[SenkiDala]

I worked for Take 2 at this time and they are snakes. Here's how it actually played out. The contract with Sony said (Paraphrase) "You are not allowed to release GTA 3 or GTA Vice City on Xbox". So what this interview saying is true. However there's money on the table that Take 2 were not going to ignore, so they looked through the contract and found the loophole.

"You are not allowed to release GTA 3 or GTA Vice City on Xbox"

By making it a bundle and calling it "GTA Double pack" legally it was a different product and thus did not break the contract. Sony were fucking pissed and there was not a damned thing they could do because "Hey, San Andreas. You want?"

Yeah exactly and GTA was on Xbox pretty soon after the PS2 versions (like 6/7 months for VICE CITY and SAN ANDREAS).

I played all of those on PS2 but finally got the "trilogy pack" (dunno how it is called) and it looked WAY BETTER than the PS2 versions.

 

[squidilix]

Now we learn that Sony was "afraid" or "worried"

Especially when "Console War is over" at 2002... and Sony was okay to still release GTA3 after 9/11 with an agressive price 45€/$

Very funny, especially when you know Microsoft do not want GTA3

I don't know what happen why boomer people, but it's time to STFU and stop re-making the story...
nush anecdot is more interesting... than "I heard SONY was mad and make exclusivity on ALL VIDEO GAMES" , tomorrow we gonna learn Sony block GTA release on Nintendo? Come on...

 

[Punished Miku]

I worked for Take 2 at this time and they are snakes. Here's how it actually played out. The contract with Sony said (Paraphrase) "You are not allowed to release GTA 3 or GTA Vice City on Xbox". So what this interview saying is true. However there's money on the table that Take 2 were not going to ignore, so they looked through the contract and found the loophole.

"You are not allowed to release GTA 3 or GTA Vice City on Xbox"

By making it a bundle and calling it "GTA Double pack" legally it was a different product and thus did not break the contract. Sony were fucking pissed and there was not a damned thing they could do because "Hey, San Andreas. You want?"

Xbox got hit with the same thing with Ninja Gaiden Sigma 1 and 2

Gamecube, Resident Evil 4 + Ada

 

[Unknown?]

Competition is good for the prices and therefore for the players, moneyhatted 3rd party game exclusivities are not good for the players.

Wrong. This caused Xbox to have to compete more than just, "we are Microsoft, we will win by default."

 

[Cakeboxer]

Wrong. This caused Xbox to have to compete more than just, "we are Microsoft, we will win by default."

Moneyhatting from A leads to moneyhatting from B ("competing") and that's always bad for the players.

 

[NeverYouMind]

I brought it again last month for £18 because I lost my copy. It's good and backwards compatible.

Fully backwards compatible on what? The Xbox 360?

Xbox got hit with the same thing with Ninja Gaiden Sigma 1 and 2

Gamecube, Resident Evil 4 + Ada

The people that got PS2/PC/PS4/XBONE versions of Resident Evil 4 and PS3/Vita/PC version of Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 received greatly inferior products. In contrast, the Xbox versions of GTA III and Vice City were vastly superior.

 

[Unknown?]

Fully backwards compatible on what? The Xbox 360?


The people that got PS2/PC/PS4/XBONE versions of Resident Evil 4 and PS3/Vita/PC version of Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 received greatly inferior products. In contrast, the Xbox versions of GTA III and Vice City were vastly superior.

They got a homebrew of GTA3 on DreamCast using PC assets, I'm sure someone could optimize the PS2 versions to be much closer to the Xbox versions.

 

[ManaByte]

Coming from Sony, this is a huge surprise !

Not really. They did the same thing with Tomb Raider the previous generation to shut down the Saturn (which also got Tomb Raider) and to make one of the strongest Saturn devs (CORE) essentially PS exclusive.

Sony Computer Entertainment America Signs Exclusive Deal with Eidos for Tomb Raider Franchise; Lara Croft Videogames to Be Exclusive to the PlayStation for Game Consoles

Official Press Release - September 18, 1997

Released in November 1996, the original Tomb Raider game from Eidos Interactive and Core Design, was one of the best-selling videogames of all time with more than 1.5 million units sold for the PlayStation game console worldwide. Marking its one-year anniversary with a highly-anticipated sequel, Tomb Raider 2 is scheduled for release in November 1997.

"Core Design and EIDOS have created the most successful original product in years that became a number one hit on PlayStation in the U.S. and Europe last year," said Phil Harrison, vice president, third party relations, Sony Computer Entertainment America. "The PlayStation console is the undisputed world-leader in videogaming and it is appropriate that two leaders in their field should partner up in this way for Tomb Raider."

