In a recent interview with Capcom’s VP of Marketing there was some discussion over Third Party Exclusivities and where they would be heading over time. As everyone is aware nowadays, exclusivity to a specific console is quickly dwindling with third party developers. What was once a deciding factor in what console would be purchased has now become a gray area where the highest bidder wins.

The only true exclusives now are from the console manufacturers themselves, i.e. Nintendo and Sony making their flagship titles. The supposed main drivers for exclusives are gameplay functionality and costs, i.e. if the controls make sense on your system and the costs for porting are fine then giddy up and jump on board.

Recently there have been many mergers and acquisitions. Is this a sign of the times that small development studios are out and the large conglomerates win? Will the video game era die in a world of corporate America? What happened to the days of Pong and Tetris, where some guy in his basement made a game and just unleashed it on the world? Now we need blockbuster budgets with voice acting and CGI in order to sell a game.

Will third party exclusives just disappear altogether? Although Capcom still survives on it’s own, will there be a day where Capcom gets swallowed up? Can we expect and EA Capcom soon?

Capcom marketing VP Nique Fajors tells Next-Gen:

“I can remember when I was younger, I was committed to Sega. I wouldn’t buy a Nintendo platform. So I rode all the Sega platforms, from Genesis through Saturn and all the way up. I think consumers increasingly don’t have that kind of loyalty anymore.

I think we can all remember those times, I was of a similar school and actually was in the Nintendo camp from the NES all the way to the Gamecube, but once Sony and Xbox busted on the scene the dynamic of everything changed. Enter the fanboy, enter the timed-exclusives and enter the complexity of gaming today. Throw in format wars between Blu Ray and HD DVD and you have one confusing time trying to figure things out.

What do you guys think?

[ Via Next Gen ]