Halo and Halo 2 are my, as well as many other XBOX owners, favorite exclusive titles.

However, I also like the original three installments fo the Panzer Dragoon series for the Sega Saturn.

Which exclusive(s) do you favor? ...and for what console of PC?

While you' re thinkin' about it...here' s a story for ya' ...

Sega publishing Tenchu: Fatal Shadows

As in Europe, the Sonic-makers will distribute the latest installment in the ninja series.

In July, Japan-based From Software acquired the worldwide copyright to the Tenchu brand from Activision. At the time, From Software would only say that it would be handling development and sales of future installments in the ninja-centric series, which it would distribute through unidentified " partner companies."

Last week, From revealed the European publisher of the latest Tenchu game, Tenchu: Fatal Shadows, would be Sega, which already publishes From' s Otogi series. In a not-so shocking move, Sega today announced that it will publish Fatal Shadows in America as well. Already available in Japan, the game was developed by K2 studios, creator of the previous game in the series, Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven.

As one would expect from a game about ninjas, Fatal Shadows will sport plenty of stealth and melee combat. It will feature two playable characters--Ayame, the heroine of Wrath of Heaven, and the newcomer Rin. In a statement, Sega also helpfully let the public know that the game' s " levels are structured to avoid the frustrating trial-and-error patterns that are all too familiar in the stealth genre."

Exclusive to the PlayStation 2, Tenchu: Fatal Shadows is set for a tentative February 2005 release at a $49.95 price point. Exclusive to GameSpot is a first look at the American version of game.

By Tor Thorsen -- GameSpot

Well, it' s hard to say, really. It certainly changes over the years. I mean, when I first started playing games, all that I really had was my Atari...so everything was exclusive. Then there was my IBM Tandy and NES...neither of which had games on any other platforms but their own. It' s only recently that we' ve gotten into this cross-platform stuff.

I guess I' d have to say that, since 1996, it' s been the Sony systems that have provided me with the best exclusive titles. The Final Fantasy, Gran Turismo, Grand Theft Auto (yes, I know they' re on PC as well), and Metal Gear franchises are enough, but being a huge RPG fan, there really is no other place to turn. PSOne was the greatest " RPG machine" there was, and with the ridiculous amount of new ones out for the PS2 now (Star Ocean: ' Til the End of Time, La Pucelle Tactics, Phantom Brave, Shin Megami Tensai, Shadow Hearts: Covenant, etc., ALL in the past few months), it' s not likely to change. I also like the Devil May Cry, Onimusha 2, 3, Champions of Norrath, the Ratchet and Clank and Jak series, and the rhythm/dance and strategy games that don' t seem to ever be on another console besides the PS2.

However, a lot of my favorite games of this generation are multi-platform. The Splinter Cells, GTAs, some sports games, Burnouts, Need for Speeds, Baldurs Gates, are all great. The Xbox also has recently had some good ones, in Ninja Gaiden, Chronicles of Riddick, Fable, and the upcoming Halo 2 (just took them too long to have a year like this, IMO). It all really depends these days.

Exclusives are great. Terry Bogard hates them, but they actually give me reason to own all systems instead of just one. They also give each system it' s own flavor and personality. For this generation the exclusives that I REALLY like are:

PS2:
Gradius V
Downhill Damnation
Nightshade
That one game where you roll around as a ball (gonna pick that up today)

Xbox:
Crimson Skies
House of the Dead III
Panzer Dragoon Orta
Otogi 1 and 2
Out Run 2

Gamecube:
F-Zero GX
Super Monkeyball 1 & 2 (soon to be NOT exclusive)
Waverace

Dreamcast
Shenmue 1 & 2 (OK part 2 is not exclusive)
Daytona USA 2000
Street Fighter III: Double Impact


Awesome!

Joe is right, I HATE 3rd party exclusives with a passion. I feel it defeats the whole purpose of being a third-party developer. I just wish that ALL third-party developers were allowed to develop freely for all platforms without console makers trying to intervene and bribe or deal to keep those games on their console.

1st party exclusives are perfectly fine since it' s the job of console makers to provide their own games, 2nd party exclusives are ok to, but the idea of third party exclusive games has NEVER appealed to me. If I' m playing the world' s greatest action game by Capcom for the GameCube, I' d like to know that Xbox owners and PS2 owners can play the same game on their consoles - and not 1 or 2 years after it' s already been available on the GameCube.