SN Systems

SN Systems Limited
Subsidiary of Sony Interactive Entertainment
Industry Software Development
Computer and video games
Founded 1990 (1990)
Headquarters Bristol, England, United Kingdom
Key people
 Andy Beveridge
(Founder and Director)
Martin Day
(Founder and Research Director)
Products ProDG
SNC Compiler
SN-DBS (Distributed Build Server)
Parent Sony Interactive Entertainment
Website www.snsystems.com

SN Systems is a provider of Windows based development tools for games consoles, including the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PlayStation,[1] PlayStation Vita, and PSP.

The company had provided tools for the Atari ST,[1] Amiga,[1] Sega Saturn,[1] Sega Genesis/Mega Drive,[1] Super NES,[1] Nintendo 64,[2] GameCube, Game Boy Advance, and Nintendo DS.

History

The company was founded in 1990 by Martin Day and Andy Beveridge.[3] Both directors have backgrounds of developing game console software development tools, such as SNASM and Psy-Q, at Cross Products and later Psygnosis.

SN Systems' long association with the PlayStation line of consoles began in 1993, when PlayStation manufacturer Sony acquired Psygnosis, who were publishing SN Systems' tools at the time. While Sony had provided MIPS R4000-based Sony NEWS workstations for PlayStation development, Psygnosis disliked the thought of developing on these expensive workstations and asked SN Systems to create a PC-based development system.[1] At the 1994 Winter Consumer Electronics Show, Psygnosis arranged an audience for SN Systems with Sony's Japanese executives, and Sony were impressed enough with their development tools that they decided to abandon their plans for a workstation-based development system in favor of using SN Systems' development system exclusively.[1]

In 1999, SN Systems won a Game Developer Magazine "Front Line Award" in the Programming Environment category for its Nintendo 64 development product called SN64.[4][2] The company won again in 2005, this time for the ProDG for PSP suite.[5]

SN Systems was acquired by Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. in 2005,[6] to provide tools for the PlayStation 3, and future consoles.

Based in Bristol, England, they have satellite offices in Campbell, California and Dublin, Ireland.[7]

Products

Central to the SN Systems product line is the ProDG suite, comprising a compiler and integration with Microsoft Visual Studio, together with a debugger and additional build tools. SN Systems now may include its own SNC compiler with ProDG, rather than a derivative of the compiler provided by the console manufacturer (frequently a variant of GNU Compiler Collection).

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "The Development System". Next Generation. Imagine Media (6): 49–50. June 1995.
  2. 1 2 "SN64 Nintendo64® Development Tools". parent frame. SN Systems. Archived from the original on June 14, 2002. Retrieved January 15, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Our History". SN Systems Ltd. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
  4. ↑ "1999 FRONT LINE AWARDS FINALISTS & WINNERS". Game Developer Magazine. Archived from the original on January 23, 2013. Retrieved January 15, 2015.
  5. ↑ "2005 FRONT LINE AWARDS FINALISTS & WINNERS". Game Developer Magazine. Archived from the original on May 2, 2013. Retrieved January 15, 2015.
  6. ↑ "SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT TO START PROVIDING PRODG TOOLS FOR PLAYSTATION ® 3 GAME CONTENT DEVELOPMENT" (PDF). Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Retrieved September 27, 2005.
  7. ↑ "SN Systems expands to Ireland". Develop. Retrieved 3 September 2008.
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