Written by John Scalzo  on June 12, 2007

Special: New and improved! Now with more arguments!

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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.

The summer doldrums are here, but we at Gaming Target plan to chase away the blues with a new update (and fresh analysis) of our listing of exclusive games for each of the new generation of consoles. In this update, we've expanded the listings to include publishers with each title, Metascores for games already released and release dates for games yet to come. Let's get right to it.

The rules of The Exclusive Arms Race are very simple:

Eligibility Rules 1. These are Уconsole exclusives.Ф 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. 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 games.Ф 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. 5. The list will focus mainly on games scheduled to release in North America. Import titles (including games released exclusively for one console only in Japan or Europe) will not be counted. Unreleased titles that are likely to come to America will be counted, but will be dropped from the list if a North American release date is not announced after the game is released in its home region. Other Rules 1. While the list is still made up of "console exclusives," games that have been starred with an asterick (*) are titles that 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. 2. 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. 3. 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. A game is considered part of a proven franchise if the most recently released game in the series scored a 75 or better at MetaCritic. 3a. 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." And an Important Note to everyone who's requested we create a list for PC exclusives: A list of "PC exclusives" is not in the plans for the Exclusive Arms Race series anytime soon. The truth of the matter is that the shear number of PC exclusives released in the last two years by all of the major publishers, minor publishers, foreign companies, indie developers and the casual market would dwarf all three of these lists combined. Compiling such a list would be a major undertaking. In addition, the PC is not included as a separate list for the purposes of this comparison because of the simple fact there are plenty of console-only gamers who do not own a powerful enough PC to game or who chose not to game on their PC in favor of playing video games solely on their television sets. Everyone that owns a next generation system can play all of the games included in these lists. Gamers with a PC capable of playing the latest games will always be in the minority. That is just the current reality of the game industry.

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
May 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 (91 [+3])
*Also On PC (33 [36%])
"Green" MetaScore + Proven Franchises (33 [36%])

Released (44)
"Green" MetaScore (21 [47%])

Title	Publisher	Metascore
Amped 3	2K Games	72
Battlestations: Midway*	Eidos	73
Bomberman: Act Zero	Konami	34
Bullet Witch	Atari	55
Call of Duty 2*	Activision	90
Call of Juarez*	Ubisoft	71
Chromehounds	Sega	70
Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars*	EA	82
Condemned: Criminal Origins*	Sega	81
Crackdown	Microsoft	83
Dance Dance Revolution Universe	Konami	75
Dead or Alive 4	Tecmo	85
Dead or Alive Xtreme 2	Tecmo	54
Dead Rising	Capcom	85
Earth Defense Force 2017	D3	69
Forza Motorsport 2	Microsoft	90
Full Auto	Sega	70
Fuzion Frenzy 2	Microsoft	48
Gears of War	Microsoft	94
Import Tuner Challenge	Ubisoft	53
Kameo: Elements of Power	Microsoft	79
Lost Planet: Extreme Condition*	Capcom	79
MotoGP 06*	THQ	80
Ninety-Nine Nights	Microsoft	61
Over G Fighters	Ubisoft	49
Perfect Dark Zero	Microsoft	81
Prey*	2K Games	79
Project Gotham Racing 3	Microsoft	88
Quake 4*	Activision	74
Ridge Racer 6	Namco Bandai	74
Rumble Roses XX	Konami	62
Saints Row	THQ	81
Shadowrun*	Microsoft	67
Star Trek: Legacy*	Bethesda	64
Table Tennis	Rockstar	81
Tenchu Z	Microsoft	NA
Tetris Evolution	THQ	53
The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles*	Bethesda	86
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle For Middle-earth II*	EA	79
The Outfit	THQ	70
Top Spin 2*	2K Games	75
Viva Piёata	Microsoft	84
WarTech: Senko No Ronde	Ubisoft	54
Xbox Live Arcade Unplugged Volume 1	Microsoft	NA

Unreleased (47)
Proven Franchises (12 [26%])

Title	Publisher	Release Date
Ace Combat 6	Namco Bandai	2007
Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures*	TBA	2008
Alan Wake*	Microsoft	2008
All Points Bulletin*	Webzen	2008
America's Army: True Soldiers *NEW*	Ubisoft	9/2007
Banjo-Kazooie 3	Microsoft	2007
BioShock*	2K Games	8/2007
Blazing Angels 2: Secret Missions of World War II	Ubisoft	8/2007
Blue Dragon	Microsoft	8/2007
Castle Wolfenstein*	Activision	2008
Cry On	TBA	TBA
Culdcept Saga	Namco Bandai	10/2007
Dead or Alive Code: Cronus	Tecmo	TBA
Dungeon Hero* *NEW*	Gamecock	2009
Elveon*	TBA	2007
Eternal Sonata	Namco Bandai	2007
Fable 2	Microsoft	2008
Far East of Eden Ziria	TBA	TBA
FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage	TBA	2007
GTR*	TBA	TBA
Halo 3	Microsoft	9/2007
Halo Wars	Microsoft	2008
Hour of Victory	Midway	6/2007
Huxley*	Webzen	TBA
Infinite Undiscovery	TBA	TBA
Kengo: Legend of the 9 *NEW*	Majesco	Q4 2007
Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom	Microsoft	2007
Left 4 Dead*	Valve	11/2007
Lost Odyssey	Microsoft	2008
Marvel Universe Online*	Microsoft	TBA
Mass Effect	Microsoft	TBA
Mobile Ops: The One Year War	Namco Bandai	2007
MotoGP 07*	THQ	8/2007
Naruto: Rise of a Ninja	Ubisoft	2007
Overlord*	Codemasters	6/2007
Postal III*	TBA	2008
Project Gotham Racing 4	Microsoft	2008
Project Progressive	Tecmo	TBA
Project Sylpheed: Arc of Deception	Microsoft	7/2007
Sacred 2: Fallen Angel*	TBA	TBA
The Secret World*	TBA	TBA
Theseis* *NEW*	TBA	2007
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction	Ubisoft	Q4 2007
Too Human	Microsoft	2007
Two Worlds*	Southpeak	7/2007
Universe At War: Earth Assault*	Sega	2008
Vampire Rain	Microsoft	7/2007

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