I’ve been saying this for a while now, but Sony focusing more than anyone this gen on first party development looks like it’s going to pay off big time. While Microsoft have been cutting first party studios left and right, Sony has added to their first party, and are bigger than Microsoft and Nintendo combined. But it’s not just the size that gives them the advantage…
The idea is that you can have a load of third party support for a platform, but the developers work as separate entities from each other. You’re not going to see say the Alan Wake devs giving up their latest tech / code / features to developers at Square Enix. But if you have a very strong, deep collaborative environment like Sony has set up with their first (and tight second) parties, you start building a very comprehensive platform of development that would be next to impossible working alone. The sum becomes far greater than it’s parts.
Case and point what I saw on my Twitter with Evan Wells from Naughty Dog on April 21st:
“Loving a new feature we added to Uncharted 2 a few weeks ago. Thanks Michiel from Guerrilla Games and Alex from @insomniacgames!”
Evan later followed up by saying this:
“The new feature has to do with the way in which we render the graphics. It really helps the overall impression. We’ll give details later.”
So you know those Uncharted 2 videos and screens that have been making people’s jaws drop to the floor? Because of the collaborative environment that Sony has built up, the game is going to look a step better yet.
I for one am really excited to see what they can come up with by sharing and building upon their technology together. It’s going to be one heck of a ride. Knock Sony for an overly expensive console and for not marketing their games as well as Microsoft. But they have a beast of a first party dev team and a platform of technology that is second to none. And this isn’t a result just because of their size, but because of their open nature between each other.
While it seems Microsoft is more content spending money on exclusive DLC for GTA4, Fallout 3 and asking for an expansion in the form of Halo 3: ODST, Sony is hitting it hard to give themselves a technology base that will potentially push gaming a lot further. Hats off to Sony for not playing it safe by spending money on 3rd party exclusives that will do little to push their technology forward.
So give Sony a break. Killzone 2 for example wasn’t an example of $75+ million spent on a game. It was a big investment not just for the Killzone franchise, but also Uncharted 2, Uncharted 3, Jax and Daxter, Ratchet and Clank, Warhawk 2, Resistance 3, God of War 3, the Team ICO game and more.
When you have the sick amount of developer talent working together that Sony has currently, you’re building something that will have far more impact than money spent on DLC exclusives. It’s a great time to be a PS3 owner. Bring on E3. 
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