[geeks] nVidia 8800GT for Apple Mac Pro

[Nadine Miller]

Mark wrote:
> On 21 May 2008, at 21:52, Nadine Miller wrote:
> 
>> Programming for the PS3 is a very different beast than programming for 
>> the PC.  Though, if EVE is based on an existing FPS engine, most of 
>> the popular ones have been ported already.
> 
> Well, as it's not an FPS (it's a space game, ala Elite/Freelancer) then 
> it'd be hard for it to be... the great thing about EVE is that  the core 
> logic is written in stackless Python, if they wrote or lisenced a 
> graphics engine for the PS3 then the game logic and the rest would be 
> relatively straightforward as Python is already there for the PPC/PS3 
> platform.
> 
> All pipe dreams I know, but it proves that it wouldn't be an 
> unobtainable feat. IMO It'd be easier than a lot of other PC games.

I'm not sure why they haven't; I think it's partly due to the perception 
that "hard core" console players are more into FPS and similar than 
"persistent" MMO type environments.  I don't know how successful Final 
Fantasy Online was; this would probably be the bellweather game at least 
as far as the PS2/PS3 family is concerned, as a lot of cash was sunk 
into it's launch and the release of the hard drive add-on for the PS2.

Part of it, too, is that the executives that run the console companies 
are very Japan-focused and the market there is considerably different 
from the US market.  There's also a lot of license weirdness.

For example, I think the reason why the network aspects of PS* and 
Nintendo gaming are so much weaker than XBOX live has to do with the 
failure of the Japanese to understand how to market this segment of 
their offerings.  The dissolution of our first party studio in the US 
PS2 division was totally based on the Japanese not understanding how to 
proceed with network services (the code was 90% written and close to 
ready to be handed off to 1st and 3rd party game studios).  Hence the 
announcement (prior to the layoffs) by a Sony VP @ the Game Developers' 
conference in San Jose that they would be focusing solely on networking 
in games and not other network services.

Nintendo has oriented it's network offerings to be a bit more 
social-focused, which I'm guessing they think holds more interest for 
the "casual" gamer.

I always referred to Sony as a "Winchester Mystery House" corporation. 
I figured there was maybe a half-dozen people over in Japan that knew 
WTF was going on in all the divisions.  The rest of us basically were 
working in the dark, knowing only what was necessary for our immediate 
work.  Paid well, plenty of benefits, but my perception was that this 
particular division was not really a welcoming place if you were not a 
game developer or artist.

It retrospect I probably should have stuck around; I don't think I was 
ever called after hours on that job.  Since my developers were not 
actually working on /games/ they never had the kind of hard deadlines 
for Christmas releases that other teams had.  Their code just went into 
libraries provided to the game developers.  I am pretty sure the PS 
Network team would have snagged me so I wouldn't have been laid off.

Hindsight and all...

=Nadine=