What's the big deal with Exclusivity anyways?

I am about to rant about something that I used to be very guilty of: Bragging about a video game's console "exclusivity".  I would like to brag to an Xbox exclusive player that they will never get to experience games like Metal Gear Solid 4, Killzone or the Uncharted series.  I guess in a way it made me feel more "elite" or "rewarded" that I got to play these masterpieces only because I dropped the cash on a Playstation 3.

But then I started to ask myself: "Really, what is the big deal about exclusivity?".  I remember back in the Playstation 2 days when games like Metal Gear Solid 2 and Final Fantasy X first came out.  Those games were mind blowing!  I remember how excited I was to talk to some of my friends about these games.  However, a lot of my friends could only envy as they only had an Xbox or a Game Cube at the time.  They wanted to play the games I've been playing so badly but were restricted by the console they were using.

The reason I got to thinking about exclusivity is because of how much I LOVE some of these Playstation exclusives.  If I love these games so much, why would I want only select players to enjoy them?  The whole WORLD should be able to enjoy these games regardless of console.  That is why I am glad that some of my favorite series have broken away from Playstation exclusivity.  Games like Final Fantasy XIII and the Devil May Cry series have now been available for more people to play.  Other examples include Bioshock and Mass Effect 2.  At one point or another, these series were only available (console wise) on the Xbox.  However, they have been ported to the PS3 and I couldn't be happier about it!

My point is, there should be no whining if your favorite games are no longer exclusive to the console you own.  We should be happy that the games we love will be loved by more people than ever.

I am glad that Devil May Cry 4 and Final Fantasy were released on Xbox just as I am glad I got to play Bioshock and Mass Effect on my PS3!

-Jonathan Valor

( I should probably remind everyone that Final Fantasy wasn't always a Playstation exclusive franchise! )