Sony has unveiled PlayStation-edu, a new initiative that will teach computer science and engineering students about the dark arts of programming on the PlayStation 2 and PSP.
The new program will provide aspiring PlayStation developers with access to PSP and PlayStation 2 development kits, described by Sony Developer Support Senior Manager Mark Danks as “the same ones that professional developers use to make the games you love to play.”
The kits include hardware, development software and SDK, but is not intended for game authoring purposes, offering no support for art or game design elements. “It is for computer science and engineering students who want to understand how the hardware works in the PlayStation consoles,” Danks wrote. Students in the program will be given demo code, samples and documentation explaining the inner workings of the consoles, as well as access to the Sony developer support website to communicate with other students in the program.
Conspicuously absent from the list of support consoles, however, is the PlayStation 3, which Danks said was omitted for two reasons: The greater complexity of the PlayStation 3, resulting in a much steeper learning curve and longer time before students were able to produce “satisfying output,” as well as the underlying similarities between the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3, which will leave students with a solid grounding for future PlayStation 3 education. “Even though they have different CPUs, etc.,” Danks wrote, “the fundamental concepts are the same.”
Instructors interested in the details of the program may contact Danks at [email protected]. Replies will only be issued to educators from qualified colleges and universities, so students who wish to learn more should inquire with their teachers. To read more about the PlayStation-edu program, check out the official PlayStation Blog.
