If you'll recall, Microsoft had high hopes that Sony's first-generation games would look cruddy. Sony had given so little time to developers to work with the development kits that, the theory went, developers would not have enough time to make games. One developer I spoke with said that developing for the PS 3 is harder than for the Xbox 360. He said that everything came in late and many companies had harsh deadlines. Electronic Arts had nine months to do Fight Night Round 3 for the PS 3. The companies that are repurposing Xbox 360 games are having an easier time getting done for launch.
But the evidence we saw this week shows that the PS 3 games are looking good, even for first-generation games. Julian Eggebrecht, head of former Nintendo developer Factor 5, says that Sony really came through with the development kits. Kaz Hirai noted there are 10,000 dev kits seeded among developers now. By and large, the games I saw looked BETTER than Xbox 360 games. Not all were great. Not all were demonstrably better. Not all are worth the price difference of the consoles. But the developers seem to be doing well. Now we'll see how many of these 21 titles in the "launch window" actually show up for launch.
