Sony: Third-Party Devs Should Use PS3 As Lead Platform

Early on in the PS3's lifespan, third-party developers weren't so keen on the idea of struggling to create a game first on Sony's complicated new platform. As many of you know, this led to bad PS3 ports, although according to Sony, this trend is beginning to die out due to developers obtaining a better understanding of the PS3's architecture.

According to Videogamer.com, Sony Computer Entertainment UK managing director Ray Maguire has said that many studios plan to use the PS3 as the lead development console for multiplatform titles, and eventually, this will lead to "downgraded" games for systems with "weaker processors." Obviously, he's referring to the Xbox 360 here, and it's something PS3 fans have been wondering about for quite some time: once developers get the hang of the system, won't they acknowledge its superior power and use it as the lead platform for their games? Then, it'll be the 360 crowd that has to suffer through bad ports, but this time, the ports will be of a lesser quality because the system simply couldn't handle the workload. On the other hand, perhaps the lacking memory in the PS3 is more of an issue, and developers really can't tap into the supposed immense power of Sony's console. There are two sides to every issue, but here's what Maguire had to say:

"I think we now have an install base which is big enough for any third party to want to develop for. Now the decision making part of development is which do you lead your development on? Is it easier to lead with the most powerful, both in terms of AI and graphics, i.e. PS3 and then just remove part of the functionality for the processors that aren't quite as strong? I would imagine that's very much part of the thought process now from a studio development point of view."

Blu-Ray oughta help convince developers, too. An example of a current multiplatform title that began its life on the PS3 is DICE/EA's Mirror's Edge, and we may see a lot more of this practice in the future. But it's difficult to predict, and many believe the 360 and PS3 will remain very close in terms of graphical output. What do you think?

11/3/2008 Ben Dutka

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Comments (39 posts)

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The_Vandelizer
Monday, November 03, 2008 @ 10:44:02 AM
Reply

Very True look how good Dead Space came out....

1 up, 0 down

Aftab
Monday, November 03, 2008 @ 11:06:29 AM
Reply

360's graphic's card allows more textures to b rendered or faster, with it's shared memory. In addition, it is natively capable of certain features such as AA, where is the PS3' requires post-processing which takes more time. Besides these, it displays brighter whites, which manifests as more vibrant colors in certain games.

Although I'm not sure how developers have learned to take advantage of the mutlicore processors or the spu's of the ps3, technically, the ps3 should be able to do more calculations which means faster polygons and longer draw distances, though from what I hear, the spu's dont' have their own memory which poses an obstacle. The ps3 seems to benefit from having ability to read from hardrive which is faster than dvd or bluray. Also, through bluray, ps3 games can fit more content, which means more and larger levels, sharper resolution (because of more data that can be stored) at the expense of install times (which also save on load times).

In the end, it's down to the first party studio's to push the most out of their systems. I have more trust in Sony to give us stuff that is a little more special.

2 up, 1 down

Jut420
Monday, November 03, 2008 @ 11:14:14 AM
Reply

I am a long time reader, I actually have this site as my homepage, but this is my first post. Before I respond I just want to say that this is the most reliable and trustworthy. I just want to commend you guys for such a great job for the past 2 years I've been visiting this site. This is the only site where I really consider the reviews before I get games and your reviews are very well written and fun to read. The journalism is some of the best I've seen and I can't praise you guys enough.

Now that that's all said and done, as for this article, I think that devs will start to switch but I think this will go one of two ways. Playstation games will start to finally shine over their multiplatform counter parts and then we get the same complaints from other console owners that Playstation fans have been complaining about when their console's version gets "dumbed-down" or has lesser quality, putting them in the same position with fans just on a different platform. The other option I think might happen is that games will be held back to make them somewhat equal on all platforms, in turn making the game less than what it could have been. After stating those two I just remembered one time where Sony said that making games on PS3 first then porting to Xbox will make Xbox games better, which would be the best thing for everyone. But what I think will honestly happen is that people will still compare videos of the two versions running side by side and people will argue over it, but I think in the end Playstation fans won't have to worry about "crappy" ports but maybe another console might. I wouldn't mind having the best quality games on my Playstation, but I think identical versions is better for everyone to stop this bickering, but then again Playstation was suppossed to be the superior ocnsole in terms of power, but that advantage is clear with First-party titles so multiplatforms, IMO. I mean can any game graphically compare to Killzone 2 and White Knight Chronicles? I don't think so, those two games look amazing.

Last edited by Jut420 on 11/3/2008 11:16:05 AM

4 up, 0 down

Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Monday, November 03, 2008 @ 12:13:06 PM

Thanks for the kind words. :) It seems there are a lot of people that have been long-time readers, and are signing up now to contribute. We love to see that!

