Just wondering about PS2
Author
is making game in PS2 free? i mean if someone wants to create/realese a game for ps2 do they need to pay something? if yes what is it then?
im just curious i dont plan to create some ps2 games hehehehe.
thanks
depends what you mean by free. If you mean something like creating a "hello world!" program for PS2 then that is free.It is not completely legal though. But if you mean creating a game, then releasing it on store shelves, i'm pretty sure sony will sue you for not being a licensed game developer. so, if you want to "create/release" a game you will need the SDK(software dev kit), and be licensed from sony. The PS2 SDK costs over $250,000 dollars.
~8K-Euro's to join the sony club...that gets your dev-kit, then once you've done your game you master 8 gold disc at a cost of ~80quid per disc.....then publisher pays for dist......thats all assuming you get apporval to be a licensed sony developer...
The PS2 devkit does NOT cost $250,000. A PS2 devkit, from what I've been told, costs less than $500. Not much, considering you're getting a playstation, 40 gig hard drive, a linux devkit, etc.. with it. Yes, you're probably not wrong about the distribution thing: If you want to sell the game on store shelves, I'm sure its a different story. But to buy the Playstation 2 Devkit and make games with it? Doesn't cost much money. But it will cost you time and frustration. Sony does not provide any support for this platform at all (or else they'd be plagued with calls ALL the time).
I've actually used this devkit a little. The college I graduated from had a game design program (2 years), and I was enrolled in it. They had this room with PS2 devkits in it we could fool around with. I dabbled enough in it to know that I never want to use it again. If you are some kind of super genius with infinite patience, then all the power to you. I'll tell you right now that the PS2 is the HARDEST of this generation's console's to develop for. XBox is soo much easier (but the price for this one is actually closer to what Anonymous said the PS2 was. In fact, the prices he claimed are so similar to what my teacher told me about the Xbox, that I'm inclined to think that he might have gotten the two mixed up ;) )
Anyway, there's NO WAY that little community college I went to could have afforded all those PS2 devkits if they were $250,000 each.
BTW, how much is a quid?
I've actually used this devkit a little. The college I graduated from had a game design program (2 years), and I was enrolled in it. They had this room with PS2 devkits in it we could fool around with. I dabbled enough in it to know that I never want to use it again. If you are some kind of super genius with infinite patience, then all the power to you. I'll tell you right now that the PS2 is the HARDEST of this generation's console's to develop for. XBox is soo much easier (but the price for this one is actually closer to what Anonymous said the PS2 was. In fact, the prices he claimed are so similar to what my teacher told me about the Xbox, that I'm inclined to think that he might have gotten the two mixed up ;) )
Anyway, there's NO WAY that little community college I went to could have afforded all those PS2 devkits if they were $250,000 each.
BTW, how much is a quid?
Quote:Original post by EGD Eric
The PS2 devkit does NOT cost $250,000. A PS2 devkit, from what I've been told, costs less than $500. Not much, considering you're getting a playstation, 40 gig hard drive, a linux devkit, etc.. with it.
The official TOOL developement kits are a LOT more than a playstation, 40 gig hard drive, and a 'linux devkit' .. It sounds like your college just purchased a bunch of ps2linux kits, which while it does enable you to write software and have it run on the Playstation2 is no where near the developement kit a pro developer has. When first released a PS2Linux kit plus Playstation2 cost around the $500 you mentioned.
You should also keep in mind the cost of an individual piece of development hardware (such as the TOOL or a test unit) isn't the same thing as becoming a fully licensed Playstation2 developer and, among other things, being provided with software and documentation. I don't have a price quote for you off the top of my head but yes, its in the neighborhood of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Yes, it's possible to write games or other software for the Playstation2 without being a licensed developer nor having the hardware, software, and documentation available to licensed developer. Yes you could have your creation pressed into a PS2 CD/DVD through unofficial channels and then sell your creation (products such as the AR Max are examples of this). No, Sony could not sue you over this alone (there have been more than one previous precidents to attest to this if you do not believe me).
However, having discs pressed (through places which are unofficial and IMO a bit shady) will run in the thousands of dollars even for the minimum sized run (which is likely far more copies than you would sell), not to mention it is highly unlikely any reputable store would buy any copies of your unlicensed software to put on their shelves.
If a small company is interested in becoming an official Playstation2 developer chances are they will do so by convincing an established publisher to front the initial cost.
If on the other hand, someone reading this just wants to try some homebrew take a look at http://ps2dev.org
When you talk about having discs "pressed" do you mean getting a picture pressed onto the CD?
I'll take your word for what you're saying about the PS2 Pro devkit. I had heard that the PS2 proffesional developpers have more libraries with their devkits. If it costs that much more it must (I hope) be easier to devlop with, what with having extra libraries/classes etc.. that you'd otherwise have to make yourself. Still though, all I was correct in what I said. All Yuppies asked is how much a PS2 devkit costs, and the first 2 posts seemed to give the impression - to someone that doesn't know about it - that it was absolutely Impossible for an ordinary Joe to make a game that runs on the PS2. They never mentioned that there's one out there for $500.
I'll take your word for what you're saying about the PS2 Pro devkit. I had heard that the PS2 proffesional developpers have more libraries with their devkits. If it costs that much more it must (I hope) be easier to devlop with, what with having extra libraries/classes etc.. that you'd otherwise have to make yourself. Still though, all I was correct in what I said. All Yuppies asked is how much a PS2 devkit costs, and the first 2 posts seemed to give the impression - to someone that doesn't know about it - that it was absolutely Impossible for an ordinary Joe to make a game that runs on the PS2. They never mentioned that there's one out there for $500.
Quote:Original post by EGD Eric
When you talk about having discs "pressed" do you mean getting a picture pressed onto the CD?
he means the copies of the discs being made
discs aren't burned on at a time; one is burned the rest are pressed.
the linux kit does have some ps2 hardware documentation, but not a whole lot.
[the offical dev kit [t1000?] has extra ram stuff the ordinary console doesn't have]
Quote:Original post by EGD Eric
When you talk about having discs "pressed" do you mean getting a picture pressed onto the CD?
IIRC when professional CD's are made the data is pressed onto the cd. It would take far too long and be too expensive to burn the cds like you would at home.
Quote:Original post by EGD Eric
When you talk about having discs "pressed" do you mean getting a picture pressed onto the CD?
Mass produced CDs are create using a stamping process. In other words, a mold containing the data is "pressed" into the reflective surface of the CD, thus these type of CDs are typically referred to as "pressed" CDs (has a better ring to it than 'commercially mass produced CDs" don't you think?)
CDs you would create at home using a CD-R/W writer are created by burning the reflective layer with a laser, which is why they are typically called "burned" CDs.
There are a lot of restrictions on burned CDs due to how they are created that don't exist with pressed CDs.
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