Developer: Studios holding back on PS3 games [update 1]
by Blake Snow 
{ Nov 29th 2006 at 4:40PM }
In an interview with Games Industry, Game Developer Conference organizer Jamil Moledina said many studios are holding back on starting PlayStation 3 games due to challenges when developing for the console's finicky Cell processor. "A lot of the developers I know are waiting out on the first round and focusing on handhelds; they're creating DS and PSP titles because that's actually a much simpler migration from the current-gen," he added.While it's normal for developers to wait and see how consumers respond to consoles before dumping money into a game, it's interesting to see PlayStation, which has traditionally been the king of third-party support, get the same treatment. But Moledina ultimately believes developers will catch on, and the PS3 will be a success despite what he calls a PlayStation 2 like launch (not so good but look how that turned out). Smoke if you got 'em.
[Update: Sorry for the duplicate entry of my comrade James's key post. Hopefully the slight difference of perspective between "unable" and "waiting" warrants its existence. Thanks, Joystiqers!]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Aex @ Nov 29th 2006 4:45PM
http://www.joystiq.com/2006/11/28/developers-still-waiting-for-keys-to-ps3/
James beat ya too it Blake...
Hinkmania @ Nov 29th 2006 6:04PM
They got Nintendo'd this round.
kodec @ Dec 1st 2006 4:26PM
If devs are interested in ease of porting, is that not a good sign for the Wii?
Also, no matter how chummy Sony's been with third party support in the past, if they make a piece of hardware that's too hard to develop for then they're going to end up with a lack of software.
GhostBox @ Nov 29th 2006 4:50PM
It's really very simple.
The PS3's low user/install base mean that developers wouldn't make any money on the new console right now.
Richard @ Nov 29th 2006 6:46PM
599 US DOLLARS
azesino @ Nov 29th 2006 4:56PM
dam it blake you didnt read joystiq yesterday i see lol its cool tough to read another side of the story
http://www.joystiq.com/2006/11/28/developers-still-waiting-for-keys-to-ps3/
imaman @ Dec 11th 2006 5:44PM
zomg, can someone please get rid of these ads !!!
where's the close icon .. ! !
if it weren't for text based browsers i'd never be able to lolygag..erm..i mean work and look busy at the same time.
Seriously, how could anyone look with this kind of stuff on the screen?
:wq
JJ @ Nov 29th 2006 5:12PM
But if thats the case ghost box then why developf or a new system at all and why not just dump all money into current gen software since they have a higher installed user base?
If all companies thought like that, no one would ever create anything new on new systems. I mean they DO have to start somewhere ya know.
Neil @ Nov 29th 2006 5:24PM
double post
Spekkio @ Nov 29th 2006 5:32PM
Considering how small the PS3 userbase is, this is just practical thinking. Sony's difficulties in manufacturing the PS3 is bound to give third party developers pause.
courtney @ Nov 29th 2006 5:57PM
You know with all this negative PS3 stories I am really getting tired of people saying "well look at PS2, it will get better in time".
But look at it, why did PS2 get better? It was b/c of exclusives like Guitar Hero, GTA, Resident Evil, etc. But that is gone now. PS3 just has Metal Gear Solid.
So i think people need to start seeing that this fight will be a whole lot harder for Sony this time without the elecusive games.
Aex @ Nov 29th 2006 7:07PM
@ courtney
Nice try buddy, but not quite. Guitar Hero didn't make the Ps2 any better when it came out last november. The Xbox 360 was already out and Nintendo just gave up on the GC. GTA? I could give ya that one, since it took a while for GTA to come to the original Xbox. Resident Evil? There wasn't even a Resident Evil (aside from remakes) on the Ps2. Resident Evil was 1,2,3 on Playstation, then Remakes on GC and Zero and 4 on GC. Ps2 didn't even get RE til after the GC did.
