At the start of 2010, exclusive software line-ups looked quite different from where we are today. Titles such as SOCOM 4 and Little Big Planet 2 which are PS3 exclusives, were pushed back until 2011 and could have made a nice splash in 2010. Yet it appears Sony is gearing up to offer an amazing year of gaming for 2011 by starting the year off with Killzone 3 in February. Nevertheless, regardless of Sony’s intentions, Microsoft has finished out 2010 with an exclusive offering that has generated a slight review average edge over the PS3′s best of 2010 exclusives.
Based on the current industry reviews taken from Metacritic, the top 5 most recognizable exclusives from the Xbox 360 and PS3 shows a 1% advantage to the Xbox 360 exclusives this year. Current Xbox 360 exclusives such as Mass Effect (96), Halo Reach (91), Splinter Cell: Conviction (85), Alan Wake (83) and Fable III (80) brings the Xbox 360 exclusive overall review percentage to 87%.
Critically acclaimed PS3 exclusives such as God of War III (92), along with MLB 10: The Show (91), Heavy Rain (87), the recently released Gran Turismo 5 (84), and MAG (76) brings this years PS3 top exclusives overall review percentage to 86%.
While both platforms did offer up other console exclusives such as Crackdown 2, Metro 2033 and Limbo for the Xbox 360 and ModNation Racer, Dead Nation and White Knight Chronicles Int’l Edition in the US for the PS3, the before mentioned titles still managed to drive the industry.
The 1% exclusive review edge in favor of the Xbox 360 should not cause too much concern, however, each year has it’s surprises with the beginning of the year always appearing most promising. With that said we should try to hold our final judgment until the end of year.
