Has Sony really bucked the trend and made its most developer-friendly console yet?
When Sony unveiled its PlayStation 4 at a high-profile event in New York last month, one message was clear.
The machine, insisted several Sony execs, is a platform designed first and foremost for developers, and created with input from the development community, with an SCE team working for five years with studios globally to craft a system architecture that satisfies the demands of games makers everywhere.
The PlayStation 3, and other Sony gaming formats before it, was infamously difficult to develop for, and notoriously unwelcoming to many studios, meaning getting the PlayStation 4 right is key to Sony in its fight to win the next console race.
"We wanted to hear from developers,” insisted Mark Cerny, speaking on stage at the PlayStation 4 launch event.
“We spoke to dozens of the best teams in the world. We wanted to know what was important to them. We wanted to make them happy, because if they were happy, we knew we could unleash the creativity and innovation that would result in a true next generation experience. Our goal is to create an architecture that will facilitate the expression of their ideas."
And, Cerny insisted, the PlayStation 4 would not take its current form without games developers’ involvement.
"Their comments were invaluable in crafting the system specs,” he said.
“We were able to create, in PlayStation 4, a platform by game creators, for game creators. It is a powerful and accessible system, and it has a deep feature set to support the ongoing development and evolution of gaming itself. The architecture we chose is like a PC in many ways, but supercharged to bring out its full potential as a gaming platform.”
But do his comments hold water, and how does the global games development community feel about the PlayStation 4, its specifications, and the opportunity it offers developers?
And, most importantly, will it get right what the PlayStation 3 got wrong?
Certainly, there are many developers that seem convinced by Sony’s new offering, with studios like Climax being quick to praise the PS4’s advantages over the PS3.
“In terms of the ease of PS4 development, it's much easier to develop for,” offered Simon Gardner, CEO at confirmed PS4 developer Climax, speaking to Develop.
“The tool chain is an advancement over the PS3 and everything about it is slicker, simpler and much more developer-friendly. We were very pleased with the 8GB of memory, and the compute shader system is very powerful.”
And Gardner is not alone, with others queuing up to praise the PS4.
"We're most impressed by Sony's change of attitude toward their platforms,” stated James Marsden, MD of Velocity developer FuturLab.
“PS3 launched with Sony's first-party publishing having a strong preference toward triple-A showcases, and a pretty blunt disregard for anything less than that, including 2D games, whereas now they're much more supportive of good ideas and fun, well-designed games, regardless of production value.”
And over in the world of triple-A games, Ubisoft were predictably optimistic, standing as they do as a registered PS4 developer. But like Marsden and Gardner, Yves Guillemot, co-founder and CEO of Watch Dogs developer Ubisoft, did recognise failings with the current generation.
In particular, he alluded to the PlayStation 3’s infamously troublesome developer accessibility.
"PS4 is a great machine; we'll be able to make things look fantastic," Guillemot told Develop.
"Because the teams are working hard on their projects, I think we will see good things from the start. Sure, in two years engineers will figure out how to do a lot more. But these machines are easier to build on than before, so we should be able to reach their potential quicker."
Guillemot later added that he believes PS4 will enable more creative games design.
"They have so many features that they can play with,” he said. “It's easier to be a creative person with new consoles, because after four years of people using all the capacity, it's harder to be innovative. With PS4, we will see new ideas and new ways to approach gamers. And that will excite consumers and excite creators."
Others chose to deliver a more mixed opinion of the PlayStation 4, including Daniel Kaplan, business developer at Minecraft creator Mojang Specifications.
"I really didn't have a clue on what to expect other than more of the same, but a fine tuned experience," Kaplan told Develop, before reiterating the sentiment that the PS4 corrects several of the current generation’s failings.
"Sony has fixed the issues with waiting time which in my opinion is quite a disaster on consoles today; waiting on updates, having to update before starting a game, being unable to download at the same time you are playing, etcetera.”
Kaplan also chose to criticise the DualShock 4 as being crowded in terms of inputs and lacking in elegance, but still had much good to say about the PS4.
“I’m really looking forward to the recording features,” he said, referring to the console’s focus on social elements and sharing of gameplay experiences.
