Console game development is the term used to describe the art designing, developing, and releasing a game for a video game console. The development takes into account the different control devices. Since there are different game consoles, there is an additional challenge for game developers and designers. Some of the various consoles include PlayStation, Nintendo, Xbox, and PlayStation Portable. In an attempt to tackle the challenges of console game development, manufacturers usually craft game development kits to make developers’ work easier. The development kit is used to test games created by console game developers. The testing process is relatively easier on these kits than on a consumer model.
In the early days of console games, development was done by a single developer because of the simplicity of earlier console games. However, technological advancements of recent years caused increases in the cost of console games, their complexity, and development time. Today, console game development teams of an eighth-generation game can be about hundreds of developers. Developers require a lot of skills in computer programming and software engineering. These select programming languages based on factors like target platform, APIs, or libraries used, and the programming staff’s familiarity with a language. Popular among console game developers is the Lua language.
Usually, manufacturers dedicate the task of console game development to a branch of the company. These in-house team of developers is considered “first-party” developers. First party console game development is very advantageous for developers because of the direct and unrestricted access to the console. Therefore they can focus their skills on developing the best for the specific hardware. On the other hand, companies with no direct affiliation to the console manufacturer termed as “third-party’ developers. Despite some restrictions put in place by the console manufacturers, third party console game developers can create outstanding games.