PS3 And The Future Of Digital Distribution

There’s a great big question mark hovering over Sony‘s answer to Xbox Live, answers weren’t forthcoming at the recent Tokyo Game Show, but there are rumblings we’ll hear more on the service towards the end of October. Next Generation sat down with Michael Denny, VP of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios Europe to talk about this upcoming service, and shed some light on some of Sony’s plans for the future. Here’s an excrpt:

Next Generation: Since EDI’s (SonyÂ’s E-Distribution Initiative) announcement at GDC six months ago, what has the reaction from publishers and developers been like?

Denny: The reaction has been overwhelming – on a worldwide basis. The announcement immediately struck a chord with the development community – from startups to veterans, from small to large. There have been lots of quality ideas for both PSP and PS3 (both game and non-game related applications), many of which we are moving forward with. The key for us is to find innovative ideas that try to offer new experiences. Certainly many developers have targeted the feature set of PS3 (in particular the tilt controller and in built hard drive). This has opened up many possibilities for a variety of content gameplay experiences that we can produce and distribute digitally.

NG: “User generated content” is a bit of a buzzphrase at the moment with Web2.0-style services such as YouTube – will there be any opportunities for the similar things to happen with the PlayStation Network Platform?

Denny: Consumers have made it clear that such user-generated content is what they want. We have to keep our content relevant.  Keeping content relevant is something that SCEE has always tried to do. On PlayStation 2, we were (and still are) able to expand the user base by creating and developing the concept of “social gaming ” with titles like EyeToy, SingStar and Buzz. With PlayStation 3, we will expand on “social gaming”, but we will also push the boundaries of user generated content for the next generation in our own unique way in the form of ” creative gaming “.

NG: What lessons have you learned from Sony’s Liverpool studio success with downloadable content for PSP games such as Wipeout Pure that can be related to digital distribution for the PSP and PS3?

Denny: Wipeout Pure has been a tremendous success in many respects. The title has now sold over 1 Million units on UMD. But just as impressive, it has generated over 500,000 downloaded files, in the form of tracks, ships, skins etc. We have learned an enormous amount from this experience and the Wipeout Team, as well as other internal and external studios, will continue to push downloadable content in the future.

There’s a great big question mark hovering over Sony‘s answer to Xbox Live, answers weren’t forthcoming at the recent Tokyo Game Show, but there are rumblings we’ll hear more on the service towards the end of October. Next Generation sat down with Michael Denny, VP of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios Europe to talk about this upcoming service, and shed some light on some of Sony’s plans for the future. Here’s an excrpt:

Next Generation: Since EDI’s (SonyÂ’s E-Distribution Initiative) announcement at GDC six months ago, what has the reaction from publishers and developers been like?

Denny: The reaction has been overwhelming – on a worldwide basis. The announcement immediately struck a chord with the development community – from startups to veterans, from small to large. There have been lots of quality ideas for both PSP and PS3 (both game and non-game related applications), many of which we are moving forward with. The key for us is to find innovative ideas that try to offer new experiences. Certainly many developers have targeted the feature set of PS3 (in particular the tilt controller and in built hard drive). This has opened up many possibilities for a variety of content gameplay experiences that we can produce and distribute digitally.

NG: “User generated content” is a bit of a buzzphrase at the moment with Web2.0-style services such as YouTube – will there be any opportunities for the similar things to happen with the PlayStation Network Platform?

Denny: Consumers have made it clear that such user-generated content is what they want. We have to keep our content relevant.  Keeping content relevant is something that SCEE has always tried to do. On PlayStation 2, we were (and still are) able to expand the user base by creating and developing the concept of “social gaming ” with titles like EyeToy, SingStar and Buzz. With PlayStation 3, we will expand on “social gaming”, but we will also push the boundaries of user generated content for the next generation in our own unique way in the form of ” creative gaming “.

NG: What lessons have you learned from Sony’s Liverpool studio success with downloadable content for PSP games such as Wipeout Pure that can be related to digital distribution for the PSP and PS3?

Denny: Wipeout Pure has been a tremendous success in many respects. The title has now sold over 1 Million units on UMD. But just as impressive, it has generated over 500,000 downloaded files, in the form of tracks, ships, skins etc. We have learned an enormous amount from this experience and the Wipeout Team, as well as other internal and external studios, will continue to push downloadable content in the future.