Sony cuts price of PS3 SDK
Not used to competition
Monday, 19 November 2007, 16:51
TOY MAKER, Sony has cut price of the software development kit for the PS3 in half.
Following the pricing structure of the console itself, the kit will be cheapest at 950,000 yen ($8,600) in Japan. It'll cost to $10,250 in North America and 7,500 euros ($11,250) in ripped-off Europe.
Sony Computer Entertainment hopes the move will persuade software firms to make funky games and smart software for the console after getting shafted by Nintendo's Wii and Microsoft's Xbox.
Software firms are being wooed by the Wii away from the PS3 and Sony is beginning to eat humble pie as it slowly realises it's not in the dominant position it enjoyed with the PS2. µ
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Who writes this crap?

"Software firms are being wooed by the Wii away from the PS3 "

Someone needs to tell the author of this "article", that nobody is actually buying Wii games, aside from the bundled Wii Sports. I would be very scared right now, if all I was developing for, was the Wii, sales are plummeting, and attach rates have always been abysmal.
This article is why I read the Inq.
If this article *really* offends, then you can drag your silly browser back over to the WSJ and what-not. We don't do stuffy here at the INQ.

Great article. Chill out Mark, it is obvious that Sony is switching into survival mode, and it is welcome. The PS3 is finally at what should have been the launch price. 

As far as the Wii, most people own Wii Sports and Wii Play, as well the 1st party Mario titles are all going to be hits. 

Now what I would like to see is Sony going all the way and opening up the PS3 completely and for free. Until then there is always XNA.

Glen
http://www.zenfar.com
Taken from Kotaku:

Wii devkit = $4,000
PS2 devkit (first 14 months) = $20,000
PS3 devkit (first 12 months) = $20,000
PS3 devkit ( >12 months) = $10,000
360 devkit = $12,000

As to 'Mark's comment - I guess you've bought a PS3 - from last months NPD figures - the WII sold more in one week than the PS3 did in a month. Not exactly declining ;) If you want to use the Japanese figure then the PS3 outsold the Wii on the launch of a new colour and a desirable game. Previously it's been outsold by about 2 or 3 to 1.

As to the attach rate the wii and ps3 (and in fact the 360 also) are pretty much the same (at about 3.5 per year of console life). 

You still can't easilly find a Wii station in Houston, TX.
Per the Circuit City and Best Buy employee, the Wii versions of Guitar Hero 3 are selling stronger than the other versions.
*Someone needs to tell the author of this "article", that nobody is actually buying Wii games, aside from the bundled Wii Sports."

What a load of crap!
I buy Wii games - I bought 2 today. 
Every other Wii owner I know buys games.
I can't wait for all the new titles that are due out over the next couple of months. I wonder how many ps3 games will be released during the same period?
I don´t see this move to boost PS3 library. Next gen titles are really expensive to develop by default, even more for such complex hardware as PS3. Add the small installed base and you´d be really stupid to put all your money on this horse.
PS3 games are made by big publishers and cross plataform, to decrease risk. PS3 originals are basically titles developed in house only.
I would not be scared to develop for Wii, as the installed base is bigger than X360's, and much bigger than PS3´s. Demand for Wii is so strong that Nintendo refused to cut the price. Now X360 is under US$280,00 and still got beaten by Wii. Let alone the US$399,00 game console with the shortest and less exclusive game library of the three...
Sales are plummeting? In the month of October the Wii sold 519K in the US and over 90K in Japan. Red Steel (as awful as it was) sold over a million so did Raving Rabbids and so did RE4, just going to show that good marketing pays off even on a Nintendo platform which typically are bad news for 3rd parties.

Facts are facts. 

Sony wants the PS3 to be the lead platform and this is a step in the right direction.
Given the huge investment that Sony has in the PS3 & Blu-Ray, charging anything to develop software (that would encourage folks to BUY the console) is crazy.

On the other hand, you don't want to give it away for no reason to anyone who's "curious".

Simple: Charge a deposit, refundable when your first title ships. This makes the kit free IF you ship a game (for the first 2 years?). How much would they really make at $8k per kit? Maybe 100 developers, which means Sony would "lose" 800k, but gain 100 extra titles in the process, helping sell more consoles

(and BD movies...)

Disclaimer: I have a PS3, that I've used maybe 20 hours total in 5 months for games; I mainly use it for BD Netflix movies.
in the real game industry, then you know that it's the PS3 projects that are getting retargeted for 360 and the new projects are on the Wii.

It's not simply cost - it's how bad Sony treats developers. People are sick of it.