“Video recording is something that has been huge for Minecraft on YouTube, and I hope that it will be a great success for other developers too. I’m still uncertain about the cloud gaming features, but if they can pull it off it will be great."
Long-standing UK outfit Blitz Games Studios, itself a confirmed PS4 developer and middleware provider, clearly feels utterly optimistic about the PS4, mirroring the perspective of numerous games companies Develop spoke with.
"Sony's PS4 platform, and their continued commitment to supporting developers and fostering innovation, means that the space of possibility for new game experiences isn't just mere conjecture,” insisted Blitz studio design director John Nash, speaking with Develop.
“For us the real excitement will begin when the second, third and fourth wave of titles hit, hopefully taking full advantage of the unique features of the Sony PS4.”
Other middleware providers working to support the new Sony console shared Blitz’s enthusiasm with tools giant Havok giving a passing nod to the current generation’s demands on developers.
In the last few weeks a raft of third-parties, including SpeedTree and NaturalMotion, have announced availability of their tools for PS4.
“It’s a great honour to be in on the ground floor of a powerful new platform like PlayStation 4,” Havok MD David Coghlan told Develop.
"Expanding our tools and middleware to support the new system will mean developers can focus less on reinventing the wheel and more on crafting truly amazing next-gen gaming experiences with ambitious new ideas and captivating new worlds to explore.”
And if the era of ‘reinventing the wheel is over,’ then engine providers like Epic, which supports indies and triple-A outfits alike with it’s various offerings, should see the full breadth of its industry customers able to realistically consider making games for the PS4.
“We are thrilled to build onto our long-established success with PlayStation,” said Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, in a press statement. “Unreal Engine 4 is expertly designed for the next generation of games development and the outstanding power of PlayStation 4. The demonstration offers a preview of what developers can accomplish using our tools to create games for PlayStation 4.”
If nothing else, Sony appears to have by and large convinced the games development community, with many already boasting experience with the PS4 reporting a positive experience, unlike that seen with the PS3. The platform holder must now deliver on its promise, and questions remain about accessibility for indies, but, all in all, it seems developers are eager and optimistic.
To the dismay of some consumers, Sony did decline to show the form factor of the PS4 – presumably with a view to release more information at a later point – and the exact release date and retail price currently remain a mystery. All that is known is that the machine will be available to the public in ‘at least’ one territory by Christmas this year.
Late in February, having previously named 53 European studios as confirmed PS4 developers, Sony has now revised the list to 30 companies. Studios no longer named include Mojang and Angry Birds’ outfit Rovio.
There were additions though, including Hitman’s IO Interactive, DmC studio Ninja Theory, DayZ developer Bohemia, 2K Games, Sumo Digital and Witcher 3 creators CD Projekt. No changes were made to the lists of US or Japanese developers.
Regardless, optimism abounds, summed up neatly by Caspar Field, co-founder and CEO of indie Wish Studios.
“PS4 was intelligently pitched as developer-friendly, internet-friendly, powerful, social, and accessible – all of those were the right buttons to press,” he told Develop.
“It was smart to save the case design and price for later in the year; it's the services, positioning and controller that matter most. Sony has played its cards smartly.”
At the New York unveiling, Sony executives repeatedly said the new device and its online functions are designed for indies, too.
SCE SVP of Worldwide Studios Michael Denny in particular used some of his on stage time at the event to promise support for small teams.
But each reference to independents was fleeting, and as such questions remain from teams without the capacity for triple-A production.
How high will the dev costs be for PS4? How will the marketplace and the submission process function? Develop spoke to Denny in person, pressing him on the indie issue.
“At PlayStation we want the broadest content we can possibly have, so, of course, we want the best big triple-A games, and the biggest genres out there. But we also want other content as well,” said Denny. “We want broader content and interesting content, and often that comes from smaller indie communities. We’ve always been open to indies.”
That should come as some encouragement for studios keen to harness the power of the PS4, many of whom have already set their hopes high, as typified by comments provided to Develop by Paul Taylor, Joint MD at studio Mode 7.
