So, Unity is coming to Playstation devices, more specifically Playstation 4 and Vita (including Playstation Mobile), which might not seem important, but I assure it's pretty big news. Unity is an game engine that has been around for nearly 9 years now, but it was only through the popularity of the iOS market that it really became a valuable tool for game developers.
The cost effectiveness of the Unity engine is not to be sniffed at either, as you can currently create a full 3D game using the standard Unity program for free. Granted those games can only be exported to PC / Web based formats, however this can influence and provide a great learning environment for newcomers or students, and with a publishing upgrade the user can easily export their game to multiple devices, at reasonably priced one off payments. And if you're really pushing the engine or simply want more features to add sparkle to your game, then there is a Pro version of the Unity engine available, with pro publishing licences also available.
The Unity engine has recently become the go-to engine for this new market of independently developed games, even more-so than the once leader of the pack Unreal Engine, which has failed to make a huge impact on the mobile space, despite Infinity Blade been one of iOS's top games of all time.
But what does this all mean for Playstation device owners? Well, it's simple. More games. Giving Unity developers access to devices like Playstation Vita for example will allow them to click a button and export their game to Vita. The engine is also quite scale-able, giving gamers mobile quality games and PC quality games which is why Unity will be available for PS4 (It is also currently used on PS3 and other consoles, though these are presumably private licenses, not available to the public).
Combining the accessible technology and the experience of studio's big and small that use the Unity engine, it will undoubtedly bring much more indie games and mainstream successful games to the Vita and other Playstation devices.
Examples of these games that could make it to the Vita; Temple Run 2, Slender, Dead Trigger, ShadowRun, Endless Space. With the addition of physical buttons on the Vita, would also be an advantage to any game, and the dual analogue sticks for first person games like Dead Trigger and ShadowRun. Both of these could be big selling points for developers to move their game to hardware like the PSVita.
There's also Project Eternity and Wasteland 2 by Obsidian Entertainment that are PC games funded through Kickstarter that could be easily exported to PS4 without any real headaches of compatibility issues that might've been had if it was for PS3 and it's notoriously hard-to-process-for 7 Cell processor. There is also Dreamfall Chapters: The longest Journey which I am quite excited about, as I've played the first a few years ago, I didn't manage to finish it but it was such an engrossing game, I have the second but am yet to play it. But i guess I've got a year to catch up. So it would be awesome if this came to PS4, obviously the developers haven't announced a release for console, this fairly recent news that Unity is coming to Playstation devices should make a real impact by the end of the year and well into 2014.
The ease of use with Unity, it's cost effectiveness and it's high accessibility could be another factor that's adding up to make the Playstation brand becoming more and more attractive over the competition.
Here is a list on the Unity website of games in development, maybe a good chunk of these will be released on Playstation certified devices? Lets hope so! It's also worth noting that there is a already a game on that list that's is Vita exlusive, you may have already played it! http://unity3d.com/gallery/made-with-unity/game-list
Oh, and more games!! http://unity3d.com/gallery/made-with-unity/profiles/
No comments:
Post a Comment