Possible ps4 SDK?
If we pause a moment and consider how business works....
Is it reasonable that the day the PS3 hardware was finished, Sony decided that they were done with the console market and immediately fired all the people who developed the hardware and the software?
Or is it more reasonable to assume that as soon as the PS3 hardware was finished, the staff started having plans on what they will do better with the PS4, planning release dates and features that they want to include?
My money is on the second one.
I am certain that at this very moment there are major game studios working on games for the PS4, using super-secret PS4 SDks.
I am also certain that in several studios around the world Microsoft's XBox-720 is having launch titles being made.
@frob: He's talking about a public SDK for hobbyists and indie developers, not a private SDK for large studio licensing. (He mentioned the Playstation Mobile SDK and XNA).
@MrMaker: Sony has been really supportive of Indies lately - it's likely that they'll provide some kind of indie route.
However, there are two things to note:
1) Hobbyists almost certainly will not have full access to the hardware like the big studios do, or will have artificial restraints put on them (file sizes, or amount of RAM, or less processors). The reason: Sony makes money from the big studios, and the big studios will wonder why indie developers get the exact same access and support as they do, but at 1/100th of the cost.
2) Sony has bought Gaikai and has indicated an intent to stream games from the cloud (think "OnLive" built directly into Sony-branded TVs and the PS4). Indie games on the PS4 might end up being cloud-only (hey, PS3 games might be cloud-only on the PS4), so they may actually be designed to work on Linux servers and server hardware rather than PS4 hardware directly.
I certainly think it is possible, I think Sony will probably charge to host your game on Gaikai's cloud services. I think it is best to use the hardware. The public SDK has to use a safe language like C#. If you were allowed to c++ like the big studios do then people can do harmful stuff to the ps4's security. Big studios get a ps4 dev kit to dig deep and use it's hardware to the max with c++. While we get a SDK that is nothing like the big studio's use and c#. Which is good enough. If Microsoft was able to do indie game development on the 360. I am sure that ps4 can do indie game development. It would make me very pleased to see Sony pull this off. Also unity and Paradox3d(both c# engines, but paradox3d is in the works) can deploy to next gen consoles.
There's a bit difference between an independent game development company (an experienced studio that is not owned by a publisher) and "an indie" (a kid in his garage).
Sony has been doing a lot lately to "be friendly to indies", but a lot of this is aimed at the former definition, not the latter definition.
The latter definition has gotten a fair bit of support on the mobile/Vita division, but not PS3/PS4.
You also have to ask yourself is it really all that good buisness sense to embrace Indie developers on a console?
Yes it was cool to be able to create games for a console but from microsofts point of view was it proffitable?
Did they actually see any good games emerge from XNA?
Sure there have been 1 or 2 good games released to the xbox indie channel but, I look at it now and it is just full of crapware mincraft wannabes or joypad massage applications. Microsofts original vision would be that it would be the Youtube of games development but, it never came to fruition.
There are indie lowlevel game engines. There need to be a few wich do support the PS4. And with that the game engine brings the programming language. Wich can be C++ to.
I think the current frst release indie. Are little studio with possibly the PS4 SDK. As the are proffesional studio. Not hobby indies.
Even with a full developer kit. The difference is. Between the big budged and indie is the team size. If kit would be $5K.
A indie studio has 1 mayby 2.
A big studio has 3 to 10 kits. So prise isn't the problem but amount kits the need.
As secound a indie studio with small team can't compete with assets produced bij big studio. There art team is huge so that is where the bulk of difference is.
Ms drops XNA its Xbox360 thing.
So how does MS support indies on xbox one? Not with XNA.
@SuperG If Microsoft is building the X1 with a version of Windows 8 (albeit a stripped down version), couldn't they just allow people to use the same toolset and release it for the Windows 8 store?
To me, that would allow indies to release it for both Windows and X1. Plus, on top of that, *hopefully* they can easily optimize it for Windows 8 tablets and phones as well. Basically using one version and having 4 different platforms for deployment.
I'd love to see Microsoft release a whole new version of XNA, but be totally Windows 8 centric. Essentially allowing developers to utilize it's functionality in a much grander way and give them a wider reach altogether.
I'd love to see Microsoft release a whole new version of XNA, but be totally Windows 8 centric. Essentially allowing developers to utilize it's functionality in a much grander way and give them a wider reach altogether.
A lot of XNA's utility stuff got folded in to other parts of the windows sdk. Mostly you just have to figure out where the stuff you want got moved to.
Unfortunately that does not include direct3d in C# iirc.
