Gaming Target has updated their list of exclusive games for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii. Their analysis now also includes ranking information from MetaCritic so gamers can compare and contrast the quality of each console's exclusive titles as well as the quanity.

The Xbox 360 continues to lead in the overall number of exclusives, with the Wii gaining fast and the PS3 in last place.

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 “console exclusives”. 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 “exclusive” 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. “Next-Gen exclusives” 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 “fantasy games”. 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 “Unannounced LucasArts/Day 1 Next-Gen Project” and “Untitled Namco RPG” 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 “I have more missiles than you and it's the end of the world as we know it” 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 Piñata
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.

PAGE 2

PlayStation 3 (40 [NO CHANGE])
Also On PC (1 [2.5%])
"Green" MetaScore + Proven Franchises (13 [33%])

Released (8)
"Green" MetaScore (3 [38%])

Fomula One: Championship Edition
Full Auto 2: Battlelines
Genji: Days of the Blade
Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire
MotorStorm
Resistance: Fall of Man
Ridge Racer 7
Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom

Unreleased (32)
Proven Franchises (10 [31%])

Afrika
Angel Rings
Coded Arms: Assault
DC Universe*
Driver 5
Eight Days
Eye of Judgment
Eyedentify
Fifth Phantom Saga
Final Fantasy XIIIFinal Fantasy Versus XIII
FolksSoul
God of War III
Gradius 6
Gran Turismo 5
Heavenly Sword
Hot Shots Golf 5
Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier
Killzone
L.A. Noire
Lair
LittleBigPlanet
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Ni-Oh
Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction
SingStar
Tekken 6
The Getaway 3
Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune
Warhawk
White Knight Story
WipeOut

Wii (69 [+6])
Also On PC (1 [1%])
"Green" MetaScore + Proven Franchises (19 [28%])

Released (18)
"Green" MetaScore (6 [33%])

Bust-A-Move Bash!
Cooking Mama: Cook Off
Elebits
Excite Truck
GT Pro Series
Kororinpa: Marble Mania
Monster 4x4 World Circuit
Red Steel
Sonic and the Secret Rings
SSX Blur
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz
Super Paper Mario
Super Swing Golf
Tramua Center: Second Opinion
WarioWare: Smooth Moves
Wii Play
Wii Sports
Wing Island

Unreleased (51)
Proven Franchises (13 [25%])

Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None*
Alien Syndrome
Animal Crossing Wii *NEW*
BWii: Battalion Wars 2
Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree
Bob Ross: The Joy of Painting
Boogie
Cosmic Family *NEW*
Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party
Dave Mirra BMX Challenge
Destiny of Zorro
Dewy's Adventure
Disaster: Day of Crisis
Donkey Kong Jet
Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors
EA Playground *NEW*
Escape From Bug Island
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Crystal Bearers
Final Furlong
Fire Emblem
Forever Blue
Ghost Squad *NEW*
Godzilla: Unleashed
Kirby Adventure
Line Rider
Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games
Mario Party 8
Mario Strikers Charged
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
My Sims
Naruto: Clash of Ninja 3
Nights: Journey of Dreams
No More Heroes
One Piece: Unlimited Adventure
Opoona
Orb
Pokemon Battle Revolution
Project H.A.M.M.E.R.
Project Rygar *NEW*
Project Treasure Island Z
Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles
Sadness
Samurai Slash
Soul Calibur Legends *NEW*
Space Station Tycoon
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Super Mario Galaxy
Tamagotchi Party On!
Thorn
Wii Health Pack *NEW*
Wii Music

As with last month, the Wii added the most exclusive games to their list out of the three systems. And most of the additions were big titles as Nintendo formally confirmed a few games that we all knew were coming sooner or later (like Animal Crossing Wii). Namco Bandai has also thrown one of their major franchises behind the Wii with Soul Calibur Legends and Tecmo is reviving the Rygar series with Project Rygar.

Otherwise, there were hardly any changes in the main lists. Eidos announced Kane & Lynch: Dead Men and Crossfire for the PS3, removing them from the Xbox 360 list. And Nintendo formally confirmed a few games that we all knew were coming sooner or later. But neither of those announcements were much of a surprise. Eidos was always coy about the PS3 future of K&L and Crossfire, suggesting that the system's low install base was not encouraging for development. But they were always open about bringing them to the PS3 when the install base became large enough. Sadly, this does not change the fact that the PS3 added zero exclusive games in the past month.

The much more interesting development is all of the new numbers and statistics that we get to play with. I'm sure no one is shocked that the Xbox 360 has the most games (by far) that will also appear on the PC. But what is a surprise is that the Xbox 360 also has the most "green" MetaCritic games and the highest percentage of them. Microsoft's system also the most proven franchises in their unreleased list and several new properties coming from high profile development houses like Mass Effect, Alan Wake and Halo Wars. What all of this means is that an Xbox 360 exclusive is more likely to be a good game than on the Wii or the PS3.

While the Wii added the most exclusives this month again, this contest looks more and more like it's the Xbox 360's to lose every month.

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