Summary
It has to be nerve-wracking for companies to jump into the console market or gaming market in general. For every successful console like thePlayStation, there is a dud like the Ouya. In 2001, Microsoft took a chance and released the originalXbox,which didn’t do as well as the PS2, but it was still a hit.
This led Microsoft to produce three successors in the console market which were filled with exclusives. A lot of these individual games and franchises remain console-exclusive, likeHalo, but a lot of them eventually came to other consoles too. Let’s take a look at some old and recent exclusives that were eventually released on PlayStation hardware.
The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, like the previous entry, was an Xbox exclusive. It was released on the Xbox 360 in 2006, along with the PC, and PS3 owners couldn’t play it until 2007. After this, Bethesda RPGs would launch simultaneously across multiple platforms such asFallout 3andThe Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim.
Getting back toThe Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, though, it played like all entries before it as it was an action-based first-person RPG set in an open-world. It may not be as famous asThe Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrimas it never received as many ports, but it’s still a fun RPG to go back to when that nostalgia itch strikes.
Enchanted Armswas an RPG developed by FromSoftware, and no, it was not action-based. This was before they solely startedmaking Soulslike games,as this one was a bit more accessible, although it had plenty of grinding as well. It was released for the Xbox 360 in 2006, and then it hit the PS3 in 2007.
The game feels like a hodgepodge of other RPGs crammed into a single game that somewhat resenblesFinal Fantasy 8,because of the school setting, and theTales ofgames, because of the goofy anime influences. Battles were turn-based, but characters could move around a grid and their attacks would hit a certain part of that grid.
The Last Remnanthad one of the longest exclusivity runs for the Xbox family. It was released in 2008 for the Xbox 360, and then it got a PC port in 2009. ThisSquare Enix gamewould not land on another console until it was remastered for the PS4 in 2018, and then that version went to the Switch in 2019 which is where its story ends.
The review scores weren’t amazing in 2008 due to the high learning curve and the abundance of glitches. The remaster helped a lot though, and eased up on the curve, which is great, because there was always an interesting RPG beneath those early bugs.
Metal Wolf Chaosis another game that took a while to get off Xbox hardware, but it also took a while to come to North America in the first place. It was released in Japan for the original Xbox in 2004 which is odd considering the entire story was in English. Eventually, it got remastered for PS4, Xbox One, and PC under the new title,Metal Wolf Chaos XD.
It wasdeveloped by FromSoftwarewho were well versed in mech games thanks to theirArmored Coreseries. The story was a wild one, as it saw the President of the United States fight against the Vice President who overthrew his office. The kicker is that he controls a giant robot which, again, is such a weird but fun concept that is cheesy beyond all reason.
Microsoft scooped up this brand, which was associated with Nintendo for the longest time thanks to the NES trilogy. This reboot began in 2004 under the simple title ofNinja Gaidenand it was an exclusive for the original Xbox. It got a PS3 enhanced version in 2007 calledNinja Gaiden Sigmawhich is wild because it didn’t come to the Xbox 360 first.
Like the NES games, all versions of the original title gained a reputation for being a brutal action game. Even the lowliest of enemies put up a fight, and it was easy to die if players didn’t master the mechanics fast.
2Stubbs The Zombie In Rebel Without A Pulse
Highest Metacritic Score: 75
Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulseis undoubtedlya zombie game, but one that put humor above all other things. It was a late release for the original Xbox in 2005, which was the same year as the Xbox 360’s launch. Beyond a smattering of good to fair reviews, it kind of got forgotten quickly.
Someone within the development or publisher team remembered it enough to help get it a remaster though in 2021. This version hit PlayStation hardware along with the Switch and received about the same response from critics, which was not terrible.
1Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell
Highest Metacritic Score: 93
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cellhad a short time on the original Xbox before Ubisoft decided to milk it across PlayStation and Nintendo hardware too. It was released in 2002 originally, and then it hit the PS2 and GameCube in 2003. Xbox would sort of have exclusivity with sequels moving forward, but it was complicated.
For example, the next game,Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow, was released in March 2004 for the original Xbox and Game Boy Advance of all platforms before hitting the PS2 and GameCube that summer. Another curious tidbit about this series is that the first two games were rated T for Teen, and it wasn’t untilTom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Chaos Theorythat the series would go full M-rated.
