Sega confirms pair of PS3 launch titles, no exclusives
by James Ransom-Wiley 
{ Jul 6th 2006 at 1:25PM }
Speaking with GameDaily BIZ, Sega's Scott Steinberg confirmed plans to contribute two titles, Sonic the Hedgehog and Full Auto 2: Battlelines, to the PlayStation 3 launch lineup -- Virtua Fighter 5 will follow next March. Neither game gives Sony an advantage at launch, since Sonic has already been confirmed for Xbox 360 and Steinberg couldn't deny that the Full Auto sequel is also destined for Microsoft's platform. By contrast, come next spring, Virtua Fighter 5 will give us a reason to invest in PS3.It's easy to see how the Virtua Fighter delay works in Sony's favor. PS3 will sell out at launch no matter what software is available. But 4–6 months down the line, when the diehards have already cashed in, Sony will be banking on exclusives to keep units flying off the shelves.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Franky Digital @ Jul 6th 2006 1:37PM
Hmmm...
Scott @ Jul 6th 2006 1:39PM
Shouldn't it be called Full Auto 1.5?
JimmyHACK @ Jul 6th 2006 1:39PM
News with a little dash of the "Joystiq anti-Sony Spice"
Neither two of the "launch titles" announced are any of the ps3's good launch titles, and well both prolly not a good title on any system...
josh @ Jul 6th 2006 1:42PM
One thing it will do sadly for sony, is they will look and play exactly the same as they do on the 360. Begging the question from the buyer... Why exactly did i buy a PS3 for more money?
Franky Digital @ Jul 6th 2006 1:43PM
#3... how is this anti-Sony?
He explicitly says "By contrast, come next spring, Virtua Fighter 5 will give us a reason to invest in PS3."
Sounds like a pro-PS3 spin to me.
epobirs @ Jul 6th 2006 1:48PM
I can just imagine if one loads Full Auto 2 on an Xbox 360 and it detects save games from the first Full Auto, the player will hear a recording of the entire dev team shouting in unison, "Sucker!"
Cage @ Jul 6th 2006 1:49PM
How wonderful it must be to be a diehard. If I was, I would get to spend $750+ (game, extra controller, and tax) to play ported games for the next 5 months. Great...
Jay @ Jul 6th 2006 1:51PM
I had no idea Virtua Fighter was still going. I'm not really bothered with mainstream fighting games (Smash Bros & Rival Schools being the only ones I play) but the last time I saw that was at an arcade at a Haven caravan site sooo many years ago. Had Mortal Kombat 2 also, which sucked up all my money.
I'm unexcited by anything Sonic these days. Wii, 360, PS3 or any current gen console. no ta. I'm happy with my Mega Drive Sonics.
GamerZero @ Jul 6th 2006 1:52PM
Virtua Fighter is a nice exclusive to the PS3 and will no doubt persuade a lot of people to buy one.I always find modern beat-em-up's to be graphical showcases with an instant fun factor but in the long term irritatingly repetetive.I liked Tekken for the reason you could play mini-games inbetween,that being,the mini-games could be more fun and leisurely.Maybe I just can't stand left,left,right,up,down,180 degree's...damn,maybe it was supposed to be right,left,right....,wait a minute,wrong character...argh,why won't that boss just die! /throws joypad into HD-LCD screen,then regrets having done so by sobbing and being violently sick having destroyed both.
el nico @ Jul 6th 2006 1:56PM
i wonder why virtua figher 5 will be a ps3 exclusive. A google search yielded several answers that doesn't really make sense to me. Is it because ps3 has better hardware? is it ms's insistence that all games on the 360 have some sort of xbl capability? Is it that the ps3's architecture lends to better porting from the arcade version of vf5?
anyone know?
pandlcg @ Jul 6th 2006 2:01PM
i love how all of james ransom wiley's posts are called anti whatever topic he is writing about
Franky Digital @ Jul 6th 2006 2:04PM
Again, how is this article anti-anything? I don't understand... please, help me. I feel so feeble for not grasping these complex deconstructions that you people are performing.
GamerZero @ Jul 6th 2006 2:11PM
#el nico
Well apparently the graphics will be familiar in that they both use off-the-shelf NVIDIA chipsets.As for the CPU,they are leagues apart,I'm guessing because CELL is a bit new but it probably can be used as a simple PowerPC chip anyway without bothering with all that mini-core pallava.If the game is more reliant on the GPU rather than the CPU then a port should be very do'able and should look as good,total guesswork ofcourse mind.Don't blame me if it renders two stickmen slapping each other.
anonymous @ Jul 6th 2006 2:12PM
Joystiq is often anti-Sony; it's just become a truism. Not to the vast extent of Kotaku, mind you, but hey. People are now looking for it in all content.
Jeff @ Jul 6th 2006 2:13PM
"i wonder why virtua figher 5 will be a ps3 exclusive. A google search yielded several answers that doesn't really make sense to me. Is it because ps3 has better hardware?"
