Sony’s Phil Harrison said on the blog Three Speech that roughly forty games are currently in development for its online network.
With some not so subtle digs at Microsoft’s Xbox Live system, Harrison described the downloadable games as better developed to take advantage of the power of the Playstation 3. The blog, which is considered a semi-official Sony site, goes on to point out that several developers have set up specific teams to create downloadable content.
According to 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 disc 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.”
All three next-gen consoles are paying close attention to providing downloadable content, a direction paved by Microsoft’s Xbox Live Arcade which has exceeded the company’s expectation with games like Geometry Wars, Texas Hold ‘Em and Uno. Nintendo is planning to make extensive use of its library from previous generations, putting Sony in the position of having to find a direction that will differentiate its own online service.
Sony’s Playstation 3 system launches in North America on November 17.
Source: Next Generation
Published: Nov 2, 2006 04:07 pm