Developers give PlayStation Vita some love

Sony’s upcoming PlayStation Vita handheld is gaining positive words from the game development community.

Stuart Tilling, game director at Sony Liverpool, responsible for Wipeout 2048, reckons that the PS Vita is the easiest Sony gaming platform to develop for.  He claims that his team were able to get their prequel to the famous Wipeout futuristic racing series up and running much quicker than on platforms that they’ve worked on previously.

Stuart Tilling told UK games mag Edge, 'I think of all the PlayStations I've worked on, which is actually all of them, it's the easiest one to work with'.

"We had a smaller team at the back end of last year that got working straight away on the game stuff rather than too much of the underlying tech, which allows us to really start getting the game in your hands as soon as possible.”

The cost of the Sony developer kits has also come down, with the Vita’s kit coming in at a fraction of the cost of the PSP’s. Sony’s consoles have also been notoriously difficult to program, so the above will provide some comfort to developers that may have been turned off Sony’s hardware offerings in the past.

EA Labels President, Frank Gibeau, let it be known last week at Gamecom that he felt that the Vita will do better than Nintendo’s 3DS.

The former EA Games boss told Computer and Video Games that he thought that Sony’s new machine had the innovation, technology and strong software line-up to give the platform a smoother launch than has befallen Nintendo’s device.

"I think [Sony has] got a shot because they have some really unique innovation in the control scheme, the technology and the screen. It's got a lot of social features now so that you can actually communicate with your friends and be social.

"I don't think they're quite in the same boat as the 3DS... the 3DS was a really interesting piece of technology but I think there was some confusion over it and the title slate was a little different," he said.

"I think Vita has a better chance because it has a stronger title slate at launch. PSP's had a great run in Europe as a device; it seems to have reached a much larger audience here than it did in North America. So I think they've got a good shot. We're going to publish a few games on it and see how it develops."

This is not likely to make Nintendo feel any better, having had to reduce the retail price of the 3DS so close to launch.

This is Darren’s last report for Game Console. We’ve appreciated all his hard work, and wish him all the best for the future.