Square Enix: 360 easier to develop on than the PS3

by Dustin Burg on Dec 16th 2008 12:15PM

In the latest issue of OXM, Square Enix developer Hiroshi Takai has admitted the unimaginable ... the Xbox 360 is easier to develop on than the Playstation 3. Even admitting that he hopes his next project is on the 360. Gasp! Shock! Awe!

"It's been the team's first time working with Xbox 360 and the Unreal Engine," said Takai who worked on the currently 360 exclusive Last Remnant, adding that the Xbox is "a lot easier to work with than PlayStation 3." But really, didn't we already know that? Here's to hoping that our Final Fantasy is OMG jaw-droppingly more amazing than the PS3 version. Because we're selfish and that's just how we roll.

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Tags: last-remnant, playstation-3, sony, square, square-enix

Reader Comments (43)

In other news, the sky is blue.

At first I was skeptical, but darned if you aren't right. It really IS blue!

You lie. It's grey! :(

"Here's to hoping that our Final Fantasy is OMG jaw-droppingly more amazing than the PS3 version. Because we're selfish and that's just how we roll."

Unlikely, It's been developed on PS3, and ported to 360. That means downsampled everythng to make it fit on 6x DVD.

I guess they aren't looking at the fact that the Unreal engine is horrible for RPGs and the texture pop ins are horrible in The Last Remnant, which they can decrease drastically by utilizing the PS3 core system.

That would make sense if he'd actually made a game on PS3 but he hasn't so why say this.

The Last Remnant is also on PS3, it just isn't finished yet.

You know, if he's the only developer saying it.

Lol judging by how badly last remnant runs on the 360 and the fact that he said the 360 is easier to develop for then I can't imagine how badly it's going to run on the PS3. Probably won't even get past the intro without lagging and bricking the PS3

Its not SquareEnix's fault that the engine they are using has its faults. I mean look at every other licenced Unreal Engine game on the Xbox 360 and they all have the same issues particularly Bioshock & the texture poping.

How many of you flaming even played the game anyways? All the complaints about bugs is a bit overblown considering my own play time with it.

If that's true, why do all of their 360 games run so poorly?

all there games? Kid what are you smoking, there's not event 5 square games on the 360. Even less than 5. Not to mention XIII didn't come out yet.

Too bad XIII isn't coming on to the 360 but both consoles have pros and cons i guess

Wow. You know -- I believe him. It's fairly obvious that almost all developers prefer working on the 360 framework.

But... The Last Remnant? That game had some of the most glaring technical flaws of any game this generation. Maybe "ease" isn't such a good thing for that team.

I think the ease has something to do with not having much to work with. Developers are expected to put out a triple A title or they won't pass the Sony QC trials. The 360 allows Sneak King to be sent into the Wild.

Lair? :-)

H-h-h-Haaaze?

Home?

SOCOM? Shaun White and Blitz the League II got better metascores. That's sad.

Meant to add that you can't compare promotional games from a fast food restaurant to full price retail releases. Typical fanboy grasping at straws.

Well I suppose anything is easier if you do it half-assed.

The Last Remnants problems could have come from them trying to use Unreal Engine 3. Remember all the flack Epic picked up from that Too Human deal that went real bad? Maybe instead of going to court like Silicon Knights they just bit the bullet and made the game. It could be a reason but who really knows?

Sweet Deal.

Lets hope that 'Kingdom Hearts III' makes an appearance on the 360.

I don't think that many 360 owners would be into the Disney portion of the game, and judging by the previous sales of 360 JRPGs in addition to that, this game is much more likely to be ported to the Wii from PS3.

Yep. By easier, the developer didn't mean in any ways that the 360 was a more powerful machine.

Don't be surprised if they manage to harness the potential of the PS3 and find out that they can't flawlessly port FF XIII to the 360.

At the end of the day, being easier to harness doesn't equal to having more potential.

"At the end of the day, being easier to harness doesn't equal to having more potential."

But easier does equal more cost effective. And in this economy that wins out over potential.

Yes Jcarpio, so get ready for FFXX, the board game.

Oh yes this legendary hidden POWAH of the PS3.

