Sony Cuts Price of PS3 Dev Kit by 80 Percent

[John Funk]

Sony Cuts Price of PS3 Dev Kit by 80 Percent

At least somebody is getting a PS3 price cut: Sony has slashed the cost of the PlayStation 3 development platform by more than four-fifths.

Sure, Sony might be obstinately digging its heels into the ground, covering its collective ears and screaming "I can't heeeaaar you, la la la la~!" when it comes to the issue of price cuts [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/90209-Sony-to-PS3-Detractors-Go-Sell-Razor-Blades] for their gargantuan PlayStation 3 ... but that doesn't mean they aren't willing to compromise somewhere.

They're willing to compromise with the developers, in fact. The PlayStation 3 Reference Tool (also known colloquially as the developer kit) can now be licensed back in November [http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/sony-slashes-cost-of-ps3-development-kit] of 2007.

"With more and more new and exciting PS3 titles scheduled for release this year from third-party developers and publishers as well as from SCE Worldwide Studios," announced Sony, "SCEI will deploy various measures to further reinforce game development for PS3 and will continue to expand the platform to offer attractive interactive entertainment experiences only available on PS3."

Of course, to be fair, even slashing the price by eight large won't make all that much of a difference for the big companies with budgets in the multi-million dollar range. Where we might see the biggest benefit of this is the PSN store with smaller indie titles. Independent game developers need to squeeze every penny they can, and having a significantly cheaper development platform might make the PS3 an attractive prospect for a would-be indie designer.

(Image [http://www.flickr.com/photos/20179579@N00/582672926/])

Permalink

 

[Rezfon]

i can't help but think about that comment made about why the PS3 was so hard to develop for when seeing this.

Now all that needs to happen is the console price to be cut, then retailers cut the price of blu-ray films (they're the same price as new games where I am) and then I'll buy one

 

[Baby Tea]

Well finally. Sony does something that doesn't make me say 'What?'.
I mean, you might wonder if $8000 is really a big dent in game budgets that are in the 100s of thousands, but at least smaller developers can get their hats in the ring with greater ease.

 

[Alone Disciple]

Where we might see the biggest benefit of this is the PSN store with smaller indie titles. Independent game developers need to squeeze every penny they can, and having a significantly cheaper development platform might make the PS3 an attractive prospect for a would-be indie designer.

That was my initial 1st thought. I not-so-secretly wonder if their online games sales is far below projections and wonder if this is a strategy to combat all the indie game releases over at Live Arcade.

If they aren't gonna lower the price for the consumer market, not sure how this will translate in the long run for developers. Sure, it may be cheaper for indie's to make and release games now for PSN, but if the cosumers still aren't shelling out $399 for a console any time soon, then whose gonna buy them anyway?

 

[nova18]

God bless you Sony.

This solves a lot of issues with dev's neglecting the console because of the extra cost and time it takes to develop for it. Whilst they probably wont cut the cost of the console because they lose even more money if they do, they should be able to make a bit more cash through software if more dev's hop on board.

Good news for PS3, hard to come by these days.

 

[Danarok]

Without an increase in user-base I don't see this having much impact on the larger developers. Smaller deveolpers, maybe. Often it's these guys that come up with the most unique stuff, so it can't be a bad thing.

Then again, I quite the idea of seeing the PS3 utterly fail.

 

[ta_bandit]

The PS3 will see its day in the sun. In a few years....

 

[Art Axiv]

The REASON. I SEE IT FINALLY.

 

[ElArabDeMagnifico]

Someone tricked me to seeing this with a title saying 'PS3 PRICE CUT CONFIRMED!!!"

once clicked, it said "....for developers"

I couldn't help but laugh, and then be happy for the developers. Man, dev kits are expensive huh?

 

[Jumplion]

*whistles* that's a pretty big price cut, for developers obviously.

Just out of fanboyistic bashing curiosity, what are the dev cost of the 360 and Wii?

 

[Aqualung]

..So I still can't get the regular one?

/head on desk

 

[malestrithe]

Wow. That means that, instead of having to play things like Infinite Undiscovery on the PS3, I will have to slog through a ton of indie games of varying levels of good, bad or passable.

Eh, eventually the price will go down. I am going to assume that it will be this summer. That way, everyone that wants GoW III can play it.

 

[sheic99]

i can't help but think about that comment made about why the PS3 was so hard to develop for when seeing this.

Now all that needs to happen is the console price to be cut, then retailers cut the price of blu-ray films (they're the same price as new games where I am) and then I'll buy one

You've got to be shitting. Either your games are extremely cheap, or your movies are extremely expensive.

 

[Rezfon]

i can't help but think about that comment made about why the PS3 was so hard to develop for when seeing this.

Now all that needs to happen is the console price to be cut, then retailers cut the price of blu-ray films (they're the same price as new games where I am) and then I'll buy one

You've got to be shitting. Either your games are extremely cheap, or your movies are extremely expensive.

From your profile I can see your from america so your kinda lucky. In the UK most new games sell for £40, Blu-Ray films range from £25 (the ones nobody ever likes and ever picks up) to £30 (the average crap that gets shoveled into cinemas) then to £35 or even £40 for the films that are actually decent.

 

[jebussaves88]

A smart move. About time!

 

[y8c616]

i can't help but think about that comment made about why the PS3 was so hard to develop for when seeing this.

Now all that needs to happen is the console price to be cut, then retailers cut the price of blu-ray films (they're the same price as new games where I am) and then I'll buy one

You've got to be shitting. Either your games are extremely cheap, or your movies are extremely expensive.

From your profile I can see your from america so your kinda lucky. In the UK most new games sell for £40, Blu-Ray films range from £25 (the ones nobody ever likes and ever picks up) to £30 (the average crap that gets shoveled into cinemas) then to £35 or even £40 for the films that are actually decent.

Where do you buy your Blu Ray films from? I have a few, and they cost in the region od 15-20 pounds, from places like HMV or tesco

 

[Rezfon]

i can't help but think about that comment made about why the PS3 was so hard to develop for when seeing this.

Now all that needs to happen is the console price to be cut, then retailers cut the price of blu-ray films (they're the same price as new games where I am) and then I'll buy one

You've got to be shitting. Either your games are extremely cheap, or your movies are extremely expensive.

From your profile I can see your from america so your kinda lucky. In the UK most new games sell for £40, Blu-Ray films range from £25 (the ones nobody ever likes and ever picks up) to £30 (the average crap that gets shoveled into cinemas) then to £35 or even £40 for the films that are actually decent.

Where do you buy your Blu Ray films from? I have a few, and they cost in the region od 15-20 pounds, from places like HMV or tesco

I don't actually buy blu-ray films as I don't have a player, but I browse them usually. These prices are fairly common from Zavvi and sometimes HMV, except the blu-ray selection in HMV is miniscule. However only recently have the price dropped in store as zavvi went under new administration, but the selection is still very limited. Where I live, blu-ray is usually twice the price of their dvd counterpart. Kinda sad, considering the prices online are great.

The stores in Dundee are crap for prices, especially Zavvi. They want to charge £45 for Lost Odyssey despite you can go round the corner to gamestation and buy it brand new for £10. Tesco's is an option but I've had a lot of bad experiences trying to return faulty items for a new one, so I avoid them like the plague.