The Ps3 still has enough exclusives going for it to keep it strong just like the Xbox 360 does. Removing some of the big players, from YEARS AND YEARS ago isn't going to make a huge difference because there are new big players. Mario, Zelda, Final Fantasy, Metal Gear, Halo, and (NOW) Gears of War are System seller exclusives, now if one company lost the exclusive to one of those titles what you say would have some merit. I don't think that will happen. Well maybe the MGS4 cross platform a couple years after the release of the ps3 version, but the damage will be done by then.
It is highly doubtful sony will lose the FF exclusive for a couple reasons, no xbox 360 presence in japan, and wii is far from the direction they have been going with the series, it would be like a step backward. FF doesn't need new gameplay it needs bigger worlds, more fmvs, prettier graphics, jucier sound, more sound tracks. That is why it'll probably stay exclusive to PS3, given a few knock offs like SE has been doing since forever. Same goes for Kingdom Hearts, Dragon Quest, yada yada, though it is much more likley we see a KH on the wii.
Other than that, Sony has proven they have exclusives worth buying their system for e.g.: God of War, Shadow of the Collosus, Jak and Daxter, Rachet and Clank, and the New Resistance. Killzone is a possibility, but we'll see how that pans out, Liberation for the psp was great, but I hear the ps2 version sucks.
billy @ Nov 29th 2006 6:25PM
@They got Nintendo'd this round.@
You must have missed the memo. Nintendo has by far the worste 3rd party support when compared to Sony and MS :) They even outdid themselves by having Wii launch games overall worse than PS3 games. One good game which is actually a Gamecube game in Zelda. Very impressive.
courtney @ Nov 29th 2006 7:28PM
#9, what do you mean? That damn Gundam game got worse scores then any Wii launch game.
Drage75 @ Nov 29th 2006 7:05PM
@9 (Billy)@
Actually, PS3 had the worst launch line up. I think its a good idea for 3rd party developers to wait. They aren't well funded, and what good is pouring money into a game for a system that 1.Doesn't have a huge ammount of consoles out. 2. Could fail like a Dreamcast. 3. Hasn't been experimented with enough to show its full power. It wouldn't make sense for them to put a lot of money and time into making a game that could end up causing big losses to them.
Drage
ill trooper @ Nov 29th 2006 7:03PM
Developers held games for the 360 as well, for instance, UbiSoft held games like GRAW and specifically Splinter Cell: D.A. until there was a 'larger user base' for the 360, or at least that was the reason they cited.
I think it's too early for any developer to get real excited about publishing for the PS3, a system that just came out, Big demand but low supply, and no immediate influx of hardware on the horizon. It happened last year with Microsoft - it took until March and May for games and 360s to start flowing again. Nintendo did it correctly; popular but not impossible to find. (is that hardware powerful enough in the long-run to play games like Halo 3, KillZone2, Gears, Oblivion, or GTA4? Likely not, but everyone will own one alongside their PS3 and 360, so 'wacky exclusives' will thrive on the Wii).
"But look at it, why did PS2 get better? It was b/c of exclusives like Guitar Hero, GTA, Resident Evil, etc. But that is gone now. PS3 just has Metal Gear Solid. " - Courtney
Welllllll, there was no way to know that 'Guitar Hero' (or other games you mentioned) were coming out when the PS2 launched... You don't know what games are coming out 3 years from now - whatever system dominates sales will have the nutty third-pary 'risky' exclusives, because of economics. They were exclusives because Sony's box dominated market share - at one point, you were putting off 80% of the market by going exclusive with the Xbox, Sony had it like that.
If everyone has a solid marketshare, expect titles to be cross-platform (like all the EA titles are now) and _possibly_ supporting your hypothesis, but otherwise, you are using 'hindsight' to argue your point and it's flawed logic.
But I do agree with your final sentence, Courtney.
Can Sony make you think paying $600 is is a better value than the $400 (But please let us remember that online-gamers will pay for the 360 plus $50 each year for LIVE).
