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PlayStation (Games) Games

Inside the PlayStation Suite SDK 87

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."
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Inside the PlayStation Suite SDK

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  • by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 25, 2012 @12:32AM (#39791631)

    ...but I'm guessing "respect for the customer" was one of the things left out.

    • Herp, derp. Seriously, can the anti-sony fanboys at least be original in their bashing every once in a while?
      • That's like saying "can't you anti-nazi fanboys just leave hitler alone?"

        Seriously, fuck Sony.

        And yes, godwin in 3.

  • Incoherent strategy? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Qwavel ( 733416 )

    I heard Sony was determined to forge a coherent, integrated strategy, but now I see that their phones (some of which are PS certified) are all Android based, but the PSS is mono/dotNet based. What's going on there?

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by TechNY ( 2625421 )
      I think it's a great thing actually. Now that they introduced that you can develop for all Windows, XBOX360, WP7 and PS3 using .net. For example C# really is an awesome language to code with, and Visual Studio is a great piece of software that totally kicks any other IDE's. I have tried Objective-C, Java and their IDE's several times and they come nothing close to how good it is to use C#/.NET. This is great.
      • by _xeno_ ( 155264 ) on Wednesday April 25, 2012 @12:55AM (#39791763) Homepage Journal

        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.

        • by mdenham ( 747985 )

          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.

          I'd be moderately surprised if PS3 support isn't on the table for "later, as in once we're out of beta".

          Not completely surprised, because Sony's been known to make massively boneheaded moves (like I have to remind anyone here about that), but it'd definitely land in the "dumb moves from a profit standpoint" category.

          • by _xeno_ ( 155264 ) on Wednesday April 25, 2012 @01:15AM (#39791849) Homepage Journal

            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.

        • by Eraesr ( 1629799 )
          Actually, the PSP Vita isn't listed on the PSS website as supported device.
        • This seems to be exactly what Microsoft's XNA is for the XBox. Almost to the letter.

          XNA uses C#/.NET despite this not being a native language for the XBox. It doesn't expose the full capabilities of the device, so you are relegated to 'arcade-like' games which are nowhere near as complex as a real, on-the-disc game written in a proper lower-level language with hardware optimizations.

      • by Gwala ( 309968 )

        A lot of the top selling iOS/Android games are done with Unity [unity3d.com]; which also uses C#/Mono. Actually the PS Suite SDK looks very similar to Unity in a lot of respects.

        (Actually to take it a full loop; Unity pushes to the PS anyway, Rochard and a few others have gone cross-console with Unity)

        • by Tough Love ( 215404 ) on Wednesday April 25, 2012 @01:55AM (#39792015)

          I had to scratch my head over this one until I realize that it's a kick at Microsoft... blessing the non-Microsoft incarnation of C# and making it, by definition, compatible. Truthfully though, I think Sony would be better served by sticking to the mainstream of what first string game devs are actually using. Not that I really care about the welfare of these two abusers. They make a great pair for a death spiral.

      • Jeez, why is this guy scored -1 flamebait?! This deserves informative/insightful mods! Wish I had some.

        • Seemed pretty bizarre to me too. He got the PS3 bit wrong but flamebait? Don't think so. There seems to be a number of users who regularly get knocked back on quite reasonable posts. I'm starting to suspect an organised group of users down modding people whose politics they disagree with or something.
          • It's not an organized group. Slashdot works like this country does. If it were a single group then it would be totally fucked because all the bad moderation would be in a single direction. Instead there are multiple groups, and some of them aren't really even groups, just masses of like-minded people (kind of like Anonymous?) There's the faction of people who want to vote to correct bad voting. There's the faction of people who only vote up (or down) humor. There's the troll faction. And then there's severa

    • by mdenham ( 747985 )

      Nothing different from the current state of XNA, really, I expect. In fact, I suspect the reason Sony's using a version of the CLR (probably without the system.windows.* portion of the class tree) is to try and poach developers who are already used to using XNA.

      I'm planning on looking at this just to see whether or not it'd be feasible to write code that operates in all of the XNA-supporting environments as well as the PS-certified devices and PS Vita. If it is... well, $200/year for supporting everythin

    • There already is Mono for Android [xamarin.com]. If Sony didn't want people to pay for Mono for Android (understandable as it starts at $399 USD), they could fairly easily just make it themselves. Nothing's stopping anyone from running Mono stuff on Android.
      • Well nothing exept the utterly absurd price tag that is..... With the returns of app stores for the average developer, its a pretty hard cost to justify.

        • While I agree that it'd be hard to justify paying that much for a small developer, it's irrelevant as, just as I figured they probably did, Sony included some sort of way to run the things you make with the PSS on PlayStation certified Android phones. Unity does the exact same thing (provided you pay for the Android license); they ship their own runtime for Android so you don't also have to pay for Mono for Android. I don't know the details (I have the SDK installed but I don't have any PlayStation certifie
  • Real Answer: No (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 25, 2012 @12:40AM (#39791669)

    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.

