In a bid to attract more third-party development for the PlayStation 3, Sony has announced the introduction of a new, cut-price dev kit (or Reference Tool model) for the machine.
The new hardware, dubbed DECR-1400A, will cost $2,000 and €1,700 (£1,563 at today's exchange rate) in the US and Europe. The correspondent hardware for Japan, the DECR-1400J, will be priced at ¥200,000.
Of the new kit, Sony tells us, "Having the same form factor as the commercially available PS3, the new Reference Tool models allow advanced game programming and more efficient computer graphics rendering. With its more affordable pricing, this new model will appeal to a broader range of developers and publishers, and will help to provide a more streamlined game development environment, further accelerating the game development for PS3".
Sony also outlined an update to its graphics rendering tool, the PhyreEngine. "The latest version 2.40, released in March 2009, includes a new “foliage rendering” system that provides tools and technology to render ultra-realistic trees and plants to be easily integrated into games, helping game developers to express their creativity more freely on the PS3 system", the company said.
The last time Sony tried to pull in new devs with tool price cuts was in November 2007, when it dropped the cost of its existing dev kit to €7,500 (£5,357 at the time).
Full details direct from the horse's mouth here.
The new hardware, dubbed DECR-1400A, will cost $2,000 and €1,700 (£1,563 at today's exchange rate) in the US and Europe. The correspondent hardware for Japan, the DECR-1400J, will be priced at ¥200,000.
Of the new kit, Sony tells us, "Having the same form factor as the commercially available PS3, the new Reference Tool models allow advanced game programming and more efficient computer graphics rendering. With its more affordable pricing, this new model will appeal to a broader range of developers and publishers, and will help to provide a more streamlined game development environment, further accelerating the game development for PS3".
Sony also outlined an update to its graphics rendering tool, the PhyreEngine. "The latest version 2.40, released in March 2009, includes a new “foliage rendering” system that provides tools and technology to render ultra-realistic trees and plants to be easily integrated into games, helping game developers to express their creativity more freely on the PS3 system", the company said.
The last time Sony tried to pull in new devs with tool price cuts was in November 2007, when it dropped the cost of its existing dev kit to €7,500 (£5,357 at the time).
Full details direct from the horse's mouth here.
Companies:
Sony
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Comments
Joji 24 Mar 2009 12:56
1/3
Does this mean a retail PS3 price cut is looming?
Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.
Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.
DrkStr 24 Mar 2009 13:32
2/3
Joji wrote:
Does this mean a retail PS3 price cut is looming?
Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.
Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.
Yeah, cos a drop in the price of a Burger King franchise means the burgers will be cheaper!
This doesn't mean that the hardware is cheaper, jst means the license fee's smaller.
deleted 24 Mar 2009 14:32
3/3
whatever it means, consumers are stil havig to layout to much esp. this long after launch.