INTERVIEW: PS3's & PSPs Digital Distribution Future
Heres an excerpt:
Since EDI's [Sony’s E-Distribution Initiative] announcement at GDC six months ago, what has the reaction from publishers and developers been like?
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.
What do you think of the notion some publishers have had in releasing a retail product that still requires a large amount of paid-for downloadable content (such as Test Drive Unlimited, or the suggestion that MMO items will all have to be paid for): is this a business model to be seized, or do we need to be careful that customers don't feel cheated?
We have to stop thinking in terms of a product launch being a finite offering and, in effect, the end of our involvement with that game. In the future, when we launch games on either PSP or PS3 (whether the initial launch be on disc or by way of digital download), we should see this as the start of the product's life cycle. The launch should mark the beginning of a relationship with the consumer that we need to develop and service. The key to the launch of a successful product or service will be measured by the creation and retention of an active community built around the initial content launch. I believe consumers will readily pay for quality content and service delivered on an ongoing basis.
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