Valve Says PS3 Complexity Hinders Game Development

[Andy Chalk]

Valve Says PS3 Complexity Hinders Game Development

If you've been wondering why PlayStation 3 [http://www.valvesoftware.com/], designer Tom Leonard has a very simple explanation: It's just too damn complicated.

Valve has made a lot of great games over the years, first for the PC and more recently for the System Shock 2 [http://www.xbox.com] before coming to Valve, is simple: The complexity of the PlayStation 3 hinders quality game development.

"The PC and the 360 are just more straightforward. We can focus on what we want to do, which is make game experiences, instead of sweating bullets over obscure architectural decisions they make with their platform," he told Loot Ninja [http://loot-ninja.com/2009/06/09/valve-shuts-out-too-complicated-ps3/]. "I didn't come into this business in the 90s because of some technical fetish. I came in because I wanted to give people experiences that made them have fun."

Leonard isn't the only member of Valve who doesn't care for the PlayStation 3. In 2007, co-founder Gabe Newell did some PS3 ranting of his own, calling the unit "a waste of everybody's time [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/77826-Gabe-Newell-Calls-PlayStation-3-A-Waste-of-Time]" and saying that nothing developers did on the platform would do them any good anywhere else. "You're not going to gain anything except a hatred of the architecture they've created," he said.

But according to none other than said in February [http://www.scei.co.jp/index_e.html] that Sony had intentionally designed the PS3 to be difficult to program so that developers wouldn't be able to maximize its potential right away.

via: Develop [http://www.developmag.com/news/32142/Valve-reluctant-to-develop-for-the-complicated-PS3]


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[bue519]

I remember a thread about this yesterday. But, in all honesty who cares about valve games on the 360. Their really on worth their salt on the PC.(due to the huge amount of mod support from the community) Besides they look pretty awful on the 360 in comparison.

 

[300lb. Samoan]

'hai everybody, i have a great idea for our new system

let's make it really hard to use, really esoteric and unintuitive, so it will reveal more of itself over time as people slowly discover what a pain in the ass it is to develop. the industry will really benefit from a tool that is too complex for anyone to figure out! in the meantime, let's also make it too expensive for the average consumer to purchase. we're really smart, i hope one day people can understand what great geniuses we are'

 

[Internet Kraken]

Perhaps Indigo Dingo will provide us with a counter argument.

 

[Glerken]

I'd rather Valve stuck with the PC anyways.
That's where they're best.

 

[Paragon Fury]

So Valve now joins several other devs, including Bethesda and Infinity Ward, in telling SOny that they have no idea what the hell Sony was thinking with the PS3.

 

[The Youth Counselor]

How is this news? Everyone knew this the moment the PS Triple was released with their bizarre encryptions and multiple processors.

 

[oliveira8]

So Valve now joins several other devs, including Bethesda and Infinity Ward, in telling SOny that they have no idea what the hell Sony was thinking with the PS3.

They already did..like years ago, when Gabe said "The PS3 is a waste of time to develop."

 

[300lb. Samoan]

I remember a thread about this yesterday. But, in all honesty who cares about valve games on the 360. Their really on worth their salt on the PC.(due to the huge amount of mod support from the community) Besides they look pretty awful on the 360 in comparison.

i'm not sure what kind of system you are playing on, but I was pretty sad when I saw TF2 on the 360 and realized that my $1500 spend in the last four years was being outperformed by a $150 dvd player. It offers Full HDR, Very High textures and High level models. Unless you are running a DX10 system, a GeForce 280 and 4+gigs of ram (and the picmip, hwmmodels and hwmcvds commands) I don't think you're getting a huge improvement over the 360 except in frames per second, which are lacking - 360 seems to run at just under 60.

 

[DM.]

Wait a second.

intentionally designed the PS3 to be difficult to program so that developers wouldn't be able to maximize its potential right away.

That has got to be the worst reason for making a console complicated.

Guess it gets rid of the shovelware.

 

[SinisterDeath]

How is this news? Everyone knew this the moment the PS Triple was released with their bizarre encryptions and multiple processors.

Name one playstation that was easy to develop for.
This is nothing new.
Valve knows PC. They don't know SHIT about console development. How many console games have they made prior to 360?
Like, 1!

Look back to the nintendo/sony/sega days. Those consoles were never meant to be like 'pc gaming'. Each unit is identicle, unlike PCs, obviously the programming is going to be different. Unless your microsoft and develop a 'console' using the same 'codeing/achitecture' that they, you know, OWN. Totally has absolutely nothing to do with why Sony/Nintendo don't use a 'more pc like system'. Not at all.

I wonder if Gabe knows PS3 is based on Linux?

 

[RollForInitiative]

Guess it gets rid of the shovelware.

Yeah, along with everything else.

 

[OuroborosChoked]

"The complexity of the PlayStation 3 hinders quality game development."

And yet the PS3 has a higher ratio of games rated 8/10 or higher than any other system currently on the market.

Someone's not checking his facts...

 

[ssgt splatter]

'hai everybody, i have a great idea for our new system

let's make it really hard to use, really esoteric and unintuitive, so it will reveal more of itself over time as people slowly discover what a pain in the ass it is to develop. the industry will really benefit from a tool that is too complex for anyone to figure out! in the meantime, let's also make it too expensive for the average consumer to purchase. we're really smart, i hope one day people can understand what great geniuses we are'

Ya know, that sounds about right.

 

[Paragon Fury]

"The complexity of the PlayStation 3 hinders quality game development."

And yet the PS3 has a higher ratio of games rated 8/10 or higher than any other system currently on the market.

Someone's not checking his facts...

The DS would like to have a word with you.

As would the Wii......

 

[Pimppeter2]

That last paragraph had me on the floor laughing. Even if you are a sony fanboy. YOu can;t actually belive that shit

 

[breadlord]

Well they have to prove that the PS3 is harder to make games for. Because it's still basic, as by more time into Blu-ray digital quailty. Do you see Rockstar complaining? Nope, actually they are making a PS3 exclusive. So how is it, well they may be suck on 9 gbs, because the xbox and ps2 worked on 9 GBs disc space, and the 360 still has this problem, stuck on the 9 GBs disc space storage (i think) emphesis.

But their minds could lack the power of creativity, shown from a 2 hour long game (which is good), episodic gaming (half life 2) which these games just reach over 8 hours total time to complete, and delaying a two hour game that could easily be done in 6 months (proved by guild wars). So i can see the delay of 9 GBs to 50 Gbs (well more like 55-60 due to better compression technology.)

But then again some really good games aren't 50 GBs big, more like 5 GBs *cough* Sims 3 *cough*

 

[cobrausn]

"The complexity of the PlayStation 3 hinders quality game development."

And yet the PS3 has a higher ratio of games rated 8/10 or higher than any other system currently on the market.

Someone's not checking his facts...

A better question is to compare the number of games rated 8/10 or higher on that system. I notice you used a ratio there, which is a nice way of discounting the fact that PS3 has very few games.

As DM said, it gets rid of the shovelware, but it will also get rid of quality games from developers who don't like wasting their time. Like Valve, I guess.

 

[Internet Kraken]

That last paragraph had me on the floor laughing. Even if you are a sony fanboy. YOu can;t actually belive that shit

That is some of the biggest bullshit I have ever heard.

I really makes no sense. Why would you ever make something harder to use when there is another similar product that is far easier to use?