GDC09: SCE offering cheaper tools to PS3 devs, PhyreEngine 2.40 announced
Sony Computer Entertainment is enhancing its support to PS3 developers by offering price incentives on its development hardware. The new Reference Tool PS3 models, which were introduced this month, are being sold at discounted rates. The DECR-1400A for North American and European/PAL regions is going for $2,000/€1,700 respectively, while the DECR-1400J in Japan is priced at ¥200,000. Of course, all this is only available to registered developers, much like the free PhysX SDK that was announced a few days back.
In addition to cheaper tools, Sony is also announcing a new version of its PhyreEngine -- an upgrade to 2.40. The graphics engine is getting a new "foliage rendering" system which gives more realistic rendering of trees and plants in games. PhyreEngine has been around since early 2008 and has been implemented in games such as Flower and Savage Moon. It will also be used in future titles Under Siege, Mars, and in these newly discovered games: Brooklyn Stories (working title), VectorCell's The 7th Seal (working title) and Ivent Games' third-person action game Strength of the Sword.
