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Sony Funding 'About 40' Downloadable Games 45

Posted by Zonk from the mini-content-ftw dept.
Eurogamer is reporting on comments by Sony's Phil Harrison about the e-Distribution Initiative for the PlayStation 3. Apparently they already have 40-some games in development, above and beyond the titles they'll have ready for the console launch. Harrison: "My strategy was to encourage developers to push the machine technically, creatively, artistically — to innovate in lots of different ways. But don't be restricted by ghettoising games into a particular genre, or a particular display mechanic, because what we've seen on other systems tend to be retro 2D games, and we're pushing the 3D capabilities of the PlayStation 3. Plus, the fact that every PS3 has a hard disk drive means that we're not restricted by the size of the download, and that has a huge impact on the kind of game design that you can do,"
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Sony Funding 'About 40' Downloadable Games More

Sony Funding 'About 40' Downloadable Games

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  • "above and beyond the titles they'll have ready for the console launch."

    If their titles' release dates follow the same typecast as their platforms release date, then 40 titles will probably be more like, 10 now, 20 in 6 months and another few over time. ;)

    Above and Beyond and Sony, lately, should never find themselves in the same article.

  • Quote from the article:

    But don't be restricted by ghettoising games into a particular genre, or a particular display mechanic, because what we've seen on other systems tend to be retro 2D games, and we're pushing the 3D capabilities of the PlayStation 3.

    Is it just me, or does Sony hate 2D games?

    I remember reading somewhere (unfortunately can't find it now), that Sony always preferred to have 3D games on its systems. Now, there are a number of 2D games (platformers, traditional fighters, etc.) on the PS2, bu

    • Probably because they're pushing new hardware and generally there's not much in 2D you couldn't do on last-gen or on the much cheaper Wii. They're trying to sell boxes, and having lots of cool "can't get it anywhere else" content is one way to do it.
      • Comment removed based on user account deletion
        • I guess its more like "can't get anywhere because of its sheer awesomeness and power of the PS3" not "can't get it anywhere because of exclusive license deals and you may see it 6 months down the road on 360/Wii" I imagine you'd be pushing really hard to have something 2d that PS3 could do and Wii or even PS2/xbox 1 couldn't.
    • In anticipation of your question, I made a journal entry:

      http://games.slashdot.org/~sesshomaru/journal/1411 44 [slashdot.org]

      Tremble in fear before my evil psychic powers!!!

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by PoderOmega ( 677170 )
      Well, they hate 2D games in the US more than Japan apparently. Look into Working Designs, they had ongoing problems with Sony not approving the 2D RPG games they wanted to translate from Japan. In one instance they had to bundle two games together (Growlancer: Generations) and sell it as one game to get approval, when they wanted to sell the games seperately. From
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Working_designs [wikipedia.org]
      Growlanser Generations sold well, but of course not better than it would have sold as two separate t
      • Sony are sort of like Necrons (from Warhammer 40K) or Judge Death (from Judge Dredd).

        You know, evil.

        I'm reminded of the time that Judge Cal remarked to Judge Death, "You must give me the name of your tailor," and Judge Death responded, "I regret he is no longer with us."

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by cliffski ( 65094 )
      agreed 100%. Sony are stuck in a childlike *3D is better* mentality. Just like adding more polygons or bump mapping automatically makes a game more fun.
      Take Chess, that games sucked ass until they invented bump mapping and facial animation. Now its teh r0xx0r.
    • Consider one of the few games we know of, flow, is very much a old-school kind of game played on a 2D field. That said, the graphics themselves are all 3-D - they just move in a plane. Nothing about 3D says the camera cannot be fixed and overhead or to the side.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by donaldm ( 919619 )
      To say that "Sony hates 2D" without applying this to Microsoft and Nintendo is just unfair since all game machines from the PS1 onwards mainly have 3D games because the market preferred those type of games. There are actually more 2D games for the PS1 and PS2 than with the N64, Gamecube and Xbox. This is not to say that 3D is the best format since some 2D games are really fun to play but it is rare to see new ones now. I don't know of any for the next gen consoles except possibly some home grown ones

      • To say that "Sony hates 2D" without applying this to Microsoft and Nintendo is just unfair since all game machines from the PS1 onwards mainly have 3D games because the market preferred those type of games.

