Sony: 10,000 PS3 dev kits shipped

Publisher says its next-gen system has already broken PlayStation franchise records for third-party numbers.

Third-party support is crucial for any gaming console, and Sony says it's already hitting new milestones in that field with the yet-to-be-released PlayStation 3.

Sony reps told GameSpot that with almost four months left until the PS3's worldwide launch, it has already shipped out more than 10,000 PS3 development kits. That's more than the total number of development systems for any other PlayStation platform, according to the publisher. As for who is working with those kits, Sony said it shipped them out to 208 companies in 11 different countries--also all-time highs for the PlayStation brand.

Sony's mass SDK push puts it in a good position for the PS3's November debut, according to Epic Games' Mark Rein. In an interview with Eurogamer, he mentioned that developers were beginning to receive finished PS3 hardware around the time of the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2006 in May. Though that might seem late, Rein said Sony was ahead of where its archrival Microsoft was the previous year, pointing out that developers did not have finished Xbox 360 SDKs at E3 2005.

178 Comments

  • thepeter

    Posted Jul 29, 2006 8:58 pm PT

    good news for the industry...right?

  • Bravelionheart7

    Posted Jul 27, 2006 1:23 pm PT

    chrisdojo: Nice job on reading. *rolls eyes* Because obviously companies only buy one dev kit to work off of.

    Man, try actually reading the article. Here, I'll even quote it for you so you won't possibly miss it.

    "Sony said it shipped them out to 208 companies[...]"

  • devil_dude1986

    Posted Jul 27, 2006 12:43 pm PT

    What's so great about shipping dev-kits?

    Are there any new games announced? Will they be announced in the next month (now that the dev-kits have been shipped)?
    This article means only one thing to me:
    If sony can't get enough games on shelves, they deserve to...ah screw it, don't wanna get modded

  • luv_mist

    Posted Jul 27, 2006 12:34 pm PT

    Honestly, that's a lot of dev kits. The only thing that kind of gets at me is the fact that both the XBOX 360 and PS3 will have the same games. However, I heard that the setup for both are significantly different. I honestly don't know how many of htose kits will be optimized to show the power of the PS3 but I hope that if I make the plunge 3+ years down the rode, that it was worth it. I'd hate for Sony to die off and we only be left with M$ and Nintendo. Won't be the same.

    On another note, very "mature" website. Quality posters. Good thing school is about to start because a lot of you guys definitely need to go back to ENG 100.

  • helios515

    Posted Jul 27, 2006 12:31 pm PT

    Now... we just need to take out a loan for he 600 dollar system and they're betwwen 60 and 100 dollar games.

  • need_id07

    Posted Jul 27, 2006 11:17 am PT

    ROFL :is def kits like accesories?" no, they are the hardware the allows companies to program games for the ps3. they are a big deal cause it has open systems and stuff so they they can see all the ps3 can offer and do. they cost over 1k each too.

  • Dic_Dasterdly

    Posted Jul 27, 2006 9:58 am PT

    good news for sony fanboys I guess. But, is it just me our our the rest of you sony and MS fanboys tired of PC guys commenting on our forms. Is there even a PC form. No one cares about PC games here. Go back to your made up girlfriends and potato chips.

  • sasuke55

    Posted Jul 27, 2006 9:50 am PT

    Blah who cares. Produce games not numbers.

  • JROCCC

    Posted Jul 27, 2006 9:35 am PT

    doest it really matter if they ship that many kits they can send 10 billion kits across the world there are only certain developers that matter we all know this and at the end they all have dev kits for all systems. Unless they are owned by the other Sony, or Microsoft.

    To me this is nothing but a media stir for the press but hey it is good press.

  • jaefrmbk2k

    Posted Jul 27, 2006 9:31 am PT

    Halelijah! Jesus has always blessed the Playstation

  • GKBeetle

    Posted Jul 27, 2006 7:38 am PT

    I guess that means there will be a better chance of a game coming out that will be worth the huge price point of the system.

  • alberto2045

    Posted Jul 27, 2006 6:55 am PT

    is dev kits like accesories for the PS3???

  • LosDaddie

    Posted Jul 27, 2006 6:42 am PT

    Sony is a year late to the party. I would hope they are prepared.

  • christopherneal

    Posted Jul 27, 2006 6:34 am PT

    Are we still stuck on price? This article is about SDK's. Not only do most posters lack spelling and grammar skills but reading comprehension as well. And you wonder why American's can't compete with the rest of the Planet when it comes to education? Oh well. This is a good thing for SONY as software developers have been screaming for these finalized kits for months. Good press for SONY.

