Problem with PS3 programming

[Brru]

Ive been hearing a lot about games pulling out of the PS3 console because they are hard to program for. Anyone have any idea what that means. Hard to program for can be a variety of issues, but why is the PS3 any different?

[riderV3]

No idea what's going on but why I'm not surprised...:rolleyes:

[Vince-Vell]

This is nothing new, more or less happened at launch of PS3. They came up with a new tech/program for PS3 and to convert games from each console, PS3 requires a butt load more work. I am sure doing some google searches you will find the many articles about it.

more or less this is why PS3 doesnt have any good selection of games and why i wont buy one for a loooooong time.

[Kujo]

one of the main reasons its so hard to program for is because the PS3 doesn't use any of the standard tools used for developing games and the highly parallel CPU architecture. It makes coding for the PS3 much more complicated to be able to utalise the PS3's power.

Xbox is much easier because it uses an Intel processor and windows based tools like Direct-X 10 which most developers have a good knowledge of.

Also, porting games between the PS3 and 360 is difficult because, as said above, xbox uses direct x and intel chips, where PS3 uses open GL and CELL chips. So you have to re-write large sections of code which rely on either of these graphics engines.

hope that answers your question without talking gibberish :)

[noseeb13]

one of the main reasons its so hard to program for is because the PS3 doesn't use any of the standard tools used for developing games and the highly parallel CPU architecture. It makes coding for the PS3 much more complicated to be able to utalise the PS3's power.

Xbox is much easier because it uses an Intel processor and windows based tools like Direct-X 10 which most developers have a good knowledge of.

Also, porting games between the PS3 and 360 is difficult because, as said above, xbox uses direct x and intel chips, where PS3 uses open GL and CELL chips. So you have to re-write large sections of code which rely on either of these graphics engines.

hope that answers your question without talking gibberish :)

Well put.
The other next gen console use development tools that were built around the same tools that were used for the last gen. So if programmers know how to use Xbox and GameCube tools the tools for the 360 and Wii are very similar. The PS3 tools is totally different from the PS2 tool so everyone that programs for the PS3 has to learn how to use a brand new tool.

[Kujo]

Exactly - plus, anyone who can write a PC game can write for the 360 as it uses PC achitecture.

Its like learning a new language every time Sony release a new console... its always been the case with PSX and PS2. All very un-developer-friendly consoles.

I'm not sure about the wii and gamecube as i've never tried developing anything for it... so i don't know what tools (dx10 or otherwise) it uses. I imagine writing code for the wii-mote might take a bit of learning

[ComputerFly]

Actually, all 3 machines, the 360, PS3 and the Wii all use a derivation of IBM's power processor. 360 doesn't use an intel chip.

[cma3]

Actually, all 3 machines, the 360, PS3 and the Wii all use a derivation of IBM's power processor. 360 doesn't use an intel chip.

this is true.

a very, very, very basic breakdown of the cpus are as follows:

the wii = 1 core
the 360 = 3 cores
the ps3 = 9 cores (2 on reserve)

all = different variations of the powerpc microprocessor.

[noseeb13]

Exactly - plus, anyone who can write a PC game can write for the 360 as it uses PC achitecture.

Its like learning a new language every time Sony release a new console... its always been the case with PSX and PS2. All very un-developer-friendly consoles.

I'm not sure about the wii and gamecube as i've never tried developing anything for it... so i don't know what tools (dx10 or otherwise) it uses. I imagine writing code for the wii-mote might take a bit of learning

The dev station for the wii was a modified game cube, so programming the games is exactly the same, but there are different "markers" for the wiimote, which I understand is rather intuitive to program for.

[Kujo]

Actually, all 3 machines, the 360, PS3 and the Wii all use a derivation of IBM's power processor. 360 doesn't use an intel chip.

Apologies - this is true. But its still true that becauase of the complexity of the Cell chip, its MUCH harder to utilise its power becuase of the parallel architecture. It quite hard (at the moment) to really know where power can be used - I beleive with the PS1 and 2 the guys over at polydigital who wrote GT had a tool that showed then were power was available, which is why they were always able to push the console that extra bit further - hopefully they can do the same for the PS3 (and looking at some of the vids for GT5 - looks like they have!)

The dev station for the wii was a modified game cube, so programming the games is exactly the same, but there are different "markers" for the wiimote, which I understand is rather intuitive to program for.

Cool, i never new that - i'm not much into doing stuff for Nintendo. I've just had a bit of a dabble with 360 because i already have a knowledge of dx.