PS3 native dev makes for "better" Xbox 360 games
SCEA's Steinberg believes that developers will use PS3 as their primary platform
Sony Computer Entertainment America's VP of product marketing, Scott Steinberg, has told GamesIndustry.biz that he believes that over time more and more developers will shift to the PlayStation 3 as their native development platform - and that Xbox 360 games will "look better as a result".
In an interview at this year's E3 Media & Business Summit, Steinberg explained how the ten-year plan for the company's flagship console had given the PS3 a strong foundation, and while it was the late arrival on the next-gen scene, developers were starting to see the potential.
"We see the development just now starting to get going," he said. "We're now in our third and fourth generations with first party, and that will start to create some distance with the competition - from our standpoint - but as the third parties begin to move their development to native PS3 and port down to other platforms, they'll start to see their games' fidelity getting better and better - and in fact I think even Xbox 360 games will start to look better as a result.
"There's a historical fact of having the [Xbox 360] dev kits first, so there's the thought of porting down to the late arrivals, but I think that Burnout [Paradise] is a great example of a game that shipped fairly recently that showed what you can do if you start originally on PS3, and we've seen and heard more of that from our third party publisher relations group.
"As they realise that if you start on the PS3 other platforms look better, it starts to become a no-brainer," he added.
He also stated his belief that retailers were happy with the PS3 because it opened up three revenue streams.
"I think that's the opportunity - pick the tech, and you get ten years as a result," he said. "And if you're looking for a Blu-ray player, there's really no better player out there than the PS3. Retail has accepted it because of the three revenue streams - games, movies and peripherals.
"If you cement the customer with a Best Buy or Wal-Mart or whoever, and you merchandise it right, you're going to get those customers coming back for games, you'll get them coming back for another controller, or cables, or the latest release of 300."
The full GamesIndustry.biz interview with Scott Steinberg is available now.