  • sussexj

    Posted Jul 27, 2006 6:34 am PT

    Great news for gamers! lots of dev kits+plenty of 3rd party support=lots of great games comming! And I wish u guys would stop refering to the ps3 price point as being only $600. There is a $500 version commin out too.

  • LordBraz

    Posted Jul 27, 2006 5:53 am PT

    Sony just loves to mislead us with numbers. Remember when they said they had over 15 million PSPs shipped, implying they had sold that many? I doubt the PSP will sell 15 million units in its existence. Anyway, go ahead and pay your $600 for a PS3, I personally will spend $605 on my next-gen system: a 360, a Wii, and a roll of duct tape to form Wii60!

  • quack_er

    Posted Jul 27, 2006 5:50 am PT

    You know 3rd Dev companies will more than likely recieve more than 1 dev kit. It would be silly to have 1 company to work on only 1 dev kit.

  • chrisdojo

    Posted Jul 27, 2006 5:16 am PT

    10k shipped? hmm. seems like there might be an extra zero that slipped on to that figure. are there even 10k gaming companies out there?

  • seandillion_99

    Posted Jul 27, 2006 5:12 am PT

    Afgad,
    I thoroughly enjoyed your "essay" (as some put it). I disagree only with point 6."
    Whether or not 10.000 dev kits is an impressive number is difficult
    to tell. Sure 10.000 are more than the number of PS2 dev kits, but
    would you expect any less? The PS2 did quite well, and so it's only
    natural to assume the PS3 will have a good starting point with lots of
    3rd party developers.

    On the contrary, I think 10,000 dev kits is an incredibly impressive number. Due to the cost and intracasy we have seen in these "next-gen" machines I was actually expecting significantly less dev. kits than the PS2. Specifically, I am impressed with the fact that Sony has almost doubled the amount of time its 3rd Party Developers will have to work with the dev. kits compared to that of the Xbox 360. I seem to remember a gamespot article indicating two months for third-party developers to work with dev. kits.

    Alas, there is a logical progression in seeing an increase in Sony's dev. kits due to the fact, as you noted, that they have SO MANY 3rd party developers.

    Great commentary, and excellent point on Console to PC gaming (or vise versa). No matter how good video technology seems to be, PC to console porting remains an alchemist's dream.

  • anamnawshad

    Posted Jul 27, 2006 4:45 am PT

  • puppiemaster

    Posted Jul 27, 2006 4:14 am PT

    I hope the PS3 sells well, I'm not getting 1 though, but I wish them good fortune

  • chickenoverlord

    Posted Jul 27, 2006 3:51 am PT

    OK I REED IT... WOT HE SED...

  • chickenoverlord

    Posted Jul 27, 2006 3:46 am PT

    wow the only thing i didn't read was your essay afgad.... never know i might have agreed with you but hey,,,

  • THESEVENTROLLS

    Posted Jul 27, 2006 2:14 am PT

    [This message was deleted at the request of a moderator or administrator]

  • nutzelfutz

    Posted Jul 27, 2006 1:34 am PT

    @ afgad:
    True. Thank you very much. Seems this needs to be said sometimes.

  • afgad

    Posted Jul 27, 2006 12:57 am PT

    Regarding the comments so far:
    1. It helps to read the article before commenting on it. About 50% of the comments here are written by people who either didn't read the article or seriously misinterpreted it.

    2. Fanboys in general are a nuisance to productive discussion, regardless of which platform they support.

    3. When commenting on the article, it helps to comment on the content of the present article, and not spout out random thoughts that have no correlation to the present article at all. In this case, the article is about the number of developer kits being sent to third party developers, so why do people talk about the price of the console? We have articles about the pricing of next-gen consoles, we don't discuss the number of developer kits when commenting on those articles, so why do we field the need to discuss the price when commenting on this?

    4. Language is your friend. Seriously, language is the foundation for all communication. If you purposely misspell words, write in all-caps, use non-sensical abbreviation, etc, you are making it very hard for people to read what you're trying to say. Seeing as this comments-section has developed as a discursive "forum" for the exchange of opinions, you would do well to make sure that your opinions are as well-formulated as possible.

    Clear writing is also an indication of clear thought. Messy writing on the other hand... I'll say this as bluntly as possible: If you'd like to avoid being perceived as a complete moron or an or an immature, ignorant person, you'd do well to look over your posts before clicking on "submit". The comments-section has a "check spelling"-feature. Use it!

