THE GAMING INDUSTRY IS changing in this generation and there's a bunch of possible reasons.

It may have to do with the higher cost of development, different systems' market share, peripherals or different control requirements, but none of that really matters. The reasons are irrelevant, the point remains the same: we are seeing less and less third-party exclusives (that is, games that are only on one console and which are developed by someone other than Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo themselves) in the world.

The recent announcement that Final Fantasy XIII is coming to Xbox 360 brought this change into focus. All they needed now was a Metal Gear Solid 4 announcement and we could start poking a stick at the corpse of third-party exclusives. Let's face the facts, even if Metal Gear Solid 4 came on 10 discs on the 360, people would still buy it. Knowing Hideo Kojima, he'd probably add a joke about it somewhere in the game to make it all alright.

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Too Human: Microsoft has high hopes for this RPG.

The thing is, do we really need those exclusives any more? Nintendo certainly doesn't, which is ironic considering they will probably be getting most of them in the future due to their unique controls and peripherals. However, Nintendo seems to be more interested in selling you Wii Fit or the Motion Plus controller you'll need to play these games rather than the actual games themselves. Their hardware sales far out weigh their software sales and this seems to suit them just fine.

No, the true contest regarding exclusives is between Microsoft and Sony. Ignoring PSN and Live Arcade, it's going to be interesting to see who comes out on top. This year is when we start seeing first-party exclusives becoming more important than ever, because they are going to have to be the main system sellers for the hardcore gaming audience and probably the casual audience as well.

Microsoft is attempting to get the casual market with rip-offs of SingStar and EYE Toy as well as Avatars (which bear a remarkable resemblence to Miis), and more power to them. I can respect that they see a good idea and want to try and create a better version of it for their system, there's nothing wrong with that. Sometimes smart business isn't about doing something new, it's about doing something that's been done before but doing it right. Giving a better experience than anyone else has. If Lips and In The Movies can pull that off, great.

Fable 2: Insert quip about water under the bridge here.

As for Sony, well they are already recognised for that. Sony has brand power and that will help them get the casual audience when they want them. If they release yet another SingStar, people will buy it, it's that simple.

So how has everyone done so far? Well Sony's had a tough time with many of its exclusives not living up to the hype (Lair, Heavenly Sword and Haze - we're looking at you) while others are among the best games this generation (Uncharted, Resistance and Metal Gear Solid 4). Uncharted and Resistance are probably the best examples, because they are the only new, original IPs to really stand out for the system.

Microsoft has been a bit more successful here. Halo 3 continues to drive that series to record setting success. As for original IPs, BioShock was amazing, Gears of War is approaching Halo 3 in the "game every 360 owner has" category, and Crackdown did well because of a certain beta key that came with it. And the Xbox 360 seems to be the only console you can find RTS games being ported and developed... if you like the idea of playing an RTS with a gamepad.

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Let's compare the lists of exclusives we've got still to come this year on these two platforms:

Xbox 360

• Too Human
• Fable 2
• Gears Of War 2
• Left 4 Dead
• Banjo-Kazooie 3

Playstation 3

• Resistance 2
• LittleBigPlanet

Xbox definitely has the numbers and most of those games look fantastic. PlayStation's list might be shorter, but those are two very solid titles. It's safe to say whether you own a 360 or PS3 you are pretty well covered this year with fun times ahead! If you don't own either yet, but are thinking about making a purchase, your decision might start to become more and more difficult for you to make as the lines between the two are starting to blur.

With franchises like Resident Evil, Devil May Cry and Final Fantasy now all no longer exclusives, it is becoming harder and harder to decide which system is the one for you based on the content. Within the next few years there's going to be less and less exclusive content for each system besides what the console makers bring to the table themselves.

The big question is, does that matter?

Gears of War 2: Xbox only, yet again.

Let's be realistic here. Wouldn't it be great if there was just one system and all games were released on it? For us consumers it would certainly save us some money on hardware (and space under the telly). Look at all those games on the list; wouldn't it be nice to play all of them without having to spend the money on two consoles?

This isn't likely to happen any time soon though, so let's instead look toward 2009. At the moment Sony holds the advantage, considering big hitters like Killzone 2 and God of War 3 will probably be coming out then. Microsoft hasn't really shown much of what they've got coming next year. The big one on the radar is Halo Wars, along with exclusive downloadable content for Grand Theft Auto IV and Fallout 3, but not much is known about these yet.

No doubt both Sony and Microsoft have plenty of unannounced big games waiting to surprise us in 2009 as well. (Personally, I'm dying to know what the ICO team is working on.)

It's clear however that third-party exclusives are going out of fashion. It's a good thing because it means more games for all of us, better sales for the developers and therefore the money to make better games in the future. Better games that more of us can play.

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On the other hand, first-party exclusives might start to see growth in the market, because they will become the key points of differentiation between the consoles - in conjunction with other features such as Blu-Ray movies, Netflix movie downloads, PS Home and new (hopefully better) dashboard systems and Avatars, of course.

So the console war is far from over, but the strategies are changing. The two sides will have to start building their own secret weapons of mass destruction, because their third-party developer allies are all becoming neutral.

But with luck, we - the gamers - will be the victors in the end.