It is not a secret that game developers complain about difficulties to program for the PlayStation 3 video game system by Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. According to the creator of the console, those difficulties were implemented intentionally as this ensures “gradual” quality improvements of video games.

“We don’t provide the ‘easy to program for’ console that (developers) want, because ‘easy to program for’ means that anybody will be able to take advantage of pretty much what the hardware can do, so then the question is, what do you do for the rest of the nine-and-a-half years,” said Kazuo Hirai, chief executive officer and president of SCEI, in the official PlayStation magazine.

Since Microsoft Xbox 360, the main rival for the PlayStation 3, is relatively easy to program for, video games for the platform are less expensive compared to those for the PS3 in many cases. Numerous developers of video games have heavily criticized the latest Sony platform, but Sony tends to see advantages in game creation for the PS3.

“So it’s a kind of – I wouldn’t say a double-edged sword – but it’s hard to program for and a lot of people see the negatives of it, but if you flip that around, it means the hardware has a lot more to offer,” Mr. Hirai added.

Since game development for the PlayStation 3 is not easy, game developers creating low-quality titles set to be sold at low price will hardly be interested in developing games for the PS3. However, Sony must have other ways to keep low-quality titles away from its latest platform.

Sony PlayStation 3 console is based on the Cell processor developed by IBM, Sony and Toshiba, the RSX graphics chip by Nvidia Corp., wireless network and Bluetooth connectivity and is equipped with Blu-ray optical disk drive. There are several versions of the consoles available around the world with different hard disk drives and variable compatibility with PlayStation 1/2 games.

Tags: Sony, Playstation