One of the most discussed topics on VG Chartz has been the rising cost of videogame development and it's impact on third parties profitability. Most of the talk has been centered around the Wii's lower system specs. I would like to instead talk about how all three console manufacturers chose to tackle the problem and of any successes their methods have had so far.
First up is the Wii. Sometime after the Gamecube's introduction the writing on the wall became obvious, Nintendo would continue to lose marketshare and quite possibly be forced out of the console business altogether if it didn't make drastic changes. The console arms race with ever more powerful CPUs and GPUs was getting to the point where Nintendo would have to price it's next console outside the range of what many of it's customers would likely be willing to pay. A lower spec system alone would have likely been suicide but coupled with a unique motion controller it proved to be the change Nintendo needed to put itself back on top.
Now this console by it's very nature helps third parties to make lower cost games for it in most cases so it's a success as far as the cost of videogame development is concerned. There is one case though that it does present problems and that is in multiplatform development. Simply put because of it's unique controller and system specs it can sometimes actually prove to be problematic especially in next gen game development. Simply put it's not always just a case of lowering texture detail and mapping buttons to it's controller. A big problem can be in porting games which rely on advanced physics, AI, large numbers of units, and large open busy Worlds. So although a success the system is not a complete one for third parties.
Next up is the Xbox 360. Microsoft since it's first console has been looking for more revenue streams for it's console and the games on it. One of it's major contributions to consoles and one that has been very controversial has been downloadable content. Many gamers feel they're being nickeland dimed to death with content that likely would or should have been in the game in the first place. While true in some cases it doesn't change the fact that it has been very lucrative for some third parties (Activision with Guitar Hero 2 for example) and that both other console manufacturers have either already copied the idea or are currently in the process of copying it. Another way in which Microsoft has attempted to make it more attractive to develop for their system is by making it very similar to PC development. In doing so the cost of game development can be spread among multiple platforms which has also been met with success.
Finally we come to the Playstation 3. Sony has bizarrely seemed to have actually gone out of their way to make it even more expensive to develop on their system. They actually did nothing to address the problem until it became obvious the Playstation 3 wouldn't be dominant like the Playstation 2 was. One can only guess why they chose a processor that was so different and would prove to force developers to rework their code or force them to stay with only their system. Perhaps they thought by screwing third parties it would also screw their competition by possibly making it not worthwhile to port games. Luckily for Sony third parties instead paid much of the cost and expense to make cross platform engines which saved the Playstation 3 from complete disaster in it's first year. Had third parties known ahead of time that the Playstation 3 wouldn't be dominant one has to wonder how many of them would have chose to help save Sony.
Well that's about it. It has also become obvious that third parties themselves would be forced to come up with ways of their own to combat the problem, one being mergers and another unfortunately in taking less chances. Hopefully with initiatives like Xbox Live Arcade, Wiiware, and PSN we'll see companies start to take more chances and be rewarded for them.