1 up, 0 down

Joe_III
Monday, November 03, 2008 @ 12:30:53 PM
Reply

I don't think its really going to matter. If they're doing a port, then they have to make sure it works on the "dumbest" console. And then they're going to dumb it down some on the other side so that they don't "offend" people. That said, I think it would be better for devs to start on the PS3 side, but they won't want to because its easier to put out -- or have the ability to put out -- a PC version whenever they want if their lead programmers have the most experience on the 360 (since it uses DX like PCs do).

What I would really want to see is have the devs not have a lead platform. I've only heard of a couple games doing this (can't remember their names now I think it was an Ubi game tho), but those ended up pretty good.

Each console has its own inherent benefits and I wouldn't say that one has an advantage over another based on games made so far. I just want to see the best games possible come out.

IIRC, Sony said that games like resistance were just the start of what could be done with graphics, but so far I haven't seen any _huge_ leaps in that department. You know, aside from R2 stills, and even those aren't that big.

0 up, 0 down

Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Monday, November 03, 2008 @ 1:20:51 PM

"IIRC, Sony said that games like resistance were just the start of what could be done with graphics, but so far I haven't seen any _huge_ leaps in that department. You know, aside from R2 stills, and even those aren't that big."

It has only been 2 years. They said the same thing about the PS2, and it took quite a while. But in the end, games like God of War and Final Fantasy XII made launch titles (Smugglers Run, Summoner, Fantavision, etc.) look as if they were on a whole other console. And IMO, Uncharted and MGS4 have already easily outstripped PS3 launch titles.

0 up, 0 down

crapreviews
Monday, November 03, 2008 @ 3:34:19 PM

hey ben, i think i was like one of the few ppl that actually enjoyed Summoner.

0 up, 0 down

Joe_III
Monday, November 03, 2008 @ 4:37:09 PM

I dunno Sony can afford to wait that long before the great graphics come out this time around though. Consumers and publishers are expecting developers to have smaller and smaller dev cycles to minimize cost and maximize profit. A few publishers still do it right (Sony & MS since they can afford to wait, Ubisoft for another), but you see broken games come out all the time on their original schedule because they couldn't afford to hold it in (like Kane and Lynch). They needed the sales to afford to patch it.

The other part to that is with all the hardware changes in the PS2, there's intraconsole compatability problems. Not all PS2's can play all PS2 games -- something that's being hinted at about the DS and the DSi btw. If Sony plans to do something like that again, go ahead, but don't expect me to keep up unless the games are worth it. I already worry about my 60g dying and having to pick up a non BC console.

0 up, 0 down

HANZ64
Monday, November 03, 2008 @ 1:45:20 PM
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I'm not an expert at all this technical jargon, but why would Sony make something that has a lot of power that can't be used by the developers because of it's ram issues...

That wouldn't make any sense... There has to be a way around it... right?

1 up, 0 down

Fabi
Monday, November 03, 2008 @ 1:49:47 PM
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I don't think were going to see the PS3's graphics surpass the 360 by much in this generation.

Like I said in another port, a few reviews for Gears already claim the graphics to be the best in any game of this generation.

The only exception in the future might be Killzone 2. But look how long it's taken for that game to come out.

We haven't seen a bunch of games that are in development for the PS3, but I doubt if any of them are better looking than Killzone or Gears 2.

Even R2 doesn't look as good as Gears 2. It's very inconsistent graphically.

0 up, 0 down

Advent Child
Monday, November 03, 2008 @ 3:17:25 PM

See I would disagree, I think R2 has the better graphics. I, however, have not actually been able to play Gears 2 yet.

0 up, 1 down

Fabi
Monday, November 03, 2008 @ 1:50:28 PM
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@jut - Welcome to the site (the posting part of it at least) Hope you post more often.

0 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Monday, November 03, 2008 @ 2:09:16 PM
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I hope PS3 does become the lead console for more games, I'm not so vindictive that I want 360 owners to suffer from bad ports, but I do think with PS3 as the lead then the game just has a better chance at awesomeness. These 3rd party guys should know by now they don't have to go it alone, Sony seems willing to step in and teach them about the architecture issues and that is reassuring.

1 up, 0 down

NuCl3aR32
Monday, November 03, 2008 @ 2:29:04 PM
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PS3 should of had at LEAST a gig a ram. If I had a time machine I would go back in time and tell Ken KutaragI "MORE RAM!!"

