PS3 intentionally tough to develop for (CVG 2/3/09)

PlayStation boss Kazuo Hirai has said that PS3 was intentionally made tough to develop for to stop developers from exploiting its full potential straight away.

"It's not easy to program for the PS3. I wouldn't say it's endless in terms of what the console can do, but we pack so much depth into our consoles that it takes a while for anybody, including first party studios, to really harness the power," said Hirai.

"We don't provide the 'easy to program for' console that they want, because 'easy to program for' means that anybody will be able to take advantage of pretty much what the hardware can do, so then the question is what do you do for the rest of the nine and half years?," he explained.

Hirai noted the improvement in games later in the PS2's life cycle over the console's launch titles - a console that was also cited as difficult to develop for.

"So it's kind of a - I wouldn't say double edged sword - but it's hard to program for, and a lot [of] people see the negatives of it, but if you flip that around, it means that the hardware has a lot more to offer," he told the Official PlayStation Magazine.

Yes, flip it around you certainly did, Hirai.