Comments on: Sony: PS3 is hard to develop for--on purpose

The Japanese electronics powerhouse is making it hard on developers to create games for the PlayStation 3, and believe it or not, the company is fine with that.

[peterwhite]

You know what, I'm really tired of the mud slinging between consoles. The only opinion that matters is your own. Let everyone buy whatever they want. I had PS2 and got an XBOX and then a 360. Briefly had the Wii but ended up half giving it away (half sold / half bartered for 360 add-ons). The PS3 just didn't interest me but I'm sure that a ton of it's supporters are truly enjoying it. So I say game on. Whatever your preference just get out and game without worrying about what the other person thinks.

If Sony does wise up and eat a bigger cost of the hardware - just to boost sales - then I think Microsoft would have to respond by cutting it's accessories; especially the 120 GB hdd. Part of the stuff I bartered for from an MS employee. If Sony cuts the PS3 by $100 and MS cuts the 120 GB to $60 (with console) or $70 (standalone) ... both sets of fans would win.

That said I have to point out that the new killzone commercial is identical to an H3 trailer ... same exact layout of a sniper bullet crossing a battlefield and taking out a Brute Chief.

[ariddleaday]

I first heard a developer make this same comment a couple of years ago: The PS3 was harder to program for then the 360 due to the hoops you had to jump through. Then after jumping through all the hoops you never really had any advantage over the 360.

Why don't I own a PS3? Price, the 360 is a lower price and looks fantastic on my big screen 1080p setup.

[Bhoopsick]

Don,
Excellent reporting on the Sony PS3. I too have found many answers and comments from Sony America to be very Wishy-Washy. I have over 20 Years of hi-Tech electronics repair to my credit, and have been repairing the Sony PS3 since the release in November 2006. Although Sony prides themselves on the difficulty and complexity of the PS3, I have found just the opposite on the repair side. I have reverse engineered most of the Sony PS3 circuits and can repair practically any problem you can encounter; and yes, the all too common, Red Blinking Light. Thanks again for your insight and opinions.
Sincerely,
Brian J. Hoopsick
President & C.E.O. PSR1.com

[wizeallec40]

Finally a smart person, for a second I thought I was the only one who understood. You are absolutely correct. We as American people can not talk talk as to what we think is smart for japenese game developers to do. If we have not noticed they are doing a hell of a lot better economy wise then we are, not to mention there technology is far more advanced then what we have created. Do not under esstimate them.

[killerchris2k8]

I would like to know what is so amazing about the PS3 exclusives. There is nothing special in terms of gameplay or innovation in any of them except the use of the SIXAXIS in certain titles. So I would assume we are only talking about graphics. I keep hearing talk about cookie cutter titles on 360 from Steve and a couple other guys but if the gameplay is the same on the exclusive PS3 titles I would say they are cookie cutter too. Or would the fact the Killzone 2 has better graphics but the same stale gameplay make it amazing or innovative? Dead Space on XBOX 360 looks as good as any title I've played on PS3 except Killzone 2. Can someone please tell me what exclusive title on PS3 is so more innovative in terms of gameplay, graphics, multiplayer or any aspect you want to ad to the equation. Also I would like to add I'm a gamer. I own all three consoles and have played and beat almost every triple a title on the market. My handle for both PSN and XBL is killerchris2k8. I have owned Heavenly Sword, Uncharted, LBP, MG4, and now Killzone 2. The only truly great game in the lot is MG4 wich graphically doesn't look any better than Dead Space on 360. I am not a 360 or Ps3 fanboy. I said before it benefits me for Sony to succeed. Sony's biggest problem is that PSN cannot compete with XBL and until they can they will lose.

[Renegade Knight]

I can see hard to develop for because of it's longevity. What I can't see is that there is a beneift to makeing something artificially hard to develop for.

[Zaunto]

This doesn't make sense.

Factor in the economy, Sony's unwillingness to reduce the price of a console that hardly anyone wants because the games aren't inspiring players any more than the hardware inspires developers (apparently it doesn't, due to the difficulty in developing for it) and Sony's CEO sounds like he's either on drugs or just plain stupid. My kids has an X-Box 360 but neither has nor wants the PS3. Sony lost this battle with Microsoft this time around and apparently the CEO is the reason why. I suppose Sony can afford to lose a ton of money. We'll see how long before the board fires him for being an idiot.

