DavidKarraker
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Dave Karraker would not take a Ferrari to Home Depot
Analogy alert! Dave Karraker recently slapped a new post on the official PlayStation blog regarding developers' complaints that the PS3 is hard to develop for. His stance on the issue is thus: "Since PS3's Cell processor allows MORE features -- better physics, more complex graphical processing, lighting or sound, etc. -- there is inevitably going to be more cost in supporting those extra features. It's not that PS3 is harder to write for, it's just that you can do more with it." You know what? That sounds like a valid claim. We're seeing some very amazing things come out of the PS3 as of late.Going further down the post, Karraker talks more about the SPU's in the PS3's Cell. These are generally considered the most challenging point in a developer's learning curve and Karraker responds by giving us some Confucius-laden wisdom: "SPUs are not 'normal' processors like the PPU. There is a trade-off between performance and versatility. A Ferrari is not the best car for a visit to Home Depot." We know we'd never roll into Home Depot with our Ferrari. You can't fit anything in those cars! But what does Karraker mean? Is the SPU worthless for ports, at least making them far more difficult to program, or games that take place in big, empty warehouse stores? No matter the case, we're glad Sony's got a blog to support their baby. We know we've needed the reinforcements.[via Gamasutra]
Firmware updates, backwards compatibility, 20GB models, oh my!
David Karraker spoke with Joystiq recently about all those things listed up there in the subject line. We're going to summarize, since that's what we do best. Maybe not best, but we do excel at it among other things. Karraker responds to allegations that Sony is trying to remove the 20GB model PS3: "The 20GB model of PS3 is available in North America, along with the 60GB model. While we make it available to retailers, they are the ones who ultimately place the order for what they want to sell, based on consumer demand. Overwhelmingly, retailers have been requesting the 60GB model, the mix has been about 80 percent 60GB, 20 percent 20GB retailer orders. So, the reason you might not be seeing the 20 GB is simply that retailers have been ordering more of the 60 GB unit." So... blame retailers, not Sony? Hmm. Backwards compatibility issues... especially regarding software emulation. Without a firmware update, that's not going to be possible, comprende? Karraker says a compatibility list will be released March 23rd, along with the big firmware update we've all been waiting for. So if you've read any articles saying how awful the backwards compatibility is -- it's because you need the damn update first, so relax. It's coming. According to David Karraker. There you have it. If anyone's been wondering where in the heck that rumored March 8th update went, it's going to appear on March 23rd. We'd love to hear how the compatibility works on your PS2 games, European readers, once that update is released![via Joystiq]
PS3 launch jumpstarts PSP sales in North America
It looks like Sony's newest Playstation family member, the PS3, has come to the aide of its siblings, the PSP and PS2. Sony has announced the PSP's sales jumped by almost 30 percent in North America last week, during the PS3's launch.David Karraker, SCEA communications director, said the PS3 hype created "a halo effect on other Playstation products."I've said before this holiday season is going to be huge for the PSP's future success. If Sony can keep bringing great franchises to the PSP, get the PS1 emulator mess fixed and launch the GPS and camera peripherals soon, I think they will put themselves in a good spot for the coming year. [Via DCEmu]
