Head of Sega Racing Studio speaks on the PS3 and Xbox 360
A lot of fanboys have been screaming about the dichotomy of the market today. The end all and be all of the argument is that they believe that the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 are as different as night and day.
The head of Sega Racing Studio, Guy Wilday, recently spoke about both consoles in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz. He discussed both consoles from a developer’s standpoint and noted that while there are differences, the end result is that there is very little difference in the output of both consoles.
First, he pointed out the strengths and difficulties in dealing with the PlayStation 3. “Sony always created very technically innovative hardware and always have,” said Wilday. “PlayStation 3 is no different in that respect.” According to Wilday, this made it a bit difficult to develop games for the console, especially from the get-go.
The flip-side of very innovative hardware is that it takes you a while to get up to speed with it. The learning curve is steeper in that you have to get into it and understand exactly what the benefits are, and understand exactly how to do certain things to get the most out of the platform.
Wilday noted that development is simpler on Microsoft‘s Xbox 360. The main reason for this is the fact that the development tools and support were already refined. In the end, it became a trade-off between innovating and pushing the boundaries, or sticking with the tried and tested development tools and methods. In lieu of all of this, he said something that some of the more rabid fanboys should note.
We’ve sat them side by side and you’re really hard-pushed to tell the difference. I think that’s a testament to where you are with both platforms. The learning curve with PlayStation 3 is steeper, but once you’re there the opportunities are very exciting.
That said, if there are really very few notable differences on the output of a game on both consoles, why should we care if someone’s playing a game on the PS3 or Xbox 360? As long as we’re having a great experience on our consoles, then that’s all that matters, right?
A lot of fanboys have been screaming about the dichotomy of the market today. The end all and be all of the argument is that they believe that the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 are as different as night and day.
The head of Sega Racing Studio, Guy Wilday, recently spoke about both consoles in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz. He discussed both consoles from a developer’s standpoint and noted that while there are differences, the end result is that there is very little difference in the output of both consoles.
First, he pointed out the strengths and difficulties in dealing with the PlayStation 3. “Sony always created very technically innovative hardware and always have,” said Wilday. “PlayStation 3 is no different in that respect.” According to Wilday, this made it a bit difficult to develop games for the console, especially from the get-go.
The flip-side of very innovative hardware is that it takes you a while to get up to speed with it. The learning curve is steeper in that you have to get into it and understand exactly what the benefits are, and understand exactly how to do certain things to get the most out of the platform.
Wilday noted that development is simpler on Microsoft‘s Xbox 360. The main reason for this is the fact that the development tools and support were already refined. In the end, it became a trade-off between innovating and pushing the boundaries, or sticking with the tried and tested development tools and methods. In lieu of all of this, he said something that some of the more rabid fanboys should note.
We’ve sat them side by side and you’re really hard-pushed to tell the difference. I think that’s a testament to where you are with both platforms. The learning curve with PlayStation 3 is steeper, but once you’re there the opportunities are very exciting.
That said, if there are really very few notable differences on the output of a game on both consoles, why should we care if someone’s playing a game on the PS3 or Xbox 360? As long as we’re having a great experience on our consoles, then that’s all that matters, right?
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