Possible reason for more PS2 exclusive titles...

We have all heard that the PS2 is a bitch to program for.  It\'s not necessarily difficult, it\'s more different then anything else and generally, different things are placed in the same category as difficult.  However, as we have all heard, once developers harness the power and architecture that is PS2, we will all see some truly amazing and original titles.  However, becuase this architecture is so different and difficult as some develoeprs say, could this lead to more exclusive titles?

I know this is a tried, true, and tired use of this game, but it\'s the best I can think of, Metal Gear Solid 2.  Ok, we all KNOW this game is not exclusive.  We all know it will see a release on the X-Box at somepoint in the distant future probably about a year and a half from now or later.  However, we have seen an outpoor of information and screens and movies for this title on the PS2 hardware yet no peep of the X-Box version.  My question is, why?  Well, I may have found an answer.

The PS2 has a hard architecture to come to terms with and games are being made, including MGS2, with the architecture in mind.  Hideo specifically stated this in an earlier interview which was scrutinized upon becuase he also made the comment about "Dreading coming to work" thanks to the PS2\'s difficult structure.  He later sort of withdrew those remarks in a later interview saying the PS2 is no harder to develop for then the PSx itself.  However, my point is not what he said, but the question that comes to mind from all this information:

Is the delay of ports and the rise in first party and exclusive software due to the fact that porting games from the PS2 is just as difficult as developing them in the first place for the PS2?  We all know ports FROM other consoles TO the PS2 is not too incredibally difficult, but ports FROM the PS2 TO oter consoles may be extremely difficult.  Could it be that in the future, we\'ll see plenty of PS2 ports on other consoles with the addition of a few letters to the titles like SSXSE or MGS2X or some other form simply becuase the time consuming effort of making the port required changes to be made in order for the consumer to justify the long wait and the purchase at a later date?  If that\'s the case, do you think exclusive titles will increase or decrease for that reason?  If you do not think this is the case, then what is taking so long for Hideo and other directors and companies to mention information on a game, or other games, that should the best of 2001?

Very good point Ryu. I also read somewhere that each of the next gen consoles have a particular area that they are superior to the other in. The x -box has raw poly pushing power, the gamecube is a texture crunching monster, but the ps2 has the best in my opinion, the ability to create absurdly huge worlds ( look at dropship or starfighter)
I cant find the article where i read this but its out there somewhere. But keep in mind if this is the case with ps2 then it will be increasingly difficult to port games to other systems. With an x-box or gamecube to ps2 port one can simply tone down polys or textures but on the other hand to create a truly huge immersive world on another system could really choke the processor. I mean i keep hearing about how its the graphics synthesizer and all this stuff for the other consoles, but the EE is literally 3 times as powerfuls as either of these processors. When you have such a huge tech edge their is bound to be some things, some very impressive things that the system can do that the others cant.

Let me start like this; The videogames industry has grown
to a certain level, to a certain technical level.
That level happens to include : programming in C, C++
and stuff like that. : a powerfull but standard CPU and
a graphics processor.
What happened when PS2 came along is that it\'s architecture
is said to be more of another field : computers which science use. Another workfield another level.
The gaming industry needs time to adapt to this; vector units, low text. Ram but at highbandspeed , ASM programming
and so on.
Sure porting on original PS2 game over to some other console
with a traditional setup could give implications.
Knotter8

bump

And also Sony keeps refering to PS2 being able to create movie quality-like games.Sony might reveal something later to show that it can compete with the others

[Edited by Unicron! on 12-14-2000 at 02:39 PM]

allllrigthy then, yep pyu you have a point there, it may be difficult to port games from the ps2, but i also agee when you say how the ps2 can ake huge worlds and etc. thats what i like about t, as long as the graphics dont look like the ps1 then im happy lol, and hte ee is incredible, i cant wait for the ee2 or even ee3 to pop its head out and say hello world!, thatll be a day

It can\'t create movie like egames. It;s essentialluy a dreamcast with a few extra bells and whistles its not even a next gen console heheh I\'m jumpman! j/k

Sony can have huge worlds because they aren\'t stored in a bounded memory.  They are streamed.