Valve Won’t Develop For PS3 Because It’s “Too hard”

Homer Simpson once said, “You tried your best and failed miserably. The lesson is: never try.” Valve must take that second part—“never try”—pretty seriously, since it told some dude at E3 that it has no interest in developing for the PS3. Reason being? It’s too hard. Fair enough.

The full quote, straight from a Valve dev on the E3 show floor:

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. [...] 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.

Sounds reasonable to me. If Valve can sustain itself developing only for the PC and Xbox 360, why should it knock itself out trying to figure out how to develop for the PS3? It quite literally is not worth the effort.

It’s not my business to tell Valve what to do with its resources, said with an eye toward the ongoing “controversy” regarding Left 4 Dead 2.

Source

Sony Charges Publishers For PS3 Bandwidth

We as gamers have it much better these days, as there are free content and demos floating around on gaming networks and download kiosks for us to enjoy a sneak peek of a particular title before deciding to drop some serious coin for the final product. Unfortunately, are these really “free”? After all, somebody has got to pay - and according to a report by MTV Multiplayer, Sony has started to charge publishers a per-gigabyte fee for bandwidth used when downloading content. This deal would seem rather strange as it gives off the vibes for not releasing popular content or demos on the service instead.

It also goes against conventional wisdom at this moment in time as Sony surprisingly has a large advantage over the Xbox 360 as this platform offers free online gaming and content downloads. While Xbox Live costs approximately $50—less if you get a deal, where there is a treasure trove of content made available to Gold members first and Silver members down the line, Sony will instead pass the bill onto publishers for these online features. We suppose the high road that Sony could take would be to absorb the bandwidth costs and hope that this incentive will cause publishers to be more enthusiastic about the PS3 by releasing better quality games that will let more and more people sign up for this as the gaming platform of choice instead of the Wii and Xbox 360.

It seems otherwise though as MTV Multiplayer has managed to get hold of a memo sent to publishers from Sony which changes the fees associated with hosting content on the PlayStation Store. Publishers will now have to pony up 16 cents per 1GB downloaded via the store for the first two months where free content is concerned, and in perpetuity for paid content. That’s not chump change by any means as a demo which is downloaded one million times will cost a publisher approximately $160,000 - all this on top of the regular fees that Sony charges to put content and games up on the store. Do you see a solution out of this, and is the Xbox Live model a better one to follow?

Publishers charged for PS3 bandwidth

Blood Bowl developer: making PS3 version ‘a bit risky and expensive’

If you’re a PS3-only gamer who happens to be a fan of vintage tabletop gaming, monsters, and football, then you are probably acutely, painfully aware of the lack of Blood Bowl video games in your future. Cyanide is making an Xbox 360 version — why not use the same assets and codebase for the PS3 like so many others? What’s the deal? Does it hate the PS3 or something?

In an interview with Destructoid, the developer explained its apparent snub on the platform. “Cyanide is a small company,” a representative said. “We have no previous experience on that platform [and] it would have been a bit risky and expensive for us. But, we are hoping to do a PS3 version if the game is selling well.”

So, rather than a lack of faith in the platform, Cyanide has somewhat of a lack of faith in its own ability to develop for it without killing the budget. It still means no PS3 version for now, but it also means no janky, poorly ported PS3 version for now. That’s … something. And if the other versions of the game, coming out in Q2 of this year, are successful, we may see a (good) PS3 version yet.

Blood Bowl developer: making PS3 version ‘a bit risky and expensive’

New Battlefield 1943 Details: Three Classes, Regenerating Health and Unlimited Ammo

Earlier this week, developer DICE revealed that it was readying Battlefield 1943, a download-only Battlefield 1942 sequel, for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 this summer.

Now, Kotaku’s had the chance to actually play the game, bringing to light some of the changes that the latest entry has undergone to make it more pick up and play friendly.

Priced somewhere between $15 and $20, the game will pack three classes: Infantry, Riflemen, and Scout. DICE wanted to make sure that players could fight in any situation regardless of the chosen class, so each has weapons that can take down a tank.

The 24-player game will also grant players unlimited ammunition, as well as automatically regenerating health. While these steps are being taken to ensure that the game has wide appeal, they also remove the team-centric strategy of past titles.