[John_Moose]

Dude that is a very stupid comment because the x-box 360 is a piece of crap and if a company makes people buy the extented warranty that means they know themself what everybody else know that it is a piece of crap . The only smart you said was the economy is bad and everybody needs to stop buying products that do not work and buy something that is good . My Playstation 3 has outlasted about 90% of the so-called good X-box 360s . Now next time you make a comment like "Sony CEO sound like he's on drugs or just plain stupid." or "Sony lost this battle with Microsoft" that one thing for one Microsoft only won by Lying thier ass off about the truth about the defective rate to make themself look good and they may have won the battle but lost the won it is all a when and how . If you take a x-box at $200 bucks and add $50 bucks for 2 year warranty and add $100 bucks for Wi Fi and $150 bucks for 120 gig hard drive and $200 bucks for a blueray player that you will spending $200 bucks more than you can get a 160 gig hard drive with all of that and then some for $499 bucks , so how doesn't that make any sense ?

[odubtaig]

Yes, thankyou John for bringing the debating skills of a six year old.

This article sure does attract 'em.

[screamapillar]

LMAO!! Oh John_Moose - granted, M$ probably lied so much their board's pants actually caught fire. But what in heaven makes you think Sony doesn't have the EXACT same modus operandi?

The CEO indeed does sound foolish in this quote, this thread of comments alone is proof of that. Why? For so many people to think he sounded stupid, does, democratically make it so. Not because it is or isn't stupid or what people think makes something stupid - but because the CEO's role is to represent the organisation as its public face and thus, yes, what people think of what HE says is important.

Do the people on this thread have no clue about the role of a board and CEO and basic corporate governance and managment? I can tell you now, the CEO will have to be explaining with his tail between his legs to the board about the comment, for no other reason than the negative interpretations of the comment by the majority of people in this thread and the complete disrespect the comment had for developers (which Sony already has a strained relationship with due to its unrealistic time constraints and expectations which, oops, mean that the devs can't develop well for the PS3 with the tools currently available - that are btw also restricted by Sony.) Other than the very good reasons already listed on this page, developers may also choose to not make games for PS3 on the grounds that the agency (Sony) is arrogant and does not respect or encourage the creative process by constantly providing unnecessary roadblocks that they publically acknowledged thanks to a clueless CEO. It is not the CEO's job to comment on these things - that is why he's an idiot. And until you all understand that, please go and do even a basic corporate governance course to comprehend the role of the CEO.

[Dango517]

Just beating a dead horse. Sony lost years ago because of the price of PS3. Price is why 360 is so popular and games are so few for PS3. PS3 simply does not compute on the "pocket" calculator. If no ones buying because it cost too much then why develop for it. Programming has little or nothing to do with it.

The real strategy for Sony is to pull PS3 out of its death spiral by leveraging everything they can with Blue Ray. Wonder what road blocks they will place in the path of Blue Ray DVD player developers?

Parallelisms will continue to dog the linear thinking programmers of today. With 40, 60, 240 cores on every mainstream PC just over the horizon we will be hearing far more about the woes of programmers long before things get better. This is a problem, a serious one but not for PS3.

[John_Moose]

The last time I checked that Blu-ray wiped the hd-dvd like mud on their high priced boots and soon do that to the x-box 360 because they now have a new 50 gig of information playground and no x-box 360s are allowed to play with the big boys , sorry ! I guess the little x-box 360s get left behind sooner or later !

[Starfires]

PS3 was basically ahead of it's time. I'd have to agree that the price was the main obstical and remains it. People are naieve if they think it isn't the 'root of all evil' for the PS3. I mean starting at about $600!? $400 is also way more than mpst 'kids' can afford and puts it into competition with budget PCs, etc. The 360 is badly designed in a few ways- the breakdowns, the link with HD-DVD. But it has escaped the worse stigma of 'too expensive'. Sony's only hope is the Blu-Ray link, to madly publicise that. There is still a chance there, as untold millions of potential viewers remain out there. The programmers will then just follow the market. Yet here too remains a problem... how many actually have the HDTV to play it on?

[Dango517]

Oh Grasshopper (John)............... you do not see the sky because of a few clouds.

Do not fear the spider .............. fear his web..

And who do you think will be making many of those HDTVs?

Lets not forget Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc..

http://www.sony.com/SCA/corporate.shtml

Note:The link provided is only for the US division.