Like a lot of exclusives, it is probably a combination of a better working relationship between AM2 and Sony as well as hardware that's relatively close to VF5 arcade hardware, not to mention MS's Japan disaster.
Here's the hardware VF5 arcade uses: http://www.system16.com/hardware.php?id=731
And the PS3 specs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playstation_3#Hardware_specifications
There are a lot of differences, but they're both using nVidia GPU's, at least. And I'm sure learning to program the Cell is no harder for AM2 than learning to program the PowerPC - they have no experience with either one. But they do have experience with nVidia.
They also have experience dealing with Sony, which had VF4 as an exclusive. Often this comes down to who the developer is most comfortable with.
And of course there's Japan. MS has zero penetration in Japan and the VF series is more popular there than it is here. VF5 is high-def in the arcades and so the Wii is an unnatural fit. If Sega wants to put VF5 in Japanese homes and have it look at least halfway like the original, the PS3 is really the only way to do it.
I suspect this will be the case for a lot of Japanese arcade ports in the future as well.
BPM? @ Jul 6th 2006 2:15PM
El Nico:
Since SEGA stopped making their own systems, the Virtua Fighter series has been pretty much a Sony-exclusive series (unless you count the PS2/GCN Virtua Quest).
JimmyHACK @ Jul 6th 2006 2:19PM
ign or 1up recently had an interview about the virtua fighter on ps3 saying it is in fact due to the nvidia chips
>_> @ Jul 6th 2006 2:29PM
God I hate it when people bring up MS's problems in Japan with regard to Virtual Fighter. It sold way more copies outside of Japan than within. -_-
samfish @ Jul 6th 2006 2:30PM
@ #14:
Even though I don't think this post is anti-Sony at all, I'd say it's about time, then, that someone in the gaming press starting balancing the PS love fest that's been ongoing since Tomb Raider first hit.
...ugh...especially in the print magazines.
EdensDevil @ Jul 6th 2006 2:35PM
Who cares I am a little excited about a new Sonic that might be worth buying but Full-Auto blowed and Virtua Fighter has always been the same game recycled just like every other fighting game. The only fighting game worth buying a system for is a new Killer Instinct but hopefully Rare does it closer to the first one. And hope they take some risks with something new for it. Also a complete version of the other two on XBLA or bundled with the new game would be great.
RazorElite @ Jul 6th 2006 2:45PM
All I want is Sonic and Full Auto 2 on 360. Yes Full Auto 2! I loved the first one, just too short. Virtua Fighter would be nice, but whatever. I feel I'd be too busy playing Halo 3 by March anyway.
Dave @ Jul 6th 2006 3:04PM
I'm buying a PS3 for Virtua Fighter. It's no different to me than buying a $600 Japan Saturn for Virtua Fighter(traded everything I had, including 3DO).
The way I see it, $600 is still hella cheaper than the thousands of dollars for the arcade unit. Perspective is fun.
Ethan @ Jul 6th 2006 3:07PM
LOL LOL, i love it how when sony says that they won't need any games at launch to sell out, we all doubt it, and say sony is way to confident, and then go on to say later that "PS3 will sell out at launch no matter what software is available."
Franky Digital @ Jul 6th 2006 3:55PM
"PS3 will sell out at launch no matter what software is available."
It's easy to sell out when you only ship enough units to sate the hardcore fanboys, and then claim that it's a "shortage". Welcome to techonlogy marketing.
And I still don't understand why people are claiming Joystiq is anti-Sony. In case you haven't realized, everything Sony has done on the cusp of this new generation, they've done to themselves.
I refer you to the case of "Next Gen Versus Giant Grab".
LMAO @ Jul 6th 2006 4:11PM
Also note: Halo 3 will be shipped 4-6 months after PS3 is launched, if it doesn't gets delayed.
Why VF5 won't be available for Xbox360? Same reason why Metal Gear Solid 3 was never and will never be available for the Xbox (and Final Fantasy). Personally I don't care much for any of the 3 aforementioned titles.
dsub @ Jul 6th 2006 4:30PM
I thought SEGA announced back in April/May just before E3 that Full Auto 2 would be PS3 only? wtf? Could it be that the poor showing at E3 for sony has changed SEGA's mind?
This comes straight from you guys at joystiq...
http://www.joystiq.com/2006/05/02/sega-announces-ps3-exclusive-full-auto-2/
duscrom @ Jul 6th 2006 4:44PM
Geez, everyone knows that that the PS3 has so many exclusives is because it's the only console that can do REAL-TIME WEAPON SWITCHING!!!
Ethan @ Jul 6th 2006 5:07PM
Franky Digital,
"It's easy to sell out when you only ship enough units to sate the hardcore fanboys, and then claim that it's a "shortage". Welcome to techonlogy marketing."
The 360 did that, while on the other hand, the PS3 will have 6 million units shipped by march 31 2007, thats more than the 360 has sold so far.