PS3 harder to develop for? Nonsense says GRAW Team

Nexgenrulz · 08-18-2007, 09:03 PM

An interesting read nonetheless.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=27782

PlayStation 3 harder to develop for? Nonsense, says GRAW team
Matt Martin 15:27 (BST) 17/08/2007
"It's wrong to say it's harder to code on the PS3" - Le Tensorer
The team responsible for one of Ubisoft's most acclaimed videogames – Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter – has told GamesIndustry.biz that developing titles for the PlayStation 3 is no harder than working on Microsoft's Xbox 360.
Despite analyst reports and internet chatter, the BAFTA-award winning team says it's just a case of developers getting up to speed with the new hardware, as Sony's console is earlier in it's lifecycle than Microsoft's Xbox 360.
"It's wrong to say it's harder to code on the PlayStation 3, it's just something that needs to be learnt," said Yann Le Tensorer, co-founder of Ubisoft's Tiwak studio and co-creator of the Yeti engine powering GRAW and the upcoming Beowulf game.
"It's not harder to develop on the PS3 than it is on the 360, it's just a different console. Developers might says it's harder because it just takes time to understand the technology, we're still early in the lifecycle."
As more studios learn the intricacies of developing for the PS3, so the entire development community will benefit says Le Tensorer. "We need all developers to learn from the console, it was the same with the PlayStation 2. Our team are more than happy with the PlayStation 3."
Earlier this week a review in USA Today labelled Electronic Arts' PS3 version of Madden NFL 08 as "sluggish" compared to the Xbox 360 version.
And industry analyst Michael Pachter has gone on record saying that the delay of Grand Theft Auto IV from November until next year was due to Rockstar struggling to port the Xbox 360 version of the game – a problem that would be down to the developers themselves, not the hardware.
Adrian Lacey, international brand manager for Ubisoft, is confident that the success of Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter is due to forward planning on the developers part, and has meant that the sequel due on PS3 next month will match the standard set by the franchise.
"Because we built the engine for this generation of hardware we've been very well placed – Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter hit that level of quality early in the cycle when the 360 first came out because we had our engine in mind for PS3, 360 and PC from the very beginning," he commented.
As the studio continues work on the game based on upcoming movie Beowulf, due for PS3 and Xbox 360, Lacey admits there's still plenty to learn about both home consoles.
"For us it's been a learning curve and technology changes very quickly. We're learning step-by-step to use the PS3 to its fullest capacity," he said.
"If you take the PS2 for example, when God of War come out people saw it was tremendous. But it wasn't until the end of the PS2 cycle that we've seen the machine being pushed to its fullest," added Lacey.
A full interview with the Adrian Lacey and Yann Le Tensorer, where they discuss Beowulf and the challenges of working with movie studios, will be published later this month.
Related Information
Ubisoft
EIF: Ubisoft wanted to buy Gameloft [13-Aug-07]
EIF: "Our consumers are the stars," says Guillemot [13-Aug-07]
Electronic Arts increases stake in Ubisoft to 25 per cent [8-Aug-07]

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mshulman · 08-18-2007, 09:13 PM

Isn't this pretty much saying:

If you have a 10 page paper to write, it is going to be harder to write it in a foreign language, because you will need to learn that language first.

I think the big questions is which one has better tools to make this learning curve easier? Say learning French and Spanish are equivalent. If you have better tools for learning one language than the other, then wouldn't that language be easier to learn?

I'm not saying this is the case, but it would be interesting to hear comments based on the tools the developers use to program with. Which has the better tools?

Ntruder · 08-18-2007, 09:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mshulman

Isn't this pretty much saying:

If you have a 10 page paper to write, it is going to be harder to write it in a foreign language, because you will need to learn that language first.

I think the big questions is which one has better tools to make this learning curve easier? Say learning French and Spanish are equivalent. If you have better tools for learning one language than the other, then wouldn't that language be easier to learn?

I'm not saying this is the case, but it would be interesting to hear comments based on the tools the developers use to program with. Which has the better tools?

Good post. I was trying to think of how to respond to this article, and you pretty much summed it up.

IvanM · 08-18-2007, 10:55 PM

While the learning curve for the PS3 is most definitely really steep, it is still quite doable. The only companies that will suffer the most is the smaller development houses who do not have the resources and personnel that big companies like Ubisoft have to develop titles. The sad thing is that those big companies are not looking to release their titles exclusively for either console, they want to spread out their I.P.'s over multiple platforms to ensure that it is a sound financial investment.

Type A · 08-19-2007, 01:57 PM

Quote:

If you take the PS2 for example, when God of War come out people saw it was tremendous. But it wasn't until the end of the PS2 cycle that we've seen the machine being pushed to its fullest, added Lacey.

God I hope this isnt the case this generation also. To finally push a console to its limits at the end of its cycle is kinda weak, considering the next generation is probably already available.

junehhan · 08-20-2007, 06:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Type A

God I hope this isnt the case this generation also. To finally push a console to its limits at the end of its cycle is kinda weak, considering the next generation is probably already available.

That's exactly it as what use is it to finally develop the skills to push something to the limit when the next generation consoles are due out or already out? Like it or not, we are likely already nearing the halfway point of the lifespan of the current generation of consoles already and i'm sure not this holiday, but the next holiday season after this one will be full of news and rumors on what the big M and N along with Sony are cooking up.

ownage312 · 08-21-2007, 01:38 PM

If you bought the Collector's version of Ninja Gaiden for the PS3, the dvd it came with also said this.

