How exactly does this "maximize" the release when you are specifically not releasing games on platforms when a version exists, waiting to be localized?

That's a shame. I hope 360 and Wii owners who live in Europe can import this game, and I guess I hope they can understand English. It sounds like it should be an experience no Ghostbusters fan should have to miss out on.

I agree, it seems a major underutilization of the market. As much as I like Ghostbusters, I don't really see myself buying a PS2/3 for it if I didn't already have one.

Atari's gotta do what they think is best for their company (I assume they went exclusive because Sony ponied up a ton of cash or other incentives), but I agree it's a definite shame.

More than anything else, though, my first thought was: "Wow, they're just *asking* for people to pirate it".

As much as it seems Sony is trying to grow their market, I agree with Jason, ghostbusters will probably not sell more consoles. (I'd put my money on God3 for that) If they do not release a Wii or 360 version, you can bet there will be priated 360 and possibly a few wii versions floating around.

So much for trying to please the consumer, seems like European releases always get the shaft. Publishing a wii/360 version does not seem like throwing good money at bad to me. So instead of capitalizing on the whole market at once, they leave some without... not good for image.

Shame Atari...shame.

From another article:
"Atari has said that with Sony publishing the title, the game will reach a wider audience on release."

You guys need to keep in mind that this is not an exclusivity deal- Sony is publishing the game in Europe. They probably have a wider reach than Atari over there. Why would Sony publish something on the XBox?

Ahhh poor europe.

That's... annoying. I suppose it's not much different from any other platform exclusive (e.g. Mario, Wipeout) but the deal strikes me as odd: I'd assume Atari would demand a major financial concession for ignoring a vast sector of the potential market (PC + DS + Wii + X360 = 4/5 of the total games market?), and it's unlikely that sales of the game on the PS3/PSP will be able to recoup this. Equally, while the buzz around Ghostbusters has generally been good, I wouldn't have classified it as a system-shifter.

@Jake: both the X360 and Wii are region locked, so the only people able to import will be the PC gamers. The only way for European X360/Wii players to access the game will be via mod-chipped units. A particularly cynical suggestion would be that increasing piracy on non-Sony platforms is something which SCEE factored into their cost-benefit analysis - particularly since the PS3 is (to date at least) uncracked.

juice uk (?) it is possible that instead of comparing total revenue between PS2+PS3 against all the other ports, they are opting to receive money upfront with the deal (just like TTWO opted for the Microsoft upfront money for the DLC than releasing it for PS3).

Sony is acting as the publisher for those regions. I don't consider that to be paying for exclusivity, which is against Sony's (unwritten?) policy. I'm sure Sony didn't pay some unreasonable amount for the rights either. Seeing as how Ghostbusters seems to have had trouble getting a publisher, I'm guessing Sony simply saw potential profit and picked it up for a logical price.

Well at the beginning of the article it even states "A new deal between Atari and Sony Europe by which the latter will publish Ghostbusters in the PAL territories means the title will be exclusive to PlayStation platforms in Europe, Atari clarified today."

So unless Atari is finding another publisher to deal with distribute the wii/360 version, Europe is going to only have the PS2/3 version.

@juice uk:
Thanks for the clarification. I had forgotten about that. Well, at least there is ONE way for European gamers without PS3s to get their hands on this game; legally that is.

"We have a strategically diversified approach to maximize a title of this magnitude on a global basis."

Translation guide:

"strategically diversified": A good release approach in the US and a bad release approach everywhere else.

"title of this magnitude": A dredged-up 20 year old license. (Because it's better than - god forbid - something new!)

"maximize": A word that doesn't mean anything in this context, but it sure sounds good.

This is really a weird arrangement! I do see a link between Atari and SCE though: Phil Harrisson. No idea if he has anything to do with this, though. And the funniest thing in this is that Atari has stronger roots in Europe than in the US! So it can't be that they couldn't handle the publishing there.

And if Sony decided to pick this up and make it an exclusive over there... that probably means it's quite good, no? I mean, why else would you want an exclusive? But I agree it's not a system seller in my mind either. It might be related to a bigger Blu-Ray-related master plan too, i don't know.

One more reason to hate SCE more than i hate it already, and one more reason to hate atari (after they left all the PC and 360 owners of AITD with all the bugs without patch and licked SCE ass with updated AITD Inferno).

When Vivendi-universal\Sierra was publisher for Riddick and Ghostbusters i was afraid about release, since the bad day when Activision-blizzard terminated VU and sold promising titles to not promising companies like Atari i started to worry abour Riddick 2 na GB... thx god Riddick was released without major setup, exept tages protection with online activation that DO NOT HAVE REVOKE OPTION BY DESIGN (not like Securom).
But now Atari asking for fury and revenge from all the peoples in europe who was waiting for Ghostbusters.
I do not encourage piracy, and really think its and pc gaming killer, but this time as not owner of PS3 i will personaly not able to by Xbox 360 version (because of region lock, NTSC version will not work on PAL console) but i only would be able to hack the xbox and use downloaded, pirated, region free hacked and burned on cheap DVD-R Ghostbusters.
That what exacly ATARI forcing me to do by this deal with SCEE.
Also PC version imported from US will be 100% Tages online activation protected, and probably could not be activated from Europe with european ip (just like it was with imported US PC Riddick 2, that was rejected to be activated because server not accepted activation from european ip i have), so as for pc, ATARI will force me and many others to pirate Ghostbuster, since there will not be legal way play it in europe.

So whoever win in this deal, but ATARI lose, and all there europeans fans of Ghostbuster lose too.

Shortly: ATARI and SCE - is shitties ever companies that deserve a shame for all the badass shit they do with game industry and consumers.

Forget to say - i bet my 100 bucks that Konami have same deal with SCE about Metal Gear series, that wasnt released anywhere else except @PlagueStation@ since Snake Eater.

@roberto: just juice will do :)
I don't doubt that Atari is taking money up-front from Sony - what I do question is the financial benefit for both parties. Either Atari is being significantly underpaid (compared to what sales on non-Sony platforms would generate - I'd expect GB to do significantly well on the Wii, thanks to the combination of franchise appeal and wiimote/proton beam mapping) or Sony is paying far more than will be generated in revenue in a bid to boost the attractiveness of it's hardware platforms.

For instance, (bear in mind vgchartz.com vagaries) Lego Indiana Jones is another child-friendly franchise that can be argued to have similar levels of appeal to Ghostbusters (albeit with the added cachet of an established gaming franchise).

Total worldwide sales: 8 million
Sony worldwide sales: 2.1 million

Total PAL sales (i.e. Europe/Australia): 3.1 million
Sony PAL sales: 1.23 million
Nintendo PAL sales: 0.85 million
Microsoft PAL sales: 1 million

Assuming these numbers hold for Ghostbusters, Sony controls just 40% of the PAL market and Atari are therefore potentially missing out on 1.85 million sales. Assuming the publisher/developer receives $15 per copy sold, that means Atari would be expecting somewhere in the region of $25 million revenue from non-Sony sales.

I'm sure there's other factors to consider which will reduce that price tag, but it seems to me that there's cheaper and better ways to promote Sony hardware...

The problem here is, as others have stated, no one in their right mind will buy a Playstation 2 or 3 just to play Ghostbusters when they will know full well its available on the PC, X-Box 360 and the Wii in other territories.

Indeed, as has also been said, it looks as if only people like me who use the PC for gaming will have any chance of importing and playing it outside of the US. It does strike me though that those who would have bought the game in Europe and the rest of the world for the PC will now just pirate it as it will be easier - nice job Atari!