    • there is a fee involved, and I suspect, an ios style contract for selling apps, revenue sharing, etc.
  • by assemblerex ( 1275164 ) on Wednesday April 25, 2012 @12:40AM (#39791671)
    ...it's probably never going to make you a penny developing for these devices.
    • by gl4ss ( 559668 )

      xperia play, sony's tablets, and a bunch of se phones, recognize them all.

      general android deployment would be a big plus though, now the biggest selling point is the built in libs and the ability to target vita.

      • Sure, but ask your average consumer what they are and you'll just get a funny look. Contrast that reaction to the fact that iPhone and Android are now household names in most 1st world countries and you start to see why developing software for them is pointless.
  • There was a time that I worked for a video game publishing company and Sony's testing software had ZERO ZIP ZILTCH documentation. Specifically I worked on the online department. Microsoft had its Network Emulator for Windows Toolkit (NEWT) and Sony had its equivalent. It was backwards, awkward, and for a period time didn't event work (this was also around the time of the Sony network being hacked so we couldn't even release our titles if we wanted to). Figuring out how to hook their software up to our PS3s,

  • Oh, wow! (Score:5, Informative)

    by Alex Belits ( 437 ) * on Wednesday April 25, 2012 @01:37AM (#39791949) Homepage

    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 [playstation.com]).
    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 [playstation.com].
    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! (Score:5, Informative)

      by tomstockmail ( 2056752 ) on Wednesday April 25, 2012 @01:49AM (#39791995)
      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 [playstation.com]
      >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.
      • It looks more like a massively crippled platform with Sony trying to control access to the least-popular Sony-branded devices. Any combination of 2D and 3D game engines for Android would be superior in all possible ways except for Sony name not being attached to it.

        • by s73v3r ( 963317 )

          So you're just gonna throw out an assertion, with nothing to back it up, and with nothing to dispute his counterpoints?

      • 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).

        And yet, there is no good reason why you wouldn't want to run these games on your PS3.

        It's beta, but since it's a branded Mono Develop that means good things

        Name one. You lost me at "Mono"

        PSSuite will be a platform. Google can prevent anyone from using the Play store, Apple can prevent anyone from using the app store.

        Google doesn't try to prevent you from making apps for their platform, they only control who can use the store. You have a point with Apple, but "they're no more evil than Apple" is not a good argument 'round these parts.

        It will be $99/year, the same price as iOS development.

        Let me say it again, slower, FUCK APPLE

        Looks like it's right in line with the other mobile platforms.

        Sure, except for Android, which is totally different since anyone can download the full source, anyone can download the SDK, and anyon

        • I see slashdot comments become more and more useless with every passing day.
          • It's become a den of anti-corporate, pro-piracy fanboys who had anyone who dares to sell anything for a profit.
        • by s73v3r ( 963317 )

          Before you blow a gasket bitching and moaning about the price of Apple development, need I remind you that Microsoft has the exact same costs? So every one of your "Fuck Apple" statements should be a "Fuck Microsoft" statement too?

          Maybe you should try to tone down the Android fanboyism a tad. It's not like Android, no. Who cares?

          • So every one of your "Fuck Apple" statements should be a "Fuck Microsoft" statement too?

            Yes, fuck Microsoft too.

      • by h4rr4r ( 612664 )

        5. PSSuite will be a platform. Google can prevent anyone from using the Play store, Apple can prevent anyone from using the app store.

        But you can add other stores as an alternative to the Play store.

        • Right, such as the PSSuite alternative to the Play store. It's good competition. The Vita might not be able to add alternative stores, but most importantly Sony will be competing with Google on the Android systems.
    • by DrXym ( 126579 )
      It does seem a bit nuts to use Mono given that the primary targets are likely to be Android, the PS Vita and the PS3. One would think that C/C++ and / or Java would be a better fit.
      • by Pastis ( 145655 )
        Unity3d also supports Mono and is cross platform (iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, web, etc...). It's not nuts at all.
    • PS3 support. I don't care. Probably requires a firmware update in order for it to work, and they are probably focused on the PS3's replacement. This is also an Open Beta. It's easier to control errors when you're only supporting 1 platform for the Beta. Their will probably be a staged beta period where other platforms are tested prior to a release version.

      Compared to what you normally have to pay for the privilege of developing on any of the game platforms this is a nice and easy deal to work with.

      Given t

    • by s73v3r ( 963317 )

      Everyone who will be allowed by Sony to use it after beta, has to pay Sony.

      This isn't any different than most of the other programs. You pay the same amount to Microsoft and Apple for developing on their devices.

  • Support will be key (Score:5, Informative)

    by clickclickdrone ( 964164 ) on Wednesday April 25, 2012 @04:53AM (#39792623)
    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'.
    • I think part of the problem it seems that SCE(J) writes the dev documentation, and they suck. The language issue doesn't help either.

      Let me give a couple of PS2 LInux kit examples. The Kit's distro is a Red Hat variant, but NOT a mainline Red Hat, but a funky crazy Japanese variant. called Kondara.

      1. At first Sony said that you would need a VGA monitor to do the install, but could then set it after installation to use the PS2's DTV or NTSC modes if desired. Some people actually did a blind install. But

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