Written by John Scalzo  on May 14, 2007

Special: Counting exclusives, easy as 1-2-3

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Editor's Note: We have updated the exclusives list since this article was first written. The latest update can be found here.

Welcome once again to Gaming Target's listing and analysis of console exclusives on the new generation of consoles. This will be more a housecleaning update than a serious overhaul of the list. There have been many requests to make the list contain more stats and information and that's the main goal of this update.

While the list is still made up of "console exclusives", games that have been starred will also available on the PC. These games are then totaled up and displayed next to the total along with the percentage of the total these games take up. We have also attempted to rank the exclusives by highlighting games in green that have earned an aggreagate score of 75 or better on MetaCritic. Again, the number and percentage of released games with a score of 75 or better is included next to the total.

In this vein, we have also attempted to predict the future and all unreleased games that come from a "proven franchise" will also be highlighted in green and counted. What constitutes a proven franchise? Well, if the previously released game in the series scored a 75 or better at MetaCritic, it's sequel is considered part of a proven franchise. We will attempt to differentiate between main series games and spinoffs so for example, Final Fantasy Versus XIII will be judged by Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII and Halo Wars will be considered a new part of the Halo franchise and will not be marked as "green".

Now that we've gone over the new revisions to the list, let's go the rules of The Exclusive Arms Race, which are very simple:

1. These are Уconsole exclusivesФ. So if a game appears on the PC and only one console, it is exclusive to that console. Also, because of the limitations of the DS, PSP and GBA, any game that appears on only one console and a handheld will be considered exclusive to that console.

2. Downloadable games and content packs will not be included. Downloadable games may be added in the future, but considering the number of УexclusiveФ content pack deals flying around (i.e. Grand Theft Auto IV), the word doesn't end up meaning anything. [Important Note: Because Bethesda has released The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles as a retail product for the PC and they refer to it as an "expansion", it will be counted on the Xbox 360 list.]

3. УNext-Gen exclusivesФ will not be counted. So we won't be counting games that appear on only one next-gen console but also on the PS2, Xbox or GC. So The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Burnout: Revenge and others are all out.

4. No Уfantasy gamesФ. That means that these lists will only include games that have been formally announced by a publisher and have at least a working title. So that means games like УUnannounced LucasArts/Day 1 Next-Gen ProjectФ and УUntitled Namco RPGФ won't be included.

So with the rules established, here's what the current totals look like. And like any good Cold War, they are in bar graph form for that whole УI have more missiles than you and it's the end of the world as we know itФ feel:






For those that wish to track the changes from our previous lists, they can be found here:
October 2006
March 2007
April 2007

With all that out of the way, here is the full list of exclusives for each console. While it may not be a complete list, the lists are accurate as of the day this article was published.

Xbox 360 (88 [+4])
Also On PC (31 [35%])
"Green" MetaScore + Proven Franchises (33 [38%])

Released (39)
"Green" MetaScore (20 [52%])

Amped 3
Battlestations: Midway*
Bomberman: Act Zero
Bullet Witch
Call of Duty 2*
Chromehounds
Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars*
Condemned: Criminal Origins*
Crackdown
Dance Dance Revolution Universe
Dead or Alive 4
Dead or Alive Xtreme 2
Dead Rising
Earth Defense Force 2017
Full Auto
Fuzion Frenzy 2
Gears of War
Import Tuner Challenge
Kameo: Elements of Power
Lost Planet: Extreme Condition*
MotoGP 06
Ninety-Nine Nights
Over G Fighters
Perfect Dark Zero
Prey*
Project Gotham Racing 3
Quake 4*
Ridge Racer 6
Rumble Roses XX
Saints Row *NEW*
Star Trek: Legacy*
Table Tennis
Tetris Evolution
The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles* *NEW*
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle For Middle-earth II*
The Outfit
Top Spin 2*
Viva Piёata
Xbox Live Arcade Unplugged Volume 1



Unreleased (49)
Proven Franchisess (13 [27%])

Ace Combat 6
Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures*
Alan Wake*
All Points Bulletin*
Banjo-Kazooie 3
BioShock*
Blazing Angels: Secret Missions
Blue Dragon
Call of Juarez*
Castle Wolfenstein*
Cry On
Culdcept Saga
Dead or Alive Code: Cronus
Elveon*
Eternal Sonata
Fable 2
Far East of Eden Ziria
FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage
Forza Motorsport 2
GTR*
Halo 3
Halo Wars
Hour of Victory
Huxley*
Infinite Undiscovery
Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom
Left 4 Dead*
Lost Odyssey
Marvel Universe Online*
Mass Effect
Mobile Ops: The One Year War
MotoGP 07* *NEW*
Naruto 360
Overlord*
Postal III*
Project Gotham Racing 4
Project Progressive
Project Sylpheed
Sacred 2: Fallen Angel*
Shadowrun*
Tenchu Z
The Secret World* *NEW*
TimeShift*
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction
Too Human
Two Worlds*
Universe At War: Earth Assault* *NEW*
Vampire Rain
WarTech: Senko No Ronde *NEW*

The PlayStation 3 list, the Wii list and some final analysis can be found on the next page.