Japanese console development costs

[Shifty Geezer]

A fresh article at GI.biz lists XB as the most expensive to develop for (their headline) but as they point out Japanese development for that platform is surely far from efficient as it's not a matter of investment.

Of more importance I think are the actual average prices to develop software, something I think no-one's heard before.

XB : $1,820,000
PS2 : $877,000
PSP : $822,000
GC : $822,000
GBA : $484,000
DS : $338,000

Interesting to see costs and how some platforms compare with others. eg. DS is cheaper than GBA, XB is 2x PS2. And also what the actual average is - much less then I expected. It'd be really nice to see western development figures!

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=10815

 

[Farid]

And also what the actual average is - much less then I expected. It'd be really nice to see western development figures!

The number of shovelware produced every years in Japan for the PS2 is quite impressive. This explain the low average cost.

 

[Bobbler]

The number of shovelware produced every years in Japan for the PS2 is quite impressive. This explain the low average cost.

That could also explain why the Xbox development is higher -- there isn't many cheap games being made for it, only triple A style games (if you can call them that in Japan).

Interesting though -- PSP is nearly the same dev cost as PS2 (on average, of course), heh.

 

[inefficient]

That could also explain why the Xbox development is higher -- there isn't many cheap games being made for it, only triple A style games (if you can call them that in Japan).

Thats because to sell shovelware you need to have a LARGE install base. If you know that your game is only going to penetrate 1% of the market, your going to pick the platform with 100million units not 10million.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

How does shovelware on PS2 affecting costs compare with GC development costs, which are lower but they don't (or do they) have shovelware? And why's DS cheaper than GBA? I'd have thought DS should be more expensive as games have more content, or at least should have. Are DS games just simpler and have less content? Or is it that much cheaper to develop for and if so, why? A break down of development costs would be oh-so-valuable!

 

[London Geezer]

How does shovelware on PS2 affecting costs compare with GC development costs, which are lower but they don't (or do they) have shovelware? And why's DS cheaper than GBA? I'd have thought DS should be more expensive as games have more content, or at least should have. Are DS games just simpler and have less content? Or is it that much cheaper to develop for and if so, why? A break down of development costs would be oh-so-valuable!

Now THAT is more interesting.

Obviously PS2 average will be lower than Xbox. More shovelware, average will be low. But then why is GC even lower?

It's also very very strange that DS's average would be lower than GBA. Makes little sense.

 

[Powderkeg]

How does shovelware on PS2 affecting costs compare with GC development costs, which are lower but they don't (or do they) have shovelware?

Ports. Lots of ports. The cost is much lower when the original game development was done on a different system.

And why's DS cheaper than GBA? I'd have thought DS should be more expensive as games have more content, or at least should have. Are DS games just simpler and have less content? Or is it that much cheaper to develop for and if so, why? A break down of development costs would be oh-so-valuable!

That is a very good question, but I would guess part of it has at to do with the development tools available for the system.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Tools is the obvious answer, but DS has 2 ARMs instead of 1 to write for which can't be cheaper in programming time, development of touch controls which surely needs some RnD for new algorithms (like PacPix turning drawings into sprites), and more 'real-estate' for graphics and sound, and as we all know it's content that costs the most in any game. All I can guess is to date, DS games have been shorter on average than GBA games with less content. Anyone have details on Megabit sizes for GBA and DS games?

 

[StefanS]

XB : $1,820,000
PS2 : $877,000
PSP : $822,000
GC : $822,000
GBA : $484,000
DS : $338,000

O.K. I am going out on a limb here: Maybe the DS average costs are much lower than the GBA dev costs, because a lot of DS "games" are more or less applications. There're a lot of dictionaries, language trainers, memory trainers, chat programs, etc. Things like Electroplankton must be a lot of cheaper to produce than fullb-blown racing games, rpgs, etc. Plus maybe there's loads of GBA code that can be reused for DS games, which would also decrease the costs.

 

[htk]

the average development cost for the DS is only based on 3 titles....

Xbox - 202 million yen ($1.8 million) / 13 titles
PlayStation 2 - 96 million yen ($877,634) / 194 titles
GameCube - 90 million yen ($822,857) / 11 titles
PlayStation Portable - 90 million yen ($822,857) / 6 titles
PlayStation - 80 million yen ($731,429) / 1 title
Game Boy Advance - 53 million yen ($484,571) / 47 titles
DS - 37 million yen ($338,286) / 3 titles
Dreamcast - 25 million yen ($228,571) / 2 titles

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/08/12/news_6130901.html

 

[StefanS]

the average development cost for the DS is only based on 3 titles....

Xbox - 202 million yen ($1.8 million) / 13 titles
PlayStation 2 - 96 million yen ($877,634) / 194 titles
GameCube - 90 million yen ($822,857) / 11 titles
PlayStation Portable - 90 million yen ($822,857) / 6 titles
PlayStation - 80 million yen ($731,429) / 1 title
Game Boy Advance - 53 million yen ($484,571) / 47 titles
DS - 37 million yen ($338,286) / 3 titles
Dreamcast - 25 million yen ($228,571) / 2 titles

OH, O.K. that makes everything statistically worthless except for the PS2 and GBA costs...