Destructible environments, now possible through the use of the Frostbite engine, should be similar in "destruction depth" to those of Battlefield: Bad Company, according to associate producer Gordon Van Dyke. And while the game will only ship with three maps, Dyke suggests that more maps could arrive depending on player feedback.

Source: ShackNews.com

Mirror’s Edge Time Trial DLC delayed to February; PS3 exclusive map on 1/29

Ever wonder what Faith from Mirror’s Edge dreams about? Tom Farrer, producer of Mirror’s Edge, answered this question on the PlayStation.Blog: "She apparently dreams about enormous abstract sculptures floating above an endless sea!"

The upcoming time trial DLC pack for Mirror’s Edge was originally scheduled for release tomorrow. However, Big Download reports that these additional races will come in February. The delay should give fans a bit more time to practice their skills — the DLC adds new Trophies that only the most hardcore players will be able to achieve. (At the time of writing, we haven’t seen if the 360 version will get new Achievements as well.)

While the premium maps won’t be available until next month, PS3 owners will still be able to download a system-exclusive map on the PlayStation Store tomorrow. "Synethesia" will be free to all owners of the PS3 version of Mirror’s Edge.

Source: Joystiq

Analysts Predict PlayStation 3 Price Cuts in 2009

Although it’s not yet official, most analysts expect the NPD Group’s January video-game console report to show Nintendo’s Wii game console as the clear winner for December, with the Xbox 360 a distant second.

Analysts are also predicting that even as Sony’s PlayStation 3 begins to gain some momentum, price cuts may be just around the corner as the once-leading console maker struggles to compete against its less-expensive competitors.

"We expect December {video-game] sales of $2.625 billion — up 10 percent compared to December 2007’s $2.39 billion. We expect next-generation software sales of $2.42 billion and current-generation software sales of $205 million," said Michael Patcher, an analyst at Wedbush Morgan. "Our forecast reflects growth of four percent year-over-year for Xbox 360 software, 71 percent growth for Wii software, and 48 percent growth for PS3 software."

Slashing Console Prices

In September, Microsoft cut the price of its three Xbox 360 models to $199, $299 and $399. Sony responded by increasing hard-drive sizes and maintaining its PS3 pricing at $399 and $499. In October, Microsoft countered with the launch of its holiday bundles with free games Sega Superstars Tennis for the Xbox Arcade, and LEGO Indiana Jones and Kung Fu Panda for the Xbox 360 Pro and Elite.

"We believe these moves increased hardware sales, and note that the bundled software is not included in NPD’s overall figures, so Xbox 360 software sales may show only a modest year-over-year increase," Patcher said. "Microsoft hardware sales have been up modestly over the last two months, due to a higher value proposition and by having its core model priced below $300, and we expect this trend to continue in December."

Once the PS3 is at a more affordable price point — Wedbush expects a cut to $299 in April — the company thinks sales will begin to grow. However,…

Source: Top Tech News

Is Sony’s Playstation 3 On Its Last Leg?

How about this for a lead sentence: “Sony’s PS3 is dying on the shelves.”

Silicon Alley Insider has spun NPD’s November report into a death sentence for PlayStation 3 and its little buddy, pointing to an 18 percent drop in November sales of the console from 2007 to 2008 as proof that PS3 is “flopping.” (Comparatively, Xbox 360 sales recorded a modest percentage gain and Wii sales more than doubled.)

The cause? It’s a three-way tie, according to the analysis:

• The cost: PS3 is the most expensive console. Period. (But it ain’t exactly cheap to piece together a comparable Xbox 360.)
• The Blu-rays: Americans continue to buy DVDs (by May’s count, at least). Things are starting to reverse … in Japan.
• The games: Silicon Alley Insider believes PS3 doesn’t have “any” must-have exclusives. That’s ridiculous. But it doesn’t have many.

Conclusion: “Tell yourself the PS3 has superior graphics if it makes you feel better, but a $400 console with a mediocre game library simply cannot compete against an Xbox 360 priced at $200 in this economy.” Ooh! Dem’s fightin words.

Source: Joystiq