    Thoughts on the article:

    5. I'm definitely excited about what Sony will be able to provide in terms of a launch line-up. I seem to remember that the PS2-lineup was rather weak, and from what I've seen so far, the biggest titles (Metal Gear, Final Fantasy, Resident Evil, Gran Turismo) will not be available at launch. Still, that doesn't mean there won't be new great games. It's just that it's easier to sell consoles when relying on familiar franchises (such as MGS, FF, RE, GT) than by convincing the general public to accept these new games.

    6. Whether or not 10.000 dev kits is an impressive number is difficult to tell. Sure 10.000 are more than the number of PS2 dev kits, but would you expect any less? The PS2 did quite well, and so it's only natural to assume the PS3 will have a good starting point with lots of 3rd party developers.

    7. The key point here is what the developers manage to do with these kits. The bottom line is, after all, the games themselves. Lots of kits and many developers do not guarantee great games, it only increases the chances that, of all the games developed, at least some will be decent.

    8. I'm not that concerned with multi-platform games that run on several consoles that I am on games that built both for the PC and a console. Oblivion and Deus Ex2 are two fine examples. The former was a fantastic game, but because it was developed both for the 360 and the PC, PC-owners were forced to adapt to a console-type interface (until the BT-mod was released anyway ). Deus Ex was also created for the Xbox and the PC, but the interface and general gameplay was too console-y (for my tastes) and completely ruined the PC-version of the game.

    The point is, that I do not believe that this is a problem for multi-platform games that are released on PS3/360, because the game mechanics, controls and gameplay are very similar. If a great game is released on multiple platforms it will sell more units (obviously). This will in turn grant the developers more revenue to produce future - potentially great - games. As such, I'm initially not that sceptical to multi-platform games.

  • Chainblast

    Posted Jul 27, 2006 12:41 am PT

    That's quite a lot, but where are the games? I'm still waiting for Sony to tell myself why I need their machine. Telling me they have shipped 10,000 dev kits a couple months before launch means nothing. It's a numbers spin to try and offset the negative press generated by the lack of PS3 info and the PSP white fiasco.

    "Haha you people are ridiculous. I don't get how you can be so angry because YOU can't afford something."

    Some people just have better things to spend their money on.

  • snakepliskin35

    Posted Jul 27, 2006 12:11 am PT

    As usual and expected Sony will kick ass with the PS3. i cant wait for it and many games to come out. im buying one as fast as possible.

  • SambaLele

    Posted Jul 26, 2006 11:18 pm PT

    all of a sudden, lots of good news are appearing for the PS3...
    4 million units to be shipped on launch day (as MS stated, the xbox 360 will have a 5 million user base installed by then, so it looks like sony will approach them very quickly if they can sell all systems shipped)
    now all these final dev kits....
    and nvidia saying that the blu-ray drive was a masterstroke by sony (go check theinquirer to see this article)!
    i think sony is going to impress us again!

  • orangestar

    Posted Jul 26, 2006 10:55 pm PT

    About time for some good new for PS3....

    OMG Why the hell are you talking about the price on the PS3. This news got nothing to do with it. Get over it !!! we get the point

    "shockwave04"
    PS3 + 2 controllers + 2 games = over $1,000
    I got a 360 for :

    360 + 3 controllers + 3 Games = $800.00

    Wii60 forever."

  • chikahiro94

    Posted Jul 26, 2006 10:38 pm PT

    This is good news, and a wonderful challenge to Nintendo and Microsoft as well. Now, it'll be interesting to see how many of those 208 companies actually produce games in the next two to three years (just because a company has a dev kit doesn't mean they'll actually make or release something!) - I think it's about 18 months average to make a game *last* generation; I'm sure things will take a bit longer for this one (if for no other reason than your artists need more time to make more detailed graphics/models/etc).

    And of course the most important question - how many of those companies are going to be making PS3 exclusives, and how many are planning to release the exact same game on the PS3 and 360? While it's great to not be left out ("OMG the new Tofu-Racer is coming out for both systems!"), it's the exclusives that help a system to stand out.

    I personally don't care about Rein's comments, though. If you (Sony) get to go after someone else (Microsoft), then you're a fool if you don't watch their mistakes and missteps with the intentions of learning and avoiding them yourself. Sony is showing they're trying to avoid the same problems Microsoft had with the 360 launch - this shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.

