Ex-SCEE employee calls out PSP, says iPhone SDK 'is better'

by David Hinkle { Apr 20th 2009 at 11:15AM }

Sebastien Rubens is a former Sony employee that called the SCEE Technology Group home. Now that he no longer works with folks behind PlayStation, he's more than happy to share a few pointers with regards to how the company conducts business. He's mainly concerned with the PSP SDK and the platform's submission process, he told Edge Online.

Rubens said the PSP needs an improved SDK and even lauds the iPhone's over it, calling it flat-out "better." He goes on to say that things could be easier to use on the platform, and that SCEE is "slow to move" during the submission process. Rubens has a unique view, having been on both sides -- he left SCEE to start up Anozor, which recently published the PSN title, No Gravity.

Tags: anozor, iphone, no-gravity, psn, scee, sdk, sebastian-rubens, sony

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Rob @ Apr 20th 2009 11:23AM

Ok, this is not a good sign when your own former employees say the iPhone is better then the PSP.

WRE @ Apr 20th 2009 11:40AM

Yeah. Shocker.

boots555 @ Apr 20th 2009 12:36PM

You missed the whole point -- reread the article.

+1

Extinction @ Apr 20th 2009 12:38PM

This is no surprise. iPhone runs on the same OS as Macintoshes, so emulation/simulation is far easier, and it has memory management

PSP runs on it's own OS so development is more difficult without a PSP dev kit since you must test on an actual PSP. It's also not a fully-fleshed out OS like OSX.

On the other hand, PSPs OS is optimized for games and it much better at it.
Mobile OSX however is a power hungry waste of power when it comes to games

bobartig @ Apr 20th 2009 4:04PM

@Extinction: Plus, the PSP dev kit is from SONY, who are singularly notorious for being down-right developer hostile. Something doesn't work? Tough. Need help with the SDK? Pay someone else to show you how. Tools are constantly shoddy and broken? Too bad. Tools we said would be available 6 months ago don't exist yet, and we're 2 months from hardware launch? Go suck an egg.

I'd be surprised if anyone anywhere had a story about how a sony dev kit was better than *any other* dev kit, period.

Jerk Face @ Apr 20th 2009 11:24AM

Okay, popshot and potshot are two incredibly different things. : )

j.howlett @ Apr 20th 2009 2:45PM

popshots http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czPyf14Jrf8

InFaMoUs1- @ Apr 20th 2009 11:24AM

All the PSP needs is a little more functionality... for example instant messaging. As for it being used as a phone I dont think everyone will jump at the idea of a PSP Phone. Can you imagine playing a good game and then someone calls you.

D dogg @ Apr 20th 2009 11:47AM

What the hell does functionality have to do with the SDK? Guy is saying the Software Development Kit is better for the iPhone, not that the iPhone itself has many more features.

You missed the whole point -- reread the article.

hurricane @ Apr 20th 2009 12:08PM

@infamous

2 things:

1) off topic....... (just as D dog mentioned)

2) PSP has Skype already and I really don't think IM would be necessary on PSP, it would be too tedious...

skyzbig @ Apr 20th 2009 11:24AM

He's not saying the iPhone is "better", he is saying that the process of getting to the final product could be better.

TM @ Apr 20th 2009 11:25AM

thats it, joystiq....enough with the shitty anti-psp news.

Rob @ Apr 20th 2009 11:26AM

Yeah, let's back to the shitty anti-Nintendo news.

Sir Buzz Killington( The Artist formerly known as Jakka) @ Apr 20th 2009 12:03PM

To be honest, I have yet to see a good iPhone bash around here...

InFaMoUs1- @ Apr 20th 2009 11:27AM

On that note PSP Firmware (v5.50) will be available soon!

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2009/04/20/psp-firmware-v550-update/

TM @ Apr 20th 2009 11:31AM

good psp news on an anti-psp post? great

Jonathan @ Apr 20th 2009 11:34AM

The iPhone as a credible gaming platform is not going to happen. Stop trying to make it happen.

It exists and can be fun, like cellphone gaming. It's not a real threat to anything gaming-wise.

Orion @ Apr 20th 2009 1:46PM

Yea, I'm sure Sony is totally not wishing they had those almost one billion app sales because their line up right now is totally filled to the brim and system sales in the states are higher than ever before!

