If you have yet to read the first part of the interview, then you can do so here.
SPOnG: Hi again, Chris. So earlier yesterday you were telling us about what you thought were going to be the top PlayStation 3 games for this coming Christmas season?
Chris Deering: Heavenly Sword, for sure, Guitar Hero III. I be remiss if I didn’t mention the Codemasters’ games Turning Point and Clive Barker’s Jericho, both of high note. There’s a good buzz on FIFA 08 from EA. It seems clear that the learning curve on PS3 development is occurring and, while of course 360 is a great machine and has a wonderful community platform with LIVE, generally I believe that the CPU - the Cell chip -capabilities of the PS3 are further-reaching.
So, new-gen now, even more so than in the past, is less easy to port from one lead SKU (Stock Keeping Unit) to another. You know, so generally it’s (easier with) the lead production SKU – the first version the game is written on – there’s a lot more work involved in making the companion versions than there has been in the past.
So, now that the learning curve on PS3 development is across a wider base of developers and publishers, with their in-house studios, it affords opportunity for games to be created in the first instance from scratch on the PS3 platform. So, you will see a lot more horsepower in the AI, graphics and gameplay elements; also, the Blu-ray disc playing feature – aside from official specs and claims, all the friends I have with PS3s really speak very highly of that and think it’s a fabulous feature – so I think this is all going to make very favourable ground for PlayStation 3 to make progress, consistent with its price and its availability.
As I said previously, in terms of the number of pints of beer you have to forego to get a PS3, it’s really just the same as the number of pints you had to forego to get a PS1 in 1995! Considering what you’re getting – remember PS1 only played audio CDs, PlayStation 2 played DVDs, and now PlayStation 3 plays high-def Blu-ray movies (it’s a good deal). The installed base or the ubiquity of high definition TVs should also be in place within another year. If you try to play a PS3 through a standard TV, it’s going to look okay, but you’re not getting the full benefit of its capabilities. Games are played mainly for their playability, but if two games of equal playability are played side-by-side, the one that looks better is going to offer a richer experience.