My apologies it's Blu-ray Disc, not Blue Ray.

[drbyte]

As far behind as they are they should fed-ex all the deep dark secrets of the ps3 to all developers. Nothing is going save the ps3 except great mind blowing games.

[John_Moose]

You are only half right young grass hopper , but your ability to not be able to see the big picture still clouds your judgement and have patience and a bag of popcorn because it is only just begin to get good , so chill you are seriously rigging me out on how wrong you are !

[drbyte]

If only if could be as wise as you lol. I guess Sony is right where they want to be.

[John_Moose]

Look how can I be kind , honest and blunt at the same time ? What you do not understand instead of them making a system that can be maxed out in potentitue that they wanted the programers to trying to figure out how it works ten years in the future so the games to be always improving instead stuck as the same longer and for more use ! To be honest that statement that Sony do not want to make it easy on the programers is not true and more made up , because if that was in case why did they made a special engine to make it easy for the game developers like psyhX engine Or Unreal engine . Sony is not the reason that most game companies do not use that engine to make it easlier and if that is the worst that you can say about Sony at least they do not make cheap junk that red light everytime you turn around like the stupid X-box 360 or can be torn up so easy like the waste of money nintendo wii when the majority of the crowd are not gamers !!!! I have a Playstation 3 that was made back in 2006 and still running strong so how many X-box 360 fans can say that !!!!!

[odubtaig]

You're right, Unreal Engine is reason enough for people not to use Unreal Engine. The sheer comedy when people started breaking their NDAs was limitless.

[killerchris2k8]

@ John_Moose Why do you think in over 2 years Sony themselves hasn't developed any groundbreaking games. I want new innovative games. I'm not talking about graphics. I want groundbreaking games. Yes Blu-Ray can hold 50 gigs. So why was Heavenly Sword so damn short? Why was Uncharted: Drakes Fortune So damn short. Hell I even beat MG4 in 2 days in about 7 hours. Why does Devil May Cry 4 and GTA5 have to install gigs on the hdd to perform the same way they do on XBOX360. Why do you think in over 2 years PSN is still a lackluster online service. I'd be glad to pay for it if that helps. Why did PS3 copy XBOX360's achievements sytem with their Trophy's? Why hasn't Sony rendered any of their in house games in 1080p if Blu-Ray can hold 50 gigs? They don't even have half as many upscaled 1080P games as 360. Even with all that I love my PS3 and I love my 360. The difference is XBL. I will always buy my multiplayer games for 360 because it is just so easy to connect with friends. I turn on my 360 it tells me who's online and what their playing. I pop in any game and it tells me if anyone is playing that game and how many are. I turn on my 360 and see a friend playing COD5 or NBA2k9 or Gears of War 2 all I have to do Is join his game from any screen. I don't even have to be in the game. I can't even talk to a friend on PSN unless I'm actually in the game their playing or at the XMB. I know I sound like a hater but I'm not. I'm disappointed. PS2 is buy far the greatest console ever so I expected the same thing. I waited an waited but after 2 years and 5 exclusives(3 good ones) and a weak online service I can't defend the PS3. Could you try to answer atleast one of my questions? Anyone?

[ProbableCabbage]

Personally, as a consumer of video games, I would prefer that the technical aspects of "how to maximize potential" from a console were known to absolutely everybody immediately. That way, developers can devote a larger percentage of their finite resources to designers and creative folks who do things like "make games original and interesting" or "make games fun to play."

Perhaps I've fallen into the "Games R Art" crowd, but I've had it kind of up to here with the "First person shooter that looks slightly better, but plays functionally the same as last year's first person shooter!" business model. Better looking games doesn't mean better games.

[monkeebrain]

Don, why with the sony hate? Did your daddy buy a defective sony? Still crying about it? I have both a xbox and ps3, I don't take any sides, I enjoy what each brings. Every time I read an article of yours, its about how Bluray is terrible or how the ps3 are defective. Maybe its time to return to writing about flowbee hair systems.

[ddiddy415]

you the man SteveW928.......you make alot of good points!!!!.....I remember during the second year of the ps2.....Gamepro had an article just like this one, about developers complaining about the same thing. That the system is to hard to develop.....Ha ha ha...what a bunch of crap.......they always say that. Developers said it when the N64 came out......they said that when the Dreamcast came out.....They said that when the PS2 came out.....they said that when the Xbox came out.....they said that when the Xbox 360 came out mainly because the systems they had keep overheating and kept flashing red when they tried to turn them on......

