How easy something to program is depends on the type of hardware used/vs the devs familiarity with its structure. The more modern the tech, the easier to develop on, though usually not the most efficient.
Its like Nintendo said. They want to make a console that was better than current consoles, but was still as easy to develop for on the Wii. So, we have next gen graphics capabilities with programmability that is as easy as the 5th gen consoles. Now we won't see big companies dying one after the other anymore.







