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http://www.1up.com/news/publishers-getting-living-crap-kicked-microsoft-sony

I love this story posted by 1UP. We seldom see these kinds of things since they are mostly hidden from the public and locked away. This article illustrates a very good point about Business. There are two ways to get to the top in Business. A) Make a products that sells insanely well that exceeds all expectations (mostly luck) or B) Make ridiculous rules and regulations that swing the fight in your favor. Most Business that do well usually do the latter rather than the former. It's very rare you see a Business make it big just by honestly selling a product (One such example is Apple with it's iPod, which sold millions mostly by luck). So lets sum up the article a little:

The first thing that strikes me is the first point in which two rules are set by Microsoft for a game to be allowed on the 360. 1) The game cannot be released on other platforms before the 360, and 2) The game must contain at least as much content on the disk as the other platforms. Now the second point does gimp the PS3 a little as the Blu-ray disks do have a lot more space then your standard DVD-9 disks, so by indirectly limiting the amount of data allowed on the disk for the PS3 multiplat games, it makes sure Microsoft doesn't get the short end of the stick when it comes to Multiplats. However developers have found a way around this on the PS3 by releasing free downloadable content after the game ships. One example is L.A Noire on the PS3. There is a free mission that PS3 gamers can download (it's a hefty 600MB download). Also Batman Arkham Asylum on the PS3 allows you to play as the Joker, but you needed to download that from the PS store. This was also free.

The second point of the article that strikes me is "Microsoft is suggesting anything but parity will result in them not carrying a title". This is complete and utter bullshit in my opinion. This is simply a scare tactic and does not stop a developer from putting more content on the PS3 version of the disk, it just becomes a PS3 exclusive if Microsoft does not allow the game on the 360. But I can be pretty sure that if a GTA game comes out on the PS3, that has and extra land mass and the 360 version does not, I can bet that Microsoft will pay Rockstar a huge lump sum of money to make that as downloadable content when that game comes out.

Now, I respect Microsoft for protecting it's customers (actually protecting itself more than it's customers) by enforcing these rules, but developers are finding creative ways around these regulations. I am starting to wonder why Microsoft enforced these rules. Is it because they knew the 360 was inferior to the PS3 with respect to disk space or some other hardware limitation? I'm not quite sure, but I know one is for sure; these regulations could end up hurting Microsoft in the future especially if consoles go almost completely digital distribution, which I hope they don't. I like having a physical copy of my favorite game. In the end, it's Business as usual.

Thanks for reading!