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PS3 Intentionally Hard to Develop For, Says Sony
by Chris Faylor, Jan 20, 2009 2:29pm PST
Earlier today, we got word that Sony Computer Entertainment chairman Kazuo Hirai told the Official PlayStation Magazine that Sony is the official leader of the console industry, and that Microsoft's rival Xbox 360 is "something that lacks longevity."
More of that interview has now come to light via Eurogamer, in which the outspoken chairman claims the PlayStation 3 is intentionally difficult to program for in order to ensure that the console meets its promised ten year life cycle.
"It's hard to program for, and a lot of people see the negatives of it, but if you flip that around, it means the hardware has a lot more to offer," Hirai explained, pointing to the graphical advances of God of War, which hit the PS2 almost five years after launch, as an example of that strategy.
He added: "We don't provide the 'easy to program for' console that [developers] want, because 'easy to program for' means that anybody will be able to take advantage of pretty much what the hardware can do, so then the question is what do you do for the rest of the nine-and-a-half years?"
Sony took a somewhat similar strategy with the PSP. Though the portable's CPU was capable of running at 333MHz, developers were initially limited to using only 222MHz, supposedly to conserve battery life. Sony eventually allowed developers to access the processor's full speed after the portable had been on the market for over two years.
Comments
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The last person to say dumb shit was 'kkkrazy ken' and that was what 18 months ago? Maybe even 2 years.
Sony have been mostly fairly quiet since then and still continue to get layed in to despite easing off.
I won't deny they had a hell of a lot of stupid PR incidents in the 18 months before the PS3 came out, it was nothing short of insane, each month something more stupid was said.
I can only speculate this is likely, yet another mistranslation or perhaps a skewed report by whoever heard it. Also if they actually did go ahead and say this, what difference does it ultimately make, they are financially eating humble pie since the sales of their units is sadly so low at the moment.
I still stand by my PS3, it's been reliable, quiet and I enjoy the games on it, it's a shame more people don't enjoy the system.
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When you make hardware that is easy to program for you get developers who are able to focus their attention on realizing their original vision instead of wrestling with the technology. Making hardware that is difficult to program for leads to crappy ports with sub-par performance on hardware that is supposedly "more powerful."
I hate to say it but Sony has completely dropped the ball on this generation. Between the unrealistic pricing, sub-par versions of multi-platform games, and an unfocused online strategy they're pissing away all the momentum they built with the PS1 and PS2. Game Over, man.
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Sure in hell isn't going to work for Playstation 3.
Microsoft and Nintendo's ease of development will win outright.
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He seems to be trying to say, that "we created an advanced powerful platform that developers have a hard time programming for because it's so advanced. And it's so advanced because we created something that will be still powerful in ten years instead of becoming quickly dated. If the developers are able to push beyond the limits of our platform in 2 years, where are they going to sell their games in 10 years?"
I guess....I really can't stand Sony's products.
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Make sequels, dumbshit! Everyone benefits from short development times!
The majority of the games developed for the PS3 are not PS3 exclusives. Most of them are going to be co-developed for both the PS3 and 360, and in many cases for Windows as well. Typically when developing a game you have a lead platform, upon which most of your developers work, and then a small sub-team that "ports" and keeps the game running on other platforms. Guess how many developers are going to choose the platform that's hardest to program for as their primary development platform. (Hint: Zero). Therefore, most of the time you develop your game for 360 or PC and then maintain a port to PS3. With game development budgets and time lines being what they are, it's not financially sound to spend a lot of time tweaking your game for each platforms specific capabilities. (There are certainly exceptions to that generalization, but still...) So yes, perhaps the PS3 has the extra horse power to support some extra fancy rendering technique or whatever, but it just doesn't make sense to invest the time and money developing it for non-exclusive games.
As far as exclusive and first-party games go.... Yes, this allows developers the freedom to fully exploit the PS3 hardware and not worry about maintaining two (or more) different versions of the game for different platforms. BUT, by not making ease of development a priority you increase the likelihood of a game being buggy and/or late because developers are struggling with your hardware and development software. Is it worth it?
I'm no Microsoft apologist, but Sony is just wrong in this case.
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maybe he meant that its more powerful, so its inherently more difficult because it has more to offer over the long term?
or maybe sony is being irrationally arrogant, which is what it sounds...
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With that said, that still sounds stupid. Now that I hear that this quote was NOT mistranslated, well I hope thats true.
that guy is just all kinds of loony tunes. the console leader is nintendo, then xbox, and you suck because you can't make hardware that's easy to work with for some reason. fucking apologize and repent. enough with this delusional bullshit.
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i think it's on purpose though because shack loves lots of comments and this brings out lots of comments
this is dumb and surprising.
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Sega speaking of the Saturn. We unfortunately know how that turned out.
Living in denial is not an option.....
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Seriously, what the fuck.
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Though it does kind of irk me that this is borderline sabotage.
I mean, first we had Krazy Ken, now we get Kooky Kaz.
Is it a need to justify the money spent somehow to investors?
Oh Kaz, you'll never cease to amaze me..