Sony PlayStation 3 Playable by May, Says Report

[Acert93]

Last generation we saw a big playstation franchise jump onto the gamecube , it can happen this generation

RE4? I am not sure if that is what you are talking about, but if it is we should all take a moment to ponder what it means that RE4 is also jumping back over to the PS2. I am sure a few Nintendo execs are still not happy about this, especially since they announced this BEFORE the GCN RE4 launch.

Back on topic... the next gen will be one by developer support and accessibility of the console power by developers. Games already cost a ton to make a years to develop, adding to this problem is going to compound itseld. Whereas AAA titles could be turned out every 2 years in the past by a company, it may take them 3 or 4 now--that is 1 release in the consoles lifetime.

If MS or Sony can allow developers to make high quality games quicker (or at the same pace/cost as now) they will have a leg up. I think that will be Sony's main hurdle. If CELL is uber expensive to make games on and takes a lot of time they are in trouble. If Sony makes top of the line tools that make developing game affordable and take less time then they will do very well. Cost is a big issue next gen, and the developer who is cost effective for developers will have a lot of support.

 

[Devourer]

They may or may not have ports .

Then again if the ps3 launches with crappy original titles and then some good ports from the xenon . Why would u buy a ps3 over a xenon when the xenon not only has had all those ports but many other games by that point ?

Exactly. If Xenon had the most powerful hardware, at a chepaer price, with stellar games VS crappy PS3 launch titles and all the games that PS3 will ever have plus exclusives to enlighten its future prospects, it would make no sense at all.

 

[Ty]

Exactly. If Xenon had the most powerful hardware, at a chepaer price, with stellar games VS crappy PS3 launch titles and all the games that PS3 will ever have plus exclusives to enlighten its future prospects, it would make no sense at all.

Sure but has the public in general ever made that much sense?

Also that's a LOT of "ifs".

 

[wco81]

Back on topic... the next gen will be one by developer support and accessibility of the console power by developers. Games already cost a ton to make a years to develop, adding to this problem is going to compound itseld. Whereas AAA titles could be turned out every 2 years in the past by a company, it may take them 3 or 4 now--that is 1 release in the consoles lifetime.

If MS or Sony can allow developers to make high quality games quicker (or at the same pace/cost as now) they will have a leg up. I think that will be Sony's main hurdle. If CELL is uber expensive to make games on and takes a lot of time they are in trouble. If Sony makes top of the line tools that make developing game affordable and take less time then they will do very well. Cost is a big issue next gen, and the developer who is cost effective for developers will have a lot of support.

Developer/publisher support is important. But I don't think that support is decided by how easy it is to develop for a platform. The decision to support a platform is made by suits, not by developers, and it's based on financial arrangements.

Developers and publishers will follow the consoles which get market share, regardless of how difficult it is to support. You didn't see developers abandon the PS2 because it's harder to develop nor did PC games developers port only to the Xbox, even though the APIs and the hardware architectures are similar.

Difference in development costs. Whatever differences there may be, you're talking incremental. Maybe it costs them a certain amount more man-hours to develop a PS3 titles or PS3 developers command higher salaries and bonuses because there are fewer of them experienced or competent to handle it.

I thought a big chunk of the development costs came from art assets? So if it costs more to develop graphics and sound for the PS3, would it mean that PS3 games have richer graphics and sound?

Whatever the case, unless the incremental costs of making a PS3 game is like double or triple the costs of making a Xenon game, it's hard to imagine the current multi-platform publishers favoring one or the other.

Developers/publishers will stay multiplatform as long as they can leverage the code and the art for all platforms. And provided that the platforms reach a certain critical mass of a few million. They can amortize the development costs across many systems, so much the better. They make cold business decisions, not have sentimental attachments to one console maker or another.

 

[pc999]

As a gamer I hope dev make games for the easier platform, so they can do better games, see UT2003, it is a UT in a new engine, but UT2004 is a new game the diferemce is that in one the rushed the game ($), the other they already had most of the tech so all enforts are made in gameplay.

But this are a gamer thought...