Grim Fandango Update Also Coming to PC, Mac, Linux

Never played it. So looking forward to it.

@jimmypancakes: Yeah. I kind of agree. This is basically just a rehashed press release. Worth maybe a line at most on the Bombcast. Companies are perfectly capable of telling us what platforms their game is coming out for, that's why they have marketing budgets, and will no doubt put out hundreds of trailers.

its exclusive for consoles though. I don't feel they were ever lying about this.

@jimmypancakes I agree

Then what is a platform exclusive?

I feel Patrick is kind of missing the boat here. When a new game is announced and Patrick or one of the other GB guys creates a news posting they usually mention on which 'platforms' the game will be released. The PC is a platform but not a console. The PS4 and Vita are platforms but also consoles.

So Grim Fandango is not a platform exclusive (it will be on both the PC and PS4 for example) but it is a console exclusive (only on Playstation and not on Xbox and Wii U)

Didn't Tim tweet this immediately after it was announced at Sony's conference?

Isn't it only coming to PS3(?)/4 and Vita? That makes it a console exclusive.

PC isn't a console. I'm not sure why that confuses people. =P

Its a term that immediately tells the consumer and reporters where the game is without any need of more questioning and allows PlayStation employees to only promote the PlayStation version, which is their job.

If Sony said "Grim Fandango is coming to PS4!" immediately the questions would start rolling in. "Is it exclusive to PlayStation? Is is coming to other consoles? Is it coming to PC? What about Wii U? etc." These questions cannot be answered by PlayStation because you shouldn't really discuss other platforms while promoting your own. By saying "console exclusive" I know immediately it is coming to PlayStation and PC. No confusion.

I am fine with this news.

Only Nintendo uses the language surrounding exclusive consistently. Microsoft and Sony like to call out "Console" Exclusives, be misleadingly vague about multiplatform games and stress the insignificant exclusive bonuses in order to confuse the issue. I think it's very scummy. If a game is coming out on everything they shouldn't avoid saying so in order to mislead a crowd. Additionally if a game is coming out on other things it's not exclusive.

I've no problem with this at all, one of the most minor pieces of bullshit out there.

Very happy for sony/xbox to see the PC as Switzerland and not pulling anti-competitive bullshit like launch parity. I just wish Sony would see the light and release drivers for the dualshock

I can see Sony's E3 2015 press conference now. "And Assassin's Creed Space Time Adventure will be coming to PS4, Xbox One and PC this fall." The whole job of a platform holder is to promote their platform. Make it seem like nothing else exists.

Sweet. The more people that get to play this masterpiece the better.

What would you call a game exclusive to Sony consoles that rolls off the tongue as trippingly as "console exclusive"?

Not a fan of Grim Fandango.

Wait, I think I'm mistaken...

For serious? It means that something is excluded. In this case, the XONE. People tend to view it as an inclusive term, as in marketing saying "Only on PS4" when in fact they should be saying "Not on XBox One or Wii U", but they can't.

Word, I always wanted to play this.

@patrickklepek The words console exclusive, imply the game is exclusive to a particular console, it says nothing about PC or other non-console platforms. Not sure I understand why there's any sort of confusion.

I've always been fine with "console exclusive" because it's still a big plus for the console even if it's not a full exclusive. I do think there's a reason to differentiate between that and multiplatform. More people seem to be okay with these distinctions this generation.

@hassun: I remember Titanfall being touted as an exclusive in 2013.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/412076/respawns-titanfall-officially-confirmed-as-xbox-console-exclusive-first-screens-and-trailer/

Seems to be a great fit for the Vita, but good for PC-gamers. Also thanks for the GIF now all I want is a smoke

Exactly. This is a complete non-issue that some are blowing out of proportion for absolutely no reason.

How do you feel about console inclusives?

Glottis, hang on I'mma coming!

So damned stoked for this one. I loved this game back in the day. Now, include Grim Fandango as a bonus!

@brackynews: I understand the meaning. My statement was meant as a sarcastic take on what the gaming industry has been doing with the word exclusive in some cases.

There is a fan patch and launcher that will let you run GF on Win7. I wonder if DF is totally remastering it?

http://quickandeasysoftware.net/software/grim-fandango-setup

Grim Fandango is one of my all time favourite games, full stop. Even though I own the original version I will definitely be getting this, and depending on how flush I feel at the time, will likely buy copies for others as well. Simply put the game is a work of art and should be played by everybody. The fact that its coming to the consoles this time around (lets face it, the new version was always going to be released on PC... right?! Right) will only improve the possibility that more people will get to understand why the game is so beloved.

