Network now...NEWS
Sony Slashes Cost of PS3 Development Tools
In a bid to stimulate software production, Sony has released a new PS3 development kit that is markedly less expensive than previous models.
The newly-released DECR-1400A debugging Reference Tool today costs $2,000 in North America and just over £1,500 for European studios. Previous development kits were priced at over $10,000. Japan will be getting a new model too, the DECR-1400J, which will set developers back some ¥200,000.
“Having the same form factor as the commercially available PS3, the new Reference Tool models allow advanced game programming and more efficient computer graphics rendering,” said Sony, adding that the new model will help to provide a “more streamlined game development environment.”
As well as this, Sony is also promising a new range software tools (aided with “enhanced” technical support), as well as an optimised PS3 compiler, and additional documentation for Sony’s PhyreEngine graphics-rendering engine.
The announcement appears to be a declaration of commitment from Sony towards its thirdparty partners. SCE itself will have its internal studios support the PS3 for ten years, as the company famously stated, yet a large number of thirdparty titles are being released for the Xbox 360 first, while Microsoft’s machine is also often the lead platform in multiplatform development.
“SCE will deploy various measures to further reinforce game development for PS3,” the company said, “and will continue to expand the platform to offer attractive interactive entertainment experiences only available on PS3.”
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Copyright 2006 - 2009 Future Publishing Limited, Beauford Court 30 Monmouth Street Bath, UK BA1 2BW
England and Wales company registration number 2008885
Okay, first, I'm Mark
This is my first post at Edge. I've decided to be a regular here. I've received (and kept) every Next Gen mag from the first issue to the last. I went to the CES show 4 straight years before it changed to the E3, where I attended all but the Atlanta E3s and the very last restricted one. I continue to have all of my original consoles and about 650 games for them. I have an Atari 2600, Vectrex, NES, SNES, Game Cube, Sega Master System, Genesis, Sega CD, X32, Dreamcast, Turbographix-16 (w/external disc drive), PS2, Xbox, and the Xbox 360.
I'm 56 years old, so my opinions may be off a bit from yours, but I enjoy most genre anyway. I favor the Microsoft systems to the point of being a fanboy, but I still consider myself sorta objective. The reason that I like the Sony systems less id due to the controller. I love the Microsoft controllers much more (even the old 'duke'). That's the reason i only have 1 Sony and it ends in a '2'. i must admit that Nickthegamer is a bit over zealous towards my favorite system, and I won't go that far. Still, to the meat of this post,
If a system's development software drops in price a total of $8,000, even if it's a 80% drop in price, there's not a big savings in development cost. If a game costs $1,000,000 to develope (a fare smaller game cost now days) what's the big news about $8,000 in savings?
All Gaming is Good Gaming!
Mark.................................................................................
MarkJFerreri said:
I favor the Microsoft systems to the point of being a fanboy, but I still consider myself sorta objective.
How can you be "sort of" objective when you consider yourself a fanboy?
I'll never understand brand loyalty...these firms don't care about you. Some people around here (cough, cough, Kim) can't get their head around such a concept.
I haven't bought any console this gen as i consider none of them worth their salt to be honest.
The first console is too expensive, the other is dumbing down games for fuck-wits (the mass market), whereas the other has more ambiguities than Pamela Anderson's vagina.
I'm seriously thinking of riding out this generation of consoles and sticking with my PC as it's a great format.
I agree for once, Barla Von, brand loyalty is stupidity in yet another guise.
I say be a gaming whore, a complete digital entertainment hussy, a fair-weather slattern, if you will. I go where the good games are - simple. I was in bed with Halo 3 just last weekend and now I'm happily canoodling with Killzone. Some kind of stupid 'loyalty' to a brand is not worth missing out on some of the great games out there.
Which bring me to my next point. If you really are a fan of games, don't let your prejudiced pretentiousness make you miss out on what the consoles have to offer.
Hey, Barla, I understand where you're coming from. . . . . But
To me, though, a fanboy is somebody who gets more pleasure and joy from a particular console (or set of consoles). To me, all gaming is good gaming, and that has been my motto ever since posting as an active member (and volenteer moderator) of a very-old-and-long-defunct Amazon.com gaming board. I started there prior to the release of the Dreamcast. I love Gaming. I prefere the Xbox controllers. Does that mean I'm bigotted? No! Does it mean I'm biased? Of course. Aren't we all a little biased toward our favorite system a little? Does that mean I couldn't have fun playing the Wii Sports or Gran Tourismo? No!
Barla Von, If you are a Gamer (notice that it's capitalized?), then go out (pending your available funds) and get a current-gen system. The whole concept of occupying a lounge chair watching a big screen with friends is a different expiriance than crunched over a desk in a 5 legged rolling desk chair stairing at a 17" to 24" screen (I assume) with fingers on the keyboard (maybe with a 2-way headset) and alone. I'm not knocking PC gaming, but you're missing out on a ton of fun.
I don't own a PS3, but considering the system, the greater problem could be a lack of games. Still, If you started with a couple of 'AAA' games at the PS3 purchase and got another one each month, you'd never run out of 'AAA' titles and you'd have a BluRay player to boot. It's not too bad for the price. Not now, anyway. The Xbox 360 new models were engineered to no longer overheast. They have great games, and a big choice. Xbox Live is great, and a room full of friends (as opposed to PC online) can be sharing in the online expirience.