1 up, 0 down

jerocarson
Monday, November 03, 2008 @ 2:45:19 PM
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one good news i heard since the past 72hrs

0 up, 0 down

shaydey77
Monday, November 03, 2008 @ 3:24:24 PM
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Im sick of all this graphical crap. Sure stuff looks nicer but id rather gameplay any day to graphics. I remember the days playing Sonic The Hedgehog. Not graphical fantastic but stil to this day THE best game ive ever played. Devs seem to be focusing too much on graphics nowadays imo.

0 up, 1 down

Joe_III
Monday, November 03, 2008 @ 4:27:41 PM

QFMFT. Nethack had awesome gameplay, and it had ASCII graphics.

0 up, 0 down

aaronisbla
Monday, November 03, 2008 @ 7:29:22 PM

im about fed up with the graphical talk myself

0 up, 0 down

LightShow
Monday, November 03, 2008 @ 9:28:44 PM

graphics dont make a game, true.

But, again, there's just something about (If you have the tv to handle it) getting up super close to the screen, and realizing that (referring to Wipeout HD) the brushed steel or the track has little pits and scratches, that the paint is worn off in places, that everything is just so GORGEOUS

its an experience I wouldn't trade for anything. A game needs gameplay to be good; if the actual game sucks, its not worth buying, but seeing the game presented to you in a fashion that just makes you sit back and say "whoa" when you first fire it up? I feel like I've gotten a full $60 out of the game if I get that feeling.

0 up, 0 down

Wage SLAVES
Monday, November 03, 2008 @ 4:25:14 PM
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Oo man its times like these that I dream of a hybrid (PS360) console. Even then I think the Ps3 would be the main contributer of technology.

1 up, 0 down

Jordahn
Monday, November 03, 2008 @ 4:28:45 PM
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I think developing for the PS3 first will benefit everyone, but for whatever reason, I just don't see 3rd party developers taking that step. It's just a gut feeling, but I just don't see them making a lot of announcements soon to verify this. I know it has happened in the past, but just looking at human behavior, habits (developing for the 360 first) are hard to change. I hope I'm wrong.

1 up, 0 down

MetalHead09
Monday, November 03, 2008 @ 5:05:34 PM

yea ill bet your wrong cause eventually it will be harder to do what they want to do on the 360 so they will go to the ps3, make what they want and then figure out how to do it on the 360. i have really no idea about how the industry works and stuff but what i just said makes some kinda sense to me anyway lol. anyone else?

0 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Monday, November 03, 2008 @ 5:28:38 PM
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Maybe Final Fantasy XIII will be the deciding factor on whether or not we will see this as a trend.

0 up, 0 down

Zeppo
Monday, November 03, 2008 @ 5:57:29 PM
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As far as pure graphics and resolution go, it would be nice to see my 1080 system playing more 1080 games on my 1080 tv. But in reality, I would trade resolution for quality voice acting and storyline any day.

0 up, 1 down

AceTatsujin
Monday, November 03, 2008 @ 6:03:15 PM
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Lets cut the crap and go to Heavy Rain and Killzone 2 and FF XIII (PS3 version, 360 version will NOT be showing till after the PS3 version been done and burnt on the blu-ray). From graphical terms, those games are freaking amazing. Yes, and MGS IV to add for the hell of it. If you have NOT played MGS IV then don't respond without experiencing the game in your hands on the PS3.

Are those graphics NOT enough to surpass the 360's graphics? ..... And I hear God of War III's gameplay is going to look like the trailer. I mean, if they do that then your lips will be sealed for good. IMO, Heavy Rain takes the major win for now with the realistic graphics like no other game out there on the PS3 and the 360.

Edit -- Forgot one more game. White Knight Chronicles runs on 1080p NATIVE RESOLUTION, and if I'm correct it is in full CG real-time graphics and cut scenes.

Last edited by AceTatsujin on 11/3/2008 6:07:38 PM

2 up, 0 down

aaronisbla
Monday, November 03, 2008 @ 7:31:12 PM

Dude, take this flame resistant shield, someone might turn their flame throwers on.

Gears 2 does look really nice to be honest

0 up, 0 down

LightShow
Monday, November 03, 2008 @ 8:26:52 PM
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I've always wondered why they didn't do this. I always figured M$ MIGHT be putting cash into this situation, but again thats just me. I'd love to see high quality multi games come out for the ps3.

whats the point of all that power of its only Sony devs who ever use it all?

1 up, 1 down

Joe_III
Tuesday, November 04, 2008 @ 1:19:32 AM

yes, microsoft has so much money it puts it in garbage bags and gives it to everyone so they can slight sony in the least.

People tend to forget the small stuff. Microsoft requires each game to be 1080p, Sony doesn't.
Microsoft spent 5 years building up XLA, Sony just put PSN together.
Microsoft consoles were around for devs to use at least a year before Sony's were.

