PS3 launch titles
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Sony slow on delivering dev-kits to some, not all
From a news article released at Bloomberg.com the PS3 is being met with conflicting views in the eyes of developers yet again. Last time, the issue was about game pricing and this time it's about the PS3 itself. Basically, all the developers are agreeing that the launch titles for the PS3 will NOT be using the full power of Sony's new machine because Sony hasn't given them all the detailed technical aspects of it. Robert Kotick (pictured right), CEO of Activision, said that the first batch of titles to be released "won't use more than 20 percent of the Cell chip's capabilities." If that's true and people are saying these first games look just as good as the 360, multiply that times five. That should make a gap.Not every developer is making such statements of veiled compliments, however. Many smaller developers haven't received a dev-kit at all and the larger ones who have gotten one often complain about limited design details and specs for the system. They say it's too much of a risk to make a game for a system that all the details aren't available for.Both Activision and Electronic Arts (huge American-based developers) have sided against the companies complaining. They say while they don't have the final version of the PS3, they "know what the processor's capacity is" and that overall they are "happy with the development kits." Kotick even said that the PS3 was "the most sophisticated piece of consumer hardware ever."Launch titles only using 20% of the PS3's ability? The two largest US-based developers backing Sony, at least, their dev-kits? Sounds pretty good for the future, if slightly cloudy in November.
Japanese mag surveys development community on PS3
In the latest issue of the Japanese magazine Ge-Maga, which is also the longest running magazine in Japan, an anonymous survey was held regarding developers takes on Sony's slammin' console. Since most of us can't read kanji very well, IGN did the honors of translating the stats and they are summarized below: Price: 90.29% -- think it's too pricey 9.71% -- think it's juuuuuuust right Two Hardware Models Approach: 56.31% disagree with it 39.32% agree with it 4.37% have no opinion Launch Titles? 55.82% don't think they'll help sell PS3 39.32% say they're fine and dandy like sour candy 4.86% are unsure how the launch titles will help E3 Impressions? 48.54% unchanged 32.52% are less confident 3.39% felt relieved 15.55% have no impression to give Sales Goal of 6M units by March '07? 62.13% say no way 35.43% say yes way 2.44% say maybe This may seem dismal news to the PS3 fan, but remember -- there's still the Tokyo Game Show in September. Hopefully PS3 can pull out a few surprises like Devil May Cry 4 or Resident Evil 5. Those would help on its launch, but in Japan at least, Sony's main competition will be the Wii.