Sony for life!!!!!!!!

[odubtaig]

What happened to the Dreamcast again?

[mouseclick]

This guy has made some stupid "oh brother" comments about the PS3 in the past but this one is grounds for termination. There is no going back on this one and saying "what I meant to say was..." This just pegs Sony as out of touch with their partners and consumers. So, for those of you on these posts that say people that would not buy the PS3 because of comments like this, well, you need to reevaluate your own biased opinion. This comment speaks volumes to why the PS3 is in a distant 3rd place. You have a product that heavily relies on third party vendors to take advantage of it and then you make it so difficult for them to do so that the product becomes a failure and your answer is to say - we made it difficult so you cannot develop games for it and bring them to market fast. We want it to be so hard that it takes you forever to make a game. That makes total sense - nonsense, that is. At the end of the day, it hurts consumers because you don't get the games you can get on other consoles. It is simply an idiotic statement to make and one that did not take any forethought. If this guy could set aside ego for a second, he might see how dumb his comment was but, it is this ego that is instead killing the Playstation platform and, so long as they have idiots like this leading their charge, the Xbox 720 will ensure their complete thrashing when it comes out. And, that's fine with me because I - like most gamers - simply want a console that delivers an easy to use experience, good online gaming, and lots of games to play. If that happens to be the Xbox 360 (which it is today) then so be it (and sales figures clearly point out this is fact). If it happens to be the Xbox 720 (with statements like this, it seems that will be the case too) so be that too. For those of you that are PS fans no matter what, that is your right too. But don't be idiots like this guy and defend a stupid comment. It just makes you look like clowns too. Geez, stupid is as stupid does - if you buy the PS3 this year or in the past because you feel it is a better overall gaming console (not considering it for a Blu-ray player ) than you would be one uninformed consumer. If that's how you like to buy your products, it's your money, but it doesn't change the fact it is money poorly spent...

[Maarek Stele]

hard or they use a better code than VB for example.

I know some VB programmers and I've done some myself and it's the reason why computers slow down. It's all template driven and redundant code. If written by hand it'll run faster and be more efficient.

The PS3 is the best system out there and is already better than the XBOX 720. It's hardware is designed to have the longest shelf life. XBOX is falling along the lines of the old PC games, you have to buy the next piece of hardware to play the latest game.

In the long run, after developing a game for the Xbox and PS3, the PS3 looks better and plays better than the 360.

[longklaw]

I never thought about it that way before. I PS2 was known as being hard to program for and so many great-looking and fun games (God of War II, Final Fantasy XII, Valkyrie Profile 2) came out toward the end of it's cycle. Not sure if I agree or disagree with their strategy.

[bruw]

sony is on the wrong track here.

[bruw]

sony is on the wrong track here.

[skillingssucks]

...and Sony continues to crash and burn.

[screamapillar]

Hmm, it is concerning that so many of the Sony loyalists are claiming that something 'pretty' is automatically original or even any good. Good graphics or a powerful processor does not make original games. In fact, it hinders it because the development organisation is so busy dealing with the technical issues that they sacrifice development of what actually matters: the game. A simple to use and/or develop for platform means that the game creators can spend more time and resources on the actual storyline/game itself rather than how much bloom there is. Bells and whistles should be secondary to a good game itself. Developers have x amount of time. We should be expecting that at least 90% of that time is invested on the creative process and the remainder in the technical stuff. Seriously, a good game is not due to spending 90% of the time on pretty graphics. I'd rather a game using old tech if the game itself was unique, immersive and actually ran on the platform well. Forget the bells and whistles until you can get that right.

We have this problem across the board in all forms of media. A pretty actress does not make a good TV show, indeed, having unattractive actors can often make the show better because the focus isn't on superficial things any more, it is on depth and quality script and quality acting and these things.

[screamapillar]

For everyone that isn't quite so keen on Sony - watch this, it is absolutely the funniest thing ever. I think even the Sony fanboys can appreciate it in terms of extrapolating it out to all brands.

Severe language warning people:
http://www.theonion.com/content/video/sony_releases_new_stupid_piece_of

[Rants&Raves]

ROFL