I completely understand why companies like Microsoft and Sony use terms like "console exclusive," even if it seems silly marketing speak that could be avoided. The kinds of people who are watching press conferences and things like it tend to be consumers who are also keyed into video games as a whole, so pretending like PC is some fantasy platform in another land just strikes me as odd, even if the alternative of them saying "it's coming to PS4, Vita, and PC" is also impossible. More than anything, it's odd for Microsoft. Microsoft announced Ori and the Blind Forest as a "console exclusive" in a trailer that lists it as also coming out on PC, which is a platform that Microsoft, as a company, actively supports and has published games for.

@curufinwe: I think it's been a symptom of the dip in PC importance during the WiiPS360 generation. And now that PC is getting bigger again (+ the appearance of steam boxes and stuff) people are starting to notice this behaviour again.

EXCLUUUUUUUUUUUSIVEEEEEEE.

This is good news.

Very relieved. I personally am very glad of the rise of the "console exclusive" being a PC-exclusive gamer.

Guess I won't have to buy it on both then (I was actually considering that).

In some respects, this is how I see console competition:

• Group 1: PC/Mac/Linux ("computer group")
• Group 2: PS4/XBOX ONE/Wii U ("living room group")
• Group 3: PS Vita/3DS ("handheld gaming-exclusive device group")
• Group 4: iOS/Android ("handheld gaming-sometimes-but-mostly-phone group")

I don't see these groups as really competing with consoles outside their own group (with the exception of PS4 vs. Vita, and 3DS vs. Wii U, in some respect), and I know multiple people who have at least one in each category (usually PC/PS4 or XBOX ONE/3DS/iOS). There's also always been people who buy multiple consoles in the same group, and don't really care about that competition. So when I hear "console exclusive," I usually take it to mean "This is coming out on PS4 or XBOX ONE first, but it'll probably come out on a computer or whatever later, because it's in its own separate group".

Regarding Grim Fandango, specifically, I'm not surprised. I frequent the DF Twitch stream, and I remember one of their staff members saying that they make a lot of money off Mac and Linux ports. And while my Mac is surprisingly decent graphically (at least compared to some of the other laptops I've owned), it's an old game, and hopefully won't chug too badly.

The fact that they don't say that is why everyone has to second guess themselves whenever Sony mentions what platforms a game is going to be on. They exclude everything other than themselves and try to paint it as exclusive no matter what it actually is.

I haven't played this game since I was a kid and I'm looking forward to refreshing my memories.

Patrick, surely you've heard "console exclusive" before now. This isn't a new thing. Besides, how else should they say it? They aren't hiding anything - console exclusive means exactly what it says.

@patrickklepek: 100% agree with you on the silliness of the term console exclusive. Seems like it was a term invented by console manufacturers to buff up their lineups with exclusives that weren't really that at all. In the age where most AAA games are going multiplatform, it's increasingly looking out of place.

To me at least, this all seems pretty simple.

Is the game available on only one platform? It's an exclusive.

Is the game available on multiple platforms? It's a (gasp) multiplatform.

This idea of excluding certain platforms from consideration (especially in the gaming enthusiast community) seems very disingenuous. Sony mightn't consider the PC a rival platform, but I and plenty of other gamers doubtless do. How many times have you foregone a console version of something if there's a PC version available at the same time? For me, the answer is several times just over the past two or so years.

And with the huge resurgence of PC gaming recently (currently the latest Steam concurrent user figures outstrip the lifetimes sales of the Xbox One); ironically, the game would actually be more exclusive to the PS4 in terms of the perspective of many gamers if it was on the Xbox One than the PC.

It shone, pale as bone

As I stood there alone

And I thought to myself how the moon,

That night, cast its light

On my heart's true delight,

And the reef where her body was strewn.

I'm actually pro exclusives as it helps give a brand an identity and also return on your investment in a particular platform.

Woo hoo!

Awesome. Exclusives can be awesome when they are developed specifically for a specific piece of hardware, letting the devs eek out ever out of its potential (this is becoming less and less of an issue as hardware become more homogenous though), but I much rather see everyone get to play the games they want on the platform of their choice.

They didn't release day and date on other platforms though. Braid, Limbo, Castle Crashers, Bastion etc were all actual exclusives. Timed, sure, but exclusive to the 360 at the time of release.

Titanfall, grim fandango and many, many others are coming out on a competing platform day and date. Different situation. Why they do it is obvious, but it still sounds silly to me.

@patrickklepek: They don't control the PC system though. If anything steam does.

Well, now you don't have to. =)

I'll have to buy it a third time.

'console exclusive' is only misleading if they don't announce the other platforms at the same time. I think the more misleading term is 'console debut' like how No Man's Sky was announced. Does that mean it is timed or what?

There aren't many games I'd feel happy about buying twice, but this is definitely one of them.

@kerikxi: Bingo.