A really interesting post over at PS3Blog.net about the lack of PS3/Xbox 360 cross platform games at the Tokyo Game Show. I suggest everyone have a look at this post as it talks about the most probably reason developers are not releasing games for more than one next-gen console.

There’s one thing that Gamespot noticed that I found really interesting. They said that not many companies announced the same game for both the PS3 and the Xbox 360, quoting only Capcom’s Resident Evil 5 and From Software’s Armored Core 4.

Currently there are many games being released for both the Xbox and the PS2. Or even Xbox, PS2, and GameCube. A good way for a developer to recoup all that investment in an intellectual property (IP) is to sell the IP to as many customers as possible, meaning ports to other platforms.

What does the lack of such ports mean at this stage? Well, I don’t mean to build this topic up only to disappoint, but I’m not sure that it means much right now. Developers are still getting their sea legs, learning the ins and outs of their first next-gen platform. Once they become comfortable with one, they’ll look to the other. In some cases, where there are enough resources, a company can look at both at the same time.

But someone pointed out that it’s important for developers to get a feel for which platform is more powerful, because that will be the reference platform, and the other one will get downports from that. From my experience in the games industry, I know that it’s easier to prune artwork and 3d models than it is to add more details later. So the games industry will figure out which platform is more powerful, and the other will end up with ported versions.

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