Ok let me Sheldon it for you: Yes, deals existed “back in the day” as the saying goes, but fans were not aware of (or reactive to) the business aspects of gaming enough for the deals to be the subject of headlines or controversy.
I wasn’t disagreeing with you, just pointing out your example was a bit wild. I fully agree with your other point. Although I would also point out that the early exclusives were that simply because it just didn’t occur to devs to release a game on more than one console.
I long for the era when fans who were asked if they would swallow future exclusivity deals would stare blankly and say, Wat?
While deals weren’t really a part of it, exclusivity has been a feature of console gaming from the very beginning.
So has fire insurance on game company office buildings, but fans never cared about it or boycotted games over it, etc.
You went from apple and oranges to apples and bolt carrier groups.
Ok let me Sheldon it for you: Yes, deals existed “back in the day” as the saying goes, but fans were not aware of (or reactive to) the business aspects of gaming enough for the deals to be the subject of headlines or controversy.
I wasn’t disagreeing with you, just pointing out your example was a bit wild. I fully agree with your other point. Although I would also point out that the early exclusives were that simply because it just didn’t occur to devs to release a game on more than one console.