Why don't console manufactureres provide tools?

[gurgi]

I mean more than an API. Maybe I am showing my ignorance here, and there is plenty to go around, but it seems like a natural progression. The hardware is set, why not cut the costs of development by providing tools that would let designers jump right in and start building things.

Sure, middleware companies may be upset, and the larger development houses may lose a big advantage, but it seems like a great way to mitigate rising development costs. As art design becomes more expensive, a console manufacturer could combat the merging of smaller development houses and attract more 3rd parties this way.

Heck, make the licensing charge more per disk for those that use the tools. This would still give an advantage to those that write thier own game engines, and maybe even keep a niche for middleware.

Thoughts? Opinions? Are you programmers ready to strangle me? =P

 

[Ty]

How granular is your definition of 'tools'?

 

[gurgi]

A game engine with tools a designer/artist can begin designing content with on day one.

Maybe you could exclude the engine and have specs for the game files so developers can write specialized engines depending on the genre and thier needs. Maybe a combination of both with different pricing models?

 

[ERP]

There's plenty of middleware around that'll let you do that. Having said that IME if you want to build a A+ title, middleware doesn't really save you any time or money. It does usually let you prototype something quickly though.

MS might be going that way with XNA, providing a "software platform".