"Given the worldwide domination of the PlayStation system, it's a natural for Eidos to partner with Sony Computer Entertainment America and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe," said Mike McGarvey, chief operating officer, Eidos Interactive. "We want our best-selling franchise to reach the greatest number of consumers and the PlayStation and its powerful CD-ROM software format satisfies this demand. The fact that the PlayStation will be the only game console on which you can enjoy the Tomb Raider franchise is a great statement for the platform."

 

[sainraja]

I have read so many different versions of exclusivity around GTA3. The last one that I remember was Rockstar went to Microsoft for exclusivity and was turned down and now we're hearing Sony went to Rockstar lol. Which one is true?

Seems like this one since it is being shared by someone from Sony but... yeah I dunno.

 

[nush]

Fully backwards compatible on what? The Xbox 360?

Yeah 360.

 

[nush]

Not really. They did the same thing with Tomb Raider the previous generation to shut down the Saturn (which also got Tomb Raider) and to make one of the strangest Saturn devs (CORE) essentially PS exclusive.

and then sold that as "The Saturn could not run Tomb Raider 2" bullshit.

 

[ManaByte]

and then sold that as "The Saturn could not run Tomb Raider 2" bullshit.

I’m convinced CORE had TR2 running on the Saturn and it was running better than he PSX version at the time Sony money hatted EIDOS. CORE were wizards.

 

[sainraja]

Xbox got hit with the same thing with Ninja Gaiden Sigma 1 and 2

Gamecube, Resident Evil 4 + Ada

What are you talking about?

The "Sigma" versions was how those games were released on the PS3. Ninja Gaiden was exclusive to Xbox.

EDIT
Maybe that is what you meant? Not sure.

 

[sainraja]

I worked for Take 2 at this time and they are snakes. Here's how it actually played out. The contract with Sony said (Paraphrase) "You are not allowed to release GTA 3 or GTA Vice City on Xbox". So what this interview saying is true. However there's money on the table that Take 2 were not going to ignore, so they looked through the contract and found the loophole.

"You are not allowed to release GTA 3 or GTA Vice City on Xbox"

By making it a bundle and calling it "GTA Double pack" legally it was a different product and thus did not break the contract. Sony were fucking pissed and there was not a damned thing they could do because "Hey, San Andreas. You want?"

But wasn't the exclusivity only for 2 years?

GTA3 came out in 2001 and the double pack came out in 2003? What am I missing... was it not 2 years exclusivity? I guess the loophole allowed them to release Vice City?

 

[Geometric-Crusher]

and then sold that as "The Saturn could not run Tomb Raider 2" bullshit.

but it's true, The game seems to have as its strong point on everything that the Saturn doesn't offer.

 

[Geometric-Crusher]

I’m convinced CORE had TR2 running on the Saturn and it was running better than he PSX version at the time Sony money hatted EIDOS. CORE were wizards.

 

[ManaByte]

Laugh all you want, but the original Saturn version had better water effects and actual gamma options (to make it suitably dark) over the PSX version. The US version of Saturn one was like the beta version. It was completed before the PSX one and lacked optimization. But the Japanese Saturn version is the definitive version of Tomb Raider 1. It features all of the things the Saturn version had over the PSX, while adding the stuff the finished PSX version had as well as a better frame rate. They also refined even more stuff in it because they had time after the US PSX version to respond to feedback.

Laugh at history, but that's the truth.

 

[Skifi28]

Coming from Sony, this is a huge surprise !

Poor trillion dollar Microsoft constantly getting bullied. At least they remained pure and did not moneyhat any games.

 

[cireza]

Poor trillion dollar Microsoft constantly getting bullied. At least they remained pure and did not moneyhat any games.

How is this related to Microsoft already ?

 

[JerryinSoCal]

Stories from 30 years of PlayStation

During EGX in London, PlayStation veterans Chris Deering, David Wilson, Geoff Glendenning, David Ranyard and Masami Koc…

www.gamesindustry.biz

The GTA exclusivity deal was partially a reaction to Xbox​

"We were worried when we saw Xbox coming," Deering remembered. "We knew exclusivity was the name of the game in a lot of fields, like Sky TV with sports. Just as Christmas was approaching when Xbox would launch, a few of us went out to our favourite third-party publishers and developers, and we asked them, 'How would you like a special deal if you keep your next generation game on PlayStation exclusive for a two-year period?' And one of the deals we made was with Take-Two for the next three Grand Theft Auto games. At the time, it wasn't clear that Grand Theft Auto 3 was going to be as huge as it was, because it used to be a top down game.