Gee, I'm kinda naive about Pamela's vagina. You'll have to explain that one, I guess. (as I said, I'm a 56 year old geez).
All Gaming is Good Gaming!
Mark..........................................................................................l
MarkJFerreri said:
Barla Von, If you are a Gamer (notice that it's capitalized?), then go out (pending your available funds) and get a current-gen system. The whole concept of occupying a lounge chair watching a big screen with friends is a different expiriance than crunched over a desk in a 5 legged rolling desk chair stairing at a 17" to 24" screen (I assume) with fingers on the keyboard (maybe with a 2-way headset) and alone. I'm not knocking PC gaming, but you're missing out on a ton of fun.
Get a current gen system? Why? As i explained above my obvious reasons for not purchasing any current gen system...none of them are worth their salt.
Listen, if anybody experienced games like Bioshock, Mass Effect, Call of Duty 4, Orange Box, Left 4 Dead, Devil May Cy 4, Crysis, Oblivion, Dawn of War II, Empire: Total War and Darwinia on PC (to name a few) they wouldn't touch their console counter-parts (with the exception of Crysis, Dawn of War II, Empire: Total War and Darwinia) with a barge pole!
Console games offer a baseline experience...on the PC the games are the best they can be.
As for your 17" to 24" screen rant, i can hook up my PC to my LCD TV via DVI to HDMI cable and adjust my GPU settings to 1920×1080 native resolution...none of this upscaled nonsense that consoles offer.
Honestly, most (not all) readers here havent' got a fucking clue on PC gaming.
For example: one reader said you need a £1000 PC to play games, the other said you need an expensive GPU to run games at the rate of the 360 (which is a load of bollocks), then you have someone like yourself ( MarkJFerreri) saying i need a console to be a gamer?...Sorry, but you can fuck off with that statement.
If one wants the best: Ditch your console and buy a PC. Simple as!
Nice to meet you, welcome
Very positive news. I hope it pays off for them and we all reap the benefits. Personally I would prefer a closer race between all 3 platforms. Competition is a great thing!
Hopefully this will help Sony compete that much better.
This is great news for the development community. Now everyone can afford the SDK for alot cheaper than what it used to be!! 2K is a steal compared to 10K a pop. heck some studios that are just starting out for a 10K budget can now actually pick up 5 for the price of one.
Could even spell a return of bedroom coders, hence, more new game genres.
How many people thought when they read that headline that it was "Sony Slashes Cost of PS3", then was disappointed when on the next line it said "Development"?
Yeah, me too. The rumors are all over the place. I thought that this was finally a confirmation. Oh well, I guess that we wait a little longer. (sigh)
(when I went back and read this again, I could tell how anxious I must be for this news, becauseI read it wrong.)
All Gaming is Good Gaming!
Mark..........................................................................................................
Hahaha...so did I...I would have bought one today if it were so.
While any move to encourage PS3 development has to be a good thing, i have to wonder how much difference this will really make. Most major studios will already have their development kits in place, and if this is meant to attract indie studios then Sony still face a more promising route offered by its competitors.
Development systems for the Wii are still cheaper and coupled with the systems install base and less demanding performance, and therefore development cycle, must seem a more lucrative prospect. The 360 offers XNA game studio which is, aside from a subscription to the creators club when you're ready to publish your game, completely free and has the added advantage of a built in distribution model. All this before you even consider the iphone!
After ten years of ps2 development the tools are still horrendous compared to microsofts. Pro-DG is a horrible debugger that SN (which sony bought) seem unable or unwilling to improve.
What are the chances of sony doing a better job with the ps3, somewhere between slim and none in my opinion.
Excellent news for Sony!
This is the sort of management that should have been done from the start with the PS3.
Unless Microsoft is paying you to keep coming here, creating profiles, and posting your "thoughts," as it's in it's your job to do this kind of advertising, maybe it's time to let it go? I'm forced to think no matter how much you "tone it down," people still aren't going to take your comments at face value, due to your history of posting in these forums. The fact that your profiles keep getting deleted only strengthens that perception.
Good morning Kim, how are you? I'm fine, don't worry about asking.
Ahh Kim, are you trying to get a few positive comments about Sony on this fourth profile you've created for yourself so you can't be accused of being what you are, a Microsoft viral marketer?
Sorry you're fooling no one.
Corporate restructuring + great 2009 lineup + lower development cost + PS3 price cut = could be the formula Sony's looking for.
2 out of 4 ain't bad.
This is good to hear. It is also a good time to do it. This price drop first day of GDC makes a lot of sense. Hope they solidify their support for game devs buy dropping the retail price of the console in order for more customers to potentially buy all the games made with this cheaper kit.
Smart move. Considering the fact that they consider digital distribution an important factor in their success, this might enable a lot of smaller developers to benefit from this cheaper tool.
my heart skipped a beat when i read the headline. Then I saw 'development' underneath... lets hope we see the same headline again soon, minus 'development'
Much better news for the PS3 than the previous Sony 'our-2009-lineup-raawks' article.
Great news and lets hope they follow this up with a price cut for the retail sku.
Wow - this is great news!