  • cero10

    Posted Jul 26, 2006 10:11 pm PT

    [This message was deleted at the request of a moderator or administrator]

  • Zeke129

    Posted Jul 26, 2006 9:57 pm PT

    Here comes the fanboy brigade, flaming the news comments. Think they can't get caught here? Think again.
    -----
    10,000.... wow. 208 companies means the potential for 208 games in the next couple years, with more after that.
    And people say devs are leaving Sony.... pft.

  • TooDamnRaw

    Posted Jul 26, 2006 9:40 pm PT

    I thought that Sony already sent them out months ago. I can't wait to see what the PS3's launch is gonna be like, because it's not looking so good right now. Though I have to say the PS2's launch wasn't that good(though people still brought it in high numbers) and it became one of the greatest(if not greatest) systems of all time. I'm still under the impression that Sony sent out their dev-kits months ago, but than again, Sony is still locking down the final specs of the PS3 so I'm not really that surprised.

  • GoddBless

    Posted Jul 26, 2006 9:31 pm PT

    "shockwave04
    PS3 + 2 controllers + 2 games = over $1,000
    I got a 360 for :

    360 + 3 controllers + 3 Games = $800.00

    Wii60 forever."

    Do you get a controller for every game? Lol.

  • ragnbull

    Posted Jul 26, 2006 9:21 pm PT

    So tired of fanboy TROLLING idiots......especially PS3 fanboys. GO XBOX 360!!! WOO!

  • Mechakucha

    Posted Jul 26, 2006 8:48 pm PT

    Awesome! Some more good news for the PS3, I hope this trend continues. Can't wait til Nov17

  • Rhetorix

    Posted Jul 26, 2006 8:35 pm PT

    Haha you people are ridiculous. I don't get how you can be so angry because YOU can't afford something.

  • nintendorocks

    Posted Jul 26, 2006 8:29 pm PT

    Not a surprise at all. Of course, Sony is going to have 3rd party support.

  • peacenutman

    Posted Jul 26, 2006 8:13 pm PT

    To Asian Marine:
    LOL, you are a hermit and you complaining about prices? lol how contradicting. My friend spent close to $1000 CAN dollars on a pc just to play Oblivion on medium performance, LMAO.

  • Bone_Craker

    Posted Jul 26, 2006 7:37 pm PT

    wooooode wrote:
    "just because they shipped 10,000 dev kits does not mean there are 10,000 developers, because for the PS2 they had between 5000 and 6000 there is no way they added that many at best they have 3000 develepers and they all had 2 or 3 break on them just like all of us PS2 owners(that is how you sell 90 million consoles)."

    It says right in this little news clip, Sony shipped the SDKs to 208 different companies, no explanation needed...

  • ithamor3

    Posted Jul 26, 2006 7:24 pm PT

    Actually, woot began as a blend (blend: smog is a blend of smoke and fog) of "wow, loot," "woohoo, loot," etc. that was used in MUD computer games. Since then, it has found it's way into leetspeak ( 1337534k ) and has begun to trickle its way into mainstream online usage.

  • coolcool23

    Posted Jul 26, 2006 7:13 pm PT

    finally some kind of good/normal news for sony.

  • tr00pa_26

    Posted Jul 26, 2006 7:07 pm PT

    good news for those getting PS3

  • asian_marine

    Posted Jul 26, 2006 6:47 pm PT

    PS3 is seriouly over priced, i will never own one (me being a PC fan of course) not only for the price but I've heard a ton of reports from tv to people, to the internet that the PS3 is all hype, no content. If someone gave me one, I'd sell it for a LOWER price and then buy an Xbox 360.

  • Valen_Ca

    Posted Jul 26, 2006 6:23 pm PT

    ironwarrior2
    What does "woot" mean? It sounds really dumb.

    I believe that it means ' we own the other team' or something.
    As for the Dev kits shipping, that is an impressive number, however I am more interested as to why they didn't mention how much of the PS3's power is accessible by these things. They may be ahead of Microsoft when they were at this point in the game but if all the dev kits do is show the developers how to turn anti-aliasing, or something to that affect, then that isn't really an impressive number at all.

  • Dalorien

    Posted Jul 26, 2006 6:20 pm PT

    So much hostility. Why can't all gamer just unite and accept there are different systems. We should own all of em to pay homage to VIDEOGAMES in general. Join The Assassin's Creed Union.

  • carl2tan

    Posted Jul 26, 2006 6:18 pm PT

    true that king!

  • PS-king-llV

    Posted Jul 26, 2006 6:14 pm PT

    [This message was deleted at the request of a moderator or administrator]

  • Agreb91

    Posted Jul 26, 2006 6:05 pm PT

    Good news!

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