"It was very lucky for us. And actually lucky for them, because they got a discount on the royalty they paid. Those deals aren't uncommon in industries with platforms. Including today with things like social media."

Remember xbox also had a shot at exclusivity and turned it down before PlayStation got it, smart move on Sony's part.

 

[Skifi28]

How is this related to Microsoft already ?

Are you asking me how a deal that excludes Microsoft from getting games involves Microsoft?

 

[NeverYouMind]

They got a homebrew of GTA3 on DreamCast using PC assets, I'm sure someone could optimize the PS2 versions to be much closer to the Xbox versions.

No need for that. Liberty City Stories is a pretty good indicator of what could be accomplished. It was the first version and had the least polish as a result.

 

[TGO]

Competition is good for the prices and therefore for the players, moneyhatted 3rd party game exclusivities are not good for the players.

Exclusivities comes with competition.
Competition isn't a nice game for those that don't have the upper hand.

 

[adamsapple]

The people that got PS2/PC/PS4/XBONE versions of Resident Evil 4 and PS3/Vita/PC version of Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 received greatly inferior products. In contrast, the Xbox versions of GTA III and Vice City were vastly superior.

Damn fucking shame those versions are not BC with Series consoles.

Even the OG Xbox version of San Andreas has been "pulled", if you put the disc now to download the formatted version, it just downloads the Xbox 360 re-release instead, which was a mobile port.

 

[NeverYouMind]

Damn fucking shame those versions are not BC with Series consoles.

Even the OG Xbox version of San Andreas has been "pulled", if you put the disc now to download the formatted version, it just downloads the Xbox 360 re-release instead, which was a mobile port.

Honestly, with the recent update to the Definitive Edition I have so much fun playing Vice City and San Andreas on the Series S that memories of them have faded. Would be neat to have both versions though.

 

[adamsapple]

Honestly, with the recent update to the Definitive Edition I have so much fun playing Vice City on the Series S that memories of them have faded. Would be neat to have both versions though.

They can bring the lighting look closer, but they'll never be able to mod back the complete radio stations on the console versions, outside of modding on PC.

 

[NeverYouMind]

They can bring the lighting look closer, but they'll never be able to mod back the complete radio stations on the console versions, outside of modding on PC.

I just have folders with the cut songs on a USB and use Simple Background Music Player app to play them while playing the game. Neat to have a Walkman option in GTA. Pausing and resuming them is as easy as pressing the menu button, tapping down, and pressing A (after booting app).

I enjoyed it a lot while doing ambulance and firefighter missions. In the original it would just be emergency radio chatter and sirens that I would be hearing.

 

[nush]

Damn fucking shame those versions are not BC with Series consoles.

Even the OG Xbox version of San Andreas has been "pulled", if you put the disc now to download the formatted version, it just downloads the Xbox 360 re-release instead, which was a mobile port.

I'm still pissed about that.

 

[YeulEmeralda]

Poor trillion dollar Microsoft constantly getting bullied. At least they remained pure and did not moneyhat any games.

Didn't MS money hat Halo from Apple?

 

[The ninja farmer]

Didn't MS money hat Halo from Apple?

So much so. They bought the studio and they pivoted to making one of the greatest launch games of all time

Still keep my 360, for some games. The halo, gta & gears trilogies and some others from back in the day

 

[KuraiShidosha]

Anti-conshmer scumbags. They always were the worst when it came to exclusives buying out 3rd parties.

 

[DAHGAMING]

Sony were shook then and there shook now .

 

[ReBurn]

That's a cool story.

 

[YeulEmeralda]

So much so. They bought the studio and they pivoted to making one of the greatest launch games of all time

Still keep my 360, for some games. The halo, gta & gears trilogies and some others from back in the day

It's a damn shame what happened to Xbox.

 

[Taur007]

Exactly why competition is good.

And exclusives are needed.

“Homegrown” exclusives though right?

Cause i remember people shitting on the green company for doin this with “rise of the tomb raider” but hey

 

[Topher]

“Homegrown” exclusives though right?

Cause i remember people shitting on the green company for doin this with “rise of the tomb raider” but hey

Every company gets shit on for doing stuff like this and rightfully so.

 

[Taur007]

Every company gets shit on for doing stuff like this and rightfully so.

You are correct but in MS case they actually saved tomb raider though, I remember reading an article years back that the game wasn’t even going to be made without MS money, they essentially funded it. They were not happy with sales of the first game