SCEA aware of porting difficulties, requiring "re-engineering"
by Peter Vrabel 
{ Jun 13th 2007 at 10:00PM }
We have a love-hate relationship with these kind of articles, lest they deter into all-too-familiar fanboy territory (wink wink). Regardless, they still are fascinating reads on technology and where our beloved An article by Dr. Dobbs Portal that ran in March, delivers an in-depth dissection about how much longer the learning curve is when it comes to developing for the Cell and how much more fruit the Cell can bear once established and competent developers get through the crux of utilizing its potential.
So Gamepro wanted an official response on these claims of variably complex programming porting between the Xbox 360 and the PS3. SCEA's Dave Karraker responded by admitting the difficulties some developers have expressed with porting. "If your game starts on Xbox 360 you will have to re-engineer aspects of the game to run properly on PS3," he says. "Some developers have been complaining about this [additional effort] but I don't believe we can solve that," he adds. Still, we find it refreshing to at least hear admittance of the complexities involved in porting code from Xbox 360 to PS3.
That same Dr. Dobbs article pits the performance gains from effective Cell utilization at up to 22 times higher than that of a comparable Intel chip. Wow. If that's the case, we urge developers to keep their ports in the incubator for as long as it takes. If there is anything we need less of, it would be bad ports. Time to get your Cell learn on, pronto!
[Via Gamepro]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
finalfan @ Jun 13th 2007 10:22PM
I agree here. The cell processor semms really hard to program. But to begin thinking of a re-engeneering... are we going a little too far for our 360 competitors?
L @ Jun 13th 2007 10:20PM
funny thing is its easy to port from PS3 to 360 ;)
carlos @ Jun 13th 2007 10:32PM
dude ya why dont they make the original on the ps3 first???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
i think it would make more sense... i guess microsoft must bribe them or something
finalfan @ Jun 13th 2007 10:46PM
Why not? I believe M$ could be able to buy SCEA if they really wanted to.
acedoh @ Jun 13th 2007 10:53PM
Yeah finalfan we know how poor Sony is. That's not really the issue anyway. Know that Kutaguri is not calling the shots Sony seems to be getting their act back together. Obviously with time the issue of ports will become easy for developers. Stranglehold and the darkness are both getting exclusive content it's obvious that when developers want to utilize what the PS3 offers they will.
massive_98 @ Jun 13th 2007 10:53PM
I would make a game for which ever is easier to produce a quality game.
WhackMushroom @ Jun 13th 2007 10:58PM
big HRMPH and a sad MEH ... gamepro ran this hours ago .. i guess you all needed the cracker to set you up first ... just kidding .. i love how you expanded this story i had no idea about that dr. dobbs article and i feel 100% smarter now for reading it.
WhackMushroom @ Jun 13th 2007 10:58PM
3. i bet you this will happen down the road for the developers that actually care.
4. but SCEA isnt selling ... im so going to kill a puppy after that comment
7. LOL
finalfan @ Jun 13th 2007 11:03PM
If I could devellop a game that would crush Halo 3, I'd do it on the PS3. Why? Cuz from what i've seen in motorstorm (Graphics), we would get an ultra high quality exclusive. Guess that Haze devs are thinking the same way as I do ;)
kingnick @ Jun 13th 2007 11:09PM
The reasons for developing a multiplatform game primarily for the Xbox360 are many:
1. Bigger user base.
2. Better developer tools.
3. Less lead time from conception to release because of the better development tools and architecture.
4. More familiar architecture that is much more easily exploited.
And the whole “It’s easier porting from PS3 to Xbox360” is only partly true, while the ports wouldn’t be as bad as Xbox360 to PS3 there’d still be noticed sacrifices.
I hope the PS3 never becomes the lead console because then Xbox360 and PC gamers would receive crappy ports and I’m more of a PC and Xbox man myself.
I’m glad Microsoft has started working with third parties more instead of their (and Sony’s) usual strategy of buying third parties out when they release a hit game.
@7. I would make a game for which ever is easier to produce a quality game.
Posted at 10:53PM on Jun 13th 2007 by massive_98
Then you’d be making an Xbox360 game.
Peter Vrabel @ Jun 13th 2007 11:04PM
@8 WhackMushroom
Thanks, bud. It's a very interesting article that escaped me back in March. A great read for anyone who ever questioned why we've so far, received more than just a few shoddy ports. Should also reconfirm the gospel of Cell loyalists who have been touting all along, the magical things that chip is capable of.
Pete
Nick @ Jun 13th 2007 11:55PM
"Why not? I believe M$ could be able to buy SCEA if they really wanted to."
@4, you are smoking crack. Sony's current holdings are around 66 million, while Microsoft's are about 39 million.
Nick @ Jun 13th 2007 11:58PM
Excuse me. Sony's holdings are 66 billion and MS's holdings are 39 billion. Thought that didn't sit right, and I rechecked the Fortune 500 list. My mistake.
finalfan @ Jun 14th 2007 12:35AM
14. Nah it's ok. Actually I thought that M$ was richer than that. Makes me happy :)
Carson @ Jun 14th 2007 3:53AM
"deter"? Did you mean "devolve"?
Matt B @ Jun 14th 2007 9:41AM
Kingnick said:
"I hope the PS3 never becomes the lead console because then Xbox360 and PC gamers would receive crappy ports and I’m more of a PC and Xbox man myself."
LMAO
That is one of the dumbest things I have ever read here.
mccomber @ Jun 15th 2007 1:14AM
Wow Jimmy, you said a lot. A lot that will be either irrelevant or just plain wrong in less than a year.
Recent ports have been getting better. There are games which are better on the ps3 (obvlivion obviously, virtua tennis according to several people), games that are basically identical overall (Icon, Armored Core 4) and of course the ones that didn't go as well (FEAR, Splinter Cell). We'll see how they stack up this fall when the big titles land. GTAIV is going to be of interest for sure, as are DMC4 and Assassin's Creed.
Exclusives? Do we even need to go over the list again? I'll start it rolling; Resistance, Motorstorm, Drake's, Heavenly, Lair, MGS4, LittleBigPlanet... both system's have great exclusives, but saying the ps3 doesn't have any, or naming the ones you did? Ridiculous. Haze is shaping up nicely too, and it's leading on the ps3.
Rumble? Coming back. To a round of meh's from about as many people as those who seem to miss it. My 12" woofer has more rumble than any controller ever has anyway.
The online aspect will improve, and I believe that will include things that go beyond Home, which, whether it's your style or not, is obviously ambitious and has lots of potential and promise. I think within the next year, the ps3 will rival live in what it offers. Only, free.
The hardware itself is not only better (bluetooth, bluray, hard drives in every console, wifi built in on all current models) but it's simply more reliable. Overall, the build quality trumps the 360, there's no way to argue that point.
Since it launched, the ps3 has received nothing but improvements from Sony. They fixed the backwards compatibility issues that came up when it first launched. The network has definitely picked up in overall speed in recent months. Upscaling of ps2 games and movies.
There are plenty of developers praising it's potential, including the inclusion of BluRay. The gaming division of the company seems to have turned a corner in how they are approaching almost all aspects of the "war", and it's definitely moving in the right direction.
In short; I agree with a lot of what you say. Right now. But soon? Not so much. Enjoy your 360. I know that once I finally buy one, I will. But until then, and after that, I'll enjoy my ps3.