SoulBlazer Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 Here's something that came up talking with a friend the other day who is working on his first IPhone/Android app. I wasn't sure the best place to post this. I've heard a lot of people say the Atari 2600 and Jag systems were VERY difficult to program for, and that the Sega Saturn and Sony Playstation were no cakewalks either. But does have anyone have anything or have seen anything on what companies and programmers considered the EASIEST consoles to program for? NES? SNES? Genesis? Dreamcast? Xbox 360? Never heard anyone say anything about this -- all the comments are about the hard ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatPix Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 (edited) NES and SNES use different , customs, chips and more can be added on carts, making them "not easy" to program. The easiest consoles to program are the ones using standard, "from-the-shelves" components, and only a few or not specific chips. Consoles like the Colecovision, Sega Master System, Megadrive/Genesis are probably the easiest to program for. The Dreamcast use almost standard CPU and GPU, as well as the GameCube and on a certain extent the Xbox360, making them easier to program than their counterparts (which doesn't mean they are the easiest to program for). For 32 bits consoles and beyond, it's important to consider that development kits were almost as important as the complexity of the console. The Jaguar was made of a complex array of chips, and Atari provided useless and even broken software to developers, making even more of an hassle to make games on it. On the other hand, Sony always refined their development kits for the PS1 and PS2, allowing developers to pull out most of the system's power right at the start (look how nice Ridge Racer, which is a launch title, and Silent Hill 2 (2001) play and look like), despite their "more complex" architecture. Edited July 22, 2014 by CatPix 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rex Dart Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 I imagine anything with a decent SDK would be what you're after. Xbox, wii, 360… look at all the homebrew software available for 'em thanks to their SDKs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiddlepaddle Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 First thing, let me say I have no idea what the answer is, but it's a very interesting question. I suppose the answer is actually a moving target, since development tools and information keeps improving, even (maybe espeicially) for the popular early systems like the 2600 and Colecovision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhd Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 At what point did console game development switch from pure assembly language to C, C++, or another high-level language? Early-1990s? The PSX had the Net Yaroze; I assume that professional developers had equivalent (or even better) tools available. I realise that there are now implementations of BASIC for the 2600, the NES, etc., but these are all recent developments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reaperman Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 (edited) Action Max is the easiest. No code required, and about a 5 minute learning curve. Cybiko, XEGS, GP2X, and OUYA come right to mind too--but we're talking a distant second behind Action Max. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5HINEov9xo Edited July 23, 2014 by Reaperman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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