Python games library for PS3 News

Python-ps3 is a games library for the PS3 which allows games programming using python. It's still gaining features on a week-by-week basis, but already has support for large numbers of alpha-blended sprites and audio mixing allowing large numbers of sound effects to be played simultaneously including support for background music or even streamed internet radio. There have been a number of demo games provided with python-ps3, but the first that really shows off the power of the library is Pubble, a Puzzle Bobble clone.

Recently, the alpha release of Pubble was announced on ps3news.com and met with a phenomenal reception - about 360 downloads in the first 24 hours and hitting the 500 mark in less than 4 days. As the news has not been widely disseminated beyond this one site, it's possible there will be future download spikes as it becomes more widely recognised.

Some links of interest: [pubble file releases] https://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=194956&package_id=249632&release_id=550100 [ps3news article] http://www.ps3news.com/PlayStation3/Pubble_-_open_source_Puzzle_Bobble_clone_on_PS3_out-1/ [python-ps3 homepage] http://python-ps3.sourceforge.net/index.php [pubble homepage] http://pubble.ranulf.net/

It is planned to make another release of Pubble around Christmas time featuring a tutorial mode and internet play with player rankings.

The alpha release is particularly significant for the python-ps3 project as it's the first user-focussed release and shows off some of the potential python-ps3 offers for games programming on the PS3. The release also uses the new bootloader module which is able to run directly from a USB memory stick and contains everything needed to support a python-ps3 runtime environment without needing installation.

All in all, this is excellent news for the python-ps3 project which has seen an additional influx of interest and is currently ranked at 406 on SourceForge.