Lucasarts makes PS3 primary dev platform

[Hatchetforce]

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6186606.html

"Multiplatform development was one of our biggest challenges," he told the jam-packed hall in the basement of the Moscone Center. After George Lucas famously urged the studio to "go build that game" upon seeing the first test reels from TFU, they began work straight away on Xbox 360 dev kits in late summer 2005--because that was all the studio had.

"It took a very long time for us to reach a multiplatform mentality," said Blackman. The reason? "Until early 2006," LucasArts had no PS3 dev kits whatsoever and, for the sheer sake of moving the project forward, focused on Microsoft's console. "It took months to get enough dev kits to everyone," rued the developer.

The problem was, once LucasArts finally had enough PS3 dev kits to supply the staff members that required them, 360 development of The Force Unleashed was months ahead. Worse still, the 360-optimized early version of the game "didn't translate well" when ported onto the PS3, given the differences between the hardware architecture of the two consoles and the complexity of PS3 development. This led to more complications and pushed the simultaneous launch of The Force Unleashed back further.

Now, however, the impressive-looking game is on track, and Blackman says that, after some hard-learned lessons, LucasArts now has a strategy for future multiplatform titles--develop the PS3 version first. "Our next project will use the PS3 as the baseline, and then apply that to the Xbox 360," he said. He made no mention of the other versions of The Force Unleashed, which are being developed externally.

Scott Steinberg, Sony Computer Entertainment America's vice president of product marketing, stated that virtually every third-party publisher is now developing for the PS3 first. "They all are now, since it's just easier that way," he told GameSpot. He then referenced his long tenure at Sega of America, saying, "Having recently dealt with this myself from a third-party background, I know this is the case." As of press time, Microsoft had not responded to Steinberg's comments.