That's right, it's come to light recently that the exclusivity deal Microsoft has with Namco Bandai for Tales of Vesperia is pretty darn permanent. None of this "year exclusivity" like they've had with other titles like Star Ocean: The Last Hope. It's very unlikely that we will see Tales of Vesperia on the PS3 here in North America.

For a long time we wondered why we haven't seen the more complete PS3 version in the West, considering it only had a year of exclusivity on the Xbox 360 in Japan, much like other titles. I guess now we know, compliments of Namco Bandai Europe Junior Community Manager Charlotte Toci (that's a mouthful, how can I get that title?). She posted on her own Facebook account that "Microsoft paid for the exclusivity, the same way as Sony paid for having Heavy Rain only on PS3. It's just one way the business works, sadly."

That pretty much puts all the questions to rest. Unfortunately for those of us wanting what is considered by many the "definitive" version of one of the best Tales games to date, we will likely be waiting a very long time if we don't want to import and trudge through the Japanese dialog. Of course, then Charlotte shifted the blame to the big-wigs, which is where it rightly should be placed, saying, "Those decisions are made really high up y'know, we do try and give them the max of fan feedback, but sometimes its just out of our hands."

You can't see it, but I'm actually sticking my tongue out at Microsoft right now for being a bunch of party poopers.