Don't forget the Wii and the PC, as porting has become a dirty and unpredictable business

Oct 15, 2007 13:30 GMT  ·  By

Once upon a launch date MGS 4 and FFXIII were PS3 exclusive titles, but now it seems that "exclusivity" is only a word, as the producers of major titles tend to shift their platforms according to the console's sales. At first, Metal Gear Solid 4 and FF XIII were announced as 100% PS3 titles, but a couple of months later, we saw Kojima Productions doubting the PS3's potential and going the Microsoft way.

Square-Enix keeps telling us that the new FF titles will be PS3-only games, mentioning that at the end of their trailers, but their recent talks with the guys over at Microsoft sure make it sound like a port will be coming at some point. This duel can turn into a three-sided combat, as the PC is not ready to give away such major franchises that were successful each time one of the many Final Fantasy or Metal Gear Solid titles got ported.

And what about the Nintendo Wii? Since there are rumors indicating the release of a revamped version of Oblivion for Nintendo's best-selling console, nothing seems impossible, as long as you dig "dumbed-down" graphics of the new FF and MGS titles... Exclusivity costs nowadays and the producers usually stay true to their promises, if they're about to release the first game in a series, or they're just entering the world of next-gen devices... Major players like Konami or Square-Enix are clever enough to shift between platforms as they please, while quietly working on a final version of their blockbusters back at their headquarters.

Sooner or later, PC gamers will benefit from Final Fantasy XIII and MGS4 ports, especially if the titles sell well enough to be worth the effort or porting them. It seems that seeing Halo 3 on the PC or MGS 4 for that matter is as much a possibility as it was in the case of Gears of War, back in the days of the "Xbox 360 exclusivity".