“PS4 looks like a much more practical option for indie devs than past Sony consoles,” he said. “I really appreciate what they've done in terms of its architecture. Also, there are loads of ways for players to share content, which helps out teams with smaller marketing budgets. All round, it looks like a good thing. I hope Sony will continue their proactive and supportive dealings with the indie community in the future."
Similarly, James Marsden, MD of FuturLab is optimistic about the future of indies’ relationship with PlayStation 4.
“Of course, they need their triple-A showcases, but Sony are doing a great job supporting indie developers, particularly on PS Vita,” he said. “The message that indie is important for Sony on PS4 took center stage with Jonathan Blow, so we're sold, and hope to get our hands on a PS4 development kit as soon as possible."
This feature is taken form the March 2013 issue of Develop, which is available as a digital edition or on iPad
As a dev myself, the myth that the PS3 is hard to develop for is purely that, a myth. It's considerably easier than the PS2 ever was, the toolchains are so much better.
The real problems come when porting games from other platforms. The Cell is immensely powerful, and it's a real shame that Microsoft screwed things over so badly for Sony by forcing devs to split their work with multiplatforms. Coding the bad old way is never going to advance gaming.
Take a look at the PS3 exclusives and you will see what can be done when you aren'y shackled by the bad old way. Uncharted 2/3 streaming tech, unbelievable graphics and zero level loading times. And game not getting similar features is because of Microsoft's lazy platform blunder, which really doesn't benefit gamers in the long run, but helps Microsoft out in the short term..
the PS3 being easier to develop for than the PS2 still doesn't mean that it was an easy console to develop for. Whatever Microsoft did with the Xbox360, Sony still made their decision with their arcitechture.
The simple fact is that it's a multiplatform world for Sony & Microsoft and Sony have done the right thing this time around by using standard arcitechture and continuing their improvement of their developement kits.
I look forward to a sony console for once without dreading whats going to be put in front of me.
Too many lazy developers that just want to code the conventional and inefficient way.
Coding for the cell is actually rather straightforward if that's the only system you are dealing with. It's also very easy to get fanastic performance out of it, graphically outclassing the Xbox360 by a very long margin (thanks to the double GPU - the RSX and the Cell working in tandom)
As a developer that works on both the PS3 and Xbox360, I can safely say Sony got it spot on with the PS3.
What has REALLY held games back this generation is actually the Xbox360. When creating multiplatform games, the Xbox360's storage from the PS2 era has done ALL gamers a massive disservice.
Not having standard hard-drive in all systems means we can't code games to take advantage of one, sure you can do simplistic install to HDD, but you can't really take advantage of it. The DVD drive in the Xbox360 is slow and tight on space (about 6GB once the storage sectors are taken into account), versus the 50GB available on the PS3, finally the Xbox DVD is CAV, which means alot of that 6GB DVD storage space has rubbish data transfer rates, the PS3's Blu-Ray is CLV and constant data rate across the entire disk. The PS3's data rate on Blu-Ray, which against popular myths, is actually faster than the Xbox360's DVD drive for 90% of the disk surface (in other words, Xbox has 10% of 6GB - 600MB that's faster than the PS3's Blu-Ray storage, for the other 49.4GB, the PS3's Blu-Ray storage is faster to access and faster to transfer).
So claiming Sony made mistakes in the PS3 is utter nonsense. Microsoft are the ones that made the mistakes, and the ones that have held this gaming generation back so much (take a look at the PS3 exclusives that are unchained from the Xbox's limitations, and it's VERY clear to see).
... I'm most concerned with my current investment in PS3 content, primarily the nearly 200 games on disc & downloaded from PSN. Yes, there will be Internet-based "streaming" through Gaikai, but nothing's been mentioned concerning cost or bandwidth requirements.
It won't affect me initially, since A) I plan on keeping my PS3 Slim for a while, and hope that it doesn't die like my Fat PS3, and B) I'm sitting out the initial wave of console releases during the upcoming gen for a bit so as not to get bit by something like RROD & YLOD again.
However, there are many who trade in their existing systems in order to gain the extra money necessary to buy newer consoles. Without a compatible console, reasonable pricing, and/or bandwidth, they'll lose their investment in this generation.
