Inside the PlayStation Suite SDK

New submitter Serapth writes "Sony recently released the PlayStation Suite SDK to open beta. Using PSS, people are able to write games for various PlayStation certified devices in a C#/Mono based environment. This post takes a look at what's included in the SDK, which, surprisingly, is quite a bit."

Comments

Real Answer: No

[Anonymous Coward]

Can anyone be a developer?
We can't provide detailed information at this stage, but we are now making the necessary preparations to allow developers to smoothly move through the contract stage. We will post information on this website as it becomes available.

Re:Incoherent strategy?

[_xeno_]

and PS3

Nope! PSP Vita only. Well, PSP Vita and "PlayStation phone" devices only. And I guess some Sony tablet thingies.

This is basically Sony trying to compete with iOS and Android as far as I can tell.

Re:Incoherent strategy?

[_xeno_]

Sony's own website makes mention of the supported devices requiring a touch screen, so, that kind of rules out the PS3:

You can develop games and applications that utilize physical buttons and touchscreen by using the integrated development environment (IDE) and simulator for the PC which are both included in the PlayStation(R)Suite SDK. [emphasis mine]

Then again, it's still in beta, and there are currently no requirements on what a game needs to support, so maybe the touchscreen support will be optional and you'll be required to support physical button controls as well, in order to support the PS3.

Plus, the FAQ explicitly says you'll still need a separate contract to develop PS3/PSP "Mini" games, so at present, it really doesn't sound like PS3 support is in the cards.

It seriously sounds like they're doing this solely to go after the cellphone games market. Apparently one of the demo games in the SDK is an Angry Birds clone, to give you an idea of the type of games they appear to be pushing.

Oh, wow!

[Alex Belits]

No PS3 support. Only one device (PS Vita) that has a chance to be ever used by anyone.
Windows-only release based on Mono (and loudly proclaimed announcement that not even OSX will be supported).
Proprietary language controlled by a major competitor (yes, it is proprietary -- C and C++ are open, C# is proprietary).
2D only.
Free (in either meaning of the word) applications and games are not allowed.
Sony reserves the right to prevent anyone from using it after beta.
Everyone who will be allowed by Sony to use it after beta, has to pay Sony.

That's like Nokia and Sony had a baby.

Re:Oh, wow!

[tomstockmail]

1. It's for mobile devices. PS Vita is the current testing platform. When PSSuite launches, it will be available on Playstation Android phones (another whole story).
2. It's beta, but since it's a branded Mono Develop that means good things. iOS can only be done properly on OSX after all.
3. Yeah that was weird but they might be going for the XNA crowd.
4. There's 3D support, you're completely wrong. From their site
>Rather than providing only basic samples for explaining each basic API, the SDK also gives you access to samples of games and applications using 2D and 3D graphics.
5. PSSuite will be a platform. Google can prevent anyone from using the Play store, Apple can prevent anyone from using the app store.
6. It will be $99/year, the same price as iOS development.
Looks like it's right in line with the other mobile platforms.

Support will be key

[clickclickdrone]

Sony are infamous for being crap and dev support. A friend who has worked on a number of game projects says that they hate dealing with Sony. When they hit an issue developing for Xbox, they email MS and get a reply, often with a code snippet/workaround and by the end of day, On the other hand, they have to chase Sony over and over and eventually, weeks later get an email saying 'Look in the documentation'.