It's got a hidden compartment in it behind a 6 digit security code lock that only Sony has access to, once it's unlocked the developers will have all this new POWAH to work with that will blow our little minds with it's amazing 4D graphics and giant crab army.

Have you not realized yet it's not some magic box and that what the developers have to work with, is exactly that? You're not about to see a massive leap, it's not happening. Like all consoles you'll see it gradually improve, just like the 360.

So stop being an asshat, stop living off Sonys BS and come back down to reality. It's getting old hearing about this potential, cell, power, all that shit. 2 years on and we're still waiting and it's STILL being out performed by the 360.

Add another thing to this pot about the PS3's potential.. as we learned from last gen and this gen, having the most power potential doesn't mean squat.

Xbox and the cube had more power than the ps2, but the ps2 had the users; this time around it's the wii.

Yeah, at the same time, the X-Box 360 is already showing signs of fatigue with its own flagship titles.

Take Gears 2 for example. That game isn't even capable of running at a smooth frame rate and it was developed by the company that created its own graphic engine.

That should tell you a lot.

looks like the 360 isn't that much easier since they put out a half ass game with Last Remnant. Low gamer scores and the glitches it has. They better do their next game on the Wii or something.

On one hand, I'm not surprised - however, if they keep half assing every 360 game they throw on the format, they need to stick with PS3.

and that sir, which boils back down to this article...its an endless vicious cycle

hmmmmm why so much negative comments here??so the ps3 does not have any games with framerate or other issues??he said it was easier to program than the ps3,was he lying??what about all the other games that run much better on 360??and who else is tired of hear how powerful the ps3 is but ..........wait until its power gets harness,it has been 2yrs harness that power already ok.ps3fanboy members pls go back there....NOW OK??? whether the 360 FFXIII comes on 12 discs or not it is a reality.is it a problem to u???

I don't think it because people are PS fan boys its that we were very excited to have S/E make games for our system but highly disappointed when they fell very short from being a good game.

tehsoap thanks for ur comment,when u put it that way it makes alot of sense.but some comments r really misleading,u seem to b a very levelheaded person,peace.

I think Mistwalker made better use of the Unreal3 engine with Lost Odyssey. That had some technical hiccups, but boy it worked out well in the end result.

If the 360 is much easier to work with than the PS3... I sure hope FF13 doesnt take another 3 years to make.

I just love you PS3 Drones keep making excuses. How many years does the PS3 have to be out before you realize they are not going to harness the power of the PS3 as they already have done what they can for the most part.
There are many developers who prefer to develop on the 360 platform over the PS3.
Square Enix
Valve
Guilty Gear
and I am sure there are more.

Even if they like to develop on the PS3 as much (or claim to) it normally takes longer to try to match what the 360 can do as the dev's tools have always been garbage compared to the 360.

PS3 Drones get over it, you have a console with a few good games, many bad ports many mediocre games and a blu ray player.

Oh how the mighty Sony has fallen...

360 FTW!!!

To Sonyfanboys,

This is nothing new every developer who has developed for the PS3 has said the same thing.

oh by the way am i correct that 2008 was going to the year of the PS3 (hehe) or is now 2009,2110 or 2120?

You might want to cross out the "every" and replace it with "some" ... Criterion Games for example used the Playstation3 as the lead platform for Burnout Paradise, and I don't think you base that choice on the "hard to develop on" part.

He isn't the only developer to mention this, valve's president cursed the ps3 for being a pain in the arse to work on, while working on the orange box.

I say valve's president because I can't remember his name. I think it's Gabe Newell, though.

i want to have mgs4.random? maybe :)

The words you might want to highlight in that article are "Unreal Engine", that's an already existing middle ware platform with a range of tools for the system ... so "all they had to do" was to fill in the blanks, as the 2D/3D engine, the scripting libraries, the materials and their physics are already there just not in the right place.

If Square Enix started from scratch with just the system specs and not a single bit of software written, I'm pretty sure they would have found some heavy boulders down the 360 road as well.

Hiroshi Takai is not Square Enix.

Square Enix: 360 easier to develop on than the PS3

Reader Comments (43)

Posted: Dec 16th 2008 12:20PM Deezul AwT said

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