08-18-2007, 09:03 PM	#1
Nexgenrulz High Definition is the definition of life. Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 1,219	PS3 harder to develop for? Nonsense says GRAW Team An interesting read nonetheless. http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=27782 PlayStation 3 harder to develop for? Nonsense, says GRAW team Matt Martin 15:27 (BST) 17/08/2007 "It's wrong to say it's harder to code on the PS3" - Le Tensorer The team responsible for one of Ubisoft's most acclaimed videogames – Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter – has told GamesIndustry.biz that developing titles for the PlayStation 3 is no harder than working on Microsoft's Xbox 360. Despite analyst reports and internet chatter, the BAFTA-award winning team says it's just a case of developers getting up to speed with the new hardware, as Sony's console is earlier in it's lifecycle than Microsoft's Xbox 360. "It's wrong to say it's harder to code on the PlayStation 3, it's just something that needs to be learnt," said Yann Le Tensorer, co-founder of Ubisoft's Tiwak studio and co-creator of the Yeti engine powering GRAW and the upcoming Beowulf game. "It's not harder to develop on the PS3 than it is on the 360, it's just a different console. Developers might says it's harder because it just takes time to understand the technology, we're still early in the lifecycle." As more studios learn the intricacies of developing for the PS3, so the entire development community will benefit says Le Tensorer. "We need all developers to learn from the console, it was the same with the PlayStation 2. Our team are more than happy with the PlayStation 3." Earlier this week a review in USA Today labelled Electronic Arts' PS3 version of Madden NFL 08 as "sluggish" compared to the Xbox 360 version. And industry analyst Michael Pachter has gone on record saying that the delay of Grand Theft Auto IV from November until next year was due to Rockstar struggling to port the Xbox 360 version of the game – a problem that would be down to the developers themselves, not the hardware. Adrian Lacey, international brand manager for Ubisoft, is confident that the success of Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter is due to forward planning on the developers part, and has meant that the sequel due on PS3 next month will match the standard set by the franchise. "Because we built the engine for this generation of hardware we've been very well placed – Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter hit that level of quality early in the cycle when the 360 first came out because we had our engine in mind for PS3, 360 and PC from the very beginning," he commented. As the studio continues work on the game based on upcoming movie Beowulf, due for PS3 and Xbox 360, Lacey admits there's still plenty to learn about both home consoles. "For us it's been a learning curve and technology changes very quickly. We're learning step-by-step to use the PS3 to its fullest capacity," he said. "If you take the PS2 for example, when God of War come out people saw it was tremendous. But it wasn't until the end of the PS2 cycle that we've seen the machine being pushed to its fullest," added Lacey. A full interview with the Adrian Lacey and Yann Le Tensorer, where they discuss Beowulf and the challenges of working with movie studios, will be published later this month. Related Information Ubisoft EIF: Ubisoft wanted to buy Gameloft [13-Aug-07] EIF: "Our consumers are the stars," says Guillemot [13-Aug-07] Electronic Arts increases stake in Ubisoft to 25 per cent [8-Aug-07] Daily Weekly Sign up to the FREE GI Newsletter and receive a comprehensive round-up of industry news and info. Most Popular Stories PlayStation 3 harder to develop for? Nonsense, says GRAW team EA defends "sluggish" PS3 game EIF: Home abusers can be turned off and banned, warns Sony EA responds to Wikipedia revision controversy Wii to take UK lead Editor Phil Elliott Advertising & Job Listings Richard Sturgess Meet the Team About GI Send us news RSS This site © 2002-2007 Eurogamer Network Ltd. All Rights Reserved. No part of this site or its content may be reproduced without the permission of the copyright holder. Page loaded in 0.01 seconds.

08-18-2007, 09:13 PM	#2
mshulman My Projector is High Def. Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Marlborough, MA Age: 35 Posts: 6,572	Isn't this pretty much saying: If you have a 10 page paper to write, it is going to be harder to write it in a foreign language, because you will need to learn that language first. I think the big questions is which one has better tools to make this learning curve easier? Say learning French and Spanish are equivalent. If you have better tools for learning one language than the other, then wouldn't that language be easier to learn? I'm not saying this is the case, but it would be interesting to hear comments based on the tools the developers use to program with. Which has the better tools? __________________ Toshiba HD-A2 and HD-A3 PS3 Sanyo PLV-Z3 Canon HF-10 Onkyo 805 "I eat green berets for breakfast and I'm very hungry!"

08-18-2007, 10:55 PM	#4
IvanM Anger is a Gift Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 293	While the learning curve for the PS3 is most definitely really steep, it is still quite doable. The only companies that will suffer the most is the smaller development houses who do not have the resources and personnel that big companies like Ubisoft have to develop titles. The sad thing is that those big companies are not looking to release their titles exclusively for either console, they want to spread out their I.P.'s over multiple platforms to ensure that it is a sound financial investment. __________________ "I would rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not"

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08-21-2007, 01:38 PM	#7
ownage312 High Definition is the definition of life. Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 55	If you bought the Collector's version of Ninja Gaiden for the PS3, the dvd it came with also said this.