Both consoles are fairly advanced pieces of hardware - the primary difference that makes it harder to write code on the PS3, is also the same thing that sets it apart from all other hardware currently available at the consumer level.
Namely this difference is the Cell Processor Technolgy.
Why would that make much of a difference you might ask?
Simple - the Xbox 360 uses a CPU that is essentially the same (or at least very similar) to a PC CPU. Also the 360 uses the same API's or code parameters as the PC in most cases. This makes writing code for the 360 virtually the same - or at least VERY similar to writing code for the PC which developers have been doing for many years and consider it fairly standard.
The PS3 uses a Cell CPU(APU's) which are a completely new and cutting edge technology. The advantage to this is that the hardware (at least the CPU/APU - the GPU is debatable) is MUCH more powerful than that found in the 360. In reality in regards to the CPU/APU only (not the GPU) the PS3 has the potential to be more powerful than even the highest end consumer PC's - which is hard to swallow for me as I'm an avid PC guy - but it's a fact that his new processor is generations ahead of any of your standard Intel or AMD CPU's. And there in lies the problem...
It is new and advanced technology and it doesn't run on the same API's as the standard. It is completely unique programming structure unlike the 360 which borrows heavily from the PC. So while porting code between the PC and 360 is fairly simple - it has to be completely reworked in a brand new way that programmers are generally not familiar with in order to get it to work on the PS3. This is why games written specifically for the PS3 are so amazing - while ports tend to be average or in some cases if the porting is rushed - not very good.
So the positive is that the hardware in the PS3 is superior - hands down. The downside to that is the learning curve for programmers to learn the new way of coding in order to write games for it properly and to take advantage of that hardware.
The CPU/APU's in the PS3 have not even come close to seeing their full potential used - and in fact most likely won't in this generation. However due to the fact that more and more developers are adapting to the new way of programming for Cell - by the time the technology is fully realized - probably in the PS4 - it will set itself far apart from any system using a standard PC CPU.
So the good is - Superior hardware.
The Bad is - it's new so people aren't really used to writing for it yet and probably won't be able to fully tap the hardwares power for a couple more years.
DataDream
What he said, or it could be the fact that somewhere around 90% of the development studios in the business suck for various reasons.
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