Ease-of-development is certainly one factor, but even if something is hard to program - take the PS2 as a great example - if there's enough incentive to program for it, the publishers and developers will come regardless. The key is getting the right business relationships in place, something Atari for instance was unable to do with the Jaguar. They were stuck on the old fashioned first party model of software development with not enough focus on third parties. Of course they TRIED to get third parties going - and had quite a few announced relationships/deals - but getting them to deliver actual software was a different story entirely.
The iPhone is a good example as an "ideal", because it's relatively easy to program, has an ideal delivery platform and has a low cost of entry for the single developer up to the biggest publisher, on top of the fact that the device is standardized and in the hands of huge numbers of people. The "ideal" rarely happens though, and platforms succeed wildly in spite of any one of those positives not being in place.
Vintage Games book!
Xbox 360: billlog | Wii: 1345 2773 2048 1586 | PS3: ArmchairArcade Bill Loguidice, Managing Director | Armchair Arcade, Inc.
*************************** Bill Loguidice, Managing Director
Armchair Arcade, Inc.
Ease-of-development is certainly one factor, but even if something is hard to program - take the PS2 as a great example - if there's enough incentive to program for it, the publishers and developers will come regardless. The key is getting the right business relationships in place, something Atari for instance was unable to do with the Jaguar. They were stuck on the old fashioned first party model of software development with not enough focus on third parties. Of course they TRIED to get third parties going - and had quite a few announced relationships/deals - but getting them to deliver actual software was a different story entirely.
The iPhone is a good example as an "ideal", because it's relatively easy to program, has an ideal delivery platform and has a low cost of entry for the single developer up to the biggest publisher, on top of the fact that the device is standardized and in the hands of huge numbers of people. The "ideal" rarely happens though, and platforms succeed wildly in spite of any one of those positives not being in place.
Vintage Games book!
Xbox 360: billlog | Wii: 1345 2773 2048 1586 | PS3: ArmchairArcade
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director | Armchair Arcade, Inc.
***************************
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director
Armchair Arcade, Inc.