Thankyou!!!!! Simon X!!!
It's a shame when people come online pretending to be someone they're not, such as those here pretending to be developers (especially multi-format).
For a start Mark (and I'll give you the benefit of the doubt) you seem to be blaming MS for merely existing in the market, since ANY successful rival to the PS3 in the market would 'force' devs to split their work with multi-formats by default. Hence that's a ridiculous claim. Sony screwed themselves by the design choices made for the PS3, such as Cell, hence for the next-gen they've moved in the direction which you seem to consider lazy, which is to base the console upon optimized PC technology and unified memory, just like the 360 and original XBox.
KyleHatch's reply seems to be the only honest reply here so far, hence thanks for that.
Tony, from everything I've seen this generation, those able to get the most out of the PS3 are able to get results marginally better than the best on the 360.
SimonX, sorry but you're clearly NOT a 360 developer (if a developer at all), since a real developer on BOTH consoles would be aware of the performance differences between the 360's DVD drive and the PS3's Blu-ray drive. The 360's DVD is FASTER on average than the PS3's Blu-ray drive, the ONLY part of the disk that the Blu-ray drive is slightly faster is for the 1st 1GB on the 360 DVD, reserved for the OS. I've lost count of the number of devs over the years explicitly stating that the 360's DVD drive is faster.
And to claim the 360 held gaming back is pure nonsense, each gaming platform stands and falls by it's own pros and cons, the PS3's cons held it back, to blame another platform is either denial or fanboyism. Your comments remind me of the nonsense from PC gamers going on and on about how consoles held the PC back this gen, using EXACTLY the same kind of skewed logic as yourself. If you were really being honest, you would acknowledge that like all gaming platforms, the PS3 DID make mistakes, it most certainly wasn't 'spot on'.
For me, I'm extremely pleased that Sony have moved away from the mindset they had with the PS2 and PS3 where their design seemed more about the hardware than the developers, and so with the PS4 they have at last recognized that the hardware needs to be BOTH powerful and 'easy' to program (relatively speaking). This is one area that MS have been ahead of Sony, therefore I look forward to the announcement of the next-gen XBox, especially to see if MS maintain their focus on easy to access power and to see how it compares to the PS4 (I never go by rumours, only facts :)). We'll see.
Quote: "The PS3's data rate on Blu-Ray, which against popular myths, is actually faster than the Xbox360's DVD drive for 90% of the disk surface"
That's not correct, it's based upon false assumptions about the Xbox 360 DVD drive that I've read over the years. The assumption is that the Xbox DVD drive is a 12x drive as rated on the PC, which is always for single-layer (SL) discs, where such drives offer about 6-8x performance for dual-layer discs (DL). However, as the specs state, the Xbox DVD drive is 12x DL, where it's actually 16x SL, but since all Xbox 360 games come on DL discs, 16x is irrelevant.
Do a search for some of the Xbox 360 original DVD drives which can be purchased for replacement or for use on PC, such as those listed below, and you'll find they are all rated as 16x drives (which again is 16x SL);
Toshiba-Samsung TS-H943
Hitachi-LG GDR-3120L
Hence the Xbox DVD read transfer rate starts at about 8MB/s in the innermost track and reaches 16.6MB/s on the outermost track (an average of 12.3MB/s). The PS3 BR drive offers a constant 9MB/s throughout the disc.
Therefore the Xbox DVD offers more performance, which is confirmed by developer comments and multiplatform load time comparisons online (excluding HDD installs).
I do feel that the argument over disc space has been greatly exaggerated this gen, since for most games, the space offered by DVD has been more than sufficient, and where more space was required, multiple discs was a suitable solution, as it was in previous gens. Some individuals made a big issue over BR offering the possibility of much bigger game worlds and much longer games, but whilst talented devs have produced many superb exclusives on the PS3, some of the best this gen, I really don't see where those exclusives have offered the longest games or the biggest game worlds.
The space requirements for this coming generation will be higher of course, therefore BR capacity will be an absolute minimum, although I hope it's matched by read performance as well.
