Sony introduces a new PS3 dev kit for bargain shoppin' developers
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted March 24th 2009 2:02PM
posted March 24th 2009 2:02PM
While we're still waiting for our PS3 price drop, Sony has announced the release of a newer, cut-rate PlayStation dev kit. While the current Reference Tool is priced at a mere $10,250 and has all the personality of a Betamax VCR, this new guy is going for a jaw-droppin' $2,000 and shares the PS3 form factor -- not that you're buying these things for aesthetic purposes, but it's true! The company promises "enhanced technical support for developers, an optimized PS3 compiler (SNC PPU) to improve efficiency, and better documentation for PhyreEngine." Looks like Sony's hoping sales will benefit from the "flood" of new releases this move is sure to instigate. Unless, of course, this was one of the demands of the Sony France hostage debacle. Libération de la PlayStation!
Oh noes! Does this mean we should be expecting a lot more shovelware? I liked the expensive dev kit because it helped keep a lot of garbage off the console. I feel this is premature; that the developers who have had their hands on the kit still haven't fully explored all of its potential.
I'm scared.
int main()
{
If (Large budget != good game) post(comment);
Return 0;
}
So, are you scared you're going to be required to buy crappy games?
In function ‘int main()’:
error: ‘Large’ was not declared in this scope
error: ‘If’ was not declared in this scope
error: expected `;' before ‘post’
error: ‘Return’ was not declared in this scope
error: expected `;' before numeric constant
Fail
#include
Hey, stop engulfing my greater-than/less-than symbols, website.
Hmph! See if I ever use Engadget's comment forum as my choice of IDE again.
@karlw
"error: expected `;' before ‘post’
error: expected `;' before numeric constant"
what language do YOU right in?! the others might be legit. if you have no sense of humor, that is.
Try learning to code as well.
- Fix your cases. 'If' will be regarded as a variable, 'if' is the conditional statement you're after
- Spaces are invalid characters inside variable names
- An include isn't going to help you - these are all part of the standard C library. It's your syntax that's wrong.
Karl... I hate to break (ha ha) it to you, but... I wasn't actually writing a serious program.
Just so you know. I mean, I appreciate your input and all. I'm sure your debugging efforts will prove invaluable for future comments.
Hmm, I think I'll stick to GCC instead of KarlW compiler...GCC seems a lot friendlier :)
You pick on somebody by responding to their claims with sarcasm, and somebody picks on you.
Besides, code usually isn't the best way to communicate. That's why we invented prose. Using code is just obnoxious.
@KarlW
What language to YOU left...shit I mean righ....I mean write in?
Lighten up, Karl, it was supposed to be a joke. Nobody picked on anybody. I was pointing out that having a big budget does not mean you make good games. I'll freely admit I selected a somewhat smart-arse way of saying it. The internet does that to a person sometimes. I'll pledge to type less smart-arse comments, if you pledge to not be a quite so highly strung grammar++ nazi.
If Angel read my comment in a way that was interpreted as being picked upon, I apologize.
lol karl, why are you such a douche?
Note to self: The debug comments at compile-time on the engadget compiler are pretty harsh, and biting. Thank goodness nobody segfaulted. Jesus.
does this mean the originals had gimped compilers, or did they just write a better one in the meantime? either way, it seems the old ones should be getting the same stuff now.
Dev do not want cheaper kits they want cheaper consoles. That way more people will actually buy their games. Try again sony.
Sony should at least have made it a different color. Otherwise, how can you demonstrate that you're a hip, cool developer (and not just a lame gamer) if your PS3 looks just like everyone else's?
That's just a stock PS3 photo. it'll probably say somewhere
Hmm hopefully Dev can make PS3 play burn game ;p
Dev no make Ps3 play burn game.
Dev hungry.
Most developers that are gonna make good games already have their dev kits.
Well price is not the issue, but if the compile and documentation help dev make using the console's hardware easier, good for PS3. If the devs can shave time off development because the tools are better and easier to use, then more games will be created for PS3. Thus lower the cost of the games themselves. This may not make the console cheaper, but it might make the games cheaper.
nice call,
this is excellent news,
everything i heard it wasn't the price of the dev kits, but rather the "impossible" to work with kit....
better documentation = better use of the features of the system = better looking games
look at the PS2, its not that technology got better, newer ps2 games looked better then most of the older ones...it was the same platform, just a better use of the systems capabilities.
Now the only downside is that most of the Ps3 games have been good because of the cost of the Dev kits...not that 10,000 bucks is that much when you think about the size of most major game companies...but this should open up for some more PSN games.
Price can be a significant issue. Now developers can get five dev stations for less than the price of what the old one cost. And in general five programmers can go a lot further in a shorter amount of time than one. Well, unless they're idiots.
DEVELOPERS, DEVELOPERS, DEVELOPERS?
I can imagine the developer testimonies now...
"We were afraid to head balls first into PS3 development, as it would represent a multi-million dollar commitment for our team. But when they dev-kit price dropped, we just had to get in. Sure, we didn't have the money for the real expenses, but Frank sold his grandmother's house to offset the cost-- and gosh, you know what, she just haves a hoot living in that garage now!"
I think it's a good move for Sony, finally. It gives smaller developers or upstarts who might not have a bunch of cash to throw around just yet a chance to start on the PS3. It's still a ways to go, though, considering that you can code for the Xbox 360 with XNA if you have a 360, Xbox Live, and a computer, for about $100.
They should've at least changed the name on the front to DevelopmentStation 3
Who says they didn't? The picture is stock (60GB judging by the trim). All the article says is has the same form factor (i.e. shape) so it may be a different colour (for example the PS1 dev kit was the same shape as the PS1, but was blue), have different writing on it (probably Playsation3 Development Kit if it does, although DevelopmentStation 3 does have more of a ring to it :P) or have some other aesthetic difference.
'Devstation 3'
I like! :-)
Sony, Sony, Sony...
The price of a devkit has been reduced, but that doesn't mean you can just order one and start coding.. you will need to be a licensed developer, and that license I recon isn't cheap...
The license is free. The development kits are not. Part of getting the license of course is being able to establish your company as a legitimate business.
This is a very smart move by Sony. The difficulty in developing for it has been one of the significant hurdles for games developers. A large number of developers are doing their core development on the 360 (because its SDK is easy and allows for concurrent development for PC and 360) and then doing a port to PS3, which really doesn't take advantage of its hardware.
I can't reveal who, but several significant game studios have prototyped major launches on the 360 as a proof-of-concept, with intent of releasing the title on PS3 only, or PS3+360, and ended up releasing as 360-only titles. It really is all about "developers, developers, developers, developers".
360 rocks
why man must join tribe? why man just not open to all? why man still act like caveman?
again i stand by the whole
"nothing like severe financial hemorrhaging to make a company stop and look at the market around them"
Gizmodo has the 360 one on their webpage, it's bluish and has a 1GB RAM instead of the stock 512.