Sony subsidiary halves PSP development kit price

Game development news site Develop reported Monday (February 4, 2008) that Sony subsidiary SN Systems, which makes the development kits for all Sony consoles, slashed the price of their PSP kits in half.

Beyond just the price, all new PSP kits also now come with Turner, a performance optimizing program. The annual renewal fees for developers who have already bought the PSP tools have also been slashed in half.

By reducing its development costs, Sony is trying to close at least one important gap it’s had with Nintendo’s DS. The DS’s lesser hardware and cheaper kit costs have played a major role in making it possible for smaller development firms to get further in on the act. The PSP, with only a handful of games which can even be slightly considered original content, is drowning in a sea of ports and remakes. For many, the reduction is long overdue and might prove to be the boost the system needs to lure developers back in its favor..

Of course, this could also very well be an admission that the PSP didn’t steal a terrible amount of thunder from its competitor since its early 2005 launch. It’s more than just a little late to be buying into that three years later.

Read [Develop] Also Read [1UP]