I've been hunting for information on Google, but haven't found much. Does anyone around here know the price of devkits for PS3, Xbox 360, and/or PSP? Or is that one of those things you're not allowed to talk about?
Dev Kit Cost?
- Thread starter fearsomepirate
- Start date
I've seen recent discussion on here about Sony's devkit cost but dont think there was a thread exclusively for it so a quick search hasnt helped. It's one of those things that's mentioned periodically.
Dunno if there'd be anyone knocking around here who'd know the answer to all three?
EDIT: At the recent London pub event the Sony rep - George Bain Dev Support Manager - didn't answer a question on the devkit cost. I guess everything's under NDA.
Dunno if there'd be anyone knocking around here who'd know the answer to all three?
EDIT: At the recent London pub event the Sony rep - George Bain Dev Support Manager - didn't answer a question on the devkit cost. I guess everything's under NDA.
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In general devkits will typically cost more than pocket money, but probably a lot less than the annual cost of the programmer who will be using it.
In order to get one you have to be a registered developer. If you're a registered developers the prices are available to you through your friendly Sony contact (or maybe on their website - you could order PS2 stuff directly I think, not sure if that's available on the other platforms at the moment, I can't be bothered to go and look
). If you're not a developer you probably don't need to know
If you're considering setting up as a developer and are not sure if you can afford a devkit, then it's probably not going to be the biggest cost you have - if you're counting every penny and don't have any contingency at all don't spend it on being a game developer.
If you're really serious and still need to know, you can probably just get in touch with Sony, sign an introductory NDA or something and have a Sony rep give you a much better idea of how much you'd be looking at.
In order to get one you have to be a registered developer. If you're a registered developers the prices are available to you through your friendly Sony contact (or maybe on their website - you could order PS2 stuff directly I think, not sure if that's available on the other platforms at the moment, I can't be bothered to go and look
). If you're not a developer you probably don't need to know If you're considering setting up as a developer and are not sure if you can afford a devkit, then it's probably not going to be the biggest cost you have - if you're counting every penny and don't have any contingency at all don't spend it on being a game developer.
If you're really serious and still need to know, you can probably just get in touch with Sony, sign an introductory NDA or something and have a Sony rep give you a much better idea of how much you'd be looking at.
I was just curious in light of the recent news that Revo kits cost around 2 grand...I've got enough problems with Navier-Stokes right now to not have to worry about learning a graphics API .
.ShootMyMonkey
Veteran
Considering I posted that here, what I said was that I wouldn't be surprised if it was $25,000. There was an old Inquirer article that suggested that it was 25k pounds, which is quite a lot more, but then again, it is the Inquirer. Even if we had PS3 kits at my office, I wouldn't be the one looking at the invoices, so I couldn't tell you anything anyway. Of course, circumstances surrounding your development stipulate price quite a bit (all the way down to freebies).dodo3 said:I read awhile back that a PlayStation 3 developer kit costs somewhere around $25,000.
I was wondering the same thing.
I guess these cheaper REV dev kit's could help to really help the smaller developers and games for download over Nintendo's wifi service.A developer that might have previously worked primarily on handhelds for example, could now work much cheaper on REV and yet still be working on similar games , and get exposure to a home console audience that they might not have had exposure to before.
I guess these cheaper REV dev kit's could help to really help the smaller developers and games for download over Nintendo's wifi service.A developer that might have previously worked primarily on handhelds for example, could now work much cheaper on REV and yet still be working on similar games , and get exposure to a home console audience that they might not have had exposure to before.
ninzel said:
At least one of those prices is quite a bit more than current cost, so I presume those are all prices for the first devkits on sale and not what they cost now.
AFAIK most of the early devkits (the ones which aren't final and so will become obsolete after a short period) are on a free loan rather than the dev having to pay. Payments for kits only happen once they get to the point of giving you something that is useful for the lifetime of the console.
I don't think you technically ever own the devkit either (at least for Sony stuff) - it's on a semi-permanent loan. I think this is basically to make sure people don't sell them on (either to make some money after the project is done, or in a bankruptcy sale).
You also have to factor in the support costs to the price - you don't just get a box, you get a software SDK, regular updates, and teams of support people to answer questions and stuff. Sometimes they even pop along to visit us and help out on site, which is nice.
Don't know the details, I just listened to IGN REV podcast that's where I got the numbers from. Theres also some interesting info there on the PS3 dev kits in regards to blur ray but I can't remember the details.
I think it said that the PS3 dev kit's would not come with a BD-ROM drive until summer and then it would be very expensive. Have a listen,IGN podcats usually have little extra bit's of info.
Edit: The podcast also revealed something i found really strange. IT said that Nintendo was very stingy with giving out dev kit's from the GC and that they were very hard to come by. This could have been a factor in 3rd party support. Not the whole story but part of it. Hooefully Nintnedo will not be so stingy this time around.
I think it said that the PS3 dev kit's would not come with a BD-ROM drive until summer and then it would be very expensive. Have a listen,IGN podcats usually have little extra bit's of info.
Edit: The podcast also revealed something i found really strange. IT said that Nintendo was very stingy with giving out dev kit's from the GC and that they were very hard to come by. This could have been a factor in 3rd party support. Not the whole story but part of it. Hooefully Nintnedo will not be so stingy this time around.
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