I mention LIVE because online is becoming a huge factor in all of this and Sony offers it for free at this point - and despite what LIVE-heads think, Sony has that thing pretty tight, and it could be right on par with LIVE within a month by adding a persistant friends list system like Microsoft's and fine-tuning some other features. Dropped the ball again by not including a headset though.
SuicideNinja @ Nov 30th 2006 12:38AM
I don't see what the problem is. They can develop for the Xbox 360, and then give the PS3 some crappy port of the game later down the road when the PS3 has an installed base. We all know that's what's going to happen.
Last time, the Xbox got horrible PS2 ports. Well...the tables have turned.
Drage75 @ Nov 29th 2006 7:07PM
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3155480
Proof for the worst Launch Line up statement.
courtney @ Nov 29th 2006 7:28PM
I mentioned GTA b/c if you look back at the PS2 life, that was it's first system seller.Sorry I can't remeber that source, but it does make sense.
I agree about FF not going to 360 and Wii not handling it.
I just don't think Sony has all the right things in place to be #1 as it did before.
I even think the 360 has a better chance of being popular in Japan then PS3 does of being #1 world wide.
And lets face it, with everything Sony has done and said, with all the problems the PS3 already has isn't it time they were humbled like Nintendo was with the N64?
I know you all have heard this over and over but so far the PS3 has nothing the 360 doesn't. That may change in the future, but right now. No reason
Aex @ Nov 29th 2006 8:43PM
"16. #9, what do you mean? That damn Gundam game got worse scores then any Wii launch game."
And the average score for the ps3 titles (73.4) still topped that of the Wii (73), and that included Zelda's 94% in there
@Courtney
There really never is a reason to buy any console at launch. There is no library of games, the ones they launch with are usually crap, and you have no idea how the system will turn out. When the Xbox 360 first came out there still was no good reason to buy it. Now a year down the road, there is good reason to buy one. It'll be the same for the Ps3.
So it isn't hard to agree with you when you say there is no reason to buy a PS3 over the Xbox 360 at this point in time, unless the Xbox 360 does absolutely nothing for you. But it wont always be like that. The Ps3 won't always have only 12 games. The Xbox 360 won't always have 80% of the games the Ps3 has available. It is why haters come out swinging full force when a system is first released, because they need to beat their competition while it is down. If you wait for it to get to full strength it won't be nearly as easy.
Andy @ Nov 29th 2006 9:40PM
I am confused. If they dont start developing now, then when. Since it seems that games take about 1-1.5 years at least in development, then when to start?
In 1 year the PS3 will have a huge player base, and they can sell their games all they want.
Chucky's Cat @ Nov 29th 2006 10:02PM
I wonder how many gamers in the PS2 userbase will be able to shell out $600+ to upgrade to the PS3? A lot of people's forum comments are "I'm definitely gonna get one.....after the price drops". That price drop isn't gonna happen for a least two years. Price effects marketshare which in turn results in how many developers attracts any given system. Any of you out there who think someone like KONAMI will never bring MGS4 to XB360 'cause their hardcore SONY are dreamers. This is business folks! Your company is isn't gonna survive unless your moving product. There's stock holders to answer to.
Andy @ Nov 30th 2006 12:48AM
lol wii ftw!!
Jecrell @ Nov 30th 2006 1:14AM
Well at the end of the day if the PS3, Wii, and Xbox 360 are good and they all have good games there's really no sense in arguing over it. No matter what you buy you really can't lose.
I guess we just argue over it because we can't just buy everything. I'd say the only thing to worry about is if Sony can't keep the PS3 afloat. Bad news after bad news after bad news hasn't bolstered the Sony fanbase. I'd be nervous if I were a PS3 fan, but I've decided to keep away from it until it's established enough to really warrant the price.
Cuja @ Nov 30th 2006 1:38AM
All this stuff about the PS3 problems was foreseen over year and a half ago. Launch delays, to complicated and expensive for game developers, pushing a system thru that's not ready, and broken promises to the faithful. The only win scenario for PS3 now is to ride the coattails of the third party developers and settle for cross platforms hoping their fanbase is strong enuff to buy them time.