Cheaper SDK Lures Developers to PS3

By Nick Mokey November 18, 2007

Cheaper SDK Lures Developers to PS3

Having already slashed prices on the PlayStation 3 and seen a corresponding increase in sales, Sony took yet another step to push its console into the mainstream on Monday by reducing the price of its software development kit (SDK). According to the Wall Street Journal, the price of the SDK will dive to $10,250 in North America, 950,000 yen in Japan and €7,500 in Europe.

SDKs are packages of necessary tools for developers to build a game on a given platform. By reducing the price, Sony hopes that smaller developers will be able to afford to make games for the PS3, expanding the number of available titles for the system.

Recommended Videos

Besides dropping the price of the SDK, Sony has also added to it with a number of new tools, such as ProDG, SN-DBS, and SN Linker, with more to come. In addition, the specially built PS3 units used to debug games can now be used to program them as well.

Sony celebrated the first birthday of the PS3 on Friday, but the system continues to lag behind the Nintendo Wii in popularity and sales. Recently released sales figures from Japan show that tide may be turning.

Managing Editor

As Digital Trends’ Managing Editor, Nick Mokey oversees an editorial team delivering definitive reviews, enlightening…

Gaming

The real star of Resident Evil Village’s Maiden demo is the PS5’s 3D audio

Resident Evil Maiden Demo

Resident Evil Village’s first demo, titled Maiden, is now live -- and it’s quite a teaser. The PlayStation 5 exclusive is no more than 15 minutes long and gives just a small taste of the survival horror game’s ornate castle and mysterious monsters.

While the quick demo serves as a tantalizing tease for one of the year’s biggest games, it’s even more effective as a showcase for one of the PlayStation 5’s less-discussed features: 3D audio.

Gaming

Sony’s PlayStation 5 repeats the PS3’s mistakes, with one key difference

playstation 5 design renders render 1

Mark Cerny’s PlayStation 5 presentation detailed many key elements of Sony's new console. It was also, frankly, a snoozefest for most of the people watching it. That’s not a huge surprise. Cerny is the project’s lead, not a personality or presenter, and the talk was originally scheduled for the now-postponed Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2020. It was a deep dive, not a flashy marketing presentation (though Sony could’ve done more to make that clear).

Still, the presentation’s focus was a surprise. You might have expected it to linger on the CPU and GPU, two key components most gamers associate with performance. Instead, Cerny went deepest on the console's custom storage solution and audio engine, which only Sony’s PlayStation 5 will have.

Gaming

PS4 swan song Ghost of Tsushima will launch just after E3

Ghost of Tsushima

Ghost of Tsushima - Story Trailer | PS4

Sony may be skipping E3 2020, but it'll still be plenty busy come June when Ghost of Tsushima launches for PlayStation 4 as one of the console's last major exclusives before the PS5 arrives later this year.