        You're totally missing the point. Sony discourages 2D games and stops some 2D games from being published outside of Japan by not approving them. Nintendo, on the other hand, creates 2D games for its own 3D consoles (look at GC games like Four Swords, Animal Crossing, Paper Mario (which is kind of a mix

      • Nintendo definitely hates 2d games http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_ds [wikipedia.org]

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by rabbot ( 740825 )
      Sony doesn't hate 2D games, Americans do (most anyways). You can find a lot of great 2D games in Japan.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by KDR_11k ( 778916 )
        Not Americans, Sony Computer Entertainment America. That's the company that prevents many 2d games from being released on the PS2.
        • But when the games do get released in America, how many Americans are buying them? Ikaruga was released twice in USA, and I don't recall it selling very well. I can't find Gradius V in any store around me because stores aren't carrying it... likely because it sits on the shelf. Face it, most American PS2 owners only want the next Madden, GTA, Gran Turismo, or Final Fantasy. They're afraid to deviate from their normal purchasing habits.
  • 1) Make idiot out of Company at E3
    2) Offer downloadable content after competitors have already done it
    3) ???
    4) PROFIT!!!

    Ok maybe that's a bit unfair... This sounds like a good distribution channel for Sony - one that I think Microsoft should use a lot more.

    What is interesting and what I would like to know more of, is how this "Sony will fund the development and distribution" works.. As a game designer if someone is funding your costs, they probably have an ownership stake in the finished product. So when t
    • What is interesting and what I would like to know more of, is how this "Sony will fund the development and distribution" works.

      Have you seen the price on the ps3?
      • You misunderstand my question - Im not concerned about how Sony will come up with the money to fund these developers. I want to know what 'conditions' come with the funding and where that leaves the developers in terms of future profits from their hard work.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by rbochan ( 827946 )
      3) ???


      3) Add Rootkit

  • "About 40" sounds suspiciously like it's trying to be greater than 30, which is known to be the current number of Virtual Console titles available at the Wii's launch. Naturally, this quote is also designed to demean the Wii by decrying some of our old favorite games as "ghetto'ed". And it is released "coincidentally" right after Nintendo's announcement of said titles.

    Quit promising the moon, Sony, and just deliver a fucking console already.
    • I didn't really care to RTFA, but am I to understand that these are "in development" and may not be ready for the PS3 launch?

      It may very well be an attempt to take the wind out of Nintendo's sails, but if the titles are "in indevelopement" and won't all be there at launch, versus Nintendo who have 6 completely unique software libraries to pull titles up the wazoo from... I just don't see what Sony's getting at.
    • Have some faith. I'm sure the number '40' is accurate to within at least an order of magnitude.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by elrous0 ( 869638 ) *
      Quit promising the moon, Sony

      Actually, if Sony is to be believed, the PS3 is so powerful that a single console will be all NASA needs to get us back to the moon, process an answer to every math problem ever posed, and render Toy Story in real-time--ALL AT ONCE.

      -Eric

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by KDR_11k ( 778916 )
        Actually, if Sony is to be believed, the PS3 is so powerful that a single console will be all NASA needs to get us back to the moon

        To be fair, a C64 could do that.
  • Get Rooted!

    Lik-Sang Must Die!

    Lithium Ion Inferno!

    Fire All Batteries!

    Where's UMD?

  • I very nearly bought a 360. The game that almost did it for me was a launch title, but not in stores - it was (and is) geometry wars.

    Having a really large lineup of original but smaller games that are also cheaper to buy is of more interest to me as a gamer today than a lot of large monolithic titles that take a larger investmnet of time to play. People (including myself) are moaning about next-gen titles costing more and more, but forget there is this whole other category of software you can buy much che

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Saige ( 53303 )
      I hate to say it, but in some ways, Sony does have a little bit of an advantage here.

      The first generation Xbox also had Xbox Live Arcade. But it required an add-on disc to use, and had other issues that prevented it from really going anywhere. The 360 integreated everything into the dash, and it took off. However, nobody was prepared for how well it would turn out, and there wasn't much of a push for good, original games before launch. Once the 360 launched and XBLA became a hit, lots of companies have
  • Okay, so we're Slashdot and lately we hate Sony. But let's recognize good news when we get it. The Xbox Live Arcade has been awesome, but it's firmly rooted in retro-style casual games. If the Sony can stand on Microsoft's shoulders and offer short games with higher production values, they could have something special on their hands.

    Since the NES, console games have pretty much been "one size fits all," a distribution model that led to lower budget games often feeling empty or artificially padded. With dow

  • Wha? (Score:2)

    by Taulin ( 569009 )
    "ghettoising"?!

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