SCEE sees third parties leading development on PS3

In an interview with VideoGamer, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe managing director, Ray Maguire, said he sees a shift away from the current norm where most third parties develop titles first for Xbox 360. In fact, he believes that developers will need to ... downgrade their games to run on other platforms.

"I think we now have an install base which is big enough for any third party to want to develop for," Maguire said. "Now the decision making part of development is which do you lead your development on? Is it easier to lead with the most powerful, both in terms of AI and graphics, i.e. PS3 and then just remove part of the functionality for the processors that aren't quite as strong?"

Maguire concludes that he "would imagine that's very much part of the thought process now from a studio development point of view." We conclude that games such as Burnout Paradise – which began development on PS3 – look just fine on 360 (as does Mirror's Edge) but Maguire is likely thinking forward about a new round of third party software that's still in its infancy.