Of course 3rd party devs should use PS3 consoles if they want to put the best game out possible. But if they do that then they have to spend a lot of time and effort trying to figure out what to cut/dumb down, then create the dumbed down stuff, then test it to see if it hurts the game too much.

That's way too much trouble compared to making the game as good as they want to, then simply porting it over, making fewer tweaks.

If Sony wants more games, it has to incentivize the devs to make more games for them. But Sony's game div is still taking losses right now (last i checked), while M$'s has been in the black for what? 3 months now?

Sony's starting to look like it might start making headway in 09, but it really needs to pick up the pace if it wants to get the 3rd party help it needs.

0 up, 2 down

BigBoss4ever
Monday, November 03, 2008 @ 10:05:07 PM
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Two hands up, pls my two feet as well, lol. Agree

Last edited by BigBoss4ever on 11/3/2008 10:05:23 PM

1 up, 0 down

Scarecrow
Monday, November 03, 2008 @ 10:45:25 PM
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*cough* Capcom take a note *cough*

1 up, 1 down

Advent Child
Monday, November 03, 2008 @ 11:09:42 PM
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I think developers would rather have equal titles on both platforms even if they have to dumb one down. Making an inferior version makes people feel alienated of just plain pissed off. Making your customers pissed off isn't good for business. They would rather make a little bit dumber game than alienate their customers.

0 up, 2 down

NuCl3aR32
Tuesday, November 04, 2008 @ 12:21:35 AM
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2 years after and we PS3 owners are still being fed this, "PS3 will have better graphics! It will!!" I'm personally begining to get tired of it. Go Sony.....

2 up, 0 down

Deleted User
Tuesday, November 04, 2008 @ 1:24:57 AM
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Hah,i'm just tired of listening those shits.Guys look @ da ps3 specs. it's cell cpu is outstanding,but @ da end of da day,gfx chip is what it matters most.PS3's 7800gtx class[128bit bus] chip isn't dat kind of powerful enough n probably @ end of 2012 we'll see gfx like crysis atmost,dat's it.So don't expect dat much guys.

1 up, 0 down

Aftab
Tuesday, November 04, 2008 @ 2:55:36 PM

I beg to differ. @ da end of da day, the developers are what matters, not so much the other things. Case in point: I'm sure there are ps3 and 360 games with enough production values, for example, to make a pc-gamer jealous at times.... Though the pc leads the market in terms of technology, it are the video gamer developers that capitalize off of and push that same technology to the max, even if it is a half a generation later.

Last edited by Aftab on 11/4/2008 2:59:05 PM

0 up, 1 down

tizzle
Tuesday, November 04, 2008 @ 9:46:40 PM
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i think that they just need to put it all in 1080i for all my games im not gonna lie some 720p games like cod4 are good but imagine them in 1080i and i also think that ps3 should be the leading console by game makers just because if u start at the ps3 with blu-ray then all they have to do is take out what cant fit on dvd disk instead of just leaving the game sucky like madden 07 when xbox had 60resolutions or w/e and we only had 30

0 up, 1 down

Joe_III
Tuesday, November 04, 2008 @ 9:56:10 PM

umm...720p is better than 1080i

1 up, 0 down

Dante399
Thursday, November 06, 2008 @ 12:58:32 PM
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I really admire Sony's powerful console, the PS3. And I really hate those cheap ports that made my favorite games not that special anymore. Third-party developers should start making quality games and stop cheap multiplatform games that affected their reputation very badly.
Variety is beautiful. Each console has to have its own games. That was what we were used to, and that worked very well for everybody.

Making a game multiplatform is killing its value and specialty.

2 up, 0 down

monkeypunch2
Thursday, November 06, 2008 @ 2:22:40 PM
Reply

Like Jut, this is my first time posting although I have been a long time reader. I agree, this is a great site guys. Love the reviews! :)

@Dante - I like that. I would rather have a great game on one system (and have to get that system) than get a scaled down game. I haven't kept up with the latest gen systems but how many cheap ports have their been between the 360 and PS3? I mean since both are powerful machines can you see the difference anymore?

I remember seeing a developer from microsoft evangelizing about using one development library across platform. I think it was XNA or DirectX or OpenGL that can be used cross platform. As a developer that would be fantastic to only have to write the game once and have it scaled and compiled to different platforms. That was about 3 or 4 years ago. I don't know what happened but I think it is a good idea. If they can make it optimized for each system and make the framework open source it would be even better.

2 up, 0 down

PaiNT_kinG
Friday, November 07, 2008 @ 1:35:30 AM
Reply

is this the day that justice gonna prevail for ps3,its obviously the more superior system both graphically and reliability?

0 up, 0 down

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