Devs commited to showing strong PS3 support

Following in the wake of an extremely insightful article regarding the potential pros and cons of the PlayStation brand and Sony's upcoming PS3 launch in Europe, GamesIndustry.biz has an update up that all but confirms that, despite the shaky ride, game developers are strongly commited to providing substantial third-party support for the system.

GI managed to get a few juicy quotes out of some developers who will be showing off what they have to offer in the not-too-distant future:

Adam Roberts, MD for Vivendi Northern Europe, told GamesIndustry.biz, "Confirmation of the European release date for the PlayStation 3 is excellent news for the industry as a whole.

"We at Vivendi Games are very excited to be a part of the launch plans, and also about bringing F.E.A.R to a fresh audience at the start of 2007," he continued, referring to Vivendi's PS3 launch title.

That's one.

Square Enix CEO John Yamamoto confirmed that company has two Final Fantasy games in development for PS3, observing that the series has been highly successful on Sony platforms in the past.

"We are developing Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII using the full power of the PlayStation 3 and hope to make them the best games we have ever released," he said, adding, "We expect the PlayStation 3 to sell very well in the UK, Europe and other PAL territories."

No surprises here. Square has always backed Sony and they always will. Needless to say, Ubisoft is pretty excited about the Europe launch, too:

Ubisoft UK managing director Rob Cooper welcomed confirmation of a March launch date for PS3, stating, "We are looking forward to fully exploiting the PS3's technological advances to deliver ever more immersive and creative gaming experiences to our fans.

And finally, Konami pitches in with their two cents:

Konami has no titles down for a release on March 23 and has so far kept quiet about its PS3 plans, with the exception of confirming Metal Gear Solid 4. However, UK PR and marketing manager Jon Murphy told GI.biz that the publisher is will offer full support for all three next-gen platforms.

"Konami naturally hopes for a successful launch for any new hardware," he said.

In another interesting article, Eurogamer spoke to Mike Ball, co-founder of Ninja Theory about the PS3 and their upcoming title, Heavenly Sword. He seemed to feel developing for the PS3 was a bitter-sweet experience ... one that would pay off in the long run.

"The PS3 hardware is a bit like a journey into the Marianas trench," said Mike Ball, co-founder of Ninja Theory, speaking to Eurogamer. "There's lots to explore and the deeper you get the more varied the life forms - sometimes horrific, sometimes beautiful."

"Currently the machine offers a massive leap in gaming and multimedia performance. However, this is only the start of what will undoubtedly be an amazing evolution over the next few years as developers become more and more familiar with the hardware," he said.

There you have it. The PlayStation brand is far from doomed. On the contrary, developers seem more attracted by the challenge of developing for the console and are stepping up to the plate one after the other to deliver the goods.

On another note, isn't John Yamamoto the coolest name ever?