Wait...

Phone or not, you like it or not, there's hundreds of games for it, and unlike cell phones, there are dozens that are worth buying an iPhone/iTouch for. Get used to it. Just because you don't see it at Gamestop, doesn't mean it's not a gaming platform. Then again.. the fact that you don't need to EVER go to Gamestop for anything iPhone related is actually a plus >_>.

copa @ Apr 20th 2009 11:37AM

This isn't even up for debate. My brother developed an iPhone game, Drop7, and he walked me through the source code. Extremely simple to develop and test. And an awesomely straightforward process for deploying updates out to the App Store.

Apple and Microsoft have decades of experience in providing general purpose application development tools. Sony does not, and they have not made ease of use a priority.

When the PS1 was released, who cares, right? Their competition was Nintendo, and third-party developers hated Nintendo even more.

When the PS2 was released, not a big deal. The PS2 was a monster seller, kicking the asses of the Dreamcast, GameCube, and XBox. The extra challenges of developing for that environment were well justified by the sales volume.

But now that PS3 and PSP are running last place in their respective fields, it gets to be more of a problem. Sony needs to acquire a company with honest-to-goodness software development expertise. Someone who has years of experience creating SDKs and providing developer support.

bobartig @ Apr 20th 2009 4:10PM

Funny you should mention that, since Sony purchased SN Systems, makers of the ProDG development tools that have been standard for Sony console development for years, back in 2005.

So, they *already did that*. What's your next idea?

Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Apr 20th 2009 11:39AM

would be nice if they made the PSP SDK's better to get more people to make a flood of cheap games for it. Cause weall know the PSP has NO games. http://www.vgevo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=179883

at any rate I imagine that is Sony WISHES they could EASILY Rape the iPhone route and have the PSP2 be just as easy to make games for and distribute for all to play. cause we ALL know the PSP section of the PSN is just DYING for a bunch of $5-10 tilt & Touch games

InFaMoUs1- @ Apr 20th 2009 11:42AM

"Cause weall know the PSP has NO games" lol

Gotta love the PS Nation Podcast

Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Apr 20th 2009 11:44AM

FACT!!

Ashitaka @ Apr 20th 2009 12:23PM

The PSP has no games = joke

Neuromancer @ Apr 20th 2009 12:26PM

Yeah I'd like 100's, maybe 1000's, of shitty PSP games made by nobodies.

Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Apr 20th 2009 12:31PM

yea....he knows that...lol

tenor77 @ Apr 20th 2009 11:51AM

I'm not sony lover, but an employee leaving a company, giving a parting shot? I'm not going to put much stock in that.

yokel @ Apr 20th 2009 12:14PM

His "parting shot" isn't negative, he's just saying Sony needs to improve their SDK. I don't think he would admit that if he was still working under Playstation.

John Perkins @ Apr 20th 2009 12:03PM

I don't get how this is news. Of course the SDK for the iPhone is "better." It's designed to make it as easy as possible for anyone to create an app for the thing. Basically he's comparing developing a Flash game to a PS1 game. Of course developing a game for a gaming platform will be more difficult, and the SDK will be filled with stuff you won't necessarily use.

The SDK for the PSP may be unnecessarily difficult to program for, but they said the same thing about the PS1 and PS2, but once it was fully grasped, developers were putting out some amazing stuff.

Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Apr 20th 2009 12:09PM

I dont think people understand that tho. The PSP is ESSENTIALLY a PS2 thats been cut of a few features.....

Extinction @ Apr 20th 2009 12:40PM

Developing for PSP is nothing like developing for PS2 though.

PSP is the easiest system to develop for since the PS1. It's many times easier than even GBC, GBA and DS.

cafecito @ Apr 20th 2009 12:03PM

Someone's pissed cause he got the boot ... no news there.

Brucie B @ Apr 20th 2009 12:34PM

PSP Sucks anyway, Thank God I sold it a few months back!
I'll take my iPhone over the PSP Any day of the week!
Yea I said it, What!

*PS Happy 420!

TM @ Apr 20th 2009 12:38PM

thank god the joystiqers don't go right out and say what you just said

Anticrawl @ Apr 20th 2009 12:43PM

While I do agree the PSP is a little lackluster at times but taking a phone over a game console? You sir need to leave this place and take your comments to Engadget. They'll love you over there, where your comment belongs.

Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Apr 20th 2009 1:04PM

ooooh we all know that playing Games with touching the screen and shaking the phone is whats hot in the streets right now. Who CARES if it can play your PS1 games.....[/sarcasm]

JuanDHexen @ Apr 20th 2009 1:13PM

well if you wanted a phone than I would have done the same thing but I am a gamer and I just enjoy too much playing crash and twisted metal 2 on the go.

ill trooper @ Apr 20th 2009 1:32PM

A few things...

Anticrawl: I don't consider the PSP a game 'console.' 'Console' is a term I reserve for home devices like the PS3, the 360, the Wii... The PSP is a handheld, a powerful platform, but your use of the term 'console' here is covering too much ground in your argument when you say 'take a phone over a game console.' Your comment reads like you think someone is opting to take a RAZR over a 360 for gaming. Anyway, I like the PSP but it isn't as cost-effective, useful, or portable as my iPhone for me. So I too have chosen take my iPhone over my PSP, every day as I leave the house without the PSP.

ChrisD.: Get over it, man, there's no reason to hate on the iPhone software so hard. Your earlier post essentially boils down to you thinking a more difficult SDK will keep the PSP software better, which is crazy talk. That hasn't kept junk from showing up on the door of many a game device, and as with before, the consumer will have to pay attention to what's being presented to them. The popularity of the iPhone platform (and ease of development) has devs of all sorts making games, some 'tilt' ones that you paint as bad, but also a lot of good games that are coming out more often, are cheaper, and are easier to get than anything the PSP is doing right now.

Is it really hurting the PSP? Well, if it is, that's sort of what the Ex-SCEE employee is getting at: it's Sony's fault if it is, not the public that is strengthening the iPhone platform by getting behind it.

(01) @ Apr 20th 2009 6:15PM

It's people like you that give Apple fans, errr, gaming fans, errr, potheads bad names.

Popfrogs @ Apr 20th 2009 1:50PM

SCEE is slow to move? What a shocker that one is. Lots of devs have complained about this (somewhat secretly) in the past. SCEE is the Resident Evil Aiming of the gaming world.

Maybe things will change since David Reeves is stepping down (ex-head of SCEE).

Toby @ Apr 20th 2009 2:23PM

I agree with the blatantly obvious that this article in no way suggests that this guy is saying that iPhone is better than PSP. It is purely a comment that shows an admiration for the way Apple have created an SDK that is beneficial to devs, customers, and Apple. That aside, I think that this whole idea that iPhone can be pitted against the PSP in a battle of who is best is totally absurd and anyone who engages in such a debate is seriously deluded from the get-go. however, I do believe that in the age of RSS headline feeds that so many of the leading sites deliberately do use stories like these with headlines that hit the troll radar to boost hits. Oh yes... I am a cynical git!

Oz @ Apr 20th 2009 3:40PM

I wonder if that's his excuse for No Gravity being one of the most boring games i have ever played in my life...

ecco6t9 @ Apr 20th 2009 5:29PM

I don't think that's true about the PSP being as easy as the PS1 when you consider that an iGame can be made by one person and a GBA(an to a lesser extent the DS) can have a team of less than 10.

liaero-elgaero @ Apr 20th 2009 6:02PM

Why don't sony ask dark alex and the march33 team for some ideas i'm sure it would help.

Virtuous @ Apr 20th 2009 7:00PM

I have invested over $1,000 in PSP hardware, games and movies. I won't spend any more money until Sony clearly demonstrates their serious about competing against the DS and iPhone.

Michael Fisk @ Apr 20th 2009 11:01PM

Nobody's really winning anybody over... Sony's not getting serious about competing, Apple and NIntendo aren't serious about having quality product on their platforms.

Being an iPod Touch owner as well as a PSP owner, I use them for completely different gaming purposes. Sony lacks a good deal of indie art titles and puzzlers on their handheld, Apple lacks the deeper, more traditional gameplay experience. Can't play Bejeweled 2 or Tap Tap Revenge on the PSP, and can't play Disgaea or Phantasy Star Portable on the Touch.

That being said, the Touch does consume more of my gaming time than I'd like to admit...